oliver2-44 8,957 #1 Posted January 30, 2015 After looking for a larger used Cabinet Blaster for a few months I decided to build one. I did some research reading through several builds on the net, and looking at manufactured models. My cabinet work area is 48"w x32"H x 39"D and takes some design features from units manufactured by TP Tools. A lot of my designs start with available scrap and I had a lot of 3/4" scrap plywood, and a pile of scrap 18-20 gauge sheet metal to work with. Here my cabinet lined with sheet metal. I'm going with a front load design because loosing shop wall space for a side door opening was not a good option. Here the cabinet side view. I suspect I may add a side door for long items some day.I used contact cement to attach the sheet metal to the plywood. Used 2 coats on the wood and one coat on the metal which worked very well. I cut all the sheet metal with an abrasive blade in my table saw. The seams are sealed with silicone caulk. The cabinet hopper has a 1: steel pipe fitting in the bottom to attach the media siphon valve The Tacoma company sells an upgrade kit for Harbor Freight cabinets. I purchased it and it has a foot air valve, media siphon valve, air regulator and blast gun. Dave at Tacoma was really good to talk to and helped size the blast gun nozzle and orifice in the media valve to my compressor. I'm getting excited to try this out! The front load door is my last challenge, 10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KC9KAS 4,741 #2 Posted January 30, 2015 Looks good. You will be blasting away soon! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
312Hydro 473 #3 Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) Great looking cabinet! Are you using some type of gasket for the door? I've used cabinets with a window on top for the fluorescent light and there was a vac port to cut down on airborn dust. The metal lining was a great idea. Edited January 30, 2015 by 312Hydro Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prondzy 3,867 #4 Posted January 30, 2015 looks good! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 36,963 #5 Posted January 30, 2015 Looking well thought out... please keep us updated on your progress. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 8,957 #6 Posted January 30, 2015 I have some heavy felt and some foam gasket material that I plan to experiential with on the door. My lighting will be exterior floodlight type lights. My window will be 1/4" tempered glass from a copier with a thin piece of window glass über it as a replaceable glass. I'm currently mocking up the door with cardboard to play with the glove and window to make it as comfortable as possible Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pacer 3,160 #7 Posted January 30, 2015 That is lookin really bad a** can tell youve put a lot of thought, and time, into it! And I can certainly vouch for how incredibly handy a blast cabinet can be - our horses can sure get rusty and nasty... You didnt mention having a vacuum system - this is virtually a MUST HAVE in a cabinet, it will dust up so bad all the lighting wont help. Having had the HF cabinets for some time now and experimenting with several cobbled up vacuum versions, I finally broke down and got the "reclaimer" system from HF -- this thing is GREAT! I scrounged up a %25 coupon and that made the cost just over a hundred bucks which I thought was a steal. Those Tacoma people are great, I get some of my blast media from them. Otherwise I get Black Diamond from TSC (Its SO cheap!) Keep the pics coming... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 8,957 #8 Posted January 30, 2015 yes, I'm going to do some kind of dust collection. Thanks for the info on the HF Reclaimer, I'll look into it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clip 185 #9 Posted January 30, 2015 I've had the best results with HF glass bead. Doesn't clump much, excellent flow, lasts a long time and leaves a great finish. I do load Black Diamond in my pot blaster when I'm outside, generally the items I do outside need a fast-cutting sand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ol550 830 #10 Posted January 31, 2015 Just my 2 cents worth. My blast cabinet door came with some plastic sheets to protect the glass. When they pitted up to where you couldn't see you just put on a new one. Trouble was they were an incredible dust magnet. Now I have a fine mesh brass screen over the glass. Protects the glass from pits and easy to clean. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 8,957 #11 Posted February 5, 2015 I'm close to cutting the holes for my blast cabinet gloves and would appreciate some help with the height and spacing from any of you. I want to make the glove height and spacing as comfortable as possible. I've measured the medium size HF cabinet and the &" glove rings are center at 14" which seems close together on my large cabinet. The HF holes also seem 6:" to low. With my arms at my side, bent at the elbow forward, the center of my forearms is 21" wide and 44 inches high My current plan is to use heavy wall 8" pvc pipe for my glove flanges, The thick wall will give me enough material to put a nice radius on the ends so theirs not a sharp edge.to lean on. Of course I'm open to any other glove flange suggestions as well. Thanks for your assistance! P.S some of you look like you enjoying your tractors dealing with all that while stuff up north. but temps in the -0 are way to cold for this Texan! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 8,957 #12 Posted March 11, 2015 (edited) I finished my Blast Cabinet and have been putting it to work. Initially I had a few dust leaks around my front load door, but have improved the seal. Here's some pictures. As I built it, I spent some time working on getting the arm hole height, spacing and window height so I can comfortable sit on a stool while using it. The work area is 30w x 48L x 36D and the cabinet overall is 64" high 1st Blast load, C161 rims, deck belt guards, iron tractor seat, and antique sewing machine stand (I promised my wife this project would help me complete some projects for her!) 24" saw mill blade (someday will be my shop sign) and boat motor covers I've learned one of the side benefits of the large cabinet is that I can work on several items at the same time. I set the sewing machine stand parts and iron seat on top of the rims, By the time I was finished with them, the rims below them were 3/4 blasted Next load WH 42" deck, 312-8 hood & seat pan Edited March 11, 2015 by oliver2-44 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 36,963 #13 Posted March 12, 2015 Talk about a man cave... man, you could get lost in that thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
312Hydro 473 #14 Posted March 12, 2015 Great looking blast cabinet! How are the lights working out? Are they frosting over? The whole build looks well made.Thanks for sharing your build. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GT14 243 #15 Posted March 12, 2015 Nice job, thinking about one for myself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 8,957 #16 Posted March 12, 2015 The lights are working well, and no frosting yet. They are similar to how the TP tools blast cabinet lights are set up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
