Original Posted By: "Gary McNeel, Jr."
Blast ItJUNE '99, By Chris Bobka I built a dandy sandblaster about ten years ago that has given metrouble free service for a minimum outlay of money, considering theperformance of the unit. Three of the components will take up the lionsshare of the cost of the setup. If you are serious about building asandblasting rig, then you probably already have an air compressor with goodmoisture control. Another costly component is the "gun" which I will talk about morelater. Finally, you will also need a big shop vacuum like the ones fromSears you always see on sale. The rest of the stuff needed are a few sheets of 3/4" exterior plywood,a couple of two by fours, your scrap lumber bin and hardware bucket, a bunchof drywall or deck screws in various lengths, a couple of tubes of caulk andLiquid Nails, some used casters, a couple of hinges, a pair of rubbergloves, an extra left hand rubber glove (the right hand always gets a holein it for us righties- lefties will need an extra right hand glove-eitherway it is the one that does not go bad on you so you will always have onelying around), a yard of remnant vinyl like the kind you would use on a seatcushion, some 1/4" steel mesh screen about two feet by four feet, a piece ofscreen the size of your viewing window like the stuff you have on yourscreen door, a piece of 1/2" electrical conduit, and a trunk latch mechanismfrom Menard's. Oh, you will need to get a piece of tempered safety glassmade up for the window at a glass place but it is not too expensive, maybe15 to 20 dollars. Tools required are a circular saw, sabre saw, a drill with a tip toscrew in the screws, a couple of typically sized drill bits, a hole saw ofthe same diameter as your vacuum hose, and some typical measuring tools,straightedges, pencils. You will need to access a sewing machine for a fewminutes to sew the gloves to the sleeves you will make from the vinyl. Youwill also need to have about three minutes of welding done on the conduit oryou could bring the pieces to me and I will do it for you. I once drooled over the metal cabinet style sandblasting booths that Isaw for sale in the TIP catalog that I sent for out of a Hemmingsadvertisement. But I drool no more. As a matter of fact, I let TIP droolover my booth. My old flight instructor (he was certificated in 1926) oncetold me that if you have a good wood hangar, it will absorb so much moisturefrom the air that you could spray dope on a rainy day without the dopeblushing. The downside is that the wooden hangars burn real easy,especially with the dope fumes in them, and all the smokers smoke insidebecause of the rain. Anyway, I do know that the metal cabinets tend toallow the condensation of water with temperature changes in the air justlike it messes with airplane fuel tanks if you leave them empty of fuel.Moisture is the bane of all sand-blasters. It must be kept out of the airand the sand, otherwise you will get constant clogging which will cause youto repeatedly curse (and clean) the thing out. Imagine throwing cooked riceat a wedding instead of uncooked rice. That is what the difference is. Tenyears ago, I chose to make my cabinet out of wood to take advantage of itshydroscopic properties. I believe that it is the big reason why it works sowell for I have never had a clogging problem in all the years I have usedit. Professional A&P Mechanics that have used my unit have sung itspraises, some swearing it is the best unit they have ever used. My intention is to publish a series of articles in the Chapternewsletter over the next few months detailing the design and construction ofa sandblasting box that will measure about four feet wide, two feet deep,and two feet high. The entire unit will be much bigger for it will havelegs, a hopper for the sand, a light fixture on top, etc. Of course, onceyou see the thing on paper, you may decide to make yours bigger, or smaller,or otherwise incorporate (and share in this newsletter) your own ideas. Either way, you will find life intolerable if you ever will have to partwith your sandblaster.________________________________________________________________________________Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2002 10:43:55 -0600