Learn Me: Sand Blaster

I'm looking to get a sand blaster cabinet soon. I'd like to be able to fit a 16" wheel in there. I have a 12 cfm compressor already. What I really want to know is:
1) Has anyone here built one?
I don't know if it's worth the time. It looks like I can't build it any cheaper than I can buy a HF blast cabinet. I'd love to hear from someone who has built one.
1) Media. Wow there's a lot of choices out there. Can you give me the cliff's notes version of the pros and cons? Is there a generally accepted all in one media (black diamond or black majic?)

DrBoost wrote: I'm looking to get a sand blaster cabinet soon. I'd like to be able to fit a 16" wheel in there. I have a 12 cfm compressor already. What I really want to know is: 1) Has anyone here built one? I don't know if it's worth the time. It looks like I can't build it any cheaper than I can buy a HF blast cabinet. I'd love to hear from someone who has built one. 1) Media. Wow there's a lot of choices out there. Can you give me the cliff's notes version of the pros and cons? Is there a generally accepted all in one media (black diamond or black majic?)

Garagejournal.com is good place to look for sandblast cabinet projects and evaluation/modification of the HF kit. Like a lot of HF stuff, it works well if you modify and upgrade certain aspects of it. The weaknesses in the HF kit are that it needs to be sealed properly, the gun is not very good and the lighting needs improvement.

http://www.tptools.com/ provides DIY plans for building your own and kits for the hardware. A good way to go if you are looking for something more customized to your needs.

After a lot of research, I bought one of these: http://www.barrelblaster.com/BarrelBlaster1.htm

The company that sells them is relatively local to me so I didn't have to pay shipping. With the additional money and modifications I would have to make on the HF version, this was a quality product right out of the box for about the same expense.

I've also seen quality, used industrial quality sandblasting cabinets on Craigslist from time to time for not a lot of money.

How about the different types of media? Walnut shells, soda, sand, fingernails?

Depends on what you are cleaning. I really like the walnut shells for carburetors.

IIRC, didn't somebody on board here DIY a blast cabinet

Walnut shells for plastic and light surface cleaning. I use glass bead on pretty much anything metal.

DrBoost wrote: How about the different types of media? Walnut shells, soda, sand, fingernails?

For removal of just about anything, Black Beauty works great. However, be careful with it, it will remove a lot more than you want it to. Particularly on aluminum.

I keep regular Northern blasting sand, Black Beauty and glass beads at the shop. Changing the media in the cabinet isn't too hard. Suck old out with clean shop vac and dump back in bag. Dump new in the blast cabinet. Takes about 15 minutes.

fasted58 wrote: IIRC, didn't somebody on board here DIY a blast cabinet

I thought about building my own out of a 55-gallon drum or plywood but the time investment is huge, and the money saved isn't. I think I'm going with the HF free-standing cabinet and some black majic and walnut shells.

I like glass beads for most anything. For very rusty steel & cast iron I use black beauty. The glass beads I get at HF and the black beauty at Menards. If you do buy a HF cabinet you will need a vac of some kind to collect the dust or use it outside. Even in your garage you will fill it with dust if you don't have a dust collection system. I use an old, and I mean a very old canister vac (Like 1950) to do the dust collection. I just upgraded the filter to a modern pleated paper filter instead of a dust bag. A cheap shop vac will do fine.

FWIW, I've also heard that you're not supposed to sandblast aluminum wheels.

I also use baking soda for carb cleaning, but that's probably for another thread.

jimbbski wrote: I like glass beads for most anything. For very rusty steel & cast iron I use black beauty. The glass beads I get at HF and the black beauty at Menards. If you do buy a HF cabinet you will need a vac of some kind to collect the dust or use it outside. Even in your garage you will fill it with dust if you don't have a dust collection system. I use an old, and I mean a very old canister vac (Like 1950) to do the dust collection. I just upgraded the filter to a modern pleated paper filter instead of a dust bag. A cheap shop vac will do fine.

You can also find some DIY projects on creating a water tank from a 5 gallon bucket to reduce the amount of filter cleaning you have to and to reduce the wear on your vac.

codrus wrote: FWIW, I've also heard that you're not supposed to sandblast aluminum wheels.

