Always another project to take up spare time

[Stig]

I was recently offered an industrial blast cabinet that was going for scrap. As per my username suggests, I couldn’t turn it down.

I already had a diy cabinet that had gone through several alterations to make it more usable. However this new option was a lot more practical being a front loader and slightly larger. There’s always a but…..

The door was the wrong hand so the catch couldn’t be opened as it was against a filing cabinet, the light didn’t work, the step on trigger was broke and the extraction vent crumpled. And finally my bench was too long for the cabinet to fit in the space and electric sockets also in the way

First plan was to make sure it worked by hooking it up to my comp, once confirmed I set about moving electrics and cutting up the workbench to make it fit into the available space. I then stripped the pedal, made a new bracket and made sure it was stripped and repaired; sorting a permanent air supply in the doing. I then replaced the light fittings with 2 LED’s and removed the door, which I turned upside down and hung it on the opposite side. Final task was to install the extractor from my old cabinet and pipe it up with drainpipe. Only thing now left to do is sort the actual gun to make sure there’s enough pressure at the nozzle
Total cost £30. Result

[Nick]

Nice job Stig. I have wanted one for ages, and thought about making one from an old fridge I have lying around. Unfortunately the space available meant it would have been too small to be of any practical use. With the cost of the parts to complete the job it would also have been cheaper to buy a used item locally. One day though. Do you use any other mediums apart from Sand?

[Stig]

I’ve previously used aluminium oxide but this came with something resembling soda or glass. I’ll try it out when I get the gun sorted

[Nick]

I was hoping you would say soda. I have seen some astonishing results of soda on aluminium casings and the like. Almost factory finishes achieved. No harm to the environment either. I believe storage can be an issue, namely heat and moisture problems, but I have read it is pretty cheap to buy.

If you do use soda I would be interested to hear your comments upon its performance.

[Stig]

I actually have a part bucket of soda that I used when restoring Twincam parts during its renovation. Not tried it on alu or in a cabinet yet tho
Once the guns sorted I’ll give it a try and report back. I’ve got a set of carbs somewhere I can try in on

[Nick]

That's great. Thanks.