As I start the long process of a complete frame up resore on a 69 coupe I'm seeing myself need a blasting cabnet. What is the best bang for the money and What type of medis should I use? Or save my money and buy a case of wire wheels and just get busy??? :D

 

I bought one from Northern Hydraulics that is big enough to hold a wheel. Watch out on the shipping! It will probably be truck. I could have bought the same thing from my local hardware store and saved about $40 when I added the shipping. I used it a lot during my restore.

 

Check out the Eastwood site! They have several s ... and yes you WILL need one!

Good luck!

 

http://www.harborfreight.com is one source, another possibility is TSC (Tractor Supply) if you have one near you. They have basically the same stuff as Harbor Freight, usually a little more expensive, but you don't have to pay freight.

 

I bought a kit from TP Tools and built one myself. That allowed me to customize it and make it big enough for a motorcycle frame. :)

 

Northern Auto Supply (Subsidiary of Northern Hydraulics) has one right now for 99.99 and 30.00 shipping. 30X20X20, should be big enough for up to a wheel. Hope this helps...........don't have the 800 # though.

 

They come in very handy, a buddy loaned me his. Invest in a 50# bag of aluminum oxide & 50# of glass bead. I picked up a couple 5 gal pails for storage also.

 

Thanks guys, I will start looking for one.

 

Depends on the scale of your project....
I built one for $100 about 10 years ago. Probably cost $150 now.

2x3 or 2x4 framing, 1/4" plywood walls, 2x4 floor with 1/4 gap between boards, pipe flange for a "swivel" platform in the middle, removeable screen below the platform, media automatically filters and falls through & recycles. Plastic/Rubber floor runner stapled to the inside walls for longevity. Cheap squirrel cage blower for evacuation, replaceable sight glass (hardware store variety).

Large enough to clean a Big Block Chevy, Ford, Chrysler and rotate it while blasting.
Not large enough to fit sidepipes though.

Feature: Size
Benefit: You can't buy one this big for under $1500... maybe more

Feature: Top is on hinges, sealed with garage door seal.
Benefit: Can load large heavy items using a chain-fall through the top.

Feature: Front loading doors sealed with garage door seal.
Benefit: Can load small items without disturbing the glass view port on top.

Feature: Caster wheels.
Benefit: Can move it around for maintenance & cleaning.

Feature: Uses standard double thickness glass.
Benefit: The viewport glass always takes a beating & gets foggy. Tempered glass replacement is expensive. Home Depot glass is cheap. Just wrap the viewport glas in plastic wrap (saran wrap) to extend its life.

Feature: removeable Screen below platform.
Benefit: Media falls through screen into hopper & automatically recycles.

Feature: Cheap squirrel cage blower out of an old Xerox copier ($15)
Benefit: Hooked to a standard dryer vent kit, evacuates the dust from the box. Without this, you simply cannot blast. Media dust collected by your shop vac will drastically reduce the life of the vac.... destroys the motor brushes & cummutator. You can blow the dust outside.

Feature: Internal incandcescent lighting
Benefit: Cheap, replacebale bulbs.... media blows through flourescent tubes pretty quick.
incandescent bulbs last longer. Box still has original "rubber" sockets from Home Depot.

Feature: Home-made.
Benefit: Order the replacement parts & upgrades from yourself.
Mine hasn't needed any in over 10 years except for the glass... most of which I broke by mis-handling it.

Feature: Large size means paint fumes get dilluted below flash-point.
Benefit: I use it as a paint booth too. (must remove loose media first) Squirrel cage blower has never ignited fumes, even under exremely heavy paint & thinner use.

Feature: Cheap pipe flange & nipple rotating platform
Benefit: You can rotate your work in the box without opening it. The job goes much faster, saves a lot of time & energy & frustration. Might exist, but I never saw a commercial one with this feature. Can support an engine block... no problem.

Feature: You can really, really get things awesomely clean... beyond your imagination.
Benefit: Many parts do not have to be replaced... you can make them appear as new... better than new in many cases.

Beware: It's addictive. You'll end up restoring your lawnmower too.

 

:iagree: I built one a few years ago from plans out of an old Car Craft magazine. cost about $40 at the time. Made from particle board and plexiglass.

Steve :steering: