Home made blasting cabinet for cheap? Who's done it?

Now that I finally got my old monster air compressor up and running, I'm now salivating to do some sand blasting. New blasting cabinets are outrageously expensive and the used ones I've seen locally are likewise way too much money for how small they are.

Naturally, I want to build one.

I've heard of guys using old refrigerators with the drawback being that the sand eventually destroys the plastic liner. Seems like a lot of work for something designed to fail sooner rather than later.

I think I remember a HAMBer making one out of a 55 gallon drum before. I searched but could not find the thread. Part of me thinks that would be too small... I mean, as long as I'm building the thing from scratch it would be nice to fit a Model A door or axle in... and if I'm going to build it, I'm going to make it my height. Every blast cabinet I ever used was made for wee folk and my back can't take that for long.

So, you guys got any ideas for non-traditional cabinets? Did I mention that cost was a factor? Sure, I could go buy 16 ga. steel and weld up my own if I had that kind of money, but if I can get out of this for next to nothing for the cabinet and only splurge for the hardware (gloves, pedal, gun, etc.) I'd be doing good... and I know other guys on here would probably be interested as well.

What would you do? Plywood box lined with thin sheet metal? That's where my mind is at, but I'd like to hear your ideas.

 

I bought plans from TIP about 10 or 11 years ago and built one. I have used it a TON and it works great. I'd do it again.

 

If you're going to be blasting doors and other large objects, why not just do so outside? Forget trying to build a cabinet big enough for those parts.

Cabinets are great for small parts. The biggest thing I'd want to blast in a cabinet would be a wheel.

Make sure you have a mask and goggles, or a full face setup, and go to town outside. Then you can walk around the piece and really get at it from better angles, etc.

 

tp tools has a decent one for 399 plus freight,youll probably spend that in time and materials and will have to buy the gun and nozzles any way.they give you everything you need to start blasting the day it arrives.i built one out of wood and eventually it starts leaking at the doors and seams and then youve got sand everywhere including your lungs,trust me silicosis is not a fun way to die.not to mention cleaning sand off everything in the garage.

 

Don't know about home made, but I'm not sure you can make them cheaper than this.

Depending on the size you need. And they sell them on sales much cheaper sometimes.

http://www.harborfreight.com/40-lb-capacity-floor-blast-cabinet-93608.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/industrial-blast-cabinet-with-3-doors-94274.html

 

Exactly. Unless you are Stretch Armstrong, you are going to have a hard time reaching everything unless you make the cabinet three times bigger than the part you are trying to blast.

 

tech archive
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143854&highlight=sand

 

I saw somewhere once where a fellow made one out of a fibergl*** shower stall, just made a plexi-door for the front and used a regular gun inside of it... looked pretty cool and cheap

 

i'd make one out of a pick up cab 70s 80 s style(doors on each side..gl*** to look thru) ...then use a pressure pot sand blaster and strain the collected sand and reuse it....siphon blasters are **** no matter how nice the cabinet.

 

vent at the top helps ....looked like rust smoke coming out of a tee pee

saved at lot of sand

with minimal leakage

 

the post above is what i did today....most efficient blasting i've done yet....much better than my blasting cabinet which is 3x slower even with the recycle and straining of the sand

 

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If you use a van with lift up rear door its easy to load. 2 holes in the rear door for your arms, look though the rear window to see what you are blasting. Make the rear wall out of ply and hang a rubber curtain (loosely), just a bit out from it, this way the sand hits the rubber and drops down. Add a light to see.

Vans with 2 swinging doors can be used but one big swing up door with a big rear window is better IMO. Doesn’t have to be too deep as you need to be able to reach the panel with the sandblaster.

 

Cheap ?
The wood box was lying around .
The fan is a dryer fan . As its engine is dead , another free engine makes the fan turn . There s a piece of plasti tubing to connect both .
Inside there s a grille from an old bbq
.


Quite no sound , really efficient .

 

Mine (built by a buddy) is an upright 6' plywood box with a lift-door in front, a HD piece of expanded metal screen inside, and a nice hopper below. An old GM blower motor exhausts the dust out a shop window. I don't aim at the plywood- it holds up fine. Bought a pair of rubberized gloves from HD and the wife sewed them onto cut-off sleeves from an insulated jacket. Done.
It was heavily used when I got it from my buddy and I've blasted whatever would fit from 2 cars myself- it must be 15 years old by now.

 

I am making one using a 55 gal barrel and cutting a 35 gall barrel to be the hopper on the bottom. "horizontally" that way the media runs down easily. I am using toilet flanges "pvc" and a sliding rear window from a pickup. I welded legs to the barrel directly. I plan on buying perforated metal from a metal suply shop hopefully out of the s**** pile to go between the two barrels. I bought a harbor freight blast nossel and a pair of there gloves. to mount the flanges I made flat boxes and welded them to the side of the barrel. I hope this makes sense I really is simple.

 

Somebody just gave me a portable sandblaster today!!!!! Exactly what I was looking for..can use it outside and with a custom made cabinet.

I'm a welder, so I'm making mine out of 14ga. steel, drilling a hole for the gun to go through and will have the bottom emptying back into the portable unit through a pipe in the bottom. I'm making mine 36" long by 20" deep by 20" high and then adding the bottom to it. Big enough to fit a wheel, most suspension parts, etc...
For bigger stuff I plan to use it portable and on making a large pan to catch the sand to reuse. Really like that built hut though!!!!

However, I once rented an apt. from a guy who had a homemade plywood cabinet in the ba*****t. Simple and easy....plywood screwed together, braced in the corners, and used old cookie sheets to line it with. Seemed to work pretty well.

 

I built my blasting cabinet out of an old washing machine. Took the door off the top and replaced it with a $20 piece of safety gl***, Made a bottom out of a s**** piece of metal and bought a gun from Canadian tire for $20, cut off some old blue jeans and got my wife to sew some gloves on the ends of the legs. The top already hinges to put parts in and your good to go. For bigger parts build a tent outside and your good to go with bigger parts as well using the same $20 gun from Canadian Tire. For sand you just need a clean 5 gallon bucket. The cabinet fits quite nicely in the corner of the shop.

 

Wow, thanks for all the ideas guys. K.I.S.S. is the rule here I think.

 

http://www.barrelblaster.com/

If you want to get a little fancy

 

Any idea what an outfit like that costs?

I just had an epiphany and remembered that I have a medium sized chest freezer in my ba*****t that ****ped out this summer... if memory serves its from the late 60's early 70's and is lined with enameled metal and not plastic... That might be a good place to start. Hmmm. the gasket on the lid is good sized and with a couple of large lunchbox latches would clamp down nice and tight...

 

Heres one I just made

 

I made mine out of used plywood. Just copied the basic design of a blast cabinet from a magazine picture (but made it to a size that I wanted). I used "expanded metal" for the floor. I put wheels on one end and keep it outside beside the house (garage is too full). When I need to use it I just wheel it around the house into the garage, attach the air line and the power for the lights. I use a shop vac to clear the dust in the cabinet as I am blasting. Works great and have not had any issues with the plywood wearing away, I (from experience) do not see the need to line the inside with sheet metal. By making it out of plywood you are able to design it to the size and shape that meets your needs. If you use a 55 gal drum or a freezer, then that is the size box you get. I empty the blaster after every use and store the sand in my garage to prevent the possibility of the sand getting wet. Not sure if I can add a picture to this after posting ... I will go out now and take a pic of it and repost if nec.

 

I suppose this depend your gun . With mine , the plywood disappears slice after slice ...

 

I made one out of plywood as well and its holding up fine after 2 years. I really don't see the need to make one of metal unless your going to be blasting parts every single day.

 

Ok, there should be a pic here. Notice the used trailer wheels that allow me to easily move the cabinet. The wood box on top houses two spot/flood lights. And I was able to make it to exactly the size I wanted, either to enable it to accept a certain size part or for the cabinet to fit in a defined area in my garage. It isn't pretty but it does work well.

I just read someone else's post regarding the plywood failing, I am using a siphon feed unit and my pressure (because of a marginal compressor) is usually around 90 when I am blasting(just fine for wheels, headers etc). If you find that the plywood is wearing away just grab some sheet metal and line the cabinet in the areas that will be in the line of fire of the gun.

I should also add. I really don't do a lot of blasting but this is so handy when I do need to blast something. My compressor will not support a pressure feed I don't think. I use a portable sipohon feed sandblaster that was around $40 here in Canada. I use the hopper of the cabinet to catch the sand. I sift the sand after use and refill my portable blaster with the sifted sand, this prevents clogging the gun. This may not be the fastest setup or the best but it works just fine for me.

 

Made one from a 200 gal fuel tank. Put a window and holes for gloves. Went to the lumber yard and got a piece of plexigl*** for the window. I am using a pressure pot to blast with.

 

ONE BIG MENTION HERE IS DO NOT USE PLAY SAND OR REGULAR SAND YOU FIND AT MENARDS OR FARM N FLEET STORE, THAT STUFF IS VERY HAZARDOUS THAT STUFF WILL f--K YOUR LUNGS UP FOR LIFE. USE ONLY MEDIA MADE FOR SANDBLASTING. Made mine out of ply wood too, its a top lid w Plexigl*** window, it has a flat bottom, I just made a small trap door to open up with a screen over a bucket under it and when the sand starts piling up I just s****e the sand over to the trap door and it filters and fills the bucket. Got the heavy duty gloves at HF for 5 bucks. I think I got a total of about 20 buck into it. found an old fluorescent light about 18 inches long and attached outside at the top of the gl***. As for blasting out side for big objects, lay a 25x25 tarp down go ahead and blast away, then use your shop vac (clean it first) to recycle your sand. no sense in wasting good sand.

 

Thanks for the safety tip. I only plan on scrimping for the building materials - some things (especially where safety is concerned) its not worth cutting corners.

 

I suppose with a closed cabinet like we have , and a fan / vacuum to send the sand dust away , there s not a lot of risk for the lungs ..
Anyway , we need a fan , even with gl*** bead , because we can t see anything inside , in spite of the light

 

Fyi I tried to use an old freezer but the plastic lining did not hold up for ****. I was hopping I could have a huge blast cabinet easy. Fail.