I see in your photos what appears to be a plywood sandblaster. Does it work well enough to save the $1,200 I would otherwise have to pay for a manufactured one that's large enough for a bike frame?

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

I made one from a 4 x 8" sheet of plywood; can send you pics and details
Just big enough to take a M20 rear frame, saved me a lot of money but takes t i m e

email (option): viaconsu [at] planet'dot'nl

I made mine out of hardboard nearly 20 years ago and I haven't worn through it yet

And I made mine just big enough to get a wheel into but with hindsight it wasn't big enough, you need room to move the part you are blasting into the middle in front of the window. Rob

email (option): robmiller11(at)yahoo.co.uk

John, Anglo scot will sell you a kit with drawings to build your own cabinet in plywood.
http://www.angloscotabrasives.co.uk/
I can easily get a frame in mine, but I haven't really got the compressor capacity for heavy blasting. I use medium oxide grit and glass beads for mainly ally or stainless components. I can get paint and rust blasted off quite cheaply by a couple of local firms.

Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Hi John...Ron has touched on the problem regarding blasters...compressors.
The cabinet is just a box and can be made from more or less any material with a little thought..
If you make your own think about your own size, height etc. and take care to design the cabinet to suit those dimensions comfortably...
Also make the 'cone' under the cabinet, where the bead accumulates before being recirculated, with steep angles...This avoids problems with the grit 'hanging up' on the sides..
You will also need internal lighting (such as bulkhead fittings) and some form of extraction...Vacuum cleaners are not ideal for this at all as most exhaust through the motor and the grit tends to make short work of these...Plus, it will be exhausting directly to the atmosphere in the workshop unless you place it outside...
I blew up a number of domestic vacuums before buying an industrial extractor with a motor separate to the extractor...I route the exhaust from this out through the workshop wall...
I also had to fit a 'bleed valve' to the suction side as the vacuum was actually too high and the grit was being sucked out with the dust...expensive.
Introducing some air to the suction side with an adjustable tap allowed me to adjust the vacuum to the desired level...
I use aluminium oxide in 60 and 80 grit for 'rough' blasting and glass bead for 'finishing' on aluminium components...
Returning to the compressor...You can use quite a small compressor but this will slow things down as you have to match the nozzle size to the compressors capacity...
Operating pressures are not that high..about 80-90psi for aluminium oxide and about 60psi for glass bead...
It's not the pressure that is the problem though, it's the volume...
I use a 14cfm compressor with a 120 litre receiver tank and 3hp motor....
This allows for a reasonable size nozzle and keeps the time for blasting say, a set of crankcases, to reasonable...but not really fast...
The compressor will struggle to keep up as the nozzle wears and through volume increases as a consequence....
I built my own cabinet, though from steel, and it has been well worth it, it's so easy just to jump on there to clean parts up....
All of the above are my own observations made during that process...
You can use a smaller compressor but it will be very slow...I guess it's down to how much time and patience you have and how often you need to use it...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

spot on ian some more info here,
http://www.homemadetools.net/category/media-blasting

Thank you all for your help. Some years ago I made one out of 1/8 inch plate steel. It fell into disrepair for many years and it was just rusting so instead of repairing it, I just cut it up for scrap. I kept the hoses, gun, etc. The next one will be wood.

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

Hi John...That must have been the 'Dreadnought' class of bead blasters in 1/8" plate!!..I used 18 gauge zinc plated mild steel over a 1" steel box section frame. I screwed the panels to the frame and sealed each one with silicone as I fitted it...
I also bolted it to the wall rather than having it 'floor standing'..that way it's much easier to sweep around underneath it...
Make the glass (or perspex) for the window easy to remove/refit and reseal..It needs to be replaced fairly regularly as the grit makes it opaque after a while...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

"Dreadnaught" indeed. It was welded all around (about 3 days' welding at my stick welder) except for the "door". In my defense (a) I was young (and foolish?); and (b) there was no internet to tell me such things like: other materials could be used without making holes in the cabinet. My only information came from 3 general-purpose books/pamphlets at my local library. Certainly no one I knew had built one or even had one in his shack.

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

Just as a matter of interest, what do you folks use for lighting inside the cabinets?
I bought a blasting cabinet which contains a poxy 12 volt neon tube about a foot long. It's bloody useless! I've been told than running a 220 volt lamp inside is not a good idea - something to do with igniting the dust in the cabinet. Any truth in this?
I'm looking a putting in a 12 volt LED string. The challenge is protecting the lighting from the blast media.
Your thoughts please......

Hi Bruce...I use the rubber sealed exterior 'bulkhead' fittings with the glass cover over a conventional bulb (240v in the UK)...
I have one mounted to the right and one to the left of the viewing panel on the inside, end walls, of the cabinet...
I've replaced a few bulbs in the last 16 years as you can imagine...No explosions to date....
I fit 60 watt bulbs and although the glass of the fittings has got a bit opaque over that period I don't feel they need replacement yet..I can still see everything OK....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com