Small Media Blasting Cabinets

Plinker

Plinker

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From time to time, I find myself wishing I owned a small media blasting setup - for example, to put a satin finish on a gun part prior to re-parkerizing.

Has anyone here got any experience with the smaller units, which typically sell for $100-$200? Princess Auto has one listed in their catalog, and there are a couple on ebay that look promising.

I'm only looking for a light-duty system, as it might be used four or five times a year, and only on small parts.

All comments/recommendations are appreciated!
 
Small Media Blast Cabinets

I've never used one of the small cabinets but I did have a small bucket style blaster I used in the back alley with a cardboard box to recover some of the media. My compressor could only keep up for a few minutes at a time. It does 7 cfm at 100psi. They use a lot of air so make sure your compressor is up to it!

The bigger units like the one from Pricess Auto have provision for some sort of exhaust extraction ...shop vac. I wouldn't get one without that feature. Both sand and glass beads create a lot of dust and you can't see without something to clear it away!

Thats my experience.

Don
 
Build your own like I did.

I got the basic sandblasting gun and hose rig from Wal-Mart for about $20. Constructed the cabinet out of plywood and 2X2s ($20), lined it with galvinized sheet-metal ductwork material ($15), added an interior light ($5 work lamp from Cdn Tire), and installed a tempered glass window in the hinged lid ($40 from a local glass store). I bought some medium weight blast cabinet gloves and flanges from a local sandblasting supplier ($60). I finished it off with some old furniture rollers I had laying around, so its easy to wheel around the garage. For less than $200 I have a great blast cabinet that will hold a barrelled rifle action or a 36" shotgun barrel. I also made a threaded blast media drain out of some PVC pipe fittings, so I can drain the hopper and change the media (glass beads, alum. oxide, etc) in about 5 minutes.

It works far better than any of the little plastic bench-top cabinets you can buy (which will only allow you to blast small parts anyway). Do a Google search and you should be able to find some online plans/photos of similar homemade cabinets.

Cheers, and have fun blasting.
 
I bought the floor model one from Princess Auto. Works great except it's tight quarters for a 36" barrel.
If you go that route...use the supplied foam strip to seal up between the pieces of the cabinet. There was nothing in the instructions regarding this and I didn't use it.
120 grit aluminum oxide is very fine and leaked out of every seam..
 
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