I just spent about the last hour going over some old threads on sand blasting cabinets. I'd really like to get one, since I have so many small parts I'd like to clean up, but reading some of the horror stories about silica and needing supplied air respirators, and the mess from leaking (since a shop vac doesn't do a very good job), I'm just not sure the pro's outweigh the cons.

I probably shouldn't be to concerned with my lungs at this point, with being a professional firefighter for almost 25 years. I probably have so much crap in them already (but I guess I could always bring home an SCBA from work when blasting :thumbsup:

Seems like lots of people got the cabinet from HF (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47603) which I could get locally from them for $299 + $21 tax, but what about this one from ToolsPlus (http://www.toolsplus1.com/basicblast.htm)? It looks basically the same, is $50 cheaper and ships for free. I haven't seen any mention of this cabinet anywhere in the searched threads

You do not need a supplied air respirator for silica. Silica is a particulate and any well fitting particle respirator will do the job. Supplied air makes the operator more comfortable but it's not necessary for safety.

Tom

I bought mine from TPTools. I have the 780 Top Loader. It works fine. My shop vac gets most all of the dust. I use a standard respirator and wonder if I really need that.
http://www.tptools.com/p/432,53_780-TL-Top-Load-Abrasive-Blast-Cabinet.html

Infact, if you look at the firt pic in this thread you will se it.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220976

I bought this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-Sandblast-Cabinet-Tool-Air-Compressor-Sand-Blaster_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742Q2em153Q2el 1262QQcategoryZ63700QQihZ008QQitemZ180232528243QQt cZphoto

Works great - just get yourself a GOOD fine dust respirator mask from Home Depot ($30) and make sure it seals good. If you are like me, your head won't be in the cabinet more than once every few months just blowing off some parts. If I used it a lot I'd be more concerned I suppose. I do take all the precautions with the mask and some good ventilation in the shop...that crap blows everywhere.

I also ran a bead of silicone around every joint inside the cabinet, then covered them all with duct tape...and that stuff still escapes the cabinet. I use Black Magic from Menards - its about $5 for a 20 lb bag I think. CHEAP and effective. No silica content in that stuff either.

One downside to these cabinets and the black magic media - the light inside SUCKS. I set a spotlight on top of the plexiglass cabinet window...but becareful because mine melted a little from the heat. Any suggestions for better lighting inside the cabinet??? It is really hard to see what you are blasting.

I have a good cabinet but I still set it up next to a window that I run an exhaust fan in when I'm blasting to catch the air borne particals.

I bought this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-Sandblast-Cabinet-Tool-Air-Compressor-Sand-Blaster_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742Q2em153Q2el 1262QQcategoryZ63700QQihZ008QQitemZ180232528243QQt cZphoto

Works great - just get yourself a GOOD fine dust respirator mask from Home Depot ($30) and make sure it seals good. If you are like me, your head won't be in the cabinet more than once every few months just blowing off some parts. If I used it a lot I'd be more concerned I suppose. I do take all the precautions with the mask and some good ventilation in the shop...that crap blows everywhere.

I also ran a bead of silicone around every joint inside the cabinet, then covered them all with duct tape...and that stuff still escapes the cabinet. I use Black Magic from Menards - its about $5 for a 20 lb bag I think. CHEAP and effective. No silica content in that stuff either.

One downside to these cabinets and the black magic media - the light inside SUCKS. I set a spotlight on top of the plexiglass cabinet window...but becareful because mine melted a little from the heat. Any suggestions for better lighting inside the cabinet??? It is really hard to see what you are blasting.
Sounds exactly like me, even the light and the melting part, LMAO
I just used a Ridgid large shop vac and has worked great for 3 years..

I havent read any of these replies. if you want a blast cabinet in my opinion the ONLY place to buy one is TP Tools. (the best on the market)
ive had there 960-SE model for 6 yrs. with NO issues of dust or anything outside of the cabinet so no need for a respirator.

the bottom line is you pay for what you get. buy something cheap and you get the headaches buy quality and you have no issues.

I havent read any of these replies. if you want a blast cabinet in my opinion the ONLY place to buy one is TP Tools. (the best on the market)
ive had there 960-SE model for 6 yrs. with NO issues of dust or anything outside of the cabinet so no need for a respirator.

the bottom line is you pay for what you get. buy something cheap and you get the headaches buy quality and you have no issues.

That 960-SE sure is nice, but for blasting a few parts here and there, I think it may be out of my price range. For $1000 less, I kind of like that one on ebay that Brian mentioned. Just would need a few modifications

if go to Carlisle or Hershey you can pick it up for $9??.00 something.

not saying you need that one its just the one that I got. thay have other models.

My Harbor Freight $300 cabinet works great and doesn't leak except when I open the door! I installed a magnetic base work light inside as the flourescent that came with the cabinet just doesn't put out enough light by itself.

Looks like a lot of good responses to the question.:thumbsup:

Over the last year I have put out a lot of information on respirator protection, so I feel obligated to throw my 2 cents in here with the rest of you.

How much sand and bead blasting can a hobbist get by with and not endanger his lungs. A lot probably depends on the individual himself, some can smoke for years and not get cancer, and others get it from secondary smoke.

Yesterday down at the end of my street, four houses down on the corner, a young man in his late twenties I guess. He waved me down when I drove past, wanted to show me some motorcycle parts he painted and air brushed, they looked really good.

He said he was building a little addition to his garage so he would have more room to paint, not real big, but good enough until he can buy a place out in the country and go after it without worrying about the neighbors.

He has waved me in before to look at his stuff, its all stuff on the side, maybe a car or boat or whatever, all part time.

So I tell him he he should look into getting some type of supplied air.

He says what is supplied air, he had never heard of it, and wanted to know what I was talking about.

Anyway, i'm getting him up to speed on how it works, but I was a bit takin back he didn't know such a thing existed. But on the same note I didn't have a clue on how much information there is on respirators, until I went to work in the power plant, and they made me take the training.

As far as sand and bead blasting, you will get some protection from a respirator, but supplied air is still the way to go.

If you only use a respirator, try and be clean shaven and get one that fits you. To those that are first reading about this, on my web site I have some information on respirators, it wouldn't hurt to read it, to the others that all ready have read it, when your on here, and just kind of surfin around, do a little checking to see if theres anything new and better out there, keep yourself well informed.

Rob

On the side of our cabnet we hooked up an old vac hose and dumped into a 5gal bucket with and extension piece of pvc into about 6" of water on the other side of the lid we hooked up the shop vac and when we first tried it it would suck the gloves off the cabnet. On the back side of our cabnet is a 3" hook up so you can bring in fresh air and we still had to cut some vents in the top of the bucket to stop with sucking the gloves off the cabnet. We bought a cheap halogen light from HF and but it in the cabnet gives us plenty of light,

Good luck wro87

TP makes some small units. I believe they have a small bench top for around 300 bucks. I also have the 960. Never a problem. other than the normal wear & tear on nozzles & glove no issues. For blasting media i use some stuff made buy Dupont called STARBLAST it comes in 50 lb bags for like 8.00 a bag works very well. trust me buy one from TP because after you buy a cheap one and it spits & sputters and gives you greif you will buy a TP anyway. Plus after your done with it I'm sure you would have no trouble selling it if you needed.

Lot's of good advice here. I got mine from these people:

http://www.cycloneblasters.com/floor.htm

It's also seven or eight years old, no problems, and the dust control system works well.

If you wait you should be able to purchase the HF cabinet for $199.....seems to be "on sale" around here at that price at least once a month.

If you have the cabinet inside then you should probably think about running a hose from your dustvac outlet to the outside of the building.

If you have it set up OUTSIDE and are using a respirator then you could also consider running a good strong fan blowing air from behind or beside you, out away from the cabinet. This is in addition to the dustvac setup...just another measure to keep any residual dust that floating around in the air away from you.

The ToolsPlus cabinet appears to be the exact same cabinet as the HF cabinet....like I said...wait awhile and you should be able to pick up the HF cabinet for $50 LESS THAN THE ToolsPlus cabinet.

