DIY Sandblast Cabintet

A sandblaster can be a useful tool in many types of projects. It can be used to remove rust or paint from metal, or to create custom etchings on glass and other materials. A sandblasting cabinet is essentially a box that is used to contain and collect the blasting medium (which can be anything from fine sand to glass beads and even walnut shells). A cabinet is not essential to the sandblasting process, but it is very useful for reducing clean up and making it possible to reuse the blast medium.

I use sandblasting mostly for etching glass and stainless steel, and my setup is very simple. It consists of a small air compressor and a simple, inexpensive kit to adapt the compressor for sand blasting. The kit is nothing more than a nozzle attachment with a trigger and a rubber hose used to siphon the medium (multipurpose sand that I sifted through a metal screen) from a bucket. That set up worked just fine for my needs, but I wanted a way to recycle the sand so I did not have to make so many trips to the hardware store to get more. Also, finding sand in my hair and pockets was getting a little annoying as well. I decided I wanted a cabinet to add to my setup, but I wanted to make it my self, partially to save money and partially to keep up the diy/make-shift theme I had going while also practicing my newly acquired welding skills.

In this instructable I will show you how I made my sandblast cabinet from conception/design to use of the final product.

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Step 1: Tools and Materials

These are the tools and materials that I used in making my cabinet. There are certainly better ways to do some of the things I have done (some of which I will mention along the way), but this is how I did it with the resources available to me.

Materials:
     - 4' x 4.5' sheet of 16 gauge steel (0.0598" thick)
     - 2' of 1/8" angle iron
     - 2 steel door hinges (plus fasteners)
     - handle (plus fasteners)

Tools:
     - MIG welder
     - Oxy acetylene torch
     - Circular saw
     - Press brake
     - Slip roll

Note: Some of the tools above are not pictures of the actual tools I used, but I tried to find pictures that look as close to the ones I used as possible (and sources are cited).

dgabriel7 says: Apr 29, 2013. 10:43 AM

(removed by author or community request)

drumbum11 (author) in reply to dgabriel7Apr 30, 2013. 2:58 AM

Yep, the actual cabinet has approximately the same dimensions as the design show in the part drawings

Raigmoul says: Apr 24, 2012. 7:19 AM

Hey drumbum,
Good instructable.
Just wondering, for those of us without welding experience / equipment, could this be done using wood instead? Might help with cost as well :-b
I've dabbled with sandblasting previously, do not like the clean up afterwards.
Is this doable do you think?

Cheers,
R

n8thgr8 in reply to RaigmoulOct 14, 2012. 5:04 PM

I was thinking the same thing Raigmoul. I was worried about cost and ease of assembly. My idea was to cover the the interior sections with flashing material prior to final assembly. I even thought of brazing the joints after assembly to make it more airtight. I also thought I would make an angled bottom or "funnel" bottom that led to a vacuum port for the shop vac. Then placing some steel grating inside as a "floor" which gives a solid surface to work on but allows blasting material through to the vac.

But great Instructable. This has been one that I have considering myself for a few months now but never able to get around to.

drumbum11 (author) in reply to RaigmoulApr 25, 2012. 1:35 PM

Thanks, and yes that sounds doable to me. The only thing that I would be worried about though is how well the wood would stand up to being blasted with sand. It might require something on the inside to protect the wood, but other than that im sure it would work fine.

desertsniper says: Apr 24, 2012. 2:32 PM

AWESOME! also in your revision with the stand, you sould add a funnel system to collect the used sand in a bucket, or even the one you are spraying from. make a looped system maybe?

drumbum11 (author) in reply to desertsniperApr 25, 2012. 1:31 PM

Yep thats exactly what I was thinking as well

starslayer in reply to drumbum11May 1, 2012. 9:24 AM

If you are going to add a funnel be sure to ALSO add a screen to filter out large chunks of rust/paint (or filter separately before reusing)- otherwise you will clog your sand blaster.

CrustyOldDog says: Apr 30, 2012. 6:06 AM

The link following this is to a catalog page. TP Tools sells sandblasting equipment and other stuff and this is the page for the build it yourself sandblast cabinet plans and kits made of two sheets of plywood. very good stuff.

http://www.tptools.com/SearchResult.aspx?keyword=cabinet+kit&SDeptId=&tier_level=&SearchTitleDescr=