I've been thinking of making one. Seems like a pretty simple concept. Does anyone have a cool home made one they want to show off or do a TECH post on??
I built one a few years ago, out of an old piece of plywood. Worked great. Only problem was I built it a little small and used plexy for the window. Easily build on the cheap.
I keep thinking about making one and I always wind up just chucking the wire brush into the drill again...
I know at least one of you HAMBers out there has a DIY version in their garage. Let's see some pics or talk about what you've done. Materials? Plumbing? Gloves? Size? Vacuums??? Design? $$$? Etc. Is it worth it when Caswell and Harbor Freight seel some that work well for the money?
I have one made from old laundry machine... What! Yeah! There's already a window and lid!! Works fine, sorry no pictures here.
I bought one of the cheap ass one's at the farm store, came in a box with like 200 bolts and I put it together, does it count? It sure makes good for an extra shelf.
I was always going to make a blast cabinet, but ended up buying one one sale from Princess Auto for $142. When I costed it out for the materials, it was over the price I paid for this one. I had it for 8 years now. The plexiglas top is fairly pitted and needs replacing at the cost of $47, I'll be able see clearly now.I have three bags of glass beads in it and change it once a year. I can do most cleanup jobs in it but what I found is, I need more room! Instead of another cabinet type, I decided to build a sealed room in the corner of the shop. This will be dedicated to sandblasting large items like rearends, frame and suspension parts, wheels, etc. I intend to put a sand hopper on one side with 10 to 15 bags of grit in it and blast away. Just scrape the sand up from the floor and put it back in the hopper and blast away again. I have the choice of using a grain seed box from a grain drill or a combine grain tank cut down to size to fit the 10 X 16 room I'm going to build.The walls are going to be lined with sheet metal. The room will be vented to the outside and a fresh air intake will be installed. If a person was going to build a large blaster cabinet I would suggest using a grain tank from a combine. It has a nice tapered bottom to catch the recycled sand in and allow plenty of foot room to get in close to your work. The drill fill drain auger would be nice for quick clean-outs. The walls of the tank are 14 guage or better, so the sand won't wear them out. Most have angle iron perimeter framing and some even have a ladder up the side for easier filling. A canvas tarp quickly covers the top after filling it up. You can cut out a panel out of the side and put in a rear window from a pickup in for easy viewing.(IE. 67 Chevy PU size.) Why settle for only one pair of rubber arms, put in two or three and have your friends come over to help.
That's one of the DIY projects I want to build. I'm either gonna build a large one from plywood or buy one of those cheapies from the tool sale places and Dr. it up....... There's a store about an hour from me that gets defective Harbor Freight junk......some times they have blast cabinets with a large dent or broken hinges, etc......I stop by from time to time.... Other projects I want to build; hydraulic press, a tubing bender....some others I can't think of.... If you don't already have them, let me know and I'll send you some links to websites that have specs and tech builds of blast cabinets....
No doubt, I was doing layout measurements in my new garage last night. Was thinking I'd be willing to forego some shelving space for a bead blaster cabinet. Bueller, Bueller? Somebody must have some info pigeon holed away.
Mine is not quite done, but I used these guys here to build a BIG cabinet CHEAP: Mine is stell frame, aluminum sheeting 4' wide, 3' deep and the work area has 3' high wall. I can put two engines in there if I wanted to. http://www.tptools.com/product.asp?base%5Fno=6600%2D00&str%5Fbase%5Fno=6203%2DTRAP%2C6525%2DKITS%2C6525%2DTG%2C6600%2D00%2C&header%5Ftitle=Keyword+Search&page%5Fname=search%2Fkeyword%5Fresults%2Easp&search%5Ftype=cabinet+plans&size1=&size2=&gender=&ShowImages=yes&sq=0&cont=1&intPgNo=1&mscssid=2KPXT18NVAJM8H0FHK1K4UV42D500439 http://www.tptools.com/product.asp?base%5Fno=6525%2DKITS&str%5Fbase%5Fno=6203%2DTRAP%2C6525%2DKITS%2C6525%2DTG%2C6600%2D00%2C&header%5Ftitle=Keyword+Search&page%5Fname=search%2Fkeyword%5Fresults%2Easp&search%5Ftype=cabinet+plans&size1=&size2=&gender=&ShowImages=yes&sq=0&cont=1&intPgNo=1&mscssid=2KPXT18NVAJM8H0FHK1K4UV42D500439
Me and my Dad made one out of a old wood shipping box (thin verneer) has a tapered bottom and a vacume cleaner port and a glass window. Never could get it to feed well from the bottom so I just put a steel tube inside like the cheapo blasters have. All told I have nothing in it but for the cost of the sand. BTW it is big enough to hold a 34 Ford hood side no problem................
I saw a DIY blast cabinet that used toilet mounting flanges to hold the gloves on. Thought it was a slick solution to the problem.
Several years ago there was a thread about a company offering a kit for a 55 gallon steel drum. Seemed simple enough to roll your own. There was also an article in Auto Restorer some years ago about improving the performance of the typical HF style import.
There used to be a company called TIP. I think they are still in business. They sold diy plans for a cabinet built out of plywood. Assessories also.