The version that HF currently sells (at least down here) is slightly different from the ToolsPlus style cabinet...same size but it now has the flourescent light recessed up inside an additional metal "box" that runs across the top of the cabinet. Also..they have changed the blast gun to another style as well as added an air coupling on the front of the cabinet. This is nice as it eliminates a spot that leaked on the older cabinets (on the older cabinets (like the ToolsPlus one you show) there is just a rubber grommet and hole where have to snake your air supply hose through to hook up to the gun.

On the new version there is a male air coupler fitting that allows you to just connect your air supply up OUTSIDE the cabinet. Another benefit is less hand/wrist strain as the air supply line that runs from this fitting to the gun (inside the cabinet) is a smaller, MUCH MORE FLEXIBLE type hose....after blasting a bunch of parts and "fighting" against the weight/thickness of a regular air hose running all the way to the gun, this "new set up" is MUCH more comfortable to use.

EDIT: I looked at the ToolsPlus pics again and apparentlty that cabinet also has the external coupling for the air supply. Still....wait and you can get the HF unit locally for a lot less....with no shipping charges (assuming you would pay shipping on the ToolsPlus box which would not be cheap).

I also agree with the other comments on this thread...TP and others make some VERY NICE cabinets and the HF unit can be a little "space constrained" with some parts (15" wheels, etc). The way you need to think about "space and size" considerations is this....don't just look at the door opening and think..."OK...that's big enough to just slip a wheel through". Instead you really need to think about the ergonomics and space inside the cabinet ONCE YOU HAVE THE PART INSIDE. You can get a 15" wheel inside the HF cabinet but from personal experience I can tell you it's not a whole lot of fun to blast and try to rotate, flip, etc. This isn't a big deal unless you contemplate really doing a lot of larger stuff but still it's something to be aware of. Bigger is usually ALWAYS better when it comes to blast cabinets.. but there are other things to think about such as the overall cost and where you could spend some of the money you save. Good luck

I just spent about the last hour going over some old threads on sand blasting cabinets. I'd really like to get one, since I have so many small parts I'd like to clean up, but reading some of the horror stories about silica and needing supplied air respirators, and the mess from leaking (since a shop vac doesn't do a very good job), I'm just not sure the pro's outweigh the cons.

First I'd like to point out the total mis-understood concept of a 'sand' blasting cabinet. You should not actually use 'sand', that's why the right name is 'BEAD BLAST' Cabinet. You use a clean media such as glass beads, crushed walnut shells, aluminum oxide, etc.. Sand should be reserved for 'outside' use in a pressure pot version. If I have a 'reclaim' unit attached to the 'BEAD BLAST' Cabinet, I would not think I would run sand through it. And also there would be no real need for a respirators since you don't have your head in there with the 'windstorm' going on in the cabinet.
Yes, that HF cabinet can be had for $199 + tax, and even sometimes they put a coupon out for another 10-15% off of that. As mentioned, TP tools has stuff, they even have a retrofit kit for the 'cheap' cabinets that will improve effeciency over the china made guns & pickups.
Less not to forget about the 'air supply' also, a good compressor is in order, but that's been covered before. Only I'd like to metion that a cast-iron twin-cylinder (oil) is the way to go with at least an 80 gallon tank. Attach an 'air dryer' also & your good-to-go.

Sand is $7 and change for a hundred lbs, thats why I use it.

You still should wear a respirator to get some protection, if the media doesn't get you, the paint or rust or whatever goes airborne, might even have some lead based paint mixed in, you don't know for sure, might be filler and primer and paint.

Bead blasters are nasty, you have to fill them, clean them, blow off your parts, once you fire one up, your into it.

I won't even hook up the air hose to mine without supplied air on, and it stays on through all the blasting, blowing off the parts, everything is done before I take it off.

We used to run high and low volume air samplers when guys were welding and grinding on metal, then the cartridge and paper filter were sent into chemistry, looking for radioactive isotopes, but if you saw a printout of the different metals alone, you would wear some protection.

The next time somebody runs a bead blaster, take a couple minutes and wipe down the top of your cabinet, then when your done take a brown cotton glove and take one swipe across the top of the cabinet, see if you see anything on the glove, thats a good way to check how tight it is.

