# Sandblast cabinet tips/ideas/plans



## Charley Davidson (Jun 7, 2014)

I'm gonna build a sandblast cabinet, I want a fairly large one and I'm finding they are quite expensive. I have some steel for it and just realized I have a central vac system that mey work for dust collection. Any of you build one or have any ideas of features I may want?
Here's the central vac system I have.


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## sd624 (Jun 7, 2014)

Lots of lights and foot pedal control is a must for big parts. TP tools that sells the Scat blaster brand has plans and lots of parts for home built units.


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## 12bolts (Jun 8, 2014)

Hi Charley,
Lots of light!
I just this week started my own sandblasting cabinet.
Forgot to take a before pic but this was a ally enclosure of some sort Just a regular rectangular box with 5 sides. It had a few cutouts and whatnots to patch or remove. I cut and split it to make the tapered sides. Got it welded and patched to hold its shape whilst I progress along.







The window is cut out but thats about it so far. Still looking at gloves so when I decide I will make the flanges to suit. Make sure yor gloves are long enough you can reach all the areas inside your cabinet.
Because of static build up they say to use low voltage lighting inside but the design I am using recommends put the lights on the outside in their own little ventilated enclosure and shine through a port window. That way you can use really bright mains powered lights.
Building the work shelf for inside at the moment.
The best design for ease of use is have the hand entry holes on a vertical plane, and the viewing window inclined at an angle. Because I am working with an existing shape mine is going to have the roof sloping away as well, but ideally you would want the working area square, as I am loosing some working room inside.


Make sure all the surfaces inside are vertical or inclined. If you have a door on a vertical surface you need to make overhanging lips so that the  media doesnt build up on edges and fall out when you open the door. Make sure that it is well sealed. Get really bright lights.
Put baffles on your vac ports so you reduce the media you suck out. Paint it white inside to maximise the really super bright lights you will want.

I will keep you posted

Cheers Phil


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## JimDawson (Jun 8, 2014)

That central vac should work great, I have one in my shop also.  I use a big shop vac on my blast cabinet.  Make sure the filter is fine enough to keep the grit out of the motor.

I agree with sd624, good lighting and a foot pedal.  I am going to put 2 or 3 rows of LED lighting in mine, just haven't gotten around to it yet.


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## TOOLMASTER (Jun 8, 2014)

*buy better gloves..*:roflmao:


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## Marco Bernardini (Jun 8, 2014)

Some 25 years ago my mom bought one of the first water-filtered vacuum cleaners and it was pretty effective (the biggest problem was to remove the dust converted in mud from it!).
The basic working principle is this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pipe_percolator
I think this could be a solution to have a better reduction of fine particles.


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## Don B (Jun 8, 2014)

Charley Davidson said:


> I'm gonna build a sandblast cabinet, I want a fairly large one and I'm finding they are quite expensive. I have some steel for it and just realized I have a central vac system that mey work for dust collection. Any of you build one or have any ideas of features I may want?
> Here's the central vac system I have.




Have a look at this thread there was a couple of good posts about dust collection/control for blasting cabinets that you might find useful.....!)

What works to safely vaccuum metal dust from belt and disc grinders?
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php?t=22956&p=205149#post205149


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## chuckorlando (Jun 8, 2014)

Make it bigger then you need for sure with a big old door. If I could add one thing to my cab it would be sight glass and gloves to the back side. It sucks yanking a part thats to big to rotate, hardly fits through the door, all because you cant blast from the back side


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## nickmckinney (Jun 8, 2014)

We put a hole in our door for the long parts we sometimes do that would not fit otherwise, then use black gorilla duct tape to cover it.

Construction sand from Home Depot at $5 a bag is our primary media. It is dry and coarse and cheap. At that price just replace it ultra often which is what we do. We use it a ton on aluminum, but it will leave a texture (we prefer the texture as we are painting the parts anyway) If you want a nice shiny raw aluminum finish use new fresh glassbead.

I bought a Tungsten tip, might be the best $50 I ever spent. Its lasted years when a cheap one couldn't make a full day.

Install a 2nd air only nozzle for cleaning off the dust before you open the door.

Route the exhaust from the vacuum to the outdoors, you never know what crap its spewing out.

I use one of the larger HF cabinets and have probably put over 20 tons of media through it over the years, most of the inside paint is missing now. The gloves are starting to look like Swiss cheese so I might just replace the entire thing now.


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## Cholmes (Jun 8, 2014)

I built a sand blast cabinet out of 3/4" white faced MDF about 5 years ago. It is still holding up very well. Cost me about $50.00 plus the kit from TP Tools. My cabinet is 5' long x 2' deep x 2' wide.
I may still have the plans if anyone is interested.

