Professional sand blasting cabinet

[Brad93]

anyone got a decent sand blasting cabinet? Something big enough to get things like crankcases, wheels, etc in.

We have a small benchtop one (in pieces!) do not useful and have a full hodge clemco pot and compressor setup but the big setup is not practical or economical for smaller items.

There seems to be quite a few on eBay.

What’s the deal with the dust extractor? Not got that on the benchtop one? Surely it just blocks whatever filter is used?

 

[gaz1]

@Burdekin hes got the large version you can see it on his workshop build thread

i think its about 4ft wide or slightly bigger good height inside of it 2 hand holes to insert gloved hands

not much i can say about them really

 

[Burdekin]

Mine's a Guyson Super 7, work where throwing it away. This is the specs of the new one: https://www.guyson.co.uk/finishing-...dustrial-blast-cabinets-euroblast/euroblast-7

 

[Wallace]

The filter units have a shaker system, either manual or automatic to shake dust from the filter media. Cyclonic filters work well too.

 

[hotponyshoes]

I have got the big clemco (I think) cabinet one.

There are 2 cyclone filters, one to separate the dust and one to reclaim/recycle the shot.

You could probably fit a couple of alloy wheels in there at once.

The advantages are, it's pretty quick, for smaller parts it takes longer to load the part, and put the mask and gloves on than it does to blast the part off.

It also does a good job of keeping most of the dust contained.

Downsides,
Its a bit long winded if you need to change the grade of shot you are using.

It's all metal and condsation makes the shot damp and it will stick to the drain chute. Seems to work a lot better in the summer although it is normally ok with a corse grit type.

The 'filters' on mine have never blocked, the shot separator does a pretty good job with most shot, the dust part doesn't seem to catch much, I think most of it gets sucked outside.

Edit: actually I have changed the fan set up on mine as the original big on was 3phase and I have fitted 2 smaller single phase ones so that's why the dust catcher does not work.
Either way I think the fan/s need to be vented outside

 

[hotponyshoes]

What’s the deal with the dust extractor? Not got that on the benchtop one? Surely it just blocks whatever filter is used?

There is not an actuall filter on mine, it's just a cyclone thing so no element to get blocked.

At the least, you need some sort of dust extraction for the cabinet otherwise you can't see anything after 30seconds.

The next consideration is if you want to try and recycle the shot or if you are happy to empty and reload it manually each time?

It takes a bit of effort to get the dust extraction rate correct, not enough and you can't see. If you have too much you will start to draw a vaccum against the cabinet and it still won't suck out.

Mine sucks the used shot from the bottom and the dust from the top, originally these outlets were both connected together. I fitted 2 smaller fans, one on each.

It's not perfect though. It's not in use at the moment but when I get it going again I might see if I can link the 2 fans in series or find a bigger one or something...

 

[brightspark]

I use a 4inch woodchip fan on mine. it can still suck out the air when you put the blast hose in at 28cfm at 90 psi

 

[hotponyshoes]

I think my fans are about 4".

I think my problem is that the dust extraction fan is just vented to atmosphere so draws plenty of air out easily. This seems to overpower/fight against the other fan that is pulling the used shot through the original cyclone system and has more restriction on the route.
So, I can blast ok but it eventually runs out of shot and I either have to unload it manually from the cab and stick it back into the hopper or, turn the dust fan off and wait a while for the hopper to re-fill itself.

I think the cure for this is one bigger fan, I don't know if I will be able to rub the 2 I have in series and expect to get twice the flow from them?
Other option is I find a 4" Y piece and join them both that way.

 

[armalites]

I've got a Vixen Jetair VM36. It is a great bit of kit, has big twin filter extractor on the back.It has a pressure pot and a turntable. It does need a lot of air. The Vixen stuff is good but they absolutely take the mick with spares prices. Filters are washable but they take time to dry so I wanted a spare set. I think the list on them is £500 + vat for the pair. By chance I found a guy who had ordered a load directly from the manufacture in Poland, even though he had to buy 10-20 it was still less than buying filters for his two machines. I bought 4 spare ones for £300 delivered. The grit valve is a standard part which can be bought for £35 from a valve stockist, Vixen want £163 +vat, we are not talking about a similar product but a part with the same part number.

Once you've used a proper cabinet you'll wonder how you ever managed with a bench top suction one. I've had a Mini subframe in mine.

I bought mine used, I think it was about £1800 but a new one with the same spec at the time was £9K

 

[hotponyshoes]

If I was wanting to do it on a regular basis I would get a shipping container, fit a extractor fan each end, line the floor with pallets, make a wire mesh table to go in the middle.
Have a pressure pot, air fed mask and suit.
Load all the parts in, do a few hours blasting. Go and have a shower.

You could just buy 1/2 ton of media then lift the pallets and shovel it through a sieve when you run out.

 

[Brad93]

I've got a Vixen Jetair VM36. It is a great bit of kit, has big twin filter extractor on the back.It has a pressure pot and a turntable. It does need a lot of air. The Vixen stuff is good but they absolutely take the mick with spares prices. Filters are washable but they take time to dry so I wanted a spare set. I think the list on them is £500 + vat for the pair. By chance I found a guy who had ordered a load directly from the manufacture in Poland, even though he had to buy 10-20 it was still less than buying filters for his two machines. I bought 4 spare ones for £300 delivered. The grit valve is a standard part which can be bought for £35 from a valve stockist, Vixen want £163 +vat, we are not talking about a similar product but a part with the same part number.

Once you've used a proper cabinet you'll wonder how you ever managed with a bench top suction one. I've had a Mini subframe in mine.

I bought mine used, I think it was about £1800 but a new one with the same spec at the time was £9K

That looks a right bit of kit. I’ve come across vixen degreasing machines, something of the likes I also want!

 

[Brad93]

If I was wanting to do it on a regular basis I would get a shipping container, fit a extractor fan each end, line the floor with pallets, make a wire mesh table to go in the middle.
Have a pressure pot, air fed mask and suit.
Load all the parts in, do a few hours blasting. Go and have a shower.

You could just buy 1/2 ton of media then lift the pallets and shovel it through a sieve when you run out.

That is what we do at the moment but for small items it’s just too wasteful and the media gets damp in container.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Using a corse media I am fine but sand or soda just get damp in my workshop.

For small jobs you could just put any sort of cabinet into your container and maybe duct the dust outlet towards an existing extractor.
Maybe fit a suction type gun and mount the pickup in a bucket on the side that you can fill with sweepings from the floor!

I had some success keeping sand in plastic buckets/tubs with clip on lids. Soda needed vacuum bagging although a mate of mine just mixes salt in with his although I have heard salt dust is not healthy.

 

[Brad93]

Using a corse media I am fine but sand or soda just get damp in my workshop.

For small jobs you could just put any sort of cabinet into your container and maybe duct the dust outlet towards an existing extractor.
Maybe fit a suction type gun and mount the pickup in a bucket on the side that you can fill with sweepings from the floor!

I had some success keeping sand in plastic buckets/tubs with clip on lids. Soda needed vacuum bagging although a mate of mine just mixes salt in with his although I have heard salt dust is not healthy.

We use JBlast supafine which is copper slag or something

 

[frank horton]

Brad 93......had a similar problem.......made a rolling cabinet outta 4x8x4 sheets of 3/4 plywood..screwed together with battens........
open top with a stable type door.....made an angle iron frame/chassis and mounted the whole lot on a set of big casters.......
move it outside to do the work if it aint raining... I can lean over the door to sand blast......
the dust just disapears out of the top and the blast medium being heavy just falls to the floor.....
then all I do is shovel it up and reuse it as necc.......
I have a large pot type blaster, driven from a huge shop compressor for the short jobs but constant or big jobs I have a road compressor......
when finished I store the new medium bags in the cupboard and the whole thing fits in the coner till next time....
cheap and cheerfull BUT does the job....easy to accomadate long peices, bumpers etc etc......
suits me anyway......

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good morning gents.
I have two, one suction cabinet that I use for garnet, works OK but the dust extraction not so well. It dosen't take long till you can't see anything inside. I have connected a 2000cfm suction extractor through a 4" hose which does help. Overall the suction cabinet, not as good as the pressure cabinet.
The second cabinet has integrated dust extraction and has a small pressure pot under the cabinet floor which automatically refills the pot once the popup valve drops back down after the pot is depressurised. The pressure pot works much better because of the grit speed. The higher the grit speed the greater the impact energy the faster the cleaning action. The pressure cabinet I only use plastic abrasive to blast clean airless paint pumps that have come in for rebuilds.