blasting cabinet queries? (have read some posts!)

[scoobyc]

First post so please be gentle. My mate has just bought a sealey double access blasting cabinet (sb974 from looking on internet at a guess) for blasting alloy wheels etc at his work (a bodyshop repair business he's just taken over). He's pretty busy with lots of other things just now so i've taken an interest in his blaster to try and get him sorted and by far and away this forum seems to have the most helpfull info He's got the usual first problems from searcing here (poor lighting - keep an eye out for 12v lights and now know where to fix them, replacement screens - clear cellophane from ebay will be ordered shortly!) but the main one seems to be dust extraction, is there a cheap/easy way to rig something up? I can usually get my hands on filter materials etc and have an old wet and dry hoover that he can try but is it ok to try this, are there any pitfalls? Is it worth spending a bit more money on it to setup it up properly from the start? Also it seems totake approximately an hour to do a 17" wheel at the moment, does this seem reasonable? Thanks greatly for looking and sorry for all the questions

 

[stormin]

If you're doing it to make money, 1Hr to blast a wheel is a lot of expensive time!
What compressor have you got?
Blasting is all about air and nozzle size to match. I know he's only just got it but consider changing to a pressure blasting set-up it's a lot more efficient. Also consider the type of blast media, some work better at lower pressure, like glass grit, so are less air hungry.

Having seen professional cabinets made by Guyson and the like the dust extraction system is almost half the size of the blast cabinet, consisting of large suction motor with 4" diameter tube and four large filter bags in the cabinet.

Suppose it depends on how much you speed up the blasting to how much dust extraction you require. Going at your current rate a household vacuum cleaner may just do it.

 

[rtbcomp]

Suction - http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=10736

Use a pressure pot to speed the job up, those syphon guns aren't up to much.

Don't use grit on alloy wheels. Use aluminium oxide to start with, then glass beads, then polish & buff if required.

As an alternative to cellophane the plastic film they use to back books with may be better, I've yet to try it. Use the non-adhesive type
http://www.bgu-man.co.uk/groups/BKC_CLPF?goto=0&su=oah3cd806n0c3t1cm588id4ig3%2F0.02744500+1226007104

http://www.care4books.com/packaging/page.asp?type=cat&gid=1

 

[lummocks]

I've rigged a hoover up tempory on ours today....and it seems to work absoloutly fine...obviously if your doing it on a permanant / professional basis you'd need a dust extractor.

 

[scoobyc]

thanks for the replies
regards grit, i think, its aluminium oxide he's using at the minute, its a black colour and not too rough and leaves a good suface for priming.
compressor is Compair CYCLON 107 and has a flow rate of 1.24mcubed/minute on it which i reckon is approx 44cfm? The nozzle fitted just now is approx 9mm but there are others.
If he was to go for a seperate extractor anybody any ideas for what sort of spec/price he should be looking at?
Thanks again, its much appreciated, sc.

 

[rtbcomp]

44 cfm in a cabinet that size??? Is the Cyclon 107 a compressor or a cyclonic dust extractor? Googling is a bit confusing.

Like I said on the thread I mentioned earlier, I use one of these http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cde35b-dust-collector/path/dust-extractors-2

It's more than adequate for this cabinet.

 

[stormin]

thanks for the replies
regards grit, i think, its aluminium oxide he's using at the minute, its a black colour and not too rough and leaves a good suface for priming.
compressor is Compair CYCLON 107 and has a flow rate of 1.24mcubed/minute on it which i reckon is approx 44cfm? The nozzle fitted just now is approx 9mm but there are others.
If he was to go for a seperate extractor anybody any ideas for what sort of spec/price he should be looking at?
Thanks again, its much appreciated, sc.

Looking here:- http://www.hodgeclemco.co.uk/index.php?page=ME_airconsumptionchart

9mm nozzle sounds about right for your compressor. At 44cfm I'm very surprised it's taking an hour to do a wheel. I'd have said 20 mins max.

Suspecting it's down to abrasive pick up problems.
Should expect you've got a good water seperator between compressor and cabinet given it's a body shop.
The grit isn't getting damp in the cabinet with condensation overnight by any chance?

 

[scoobyc]

heres a pic of the compressor (sorry about focus its a camphone) to help, maybe i've screwed my numbers up?

To be fair it seems to pick up ok, occassionally its a bit on off for a split second at a time but not very long at all.

 

[stormin]

heres a pic of the compressor (sorry about focus its a camphone) to help, maybe i've screwed my numbers up?

To be fair it seems to pick up ok, occassionally its a bit on off for a split second at a time but not very long at all.

No checked the numbers on compair web-site and it's 44cfm at 90 psi or something like, as you said.
What size is the hose to the cabinet and the hose to the gun inside?
Just wondering if you're not getting that full 44cfm to the nozzle.
Not sure the Sealey's are the greatest cabinet and probably not designed with such a large airflow in mind. Should be though if a 9mm nozzle was provided with the cabinet.

 

[scoobyc]

sorry for not replying, i'm not back to workshop til tomorrow and i'll post up answers then to above queries, thanks.

 

[scoobyc]

air supply to cabinet/hose is 1/4"bsp and i think the pick up hose for the grit is 1/2" id poly hose to the 1/2" metal tubing pickup at the bottom of the collector. Cheers c.