Chuck


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## churchjw (Jun 8, 2014)

Make the window the same size as glass shelves used in stores for displays.  You can find these shelves cheap at thrift stores and such.  I usually get them for $.025 or less a piece so its easy to change windows often.  


Jeff


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## pineyfolks (Jun 8, 2014)

A 250 gal home fuel oil tank makes a nice one


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## nickmckinney (Jun 8, 2014)

We use the replacement glass panes from home Depot on the HF cabinet and gorilla tape to the outside. You have to cut about a foot off or so. Its very easy to do with a cheap glass scoring tool. About $6 a window this way.


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## Charley Davidson (Jun 8, 2014)

pineyfolks said:


> A 250 gal home fuel oil tank makes a nice one



That is very slick, is that yours?


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## uncle harry (Jun 8, 2014)

nickmckinney said:


> We use the replacement glass panes from home Depot on the HF cabinet and gorilla tape to the outside. You have to cut about a foot off or so. Its very easy to do with a cheap glass scoring tool. About $6 a window this way.



I have seen cabinets built that use a panel or frame with plastic window screen stretched over it & spaced away from the glass a short distance. The screen reduces impact from abrasives without greatly obstructing the view.


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## 12bolts (Jun 8, 2014)

nickmckinney said:


> ....Construction sand from Home Depot at $5 a bag is our primary media. .....


Avoid sand like the plague. There are any number of suitable blasting medias out there that are cheap enough. Silicosis will kill you

Cheers Phil


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## Charley Davidson (Jun 8, 2014)

12bolts said:


> Avoid sand like the plague. There are any number of suitable blasting medias out there that are cheap enough. Silicosis will kill you
> 
> Cheers Phil



That's why you use protective gear, or keep a well sealed cabinet


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## GarageGuy (Jun 9, 2014)

I tried the water trap idea for capturing dust before it reached the vac, but my vac collapsed the bucket every time.

Do a Google search on "dust deputy".  They are based in Wisconsin, I think.  They make a plastic cyclone dust trap that mounts to the top of a 5 gallon bucket between the cabinet and vac.  The plastic is completely unaffected by the grit.  No water, no mud, no problems!  It captures 95% of the dust in the bucket before it can reach the vac and plug up your filter.  Last time I looked, they were about $45.  Hands down the best dust trap for sand blasting.  Good luck!

GG


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## 12bolts (Jun 9, 2014)

I will be using a Thien dust separator something like this



Cheers Phil


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## 12bolts (Jun 9, 2014)

Charley Davidson said:


> That's why you use protective gear, or keep a well sealed cabinet


....and you dont think some dust doesnt escape when you open the door?.....

Silica particles tend to be smaller than 10 microns.
Asbestos fibres can be as large as 20 microns.
If you would be happy to pulverize asbestos in your sandblasting cabinet and rely on the "well sealed cabinet" and "protective gear" that many dont wear, because theyre happy with the well sealed cabinet then by all means, blast away.
Most people take extreme precautions when dealing with a product that _may_ contain asbestos. Yet you think that spraying a known health risk around is not a safety hazard?
There is *NO* treatment for silicosis. Me, i'll just use a safer media.

Cheers Phil


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## Charley Davidson (Jun 9, 2014)

12bolts said:


> There is *NO* treatment for silicosis. Me, i'll just use a safer media.
> 
> Cheers Phil



Yea but from the looks of your avatar you have a reason to live ... me, not so much :roflmao:

- - - Updated - - -

I'm gonna build one of these I already have several cones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdLbf7-F6KA


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## Marco Bernardini (Jun 9, 2014)

Charley Davidson said:


> I'm gonna build one of these I already have several cones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdLbf7-F6KA



Wow… an illuminating video!
Now I know what to do tonight, after sunset… :whistle:


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## ScrapMetal (Jun 9, 2014)

The video shows a build that is pretty much the same as the Oneida Dust Deputy.  While a guy could make one himself, the "do it yourself" kit was only $65 US and I provided my own 5 gallon bucket.  Had it together and working in the same afternoon.




http://www.oneida-air.com/inventoryd.asp?item_no=AXD001004P

Some day I'll move up to one of their "industrial" metal units because this thing works great.  They have lots of other options as well.

http://www.oneida-air.com/category....C357DFE131}&gclid=CPTlt8rK7b4CFSYV7AodjVUAqQ#

Hope this helps,

-Ron


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## GarageGuy (Jun 9, 2014)

If you set up your blast cabinet --> Dust Deputy --> shop vac --> then duct the output from the shop vac outside like a dryer vent, you'll have excellent dust control.  I still wouldn't use it in my basement, but this is about as good as it can get in a garage.

