Bead blasting filtration

[Davek0974]

Hi all,

been using my little sealey blasting cabinet for a while now, great little unit and using glass beads on aluminium.

The exit filter is now clogged though and the dust/air is blowing out past the door seals - something tells me that breathing air laden with glass dust is not a good thing

Has anyone fitted one of those red vertical filter things that can be found on the 'bay etc - trying to find out if they work or are a waste of cash etc.

Any other tips would be appreciated.

I also thought of a recycled Dyson vortex maybe?

 

[rtbcomp]

...

Has anyone fitted one of those red vertical filter things that can be found on the 'bay etc ...

I also thought of a recycled Dyson vortex maybe?

Link would be useful.

I used a Dyson in my blast room it didn't last long, but the vortex worked well. I put a tank inline with the suction side to let the big bits drop out first, there was just fine dust left in the Dyson.

 

[Davek0974]

Here we go,...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Small-Sa...=item3add39bb29:g:q0kAAOSwj2RbFqjO:rk:13:pf:0

 

[Wallace]

Someone on here found these on an Ebay 2 for 1 offer, I have one on each shot blast and just swap the hoses over. Has made a big difference to the amount of time between cleaning the filter in the Earlex Shopvac I use for filtration, that also has a paper Hoover bag on the outlet to reduce workshop dust, really needs to be vented outside to a dustbin.

 

[Dcal]

Here we go,...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Small-Sa...=item3add39bb29:g:q0kAAOSwj2RbFqjO:rk:13:pf:0

I have one of these units on my blast cabinet and it works well until the filter gets blocked (which doesn't take long)

There is a sort of vortex built in but it doesn't seem to take much dust out before the cartridge filter.
There is also a spring loaded plunger that is supposed to clean the filter which also seems to be an ornament.

When it gets blocked I clean the filter by blowing air through it from the center of the filter which causes more dust than the blasting process. if you do this be sure you wear a mask you would use if you were open blasting. (think air fed or really good particle mask)

I am thinking of rigging up a workshop dust extractor like this one https://www.rutlands.co.uk/product-image.php?size=zoom&image=/DK7108.jpg which i bought on offer for about £100 I think, but haven't got around to it yet. A vortex pre-filter would help here too.

 

[garethp]

I think I'm going to try on of these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dust-Sep...790924?hash=item3d6a9eb4cc:g:N8kAAOSwUZhbMxvT

When I get my cabinet running.

I'm not sure a woodworking dust filter would filter out the small particles from blasting which will do most harm if breathed in , I think the cheaper ones are more for wood chips and large particles of dust.

 

[Davek0974]

Thanks all, looks like a DIY option may be the way forward, something with cyclone pre filter then a filter then exhaust outdoors.

I'm wondering if the cyclone will work unpowered - just use the force of the air from the cabinet to swirl it and cause separation?

 

[Dcal]

No,
You will need good extraction to make it work. For a cyclone you need to accelerate the dust particles to make them drop out of the air-stream.

The real aim is to get air flow through the cabinet, then you will have a chance of seeing what you are doing. The cyclone etc. are just to reduce the amount of work the filters need to do, so reducing the amount of dust in the air.

 

[Davek0974]

Ah so that would be what the extra (covered) hole in the rear of the cabinet is for then - air inlet?? It had a little cover and a foam insert.

I could try a cyclone then the shop-vac maybe - its only intermittent use so less cost=good

 

[wristpin]

Cheap Chinese cyclone on a Henry, extra inlet holes in the cabinet and an extractor pipe running right across the inside of the cabinet.

 

[brightspark]

on my small bead blasting cabinet for beads I just cut a 4inch hole up near top of cabinet at the side and ducted outside with cheap flexible hose .theres hardly much dust off them my larger cabinet with pressurised pot is ducted outside and fitted with a 4inch woodchip fan. a fair bit of dust but it sweeps up easy

 

[Davek0974]

I have had fun with ducting outside unfiltered - some years ago i was turning a lot of cast iron on the lathe, this makes a bad dust that will eventually kill you, so i extracted it out the side of the shed.

After a month or two, i noticed my path, windows on the house next door and the wife's car all turning slowly brown - the rust was etching into the paint and took me days of scrubbing to remove, next door was not impressed. I guess glass bead dust will just wash away but oh what a mess the iron dust caused.

I will order up a cyclone and make something up for the shop vac i think.

 

[rtbcomp]

^^Blasting dust will do the same. I had a rusty spot on the bottom of my plastic bath for a while and the path between the workshop and front doors went rusty. It was even worse when I tried using chilled iron.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

the rust was etching into the paint and took me days of scrubbing to remove,

Nooooo......., what you needed was Iron-X or similar, scrubbing will only cause scratches in your [and your neighbour's] paintwork/windows etc which can look like a spider's web when the sun's on it - some folk believe it to be a sign of a 'polished' car, it isn't!! https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/carpro-iron-x

Or this, cheaper and does the same job

Which is available here https://www.halfords.com/motoring/c...cleaning/meguiars-mirror-bright-wheel-cleaner

 

[Davek0974]

Nice, thanks, luckily the windows were UPVC and it did come off ok and the car was crap anyway

 

[Davek0974]

^^Blasting dust will do the same. I had a rusty spot on the bottom of my plastic bath for a while and the path between the workshop and front doors went rusty. It was even worse when I tried using chilled iron.

Hoping as I'm only doing aluminium it won't be too bad

 

[bricol]

I have a high volume bathroom type fan thingie blowing into the cabinet, and one of those plastic cyclone on an outlet opposite the blown inlet. Works well, collects a lot fo fine dust.

The cyclones will work as long as there is an airflow.

 

[wristpin]

Some years ago there were reports of cars parked near rail lines, particularly where the tracks were running on viaducts, suffering paint damage from the fallout from cast iron brake shoes. Not sure whether trains still use cast iron shoes but the recommendation at the time was a week warm water solution of disolved oxalis acid crystals .
.

 

[500e]

Friend has one of those Chinese filters with 2 old cylinder vacks sucking for his wood works well.
I made a vortex for friend who was also turning Cast iron it dumped into a 205 ltr plastic drum, he is making a 1\2 scale steam traction engine so a lot of cast, the motive power for that one is a Clark fan assembly. After a while we could not lift the barrel & only a little brown staining
I started with this design in my head
http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=137.0

 

[Wallace]

Ah so that would be what the extra (covered) hole in the rear of the cabinet is for then - air inlet?? It had a little cover and a foam insert.

I could try a cyclone then the shop-vac maybe - its only intermittent use so less cost=good

That little intake is far too small and restrictive, I think it’s more of a filtered pressure relief for using the cabinet without filtration. First time I connected the Earlex vacuum to my small Clarke cabinet using that filter the viewing lid pulled in and bowed, the gloves stood to attention and I thought the cabinet would fold up into a little ball. Luckily, the gloves popped off the holders with a bit of a pop! A hole cut in the side and a motorcycle foam air filter sorted that out and is still on there. The bigger cabinet has an Earlex paper filter as an inlet, a bit big, just a temporary measure.

Aim for a flow across the working area in the cabinet, a shield over the outlet where the flow has to change up in direction will also help keep the large particles in the cabinet.