My Princess Auto Blast Cabinet! Lots Of Pictures!!

[Beekeeper]

The best mod I’ve done to mine so far was close in the side door and fabbed a top door so the whole top opens. Got tired of trying to get in there to put the film on the glass and the dang sand would pour out every time I opened the door.
Also put good light on it.

 

[Islandkent]

Here's a closer picture of my valve Wayne. From what I can tell I seems to work great. At least no complaints.

Edit.. you can make out the baffle the young fella made up for me to let air in and keep the media from blowing out. Works great! All ideas found on the web. One of the only ideas I had was the little catch box under the door. Never seen that yet out there. Might be out there but never seen it. But heard lots of guys complaining about media still falling out when door is open. So easy to help catch falling media. Keeping mess down.

 

[Islandkent]

The best mod I’ve done to mine so far was close in the side door and fabbed a top door so the whole top opens. Got tired of trying to get in there to put the film on the glass and the dang sand would pour out every time I opened the door.
Also put good light on it.View attachment 928595View attachment 928596

Hi Beekeeper. I was really thinking about that when I was putting this together. I thought no better time than when brand new but decided this all I needed.
I am thinking about putting a extension I can screw in place if need be for longer bigger items. I seen some fellas cutting out holes in the other end to put long items in such as axels and covering the open hole with a heavy plastic bag to keep the media in allowing the part to stick out. Then when done replace the holes cover.
Oh I've been thinking about this unit for months. Maybe too much.

 

[Islandkent]

I never seen your pictures till I quoted you?? Is it just me or can anybody else see BK cabinet?
Edit … I can see them now.

By the way bk nice big hole there to put parts in. That would be asset for sure!

 

[gkent]

I built mine back before things were made in China - needless to say buying a NA made one was just unaffordable. Mine loads from the front so no constraints about things being too close. I used one of those cheapie sandblast guns but modified it so the air feed is controlled by a foot valve ($5 at a flea market) and not the trigger - chucked all that to reduce weight. I put a fine expanded metal screen in so nuts and bolts won't fall through. I used to use a shop vac but it bit the bullet. I got a deal on a central vac unit and I now use that - dedicated to just the blast cabinet. It moves a lot more air so if I blast something and immediately open the cabinet the dust has already cleared. The dust was clogging up the bag so I installed a small turbine - seems to have solved the problem. I've run all sorts of media in it, sand, crushed glass, glass beads and even steel shot. However the best and most versatile is aluminum oxide. This stuff is like the second hardest stuff on the planet (really!) so it doesn't break down like a grain of sand, glass or glass bead will. It literally last for years. I run it at 100 PSI but running it for any length of time depletes the tank. The thing will work right down to around 40 PSI. I used to use ceramic nozzles but they don't last. I splurge and use carbide nozzles from TP Tools.

 

[dvw]

With all these great Ideas I may pull mine out of the corner and get it going. Id like to see inside the dust cyclone.
Doug

 

[dadsbee]

My media catcher..

 

[gkent]

Id like to see inside the dust cyclone.

I have no intention of opening mine until absolutely necessary. The dust is so fine that the slightest motion has it going everywhere. Hell, I was covered in the crap when I dropped the bucket off the central vac.

I use one similar to this:

 

[Beekeeper]

I built my own cyclone too I’ll post a pic I rolled the cone from sheetmetal

 

[gkent]

I like that but for $40 to my door "next day" I just couldn't resist !!

 

[Islandkent]

I never tried the aluminium oxide yet Stan. Might go get some at CT tomorrow since I only use about a cup of media at a time. How is the finish? Smooth like the beads or more like sand??
I'm telling you fellas I made mine(Dust Cyclone) out of a five gallon bucket with just a couple of elbow mounted in the bucket one pointed down for the exhaust out of the cabinet and the intake to the vacuum is a couple of elbows that turns the intake up to the top of the bucket right under the cover. Easy and cheap. Not to mention it works. Used it for the table top version. I just use a filter and a bag in the vacuum. None in there to speak of. Now since I have the floor model with wheels. Forgot to mention that. lol I used a empty Evapo-Rust bucket so it can fit under the shelf for easy storage and a uncluttered look. And can roll the whole unit over to the compressor with no effort.

 

[Islandkent]

I like mine better Wayne. I had one just like that though.lol

 

[Beekeeper]

Aluminum oxide leaves a smooth finish and like Stanton said it lasts forever

 

[dadsbee]

Mine's quick and easy to dump back in!! LOL

 

[Islandkent]

Dump back in???

 

[Islandkent]

Just joking Wayne. So is mine. Have slots to remove the tray. I'll just toss it. I give the door a wack after I blow it off before I open it. Very little goes in. Not much any way.

Might as well add I have nice square buckets with the media in it, I took the stuff out of the bags and put them in the buckets then set the heavy buckets on those cheap little carts from PA to roll them around with. Two buckets per cart. I'd show a picture of them but I lent the two of them to a friend of mine today to help move his cast iron rad. They are strong little buggers. I had my lathe and table on them when I put my steel up. I used them on my mill to help move it around when I got it.

 

[dadsbee]

No different than the other 20 lbs in the hopper.

 

[gkent]

Might go get some at CT tomorrow since I only use about a cup of media at a time.

Are you saying that's all you put in the hopper??

 

[Islandkent]

The good thing about that homemade valve Wayne is I only use about a cup or two at a time. You can see in some of those pictures that I have a couple of pickle jars. I put the different media in them when done. Not even half full. Then I reuse it if it's not spent. I tried different types of media to see what nozzle works best, how much pressure works best and what media works best. But today is the first time I really used it on some crucial parts.

 

[Islandkent]

That's all Stan. Maybe two cups but it works on one. Serious. I have no reason to BS. I know hard to believe but that valve does really work. And those little pieces that I had my son bend up make all the media fall back down the funnel works great. I'm telling you. I seen all those how to vids and scoured the net for what I thought was the best modifications for this thing. Plus I have no life which helps. lol I don't want to say how many hours I have on it between research and assembly. Really no life lol!

So Stan I'll just pick up that little bottle of it they have ay CT for I think 17 bucks. Before I go dish out 75 for a fifty pound bag at PA