A dirt cheap sandblasting cabinet might give some ideas

[Mark W.]

OK my dirt cheap sand blasting cabinet

A lot of the materials I already had on hand including

all screws
all 2x2 lumber and other misc wood
the lamp
the Lexan
the piano hinge
the sheet tin and flashing
the old stove rack
the Glass from a photo frame
I had the air dryer from my old cabinet
The plumbing misc I used to make the vacuum hose port
And I had a portable sandblasting gun and the hose material

Additional items bought

1 Sheet 4 x 8 x 7/16" OSB $$11.50 (should have used 1/2" plywood for the extra $18.00)
I pair of harbor freight sand blast cabinet gloves $20

So I think I have like $32.00 into this Its way bigger inside then my old cabinet made from a small garbage can. I hated the gloves in it way to stiff and made my hands hurt when trying to hold smaller items and I couldn't get the gun far enough away from anything bigger.

Its 20" x 24" x 18/21" inside If I had it to do over besides spending the extra money on plywood I would have made the joints the other way around so I could have had the gloves 3" father apart. Would have been a little more comfortable. But this has got to be better then the old one and the hand cramps I got with it. Now to figure out where to put it. I think the Bandsaw is going to loose its spot and its going to take up the wall space between my man door and barn doors to the inner shop.

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[jbett98]

Caulk the krap out of every interior joint.
One little hole and those pesky little glass beads are everywhere.

 

[Lilhigbee]

Some observations from my cabinet;
The shop vac won't last long, nor filter as well as you want. Unless it is outside there will be dust everywhere in your shop. You can buy a pretty decent cheap dust collector and plumb it through the wall. Lots quieter, better filtration and cleaner inside.
+1 on Jbett98's caulking the seams. Again, dust!!
A piece of window screen under your rack will keep larger contaminants from getting into your sand supply. Even paint chips from blasting something that the paint is flaking off of will cause you grief.
NEVER EVER NEVER NEVER blast anything that is oily in the least if you ever intend to paint anything that comes out of your cabinet in the future. Everything gets rinsed with cheap Wal-Mart carb cleaner BEFORE going into the cabinet. The cleanup otherwise is not something you even want to contemplate!!
Either have lots of glass on hand or get some of the stick-on protectors Harbor Freight sells for the window. The ricocheting beads will destroy the window.
Keep your eyes open for a foot-operated valve. Then wire the trigger on the gun open. Much more convenient to use.
Not sure what to say about lighting as I have never been able to get enough in my cabinet.
Congratulations, it looks like a very useful cabinet!!

 

[2A2Dend]

Not too shabby. I was going to build one (modify) an electric kitchen range to use as one

 

[Mark W.]

I've had a sand blasting cabinet for 28 years now it was made from a small garbage can. I use 70 mesh silica sand. The shop vac's last about 10 years with the limited duty they get on the blasting cabinets I have a large filter that looks like a Hugh car air filter and then I place a sheet of filter cloth over that. I tend to wire brush and degrease all the parts before they go in the cabinet. The window glass is made from 8x10 photo frame glass I have like 5 of them around here. I have some 1/4" hardware cloth I was going to put on top of the oven rack to catch small parts I'll see about the window screen idea.

The foot pedal would be a nice addition but I doubt I will ever invest in one. I have found with the shop vac I get vary little dust outside the cabinet. And yes it is in the carport. Though the garbage can one was in the back of my Knifemaking shop for 10+ years never noticed a lot of dust around the shop but then I made a HUGE amount of dust making knives so I was always sweeping up.

 

[jbett98]

I wear a respirator when I use mine. My biggest problem is not a big enough air compressor.
After a couple of minutes the pressure drops off and the air compressor can't keep up if I continue operating the blaster.

 

[Mark W.]

I have a decent compressor but yea it struggles to maintain 90psI at the flow of the blaster. The 20 gallon tank helps I always wear a painters dust hood and a particle mask. With my beard I have to cover everything and then tape the mask to the hood, PITA

 

[jbett98]

That's better then some respiratory disease down the road.

 

[Velzey]

That should work just fine! I've been modifying mine in a similar fashion. Mine started Life as a harbor freight large blasting cabinet. But I find it difficult to manuver long barreled actions inside. So the none door end is being extended!


I bought the hobo freight dust collection system, a few years ago and I've been pretty impressed with it.

 

[Mark W.]

Yea I have the Tie rod and drag link I want to etch up before painting and I am going to figure out where a good place for about a 2" hole on the side would be and make a rubber gasket so I can pass the long tube into one side of the cabinet then turn it around and do the other end.