I built my blasting cabinet based on plans from TP Tools. I later built
a closed box that latches onto the side for larger/longer items.
Being set up & ready to go at all times means I use it often. It's as
simple as hooking up the air line and flipping a switch for the light. I
also added a cyclone separator between the cabinet & my shop vac. This
helps keep the view from being obscured by the dust cloud and helps the
shop vac's filter last longer.
Aluminum Oxide is available in various grits and seems to be fairly long
lasting (but all media eventually breaks down and needs replacement).
Recycled ground glass (available from TP Tools and likely others) works
well and seems to have less dust. It might be a good 'all purpose'
media. Walnut shells is great for fine cleaning - like carburetors. Be
sure to clean out the cabinet before changing media - especially when
going from coarse to fine. BTW, be careful using glass beads - when (not
if) they are spilled it's like walking on icy grease!
An assortment of rubber plugs/corks will protect threaded holes. A layer
or two of duct tape will protect machined surfaces. Cleaning rusty
threaded parts is fun - after blasting they'll often turn by hand.
--
Eric Russell
Mebane, NC
On 12/26/2020 2:05 PM, Darrell Walker wrote:
> Iâ??m thinking of using some Christmas money on a bench top blast cabinet. I
> realize the small size will limit what I can blast, but that is about all the
> space Iâ??m willing to allocate, and it should handle most of what I would be
> looking at blasting.
>
> So a some questions for the list:
>
> 1. For those of you with blast cabinets, do you find yourself using it more
> than you expected? My first project would be cleaning up some suspension
> parts (mostly paint removal). I think enough projects come along that it
> would be worth having one, but I would love to be surprised to find
> additional uses.
>
> 2. What is a good all purpose, reusable media to use? I would mostly be
> removing paint, and some surface rust.
>
> 3. The first parts I would be cleaning have some machined surfaces (threaded
> holes, tapers, etc). How careful do you need to be to protect those areas?
> And what if the best way to do that? One of the parts will be a strut tube,
> which includes the stub axle. Iâ??m thinking that wrapping that area in duct
> tape might be a good idea.
>
> Thanks!
> -Darrell
>
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