small clarke blast cabinet improvement

[brightspark]

i bought a small blast cabinet just for beadblasting small parts and tools as i allready have larger cabinet .i set it up and started using it expecting good results i soon found out it was crap the hopper holding the media is only tapered down 2 sides the full length of cabiet .the pickup pipe sits in the bottom sucks the media away and it heaps up at other end of cabinet and sucks dry. when it manages to work the gun pulses trying to pick up more than the gun can handle .so decided to improve it by taking out the picup pipe making some side plates sloping to the center drill a hole so the media can fall through into into a colection box. an adjustable pickup pipe is mounted in from the side which alows air as well as media to be drawn up pipe through the gun which stops the pulsing .its now at a constant rate of flow. the legs had to be extended to fit box underneath .the small filter in the cabinet is no use at all that was replaced by cutting a 4 inch hole in side of the case a mesh filterplate and 4 inch duct fitted. when blasting the media is blown up from hopper making it dificult to see that was overcome by fitting a rubber mat on the mesh base leaving 2 inch short round the edges for media to fall back and refill .only one light fitted at the back so i fitted one at the front as well . the cabinet works well now i wouldnt realy recomend anyone buying one unless u just intend to clean real small parts with the modifications .there larger cabinets are half reasonable but still suffer the bad pickup pipe .but can be altered . heres a few pictures of the mods nothing to complicated

 

[rtbcomp]

A plastic mat is a good idea, it stops paint coming off the mesh onto the bits you've just cleaned, I would have thought rubber could mark items as well.

 

[steelcityuk]

It's the worst thing I ever did buying a blasting cabinet, this lead to the purchase of a better compressor and then one better than that, all to clean a few parts =0)

Anyhow I bought exactly the same cabinet and have exactly the same problems as you found. I was thinking along the same lines as you, altering the hopper to a central point. Do you think it would work better still if the media dropped down into a storage/pickup pot directly under the cabinet or do you think it would have trouble syphoning up the media?

Nice work by the way.

Thanks.

Steve.

 

[brightspark]

yes it would be better with a storage pot underneath as a fair bit of media still hangs round the sides. its a big improvement from standard but could be better still in hindsight the only thing u need to do is make the adjustable pickup pipe under your collection pot from the side

 

[steelcityuk]

When you say adjustable do you mean an adjustable air bleed? How does this help?

Thanks.

Steve.

 

[brightspark]

When you say adjustable do you mean an adjustable air bleed? How does this help?

Thanks.

Steve.

what i found was the media heaped up on top of the pickup pipe end and tried sucking it all up at once which made it pulse .dropping the media through a hole in the bottom 20mm round into a small colection box it forms a pyramid. i put a sliding pickup tube in from the side which can be adjusted its slid slightly into the pyramid media while the gun is running and it lets the tube suck up air as well as media giving a constant flow

it works on simlar principle as a hoover pipe put pipe on floor it will suck to the surface and wont pick up introduce a little air with the slide on hose and it will suck up dirt fine the adjuster pipe is in the aluminium square box in picture it has a half inch hole the oposite end to pipe to introduce the air

 

[steelcityuk]

Ah I see, that makes sense. Thanks for the info.

Steve.

 

[atconut]

i've been messing around with various pickup pipes trying to overcome the gulping effect. i made a large "U" bend out of 15mm copper pipe that sits in the bottom of the cabinet one end conected to the pickup pipe and the other end sticking up out of the grit so it can suck air. at the bottom of the "U" i drilled a 10mm hole to let the grit in but the hole is pointing down so rather than the grit falling into the hole and blocking it. it is sucked up into the hole that way when you stop the pipe dosent fill up with grit. hope that makes sence

 

[Shox Dr]

The best I found was a tee off the inlet in 1/8 pipe with a valve to control the air flow, zip tied to the pick up, it airyate. (how do you spell that lol) worked not too bad, but never as good as a blast pot

 

[atconut]

i've got both in my cabinet. i put a blast pot under my cabinet there is a thread about it (cabinet glass) anyway the blast pot is far more effective but i think they are very temprimental. when i need to the power i use the pot but the syphen gun is good for a quick little job

 

[Shox Dr]

Temperamental? in what way I find mine a damn sight better than suction

 

[rtbcomp]

After I've blasted an item in the blast room with a pot I take it outside and use a syphon gun in quick bursts to get the bits I've missed. It's suprising how much more you can see with the naked eye in good light!

 

[Shox Dr]

After I've blasted an item in the blast room with a pot I take it outside and use a syphon gun in quick bursts to get the bits I've missed. It's suprising how much more you can see with the naked eye in good light!

....and the very reason I'd like to build a small powder coat oven, as although the guys I take my stuff to are very good, non of them (any powdercaoters) will have my trust im afraid to say

 

[brightspark]

blast pots arent tempremental if u follow a few simple rules .keep the media dry. sieve it for large particles before u use . sieve it after use if u are re using it . use a fine sieve to get the dust out . make sure u have water seperator on the end of line and keep dry . larger jets are more forgiving for consistency in size of media but the small ones will be fine with a little care i use suction and pressurised in the larger cabinet i have depending on whats been cleaned

 

[steelcityuk]

Great info folks.

Thanks for all the valuable input. Now I've got a replacement compressor I'm hoping to crack on with the jobs.

Steve.

 

[atconut]

Temperamental? in what way I find mine a damn sight better than suction

blast pots are for sure a lot more powerful than a syphon gun but a syphen gun is a lot more forgiving if you're a bit lazy like me and don't always get out the big bits

 

[yalanc]

Excellent thread this...
Thought I'd share my clarke cabinet which is now a pleasure to use.

Henry hooked up to a massive panel filter inside and two mini floods shining 40w halogen directly on the workpiece. Increased volume too.

 

[brightspark]

Excellent thread this...
Thought I'd share my clarke cabinet which is now a pleasure to use.

Henry hooked up to a massive panel filter inside and two mini floods shining 40w halogen directly on the workpiece. Increased volume too.
View attachment 40737 View attachment 40738

well done. quite a good mod with the lights as the original one is crap also the extra height will make a diffrence as the cabinets are quite small

 

[123hotchef]

I might have to steal some of these ideas for my cabinet before I start using it do it does not upset me!

 

[123hotchef]

Thinking about this I may make a valve to fit the bottom so I can control what media is sucked up