Home made sand blaster.

[stelerzman]

Has anyone built/ made a sand blaster? I considered buying one from Harbour freight, but couldn't justify the cost compared to the frequency of use.

If you have, please post up any ideas and pic's would be helpful.

Thanks.

[jebster]

Here is a thread I read a long time ago. DIY blast enclosure on the cheep

If I had a compressor with enough power I would build one of these.

[stelerzman]

Thanks for the link. I did build one and was looking for ideas to make it better.

I'll get some pic's up soon.

[cmbscx10]

I built this about 10years ago and still going strong. I have 4 foot pods on my garage like a motor home pop out that i turned one into a blast cabinet. 4x8 partical board with a back window from a F150, intake and exhaust fans, ATV winch for the heavy arse door, flood light inside and racking for the floor. The sand/media goes to a trap door and i filter it before putting it back in the hopper.

[stelerzman]

That's fantastic, nice job.

Could you provide more info on the ventilation system? Mine gets cloudy when blasting, so it's hard to see. Thanks.

[cmbscx10]

Originally Posted by stelerzman

That's fantastic, nice job.

Could you provide more info on the ventilation system? Mine gets cloudy when blasting, so it's hard to see. Thanks.

Thanks. Surprising how effective it is for little $$.

The intake and exit is just a metal HVAC vent from Home Depot IIRC and a bathroom fan. I put a HVAC filter on the exit side so it doesn't get in the motor. It doesn't really cloud at all. It does from time to time but the 1 or 2 sec you take to turn the item to blast another area it clears up. It is due for a new window but not bad for the years of service. I think it was like $20 at the junk yard.

[Crawling Calvin]

The main thing to keep in mind with a blast unit is they draw a LOT of air VERY quickly so unless you have a compressor up to the task it will be very slow going.

That said how big or small of one do you need? The small ones from HF may leak a lot but they tend to do a pretty good job as long as you don't abuse them bad. Main thing is just going around and sealing it up before you use it or your going to have a massive mess on your hands