My new sandblaster!

[tractorman]

I eventually got my sandblast cabinet made and set up the other day and, apart from the cabinet not looking beautiful, it works!

The cabinet was made from cheap 3x2 timber for the frame and "boiler panels" given by my central heating "engineer" friend. The main costs were the castors (about £25) and dust extraction (about £30). I reckon the cabinet cost well under £100 in total, but needs one or two tweaks to make it easier to use - one being to put a light bulb in the lamp and a plug on it's cable! However, I am thinking of putting a "vision panel" in the end door for extra light - and another pair of hand holes there so I can blast the ends of larger items (eg tractor back wheel rims).

I've got a 11CFM FAD compressor with 150l tank (it was bought as a "SIP" but the decal fell off!), I would swear it wasn't running on two occasions while I was blasting! The "Pot" was an eBay purchase and certainly uses less air when working. The dust extraction didn't actually collect anything either in the bags or vacuum, but it does make a heck of a difference when working!



More pictures on my Flickr page

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cumbriantractorfan

These also show it being built (posted for benefit of a friend who was thinking about making one) as well as pictures of the tractors - which won''t fit in the dashed thing!!

[rich.]

ive got a vacuum cleaner like that!

[tractorman]

Rich said:

ive got a vacuum cleaner like that!

What - yours has only got three wheels too?!

TBH, it's been a good vacuum over the 25+ years we've owned it, but the new "garage" vacuum has a socket etc so that it can be a dust extractor as well as an ordinary vacuum.

One thing I found out today was that the reused sand (Garnet) didn't want to come out of the pot! It took a good hour to do a five minute job

However, I did get the light working - after I put a new fuse in the plug that was on old angle grinder. I hope that wasn't the only reason the now recycled grinder didn't work!

[jimmyybob]

I use 36 grit ally oxide for hard jobs and AB glass bead for a really nice finish.

[tractorman]

Thanks for that Jimmybob, I was thinking along the same lines for Ally Oxide, but my old tractors don't really need the "nice finish", a good coat of Bilt Hamber etch-weld (or whatever it's called) will give me a good base for plenty of enamel paint!

There's a firm near Penrith that sells blasting media and I have half a thought of using their expendable shot. I did the smaller tractor bonnet with that (though the pressure washer was used as a sandblaster!) and it did a good job for not a lot of money. Actually, it was free - from the same source as the boiler panels; he'd ordered too much when doing a building job.

[JPB]

the pressure washer was used as a sandblaster

Please stop giving me these brilliant money-saving ideas!

[tractorman]

John, perhaps the photos will help persuade you not to use a pressure washer (with sandblaster attachment)




There are three more of the bonnet on my Flickr page, along with photos of the repaired and resprayed bonnet (in the DB780 set)

Having said that, the idea of a pressure washer sandblaster is good. I bought a powerful Karcher washer (with high flowrate too), it wasn't cheap, but it's still going strong seven years and some hard frosts later! The great thing was that I could work outdoors and not send dust all over the village! Also, a pair of goggles and wellies was adequate protection and I didn't need a big compressor with the heavier wiring etc that it entailed (when I got one eventually!). The downside is that you always use expendable grit (even though it was free). Most of the stuff I do is smaller and much would go in an expensive Clarke's blasting cabinet. However, I used one where I used to work (without a pot) and I have to say that it was an expensive waste of money compared to the one I made!

[Luxobarge]

ive got a vacuum cleaner like that!

I used to as well, many years ago! The motor burnt out, so now I just use the bin part as a waste basket in my workshop. Been replaced by a VAX.

[rich.]

Rich said:

ive got a vacuum cleaner like that!

What - yours has only got three wheels too?!

mine has no wheels now... it came from my aunts cleaning buisness when her staff refused to use it because its so noisy. it lives in the garage now, wifey has a dyson & vax..

[JPB]

My vacuum cleaner didn't take well to retirement and spends much of his time in rehab: