I am upgrading my home built barrel blaster cabinet http://www.barrelblaster.com/BarrelBlaster1.htm for a larger one based on the TP Tools 1436 pro restorer http://www.tptools.com/p/12,55_1436-Pro-Restorer-Abrasive-Blasting-Cabinet.html I am currently using a trigger operated blast gun but am thinking of upgrading to a foot pedal gun. Which do you guys prefer and why. I have never used one with a pedal so I have nothing to gauge against. Thanks! Mike
I always wish I had a foot pedal one, especially on pieces that take a lot of time to blast. My fingers get real tired after a while and a foot pedal would be so nice to have. Don
A foot pedal, it's much easier on your hand when doing a lot off blasting. On some parts I wish I had the option of an on/off switch instead of either.
definately foot pedal. as said above, + you can flip the gun from one hand to the other quickly without fumbling around. Also, oftentimes I'd move the gun out from my hand maybe 6 or 8 " to get into some corner and just hang onto the hose. works good on large objects that pretty much max out the cabinet.
Boy do I envy you for buying that Pro model blaster. I am on my 2nd HF one and it pretty much sucks and leaks media all over, no matter how I seal it up. If I ever hit the lottery that will be the first thing I replace. Don
I have built several cabinets out of sheet metal roughly following the plans for the plywood one from TIP tools, they all work great and each probably took less than an actual days work to build. No leaks. I used "recycled" sheet steel plasma cut from old rubbish containers, industrial engine hoods, etc.
Thanks guys! Pedal it is. I am not buying that cabinet. I am building one similar to it. The Barrel Blaster is nice but rims are close to the limit. I decided it just was not large enough when I did all my window garnish mouldings for my 57 Chevy Wagon. A couple of them just do not fit in the barrel and had to be hand sanded to bare metal.
You will be much happier with the foot pedal. We had one on the blast cabinet that I had at school (Davis sand blasters out of Oregon) and it worked great.
I actually bought a Barrell Blaster about two years ago and ordered it with the optional wheels and foot pedal. It works great and my only complaint is the viewing window has to be cleaned or changed fairly often. The guy that builds them is a die hard Mopar guy and has a large collection of cars.
Interesting thread. I'm working on building one of similar dimensions (our old pool filter) for soda blasting. Alum. transmission cases drive me crazy and after Eagle wheel cleaner, Easy-Off, brass bristle dremel + light oil, it still doesn't look right. Are the side glove openings and window usually just sealed with rubber gasketing? I bet I can make those leak without trying.
If you are building from scratch, think about the ergonomics. I'd prefer to sit comfortably (bar stool?), with the glove holes roughly 2" above elbow height, and the view window far enough from my face so I don't fog it, but not so far I have to move my head to see the corners. Glass or Plexi is fairly cheap, the whole front should be a big window. Maybe work from a corner instead of the flat face? I'd want the light to be shining from my perspective or close to it, not from the back pointed toward my eyes. If the whole front is clear, you could even have a movable light and shade to keep reflection off but light up the work. I'd also want to be able to stand things up or hang them from inside, so I didn't always point down toward the rack. It's easier to paint the side of a car than the hood, especially if you are limited in arm movements!
I'm building a cabinet at the moment from a truck sleeper. It's 7 1/2 ft wide and 40 inches deep. Whatever I can fit thru the side doors of the sleeper I should be able to blast. Using a foot pedal.
Hey gang I don't get to contribute as much here as some guys but listen up. I got tired of using a trigger blaster but didn't want to pay 100 bucks for a foot unit. Thought about it for a few minutes. Went to my tool box and started looking for old brass blow guns that I had used when a machine repairman in the 60s. The place I worked used these big old rebuildable brass guns. I built a base to hold it upright oot of scrap steel put in a 90 for air in a 90 for air out put it in air in to blaster took a tie wrap and fastened trigger open. I told myself I'll put a moon gas pedal on it to make it cool but I had to try it fastened it to a piece of 2x6 hooked up air and stepped down on that big old brass thumb lever. It worked great never got around to making it look cool but cost was the price of the two 90s I didn't have. Try it you'll like it!
Thanks RodStRace, I will take that kind of thing into consideration. Bright point: I forget I already have a cheap carry-able sandblaster so that gun will get me by for the moment.
When we built my blast cabinet I used the gun from one of those cheap 5 gallon hopper blasters.I found it worked out better after I added a second tube down into the sand hopper to let air get right near the siphon pick up tube, what I did was run 2 copper tubes side by side from just above the work table/screen.I hooked the blaster hose to the top of one tube and left the second one open My cabinet is all scraps of outdoor plywood and I've had it about 10 years now with no problems.total cost to build was around 20$. I used big (1 gallon)coffee cans to make the glove mounts I cut the can in half cut tight round holes for the gloves and slid the cans in with the part with the rim facing inside the cabinet then I just snipped a bunch of 1 inch slits around the outer end and folded over the tabs and screwed then to the face of the cabinet sandwiched under a plywood ring so no sharp edges. Gloves attach with a couple 8 inch heater hose clamps.
I use yard sale shop vacs I intend to build a cyclone tank but I found that if I use a 5 gallon plastic pail between my shop vac and the cabinet the vacs last longer. I just put 2 holes on the lid so a section of the vac tubing fits tight in it I let the intake from the blaster extend about 3/4 way down inside the bucket and keep the hose to the vac closer to the top this lets some of the dust settle out of the air. You can buy plastic cyclones that snap on 5 gallon plastic pails in wood working stores or off the net. I bored a 3 or 4 inch hole in the top left rear corner of my cabinet and I put an auto air filter over the hole I used an old chevy dog dish hub cap as a filter cover it's what I had handy at the time. on the right rear side I cut a hole that the 3 inch?(big hose) for a shop vac fits into tightly.I run 3 inch hose from the cabinet to the pail and then from the pail to a shop vac. I put a piece of the wifes old nylon stocking over the end of this hose in the pail. The shop vac has a regular filter and foam pre filter it still kills shop vacs but not as often and you find them everywhere real cheap or free because the hoses or fittings get lost or broken. I made the complete front of my cabinet open as an overhead door to load but as nice as it is to load you end up dumping sand/dust on you loading so I do plan to add a side door .The nice thing about the full open front is you don't have to lean in to get heavy parts in or out much easier to lift out things like heads or such.I can also lift the entire top box off the legs and hopper unit when moving it. I could try to take some pictures if you want.
Well, today I hustled down to the favorite chinese tool store in order to meet a buddy who was headed from work function back home (out of town.) I offered to meet him along his path and he suggested the tool store. So, they had a returned but perfectly fine soda blaster and I paid about $55 off the current price. Stopped at the restaurant supply to pick up a few tubs of baking soda. I ended up running my little compressor hard but I got a lot of a case blasted that I needed to. Feels good. Need to finish that and a bellhousing. Then I'll get back on track with my cabinet build in the near future.
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