Popular Post cletus Posted July 11, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted July 11, 2021 I realise this is pretty high levels of barrying, but these things are so handy for small parts , brackets, suspension parts, etc etc, but they definitely benefit from some tricks to make them work better Share them here 1. Vacuum is a definite must have to suck the dust out and take it outside the environment. My next mod will be a 20l container to help separate the dust before it gets into the vac, as you have to stop and clean the filter regularly 2. I put a water trap on the cabinet, this stops 90% of the water getting blown onto your blasted part . This worked much better at the cabinet end of the air hose 3. The lamp they come with sucks and any lamp you put inside gets munted from the sand quickly so I just got a $20 bunnings led work lamp and put it on the outside of the window 4. Dust sticks to the window pretty quickly so you have to stop and clean it all the time. I started to use meguiars quick detailer spray wax stuff and that stops the shit sticking to the window, I hardly have to clean it any more 5. You need a decent compressor, I got a twin cyl belt drive one that is 190lpm and it keeps up fine 20 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHarry Posted July 11, 2021 Share Posted July 11, 2021 The ceramic tips the guns usually come with are pretty shit and the hole opens up pretty quick with use. When this happens the venturie effect is reduced and it doesnt pick much sand up. There is two options. Replace the tip regularly when it wears. Which most people do Or there is a company in chch that specializes is sandblasters and sells some fancy tips that cost like 250$ and last "forever" (we go one for the bast cabinet at work like 3 years ago. We were replacing them every couple days and since havnt replaced the fandagle flash one. Cant rememebr where we got it from but can find out) Work has a machineryhouse one thats pretty decent otherwise. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ~Slideways~ Posted July 12, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2021 I bought a cabinet a little while ago from Machinery Warehouse. Slightly different design but probably made in the same place: I found that the pick up tube is terrible, its just useless. Any pressure from 50psi to 120psi and a big air tank, it just barely works. I tried all sorts but it just wasn't very good at picking up the media. So I modified it like this so the sand pick up is from the bottom trap door, using 40mm steam pipe and some 19mm heater hose back to the gun through a hole drilled in the side of the cabinet. Got the idea from these 'metering valve' kits people sell to do exactly this: It was made from what ever I had available to test the idea, that nut welded on the top had a ball valve tap on it but it was too small to let enough air in. Works great without the valve. Now it works awesome, constant flow of garnet. Now its actually fun to use and not constant frustration. I do still occasionally have the gun getting clogged so just cover the outlet and let the air bast backwards through the feed tube and then its good again. I'm currently fixing up a ST202 Celica, some parts could fit in the cabinet: 17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kicker Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Good thread, agree with all the recommendations. I'm in the process of adding a separator, my old vac gave up the ghost after rawdogging it for too long. I'm only using glass bead at the moment, love the finish, here's an old wheel I use as my compressor hose reel 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testament Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 I use a drum with some water in the bottom as a pre filter, the inlet from the cabinet goes down almost to the water level with the idea being the dust gets caught in the water as it flies down into the vessel out of the inlet pipe. seems to work ok my free vacuum hasnt died yet and almost no dust comes out of the vacuum outlet which I pipe to outside. 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 heh just like an oil bath filter 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adoom Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 I have the same one as @cletus. I could definitely do with it being a little wider. It's not quite big enough to fit the engine crossmember in. I cut a hole between the gloves and siliconed in one of those cheap LED floodlights. Now I have issues with it creating shadows, so I want to put another one in the top. I made a cyclone dust collector out of a 20L bucket, some ~50mm plumbing pipes and my old vacuum that had lost all of its wheels. The bucket lid is thin so I screwed a bit of wood to it to have something to glue the pipes to. You put a straight pipe in the center of the lid, stick it into the bucket a bit, not flush with the lid. This goes to the vacuum. Right on the edge of the lid you put a 90 deg bend(inside the bucket), point this so the air and dust goes around and around the walls of the bucket. The other end of this goes to the cabinet. It seems to work well. I definitely must try what @~Slideways~ did with the pickup. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bling Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 I used to run one of those garbage 3in1 bathroom ceiling heater / extractors. Gave off good light, if not a little toasty, but could fit different bulbs. Ran pink garnet which seemed to last well. Water trap was bolted to the unit and I used to run 1-2 air hoses from compressor so a bit more allowance for the air the cool / condensate. Ran the hoses to make sure I was outside of my environment. Silica dust is no joke. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearded Baldy Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 Some great ideas here fellas. I have a benchtop side loader that i use, for the 15 seconds at a time when my 20l compressor has enough charge to pick up the sand haha. Have my old falcon lpg tank i plan to drain/wash, to turn into an auxilliary holding tank. There is also the old 50's workshop compressor tank at work i want to get off the boss. Add some wheels to the legs it already has and mount the blaster on top of it. Must be 300l on its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bling Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 You'd want to be sure of the inside condition of the tanks. Saw one on youtube that did a fair bit of damage when it let go in someones garage. I don't leave my compressor full anymore 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregT Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 1 hour ago, Bling said: You'd want to be sure of the inside condition of the tanks. Saw one on youtube that did a fair bit of damage when it let go in someones garage. I don't leave my compressor full anymore And how many open the drain cock regularly ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickJ Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 2 hours ago, Bearded Baldy said: Some great ideas here fellas. I have a benchtop side loader that i use, for the 15 seconds at a time when my 20l compressor has enough charge to pick up the sand haha. Have my old falcon lpg tank i plan to drain/wash, to turn into an auxilliary holding tank. There is also the old 50's workshop compressor tank at work i want to get off the boss. Add some wheels to the legs it already has and mount the blaster on top of it. Must be 300l on its own. Another warning... Careful with that approach, you still won't have the airflow to do the work. Small compressors often don't have high duty cycles, the instructions state not to use air while running/filling etc. Pumping up a larger tank will give you more work time, but the compressor might get too hot getting there. I recently found a 2.75hp compressor that I was keen on, good flow etc, but it was only rated as low duty cycle, unfortunately had to increase my budget 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearded Baldy Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 Compressors are always drained nightly at work and home, but the old beast has been very well oiled on the inside of the tank. Old pump nearly pushed more oil than air for years. I had planned on a ply frontage so clothes can't get close to the belts. I have had this little antlia running nonstop for 3 hours once, its warranty is long gone but i can't justify buying a new compressor until it dies. So will keep on trying to make things work better, in the short term at least. I have a fucking old 3hp single phase motor i have considered hooking to a new 2cylinder pump if i managed to get the old tank. But that is more toy money than i can spare at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transom Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 I’m liking this cyclonic filter and or water bath ideas - have been running a cheapo China carbon pod filter as prefilter for the vacuum - it’s amazing what it catches but astounding how much it still lets thru + 1 on fit a decent light and now keen to try miracle spray on the screen and some glass bead 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Vapour Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 One thing to look at is the gun. They are normally junk. Have a look at BNP guns. Machinary house has a bnp copy. https://www.machineryhouse.co.nz/3SC0300 Original https://clemcoindustries.com/products/blast-cabinets/blast-cabinet-accessories/bnp-suction-blast-guns/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Vapour Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 Also nozzle size is important to match to the cfm of your compressor The link below has a link to a pdf for this. https://sandblaster-parts.com/blogs/product-information/27731139-sandblasting-nozzle-cfm-chart-to-size-your-pressure-nozzle 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearded Baldy Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 Interesting. I should be using a 3.2mm nozzle at the most. Might have to bodgy something up and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kws Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 These are great tips. I'm looking to buy a cabinet very soon for some light work at home, is there any disadvantage to the top loading style like repco has, vs the side loading style supercheap has? I'm thinking the top loading would be easier to load bigger items into, but has a bigger area it needs to seal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Vapour Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 1st thing I think of is comfort. Do you want to be leaning over looking down while blasting for an hour? 2nd thing would be moving things around to get the blast angle. Shallow cabinets would become annoying quickly with larger items. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Vapour Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 For light. My blaster has a window in the roof. It then has a led flood light on that. Fully lights my 900x900 cab no problem. But I don't have the dust issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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