Grit blast cabinet
Discussion
Thinking of getting myself one of those basic blast cabinets from M. Mart, appreciate they need a decent air supply, my little comp. won't do but could use at work. Anyone got one, used one, opinions for or against ? And what medium is best for cleaning up mildly tarnished alluminiun e.g. inlet manifold, plenum etc ?
Grateful for any advise.
Grateful for any advise.
phillpot said:
Thinking of getting myself one of those basic blast cabinets from M. Mart, appreciate they need a decent air supply, my little comp. won't do but could use at work. Anyone got one, used one, opinions for or against ? And what medium is best for cleaning up mildly tarnished alluminiun e.g. inlet manifold, plenum etc ?
Grateful for any advise.
I think Quinny has one, he may be able to advise. People have had good results chemically cleaning ally castings, as an alternative to media blasting.Grateful for any advise.
I built this from the frost kit LINK I added quite a few mods to the kit which is fairly basic.
I was bloody hard work - the plans are a very sketchy and it took a lot more effort than I anticipated
BUT its bloody ace now its finished, remember with a blast cabinet you need to factor in the room you need for your hand holding the gun - which means space isn't as plentiful as you'd think.
For example my cabinet looks pretty big - but blasting a V8 rocker cover you need to do some blast cabinet yoga to do the ends of the rocker cover - it only just fits its pretty awkward with your hand in there holding the gun - you'd never do it in the machine mart one.
I have an old compressor that I bought a while back for £40 on ebay - its only 6cuft or so but if you let it have a rest it just about works though it takes a battering.
I have used 2 lots of blast media - aluminium oxide is abrasive and is great for steel, removing rust etc.
You can use it on ally but it leaves a matt finish - great if you want to paint or coat it.
Glass beads bring aluminium up really well to a semi polished finish - its no good for steel though.
Also anything that goes in the cabinet has to be clean - it will not remove oil very well and if you do get it off it clogs up the gun, so you need to degrease first.
Anything rubber it just bounces off - but that means if you put something in with a rubber bush it doesn't come to any harm.
I've also found that it doesn't touch powder coating.
Also when you've blasted you need to blow the remaining bits of grit out of your part with an airline - get one of those trigger airline guns for a few quid and goggles are essential - you can feel the bits of sand bouncing off your face however hard you try not to!
If you want some idea how parts come up send me a couple of bits and I'll do them and send them back for the cost of the postage.
Hope this helps!
I was bloody hard work - the plans are a very sketchy and it took a lot more effort than I anticipated
BUT its bloody ace now its finished, remember with a blast cabinet you need to factor in the room you need for your hand holding the gun - which means space isn't as plentiful as you'd think.
For example my cabinet looks pretty big - but blasting a V8 rocker cover you need to do some blast cabinet yoga to do the ends of the rocker cover - it only just fits its pretty awkward with your hand in there holding the gun - you'd never do it in the machine mart one.
I have an old compressor that I bought a while back for £40 on ebay - its only 6cuft or so but if you let it have a rest it just about works though it takes a battering.
I have used 2 lots of blast media - aluminium oxide is abrasive and is great for steel, removing rust etc.
You can use it on ally but it leaves a matt finish - great if you want to paint or coat it.
Glass beads bring aluminium up really well to a semi polished finish - its no good for steel though.
Also anything that goes in the cabinet has to be clean - it will not remove oil very well and if you do get it off it clogs up the gun, so you need to degrease first.
Anything rubber it just bounces off - but that means if you put something in with a rubber bush it doesn't come to any harm.
I've also found that it doesn't touch powder coating.
Also when you've blasted you need to blow the remaining bits of grit out of your part with an airline - get one of those trigger airline guns for a few quid and goggles are essential - you can feel the bits of sand bouncing off your face however hard you try not to!
If you want some idea how parts come up send me a couple of bits and I'll do them and send them back for the cost of the postage.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!
[/quote]
Helps a lot thanks, By using at work would also have access to air line to blow out, hot pressure washer and one of those de-greaser washer things to pre clean and clear out grit afterwards.
Appreciate offer to do couple of bits as sample, may just take you up on that
[/quote]
Helps a lot thanks, By using at work would also have access to air line to blow out, hot pressure washer and one of those de-greaser washer things to pre clean and clear out grit afterwards.
Appreciate offer to do couple of bits as sample, may just take you up on that
Edited by phillpot on Tuesday 23 June 23:02
Everytime I shut the compressor down (Its an old machine mart one) I took the bottom plug out of the main tank, I tried to do this just before all the pressure was gone so it blew out any remaining moisture, and there was usually quite a bit that came out.
I also have a moisture trap and that caught a lot too.
The other thought I had is my cabinet is made of wood - so doesn't suffer with condensation - maybe thats where your moisture was coming from, I guess we'll never know now!
I also have a moisture trap and that caught a lot too.
The other thought I had is my cabinet is made of wood - so doesn't suffer with condensation - maybe thats where your moisture was coming from, I guess we'll never know now!
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