For a bench top sandblast cabinet expanded sheet metal or perforated?

[woodchucker]

I have a small blast cabinet. I got it used, it does not have a floor. And I was thinking of operating without one, then I realized that I will be pushing the grit around by spraying. So expanded (which probably won't solve the problem, but most cabinets have it, or perforated, which probably will solve the problem, but have the additional problem of having lots of grit on top...

what do you have? and how do you find it?

 

[C-Bag]

I have a HF benchtop. It has expanded metal floor and even if I was going to replace it I’d go back with expanded. The only way to keep the flying grit down is use a vac on the exhaust and keep the pressure around 35psi. I use my cyclone on the vac or it would plug the filter in a hurry. Don’t use the blast cab a lot as it’s a streaming mess and only good for pretty small parts but like so much of my stuff it’s handy when I need it.

 

[durableoreo]

I recommend the expanded metal floor. And make sure you have air getting down to the end of the pickup tube. The old one needs modification. The newer version has a larger tube (concentric to the pickup tube) which seems to be adequate.

 

[GeneT45]

Another vote for expanded steel. Hard to say for sure (my cabinet is not a benchtop model) but it should break up the flow enough to do the trick. Perforated steel sounds like a PITA.

GsT

 

[RandyM]

Yup, a TIP cabinet here, and it has the expanded metal.