Rob

Bead blasters are nasty, you have to fill them, clean them, blow off your parts, once you fire one up, your into it.
Rob

I guess you never used a quality one I dont have any of these issues in my garage.

but dont get me wrong I do understand the need of a respirator for some things.

I guess you never used a quality one I dont have any of these issues in my garage.

but dont get me wrong I do understand the need of a respirator for some things.

It sounds like you have a really nice one. Some questions here, I may get one like you have.

Who makes it

How big is it

What do you blast with

How often do you use it

How often do you have to clean the dust collector

And how much money would it cost me

I have a large Eastwood and its pretty messy.

Thanks

Rob

I use mine outside. The sunlight helps illuminate the parts inside and the dust stays outside my garage.

It sounds like you have a really nice one. Some questions here, I may get one like you have.

Who makes it; TP Tools. ive got this one should be able to get it on a show special for $999 http://www.tptools.com/p/875,53_960-...g-Cabinet.html (http://www.tptools.com/p/875,53_960-SE-Patriot-Abrasive-Blasting-Cabinet.html)

How big is it; 28" Deep x 46" Wide x 28" High Work Area

What do you blast with; Glass bead

How often do you use it; Depends if I have a project going then it can be 2 to 4 hours on the weekend.

How often do you have to clean the dust collector; Once or twice a year.

And how much money would it cost me; when I got mine it was $950 that included the dust collection system and 150 lbs. of blasting material and other accessories.

I have a large Eastwood and its pretty messy. I was going to get an eastwood until I found TP Tools

Thanks

Rob
...

I just measured this eastwood special, its 48'' long 30'' deep and 31'' high in the back and 25'' in the front, it has a 1' x 2' window with two lights, and no dust collection system, just a hookup for it, I use those fleet farm $28 vacs.

I should have bought one from Tp Tools, but my two sons and I had about 30 motorcyles, a lot of junkers, and we were in the heat of the battle, and bought the eastwood one, I think it was around $1200:mad:.

I put a carbide nozzle in right away, and it has never gave me any trouble.

I just got back from a steel supply, picked up 3 sheets of 16 gauge steel 4' x 8'.

I'm going to build two extensions for it that I can put on and take off fairly easy, I hope.

I'm going to take pictures of all the cutting and bending, the whole deal from scratch, then I'll put it on here.

I'm slow, so it will take me a few days.

Anyway, the only benefit with sand is the price, I don't know how much a hundred lbs of glass beads would be, but the sand will get right with the program, I run 120 lbs off the compressor regulator, and that goes through probably 120' of 3/4'' black pipe, then a 50' air hose, and three in line filters, I don't have a moisture problem, but that took some rework on the piping, but I don't need an air dryer.

I'm going to do some of my baseboard heater vents for the house, and I had to pressure blast the cross member and floor support for the chevelle, these extensions should handle anything up to around 75'' long.

That way I can do everything in the garage thats heated.

Anyway, thanks for the information.

Rob

heres what TP Tools says about sand,
(People use the terms sandblast, sandblasters and sandblasting when referring to these machines. However, we do not recommend the use of silica or any type of sand in our abrasive blaster cabinets.)

heres what TP Tools says about sand,
(People use the terms sandblast, sandblasters and sandblasting when referring to these machines. However, we do not recommend the use of silica or any type of sand in our abrasive blaster cabinets.)

Theres a couple of reasons for that, one for liability because of the silica, and the other one is there dust collectors can't hang in there with the sand.

And possible a third would be if the sand gets just a little moisture in it, it spits and sputters.

One more, sand will eat up ceramic nozzles pretty fast.

Rob

As a follow up to what I was mentioning about the HF unit last night...got home today and, as usual, there was one of their "Sale" flyers in my mailbox. Looks like it's "on sale" again.....$199. Lot # (or Item #) is 93608. Call your local HF and check on it.