Matter of fact, I just finished one up at work. Final cost was in the 400.00 range. It's 6'wide x 4' high x 2 1/2' deep. I can turn things around inside the cabinet without having to take the door off and re-position them. I thought about taking pictures for a Tech post but didn't due to time limitations. I try to put something together and post at a later date.
my best ones are on the computer at work........I'll see if I can find them again.... http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~radare/blastcabinet.html http://www.sandcarver.org/blast_cabinet_design.htm http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24748 http://www.frugalmachinist.com/beadblast.html ok here's one of the better ones....still haven't come across the one built out of an old dishwasher and there's one more good one... http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/0/007/article/Build_Your_Own_Grit_Blasting_Cabinet.html
I started building one out of a combine bin several years ago. It's one of my great unfinished projects. I bought the kit from TIP with the arm sleaves and window. It would make a hell of a cabinet, if I had room to use it.
That's a KICKASS idea! Now I really want to do that, with an old olive green unit with the big round window. Cliffy has one of the H-F units and it's pretty decent for the money, plus it's useable right out of the box. You'll need to hook up an auxiliary light inside (whatever comes in there doesn't work) and make sure to cover the plexiglass lens with a replaceable plastic film. That's what we did at the chrome shop I used to work at, they had a big roll of plastic and we duct-taped new ones on over the plexi. Worked good. A friend of mine made one out of a huge fuel-oil drum, like 200 gallons or something like that. I don't think a plywood one would last very long. we blew through 1/8" steel after a while from all the erosion back at the bodyshop I worked at.
Guys..... Tip Tools is TP Tools: take a minute and look at the links I sent!!! http://www.tptools.com/product.asp?...K1K4UV42D500439 http://www.tptools.com/product.asp?...K1K4UV42D500439
I have built a parts washer and I am now in the process of building a collapsible blast cabinet to set on top of it. I was working on it tonight actually. I just need to gather up the rest of my parts. Remember the old Coleman stoves? Remember how when you lifted the lid, the sides swung out? That's how this will be built. Two very handy tools only taking up one spot in the garage. I should have it done in a couple of weeks and I'll post up the pictures. When I'm done I figure I'll have about $75 in parts. The most expensive part will be the siphon gun. Hinges = Nickel piano hinges 28" at Lowe's 5 x $6.66 (I doubt I'll go this fancy) Cabinet latches = 2 x $.78 A plastic container the size of the sink to catch the abrasive = < $5 Siphon gun = $20 Rubber chemical gloves = $< $8 (Real blast cabinet gloves are $30 at Northern Tool) I'll use some scrap sheet metal for the panels. I already had a piece of plexiglass. I intend to use some leggings from some old bluejeans for the sleeves and sew them to the glove cuffs. Easier to do if you use the PVC dipped cloth gloves, but they take away some dexterity. I have a piece of screen like you would use in a rabbit hutch I will use for the grate. When I'm done, I will fold it all up, then put the lid on my plastic container and remove it from the sink so that I can use the parts washer again. Its all on paper or in my head right now.
I built one a few years ago. I should be at the shop tomorrow and I'll try to remember to take the camera along and get a few shots of it. Somebody asked me what I'd charge to make one for them.....I said I WOULDN'T....what a pain! Thought I'd never get it done. Built it fairly cheap with a bunch of left-over 16 GA. material from a couple projects at my fabrication business. Should have bit the bullet $$-wise and bought new material and cut it out right rather than piecing it together like I did. It has a 2' X 3' table and at least it works OK. Lynn
wow, good post....i plan on building one into a long workbench that I want to build for my garage. since its a 1 car garage and im limeted on space, i think it would be cool to have it also double as a blast and also a parts washer...... i.e. have a long table, and when you lift up the thick wood top on 1 side, there is the plexy top of the bead blaster, so when its not in use, you can use the regular table. same with the parts washer right next to it. info im looking for................. pump for the parts washer??????????? also what are people making the basin out of for hte parts washers? what is a good under 200 $ compressor for the blaster??????????????
This is the pump I used. Apparently its pretty popular because they run out of them alot. You CANNOT beat it for $10. Mine is pushing fluid 4' vertical through a 3/8" tube. You don't need pressure, just flow. http://www.homier.com/detail.asp?dpt=&cat=&sku=04725
Here's pictures of the blast cabinet I built and referred to in an earlier post to this thread. The small black hose going in the lower right hand corner of the opening is actually the foot control and doesn't stay there when it's in use. Sorry for the bad pictures and the cluttered shop.
Here is mine I just finished last week. Mostly from stuff I already had so I couldn't give you a cost. The table I think is an old silk screening table. The yellow sand catch is the bottom of an expired shop vac(wheels on the bottom to ease moving it), its blue top is the top of a 5 gallon bucket. The Sandblasting gloves are like $6 at Harbor Freight, may have been long enough to start with but I extended them buy sewing about 8" of vinyl on to them. The arm holes are sheetmetal A/C collars, attached to the gloves with hose clamps from the same department at HomeDepot or Lowes. The lights are just two clamp on work lights with 60 watt bulbs. They shine through polycarbonite windows siliconed to the top. The window is also pieces of polycarbonite that are set into the plywood. I used a table saw to cut the grove. Sealed up the cracks with silicone. The polycarbonite is old touch screen windows for rugged PCs I get at work. They still need something to protect them from the sand. Tractor supply sells window film that should work. TIP also has it in their catalog. Tractor Supply and Harbor Frieght both sell various blasting media in there stores. Attached my shop vac to the side close to the front. My TIP sandblaster is fed in through a hole lower down. I will be changing over to a foot operated gun. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jjlstanley/album?.dir=/9de5&.src=ph&.tok=phqVW5DB6n_dHNEF
A buddy of mine built one out of two old freezers. He cut the back out of one, and stacked them. Then put in a window and gloves. It worked good, and was plenty big. Unfortunatley I don't remember any other details.
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