GG


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## Marco Bernardini (Jun 9, 2014)

Thanks, Ron!
The Oneida woodland camo model fits perfectly with my shop :biggrin:


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## 12bolts (Jun 9, 2014)

Marco Bernardini said:


> ...The Oneida woodland camo model fits perfectly with my shop....


Yeah but how will you find it again?

Cheers Phil


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## Marco Bernardini (Jun 9, 2014)

12bolts said:


> Yeah but how will you find it again?
> 
> Cheers Phil



Looking for something else, as usually happens in my goat room when I've to find something.
:roflmao:


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## Marco Bernardini (Jun 10, 2014)

I'm looking at some YouTube videos about Cyclone (Cy-cone???) dust collectors, and I noticed a general lack of what I think could be a useful feature.
With cones dropping dust directly into a bucket there is the risk the finest particles could be aspired by the "sucking" pipe at the top.
I think another small cone placed tip up just below the bucket hole, with the base larger than the hole itself, would reduce the risk of re-sucking particles from the dust bin.
I hope someone with a Cyclone will test this theory


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## Charley Davidson (Jun 10, 2014)

So I've came up with (What I think) is a perfect plan for a homemade sandblast cabinet, Benny & I did a little horse trading and I'm gonna end up with a Mazda B2000 truck cab with all of the glass in it and both doors. All I'll have to do is make the bottom chute & a frame/base to hold it and roll it around.
Should be plenty big enough for about anything I would need it for, plus it could be used from front or rear as suggested earlier. If I need to do something really long I can roll down the windows.


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## Marco Bernardini (Jun 10, 2014)

Charley Davidson said:


> So I've came up with (What I think) is a perfect plan for a homemade sandblast cabinet, Benny & I did a little horse trading and I'm gonna end up with a Mazda B2000 truck cab with all of the glass in it and both doors. All I'll have to do is make the bottom chute & a frame/base to hold it and roll it around.
> Should be plenty big enough for about anything I would need it for, plus it could be used from front or rear as suggested earlier. If I need to do something really long I can roll down the windows.



:roflmao:
Then I must look if I can find in some barn one of these:




(source - details)


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## AlanR (Jun 10, 2014)

Charley Davidson said:


> So I've came up with (What I think) is a perfect plan for a homemade sandblast cabinet, Benny & I did a little horse trading and I'm gonna end up with a Mazda B2000 truck cab with all of the glass in it and both doors. All I'll have to do is make the bottom chute & a frame/base to hold it and roll it around.
> Should be plenty big enough for about anything I would need it for, plus it could be used from front or rear as suggested earlier. If I need to do something really long I can roll down the windows.


It'll be fine as long as you paint it *orange*.


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## Charley Davidson (Jun 10, 2014)

Marco Bernardini said:


> :roflmao:
> Then I must look if I can find in some barn one of these:
> 
> View attachment 78529
> ...



If you do you better not butcher it into a sandblast cabinet ..... But if you ever find 2 of them you could cut them right behind the drivers dore and weld them back to back & have the coolest 2 way car ever


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## Marco Bernardini (Jun 10, 2014)

Charley Davidson said:


> If you do you better not butcher it into a sandblast cabinet ..... But if you ever find 2 of them you could cut them right behind the drivers dore and weld them back to back & have the coolest 2 way car ever



Uhm… the engine was in the back…


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## Charley Davidson (Jun 10, 2014)

Marco Bernardini said:


> Uhm… the engine was in the back…



I guess you guys don't get the Flintstones over there :lmao:


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## Charley Davidson (Jun 10, 2014)

Charley Davidson said:


> If you do you better not butcher it into a sandblast cabinet ..... But if you ever find 2 of them you could cut them right behind the drivers dore and weld them back to back & have the coolest 2 way car ever



I did see where a guy used the rear portion of an old VW van to make a sandblast cabinet


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## nickmckinney (Jun 10, 2014)

12bolts said:


> Avoid sand like the plague. There are any number of suitable blasting medias out there that are cheap enough. Silicosis will kill you
> 
> Cheers Phil




There are problems with all the different media once they get pounded to fine dust levels  

You just have to practice the best safety you can. Dust wise in my shop it could be aluminum polishing dust from a cylinder head, sanding down a dental chair for repaint, grinding stellite valve tips, or the woodshop we keep upstairs. Not to mention all the various chemicals/smoke/coolant mist in the air depending on what is being done at the time.

I am installing a pair of 9700CFM exhaust fans in my shop, I had 9000 total CFM in my last shop so doubling that will be sweet. They are not cheap but well worth it.


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