Just an FYI if you are still considering this or the ToolsPlus cabinet. No need to make a decision as it will be "on sale" again when they send the next flyer, and the next one, and......:D

EDIT: I forgot to mention this also....There is a 15% off coupon on the back page of this HF ad-newspaper/flyer...applies to any product..even the stuff already on sale. Again, consider what you will be blasting and how much....this cabinet can get a little "cramped" inside with things like wheels, etc.

I just got back from HF. Was real tempted to buy the blasting cabinet for $199. I probably would have if I had the 15% off coupon. Not sure why I didn't get a flyer in the mail. I did buy the parts washer though. On sale for $69. Just finished putting it together.

A question about that blasting cabinet. Will it work at all with my cheap 5 HP Craftsman compressor? I'm so tempted to take my Home Depot card (which I finally have paid off) and go buy a decent 2 stage compressor. Only problem is if I buy much more, I'll have to start parking my Chevelle outside, as the garage will be full

Bill I borrowed my friends cabinet and used it with my 3 hp 30 gallon tank and it worked well for the first 10 min. but it just couldnt keep up. We both need the bigger compressor.:yes:

I run a cabinet with a 60 gallon single stage CampbellHausfeld 2 cylinder unit I bought at Lowes a few years ago. It keeps up just fine with the blast cabinet. This unit, while not a superduty industrial compressor, moves plenty of air. Sure, it is running alot when I blast but I don't have any water problems at all (iron pipe and filters) and I don't use it everyday. I think I paid $600 for it about 4 years ago. It's the series that Lowe's has CHausfeld make for them..."Iron Force" or somesuch mean sounding name. It has 2 large cylinders..both the same size. It's not a 2 stage unit which would have run a bit more. So far I have not had one problem with it.

I can get you the CFM specs off of it if you need them. Some day I'll probably wish I had a 2 stage but in the meantime I'll work on wearing this one out.

I'll check with my next door neighbor to see if he got the flyer also...maybe he's not going to use it and I could mail the coupon to you.

Another consideration that has probably already been mentioned in this thread....the HF cabinets definitely aren't as "tight" as a TPTools cabinet due the the large number of holes for bolts, etc in the HF unit as well as the plastic door. If you are using it inside you may experience a little dust around it even it you chaulk it up real well. Sand,etc and 90 psi of air has a way of finding its way out of anything. The TP cabinets have FAR LESS potential "leak points", if any. Another thing to think about if you plan on having the cabinet inside.

Patton, that compressor sounds similar to this HUSKY 60 Gallon Cast Iron Air Compressor (http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100083906) at Home Depot. Specs at 135 PSI maximum pressure and air delivery 11.5/10.2 SCFM @ 40/90 PSI. Good enough for blasting?

I got one from here and there awsome. http://www.badboyblasters.com/ I got the $600 one and my dad got the $1000 one. They have the vacum hooked up in the back and no need to hook up a shop vac like some of the cheap ones. I looked at the hf ones and if you don't have the extra money to spend on one there not bad but if you want one to last and work better you need to spend a little more.

I got one from here and there awsome. http://www.badboyblasters.com/ I got the $600 one and my dad got the $1000 one. They have the vacum hooked up in the back and no need to hook up a shop vac like some of the cheap ones. I looked at the hf ones and if you don't have the extra money to spend on one there not bad but if you want one to last and work better you need to spend a little more.

Not sure which blaster I'll get, but I did buy that compressor from Home Depot today. 11.5/10.2 SCFM @ 40/90 PSI, Not a 2 stage, but for $350 I hope it will do. I looked at a parts washer from badboyblaster (http://www.badboyblasters.com/id76.html) for $199 and it sure looks alot like this one from HF (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=7340) that I picked up for $69. Which blaster did you get from them, Model BB-500XL? (http://www.badboyblasters.com/id70.html) It does look nice :thumbsup:

All I need now is to somehow get a 220v line into my garage :(

That compressor should run a cabinet. Get a regulator and mount it and a filter near the inlet to your cabinet. If the cabinet is outside you also need another air hookup for blowing off parts.