Yeah? Why is that? I just got home after buying a lightly used HF cabinet with about $50 worth of media. I bought that particular unit so I could do wheels.

Basil Exposition wrote:

jimbbski wrote: I like glass beads for most anything. For very rusty steel & cast iron I use black beauty. The glass beads I get at HF and the black beauty at Menards. If you do buy a HF cabinet you will need a vac of some kind to collect the dust or use it outside. Even in your garage you will fill it with dust if you don't have a dust collection system. I use an old, and I mean a very old canister vac (Like 1950) to do the dust collection. I just upgraded the filter to a modern pleated paper filter instead of a dust bag. A cheap shop vac will do fine.

You can also find some DIY projects on creating a water tank from a 5 gallon bucket to reduce the amount of filter cleaning you have to and to reduce the wear on your vac.

I have a setup like that for sanding drywall. I'll do that for this as well. In theory, you won't need a filter at all, or just about.

I've been blasting my wheels, and that is how the local powder coating place cleans them. It does take a paint stripper to remove the clear. That's some hard stuff.

I picked up the HF blast cabinet, the free-standing unit from a guy on CL. The cabinet is on sale at HF for $180, I got the cabinet, about $60 or so worth of media, a water separator, and a regulator for $150. I think I did good.

DrBoost wrote:

codrus wrote: FWIW, I've also heard that you're not supposed to sandblast aluminum wheels.

Yeah? Why is that? I just got home after buying a lightly used HF cabinet with about $50 worth of media. I bought that particular unit so I could do wheels.

Supposedly it creates "stress risers". I dunno, I'm a software guy, not a materials engineer. :) There was a big thread on this on miataturbo.net recently, a guy who'd sandblasted and repainted a couple of 6ULs had them crack in less than a year, while the other two wheels were fine.

codrus wrote:

DrBoost wrote:

codrus wrote: FWIW, I've also heard that you're not supposed to sandblast aluminum wheels.

Yeah? Why is that? I just got home after buying a lightly used HF cabinet with about $50 worth of media. I bought that particular unit so I could do wheels.

Supposedly it creates "stress risers". I dunno, I'm a software guy, not a materials engineer. :) There was a big thread on this on miataturbo.net recently, a guy who'd sandblasted and repainted a couple of 6ULs had them crack in less than a year, while the other two wheels were fine.

As a fellow software guy I was intrigued enough to look it up.

Thread: http://www.miataturbo.net/wheels-tires-78/sandblasted-6ul-failure-need-replacements-75325/

Apparently the first-gen 6ULs are a little weak. That said, the guy behind the 6ULs seems to reply later and says that sandblasting these wheels (or any lightweight race wheel) is a bad idea.

Sounds like the micro scratches that the sandblaster leaves eventually become cracks after the wheel is stressed? That's usually what I assumed when I hear of 'stress risers'.

Can you rub the wheels with lavender to relieve stress?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Maybe you should pump some aromatherapy into the cabinet and play nature sounds while you blast them.

Got it set up this morning. The first thing is a project for my daughters bike. I had the kids blast the part. They had a blast.

Maybe the HF gun does suck. I couldn't use black magic to save my life. I had 100 psi running through it and the black magic was in the hose all the way to the gun, but couldn't get it to spray. I changed media to a fine white media and it worked great. I gotta run the part numbers of the media it came with since I have no idea what I have besides the BM.

Damn, you're punny.

Change the nozzle size. It makes all the difference in the world.

Toyman01 wrote: Damn, you're punny. Change the nozzle size. It makes all the difference in the world.

Haha, I didn't even realize the pun. I totally forgot that I have two other sizes. Thanks man, I knew there had to be something I was missing since everybody seems to say BM is the best all around media.

Thanks for the insight ladr. I have a 12 CFM compressor so the duty cycle made me pretty happy. I also have my big shop-vac hooked up. I didn't notice any dust in the air, not that I'm not going to get a dust mask. When I turn the vac on the cloves get pulled in a bit more.

I get the clear thin vynal from wall mart craft department to put between the glass and media. When it gets cloudy just change it. And I put an extra vac hose on my shop vac and run it outside. It keeps the dust away from me. I stuffed 2 rags in the air intake to reduce inside air pressure. It sucks the gloves right off and it is hard to open the door when it is on.