Projects Visibility in Blast cabinet - any tricks ?

When replacing the thin acetate sheet behind the gl***, it was a pain in the neck (literally) trying to do/undo the screws around the frame from the inside of the cabinet. I flipped the screws around and put some locknuts on the inside and wing nuts on the outside. A piece of the self-adhesive spongy tape takes up any gaps.

 

I probably get an hour out of each tear off.

 

The gl*** was hinged on The Davis sand blast cabinet that I had in the school shop I taught in and They said to and I did use Saran wrap to cover and protect the gl***, Depending on how close to the window they were working in the cabinet it could last quite a while or just a few minutes. That cabinet had a big dust separator on the vacuum system to collect the dust plus a cloth bag on the outlet.
I've got one of those Cyclone dust separators for mine that I plan to run in line with an old shop vac I have with the outlet of the shop vac running to a dryer vent outlet thing to vent outside the shop.

 

I’m my cheap HF blast cabinet I use the protective sheets on the gl*** and 2 layers of window screen. Was on there 20 years and still the same tear off.

 

There is a lot of good information to be had here. I only blast with gl*** beads, so I don't have much of a dust problem but I will try the window screen method to see if it helps me to keep from changing the plastic film more frequently.

 

I have to agree here.
You have used up the medias life expentency.
Try new media and turn down your air pressure.. when changing out your media , thoroughly blow out the cabinet.
If you use cheap media , do not expect it to last long.
I have had many skat blast cabinets and good luck with the clear lenses that they sell.
Vic

 

I work in the sign industry, so I use the LED modules for channel letter signs. They are 12VDC and have 3M double sided tape on the bottoms. Cleaned the top inside of my blast cabinet and stuck 6 of these LED modules inside, drilled a small hole with a rubber grommet to p*** the 2 wires through, then wired a 12VDC,60Watt to 120VAC LED Power Supply to the modules and to an extension cord on the other end. When the LED modules get messed up from sand, I rip em out and toss some new ones in. I've had this set up for 10 years and have only replaced the LED's once.

 

I have had good luck with Ballotini "impact (gl***) beads, 70-140 sieve size. They clean well, keep metal erosion low, and last quite a while before they pulverize down to pumis. It all depends on how dirty the parts are that you are cleaning. I try to degrease & wire wheel as much heavy rust & dirt as I possibly can off the parts. I get mine from Grainger part # 2W580. Up here the 50# pail I bought today was $69.10. They have other grits available also.

 

Dan Gelbart on YouTube suggests using the gl*** that is manufactured to cover the infrared scanner at the cashier checkout. Says it is super resistant to scratches, impact resistant and inexpensive. I looked for the exact video where he mentioned it but I couldn’t remember which one.

 

Old thread but I welded on some huge metal casters to the bottom of my cabinet so I could roll it outside when I use it. Face it into sunlight for great illumination and run the shop vac without worrying where the dust goes, keeps it all outside.

I added a beefy expanded steel floor under the cabinet to set my buckets of sand on, so it's incredibly heavy but not top heavy/ tippy to move around. Have been very happy with this setup. I would always get dust everywhere when I ran the cabinet inside.

 

Not much discussion of the importance of media. Life expectancy, effectiveness, cost…anyone have an opinion based on trial and error?

 

The plastic media is more for removing paint. I know when I was in the Air Force that’s all we used and it didn’t really work on corrosion except for the heavy deposits. I think the baking soda and walnut shells is for aluminum.

 

I just got my HF cabinet up and running in the last 2 weeks.

I bought it for a 100 used, but looked like new. Best part it's an older one so it means the main body is one piece so it doesn't have all the seams of the new ones.

I took it apart, cut the heavy center support off of the sides, so now I can lift the center support and take it out anytime I want incase I drop something down into it. Also doing this gained me an extra 1" deeper in workable height.

I then took and removed the factory foam sealer and then scotchbrite to the seams and joints and urethaned them and re***embled.

Went to harbor freight and bought a Bauer dust separator, then off to home depot and bought their black Friday 16 gal. 5 horse shop vac for 60 bucks ( this thing is awesome!) and I was off and running.

I have no problems seeing inside the cabinet. Was going to do some other mods for dust control but see no reason to now. It will actually almost pull the gloves to full attention when you turn this vacuum on then you can just slide your hands easily into them...

Seriously I HIGHLY recommend using the Bauer and buying that cheap vac for these cheaper cabinets.....


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I recently had a guy tell me he quit using the mylar and plastic films and started using a new piece of gl*** and he reported it worked pretty good, a piece of regular gl*** is not expensive and sometimes free , a gl*** cutter is cheap and cutting gl*** is not hard, I'm sure it gets cloudy also but it's something I intend to try, I'll let you guys know how I come out. HRP

 

At the shop I used to work at, this is what we did, cut up old storm windows and swapped out as necessary. No plastic sheets, but we did have a piece of steel screen that stood off the gl*** a bit.

They didn't last forever but they lasted quite a while, it definitely worked.