What I did is buy a filter that has two outlets and I hung it on the wall near the cabinet. One outlet is the air supply for the cabinet and the other outlet is one of those coiled yellow hoses that I attach a blower (blow gun) to so I don't have to stop, unplug the cabinet, plug in the air gun....just grab the second hose with the air gun and blow the parts off. You will find that convenience and ease-of-use makes it worth spending a couple more bucks for a filter, regulator just before the filter, extra hose, and a trigger type air blower....all this stuff can be had very cheap and the convenience is worth a multiple of the cost.

I would suggest getting a good filter to mount before the cabinet. The prices are as much as you want to spend. I have something similar to this just before the cabinet:

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/SHP-U6710.html

The air guns you can get at HF for $2-$4...they look like this one but are blue in color...get a couple:

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/AP-1718.html

You don't need to run the air at full pressure to blast effectively...typically 90 psi or so is all you really need so a regulator before the filter is good to have.

I checked my compressor and it looks like a slightly larger unit than the HD unit you posted the link to...it is a 7hp 15.1cfm@40psi, 13.5cfm@90psi unit...slightly larger pistons/cylinders from what I can tell.

ONE THING TO REMEMBER...when you are replacing tips/nozzles in a blast gun , AT MOST, you would want the MEDIUM SIZE set...maybe even the SMALL (I'm going by listings that TPTools shows for their ceramic tips). These will work a little better vs. a LARGE ceramic nozzle with your compressor. I think they only have the Carbide nozzle in M, maybe L also....just don't run a L nozzle. You will work the compressor with the cabinet but what the heck!!!....if you don't wear it out in 10 years or so then you probably aren't using it enough anyway.

Invest is metal pipe for lines. The Lowe's near me made that real easy as anytime I need to finish off a run of pipe with a custom cut length I could go up there and they would cut and rethread to whatever length I needed for no extra charge.

You will also want some sort of "flex hose" connection from the compressor to the start of your pipe...absorbs minor vibration (you don't want a solid connection there). Spend the money to have a 3/4" FLEX HOSE made up or buy one from TPTools. Don't just plug in a smaller air hose here or all you will do is succeed in restricting your air supply before it hits the larger metal lines.

I had one made up for a buddy with all the adapters at a local place called Wilson Equipment (they are an industrial valve, fitting, connection, etc supplier and have some nice USA made stuff)...very durable and professionally made and the hose and connections were only about $27 total. It was a 3/4" type hose. He has a nice Ingersoll compressor but it wouldn't keep up with a cheapo HVLP gun we were using to spray some parts. I looked at his setup and he just had a regular air hose adapted in at the main compressor outlet. By the time I got through with him he had 40-50 of metal pipe, a blast cabinet, filter, regulator, etc...now the equipment actually works. He had this compressor for a few years apparently...I asked him if he drained it periodically and he looked at me with a puzzled look on his face...needless to say he found plenty of water in there.

http://www.chevelles.net/forum/ultimatebb.php/topic/4/103.html

Here is a link to one of our club members cabinets that he made. The tank next to the unit is the media tank holding around 600-700 lbs of media. Black Beauty or Alum oxide are the 2 main types he is running.

Not sure which blaster I'll get, but I did buy that compressor from Home Depot today. 11.5/10.2 SCFM @ 40/90 PSI, Not a 2 stage, but for $350 I hope it will do. I looked at a parts washer from badboyblaster (http://www.badboyblasters.com/id76.html) for $199 and it sure looks alot like this one from HF (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=7340) that I picked up for $69. Which blaster did you get from them, Model BB-500XL? (http://www.badboyblasters.com/id70.html) It does look nice :thumbsup:

All I need now is to somehow get a 220v line into my garage :(


Yes i got the 500xl and my dad bought the 1000. THere both very nice and the service was second to none, they bent over backwards for us. My dad originally bought the 500 but there was a problem with it so instead of shipping it back they gave it to me for a smokin deal and gave him a good deal on the 1000 unit.

I have the same cabinet as the "tools plus" I got from JEB supply on ebay for I think about $150. I hook up my shopvac to it and never wear any respirator. The other guys are right about the light, it's kind of weak. It's kind of a pain to assemble and it does leak but I never thought to seal the joints. It does work pretty well for occasional use and worth the money