Recommend a sandlblasting cabinet?

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Since 2005 I've been working the Mojo in a rather small sandblasting cabinet, almost identical to the one offered by Harbor Freight. It's small (work area = 22"x33", steel for Mojolever is 35") and uncomfortable (gloves are short, armholes too close together). I'm ready for an upgrade.

 

I'm familiar with TP Tools and the models they offer. Can anyone recommend another manufacturer/vendor so that I have more options to choose from?

 

Thanks...

[upflying]

Besides a recommendation, professional blast cabinets are notorious for using huge amounts of compressed air. Often the capacity exceeds the compressors most of us use at home.

Not a recommendation but it helps to have a friend in the auto body business. I simply used his cabinet when I needed it. It was big enough to load four cage wheels.

[Tony_K]

Agree with Bob, and I have a larger than average AC. I have a 60 gallon upright twin piston 220v compressor that we used to use in my old shop. It sucked at powering our blast cabinet. It worked but took forever. My friend keep the cabinet and got a 150 gallon big boy AC. Now the cabinet works pretty well.

 

There is a Cyclone in S. Saginaw St. Burton (MI craigslist) for 600 bucks it's 4 feet wide. That's a good sized unit.

[10ovr]

You can also add another holding tank to your compressor,Lets say you have a 60 gallon tank,,Add another 60 gallon tank to it inline,,Now you have 120 gallons,,Compressor motor wont have to run as much to keep up with the blast cabinet ,,

[Tony_K]

Oh that is nice... May need to do that. Now back to Mitch!

[Satguy]

Mitch:

 

Check out Trinity.... Made in Michigan

 

Trinco Blast Cabinets

 

Air consumption depends on the nozzle size used. Smaller compressors will work but you will need a smaller nozzle. Obviously the material removal vs. a larger nozzle will take longer

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

You can also add another holding tank to your compressor,Lets say you have a 60 gallon tank,,Add another 60 gallon tank to it inline,,Now you have 120 gallons,,Compressor motor wont have to run as much to keep up with the blast cabinet ,,

 

I'd have to have a whole lot of tank capacity to give the compressor a break. I typically blast ten Mojo's at a time, taking a half-hour to do so; probably flowing 2/3 of the time.

 

Besides a recommendation, professional blast cabinets are notorious for using huge amounts of compressed air. Often the capacity exceeds the compressors most of us use at home.

 

Note that the gun/nozzle size is what sets the compressor requirement, not the cabinet's square footage. Granted, bigger cabinets typically come with bigger guns, but an appropriately-sized gun can be purchased separately.

 

My current compressor is good for 11 SCFM @ 90 psi, just barely adequate for the gun I have. Apart from getting a larger cabinet, I do want to upgrade the gun and compressor as well; I'm looking into that.

 

Tony/Bruce, thanks for the tips; will look into those.

[Smoky]

Mitch,

 

I built a blast cabinet, about 12 years ago, I got the parts kit from TIP tools. I'm delighted with it.

 

You could change the plans and make a custom size to better fit your Mojo bars.

 

I found the parts to be good quality, long gloves, bright lighting, foot-pedal control, and other bits.

 

I think my compressor is about as big as yours, and it's adequate, but certainly not over-sized.

[g_frey]

A friend of mine used a 6" diameter 12' long scrap pipe inline to the outlet. I do not know how many gallons of air but it was a lot. His compressor rarely cycled. Took time but not money. Still working after 50 years. Dont' forget a drain plug.

[g_frey]

Agree HF cabinet is a PIA, do not buy!

[Pilgrim]

http://www.eastwood.com/abrasive-blasting/cabinets.html

 

Pilgrim

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

I built a blast cabinet, about 12 years ago, I got the parts kit from TIP tools. I'm delighted with it.

 

You could change the plans and make a custom size to better fit your Mojo bars.

 

The more I look into this, the more I am leaning in this direction. A suitably-sized commercial-grade blast cabinet is gonna be expensive, heavy, and ungainly. This needs to go in my basement, which requires going through several doorways and down a set of stairs that has a left turn in the middle. Eastwood (thanks, Kent) has some polyethylene cabinets that are lighter - 200 pounds instead of 400 - but it's $900, and still looks like a challenge to move down into the basement.

 

If I make my own, I can size it exactly right for my needs, build in the features I want, and I can assemble it in the basement piece by piece (and similarly disassemble it if/when the time comes to move). I've ordered this book just to see what tips/tricks/advice they have, but I'm already thunking up a basic design involving a welded angle-iron frame and bolt-on plywood panels, with some parts (gun, lights) salvaged from my current cabinet, a few other parts (bigger gloves, window/frame) from TP Tools, and a few other items (perforated steel plate work surface, nuts/bolts) from McMaster. Estimating materials and new parts, I'm pretty sure I could build this thing for under $300 (and have fun doing it ).

 

 

[Pilgrim]

Mitch, this might not be up your alley, but when I very first started blasting I draped off a corner of the garage and used a gun that fed from a bucket on the floor. Stood right up close to the piece I was working on, breathing through a mask & hose (which you may already have)and having my big shop vac sucking up dust from close to the work. Blown sand fell to a tarp on the floor to be dumped back in the bucket.

 

The upside? You can work on a piece any size, including a car hood for a friend.

 

Downside? I will admit that no matter how well you dress for the event, you're gonna wind up somehow with sand in your skivvies - it's like going to the beach on a windy day.

 

Pilgrim