homemade sandblasting cabinet?
 

Hey guys and gals
Thomas came over lastnight and set up a sandblaster that he bought from HF. We tested out on my 30G Sears compressor and it worked better than expected. We blasted a part of my trailing arm in a cardboard box in my driveway :shock: . So our next step is to built a better containment cabinet as it gets a little dusty and also to find a way to adapt my HD wet/dry vac to clear the dusts. Has anyone built their own sandblasting box or have any tips on how to do so?. Thanks

I like your box idea! Especially since it's disposable and doesn't take up a lot of space.
I usually just do it on the grass. (Small quantities)
A cabinent would be nice because good media is pretty expensive.
I would think HF would have something pretty cheap for a relatively small cabinent. I can't wait to hear some other ideas!

I have a small one but can’t get gloves for it. Take a look at Eastwood to get some ideas but essentially a box with a really good sealing door, glass panel to see what’s going on and holes for gloved hands to hold blaster and part. A light in side is nice, and you need a way to collect the media. Most use a siphon type pickup. If you let the media sit for awhile it works better after it’s been sifted and heated up to get rid of the trash and moister. If you use “glass beads” be real careful they get into everything. Pets, kids, spouses, no one likes the glass in their feet. I use the big cabinet at Ft Bevier’s auto hobby center, nice benefit for prior service.

A friend bought the HF version and it sucked. There were some small gaps in the seals and welds and the media was all over his shop in no time. You also need a pretty beefy compressor to run the unit for more than a few minutes.

A buddy has a nice mid sized setup I can use if anyone is interested, just supply some new media and we can blast away.

I am thinking about making a plywood box with sealing compound between the joints and integrated shop vac outlet and airline inlet, view window with lexan, and lights. Something big enough for the trans to fit in, cause it'll be the next victim. Andy

I have a neighbor who did exactly this. He's a 60's muscle car guy, so has more rusty parts than you can imagine. It works out pretty well for him. IIRC, the most expensive part was the gloves.