Sand blaster folks - A Question

Downeaster

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My Tractor Supply/Horrible Fright bench top sand blaster works pretty well for what I do, but has one really annoying issue: The media tends to pile up on the side furthest from the siphon tube. I'm constantly having to stop and move the media back over to the pickup.

I've blocked the far end up hoping gravity would help, but no.

I suspect new, dry media will help some, but it's done this from Day One.

Anyone else have this problem? If so, have you found a way to deal with it?
 
My Tractor Supply/Horrible Fright bench top sand blaster works pretty well for what I do, but has one really annoying issue: The media tends to pile up on the side furthest from the siphon tube. I'm constantly having to stop and move the media back over to the pickup.

I've blocked the far end up hoping gravity would help, but no.

I suspect new, dry media will help some, but it's done this from Day One.

Anyone else have this problem? If so, have you found a way to deal with it?
It's a problem with lots of blast cabinets, dry media helps but there's not much you can do to account for ambient humidity in most shops. With our large blast cabinet at work I find myself having to kick the sump a lot to get the media to return to the suction foot. I've never found a fix for it. I've always envisioned some sort of sump vibrator I could operate with a foot pedal.
 
Drill a hole in the side of your cabinet and install a 1/4" bulkhead compression fitting. Install a tee and run a loop of copper line around the inside of your cabinet, or just along the back if that is the only problem area. Drill small holes along the length of the tube that face down toward the accumulated media. When it bunches up, open a valve to blast it back down the cabinet to the hopper. I did this on a large blasting cabinet that I used to run and it worked a treat. A foot valve would work well but I just used a 1/4" ball valve since it saw intermittent use.
 
If you really want to improve the HarborFrt cabinet look at these guys. You get rid of the pickup tube they supply and change to a bottom feed with foot pedal. I have modified my cabinet and also the glass shield.If you have the cabinet that has a ledge at the bottom of the door that catches media bend that over. I stopped using glass beads/garrnet/slag long ago and have been using SS cut wire media. I put a couple of cups in the bottom and that's it. Don't have to worry about humidity too much with the SS media. Expensive but last a long time. I bought 25lbs of two grades 10 years ago and still have over half. I try not to clean nasty stuff with the SS media but when I have I cleaned the SS with solvent to remove the contaminate. I still get maybe a tablespoon that escapes from the cabinet so I sweep it up strain it and throw it back in. There a re a bunch of videos of guys converting their cabinets with there product. You can give them a call.
http://www.tacomacompany.com
 
You are using a water filter, right? I started without one but soon had issues with the media clumping up and the gun getting plugged. But, what I discovered when I installed a filter was that it doesn't do much good mounted right at the compressor. By the time the air goes through your 25' (or more) of rubber hose, it's all wet again. So the trick is to have the filter closer to the tool. I mounted my filter on a little bracket and have brackets to hold it inside and outside of my shed .....

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The filter now goes on the end of the rubber hose and gets connected to whatever tool I'm using with one of those coiled plastic air lines. They don't generate much condensation at all .....

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I made up another truly portable filter on a little stand that I can use anywhere, it just sits on the ground .....

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The front legs on the stand angle forward so it doesn't tip over if you tug on the air line .....

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+1 on CrayZ1 metering valve suggestion. I made one from plumbing parts and its is the way to go.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll investigate them further soon.

As a side note, my copper loop "air dryer" works well. Not a drop in any of the traps in the shop.
 
Bought this guy awhile back for my cabinet. Haven't got it mounted yet. Not sure if big enough.
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I need to make a copper loop drier like you and Jim have done. Just need to get some time.

I just noticed you said bench cabinet. Not sure if my suggestions would work on those.
 
Thanks @Downeaster for starting this thread. It reminded me I needed to try out the pneumatic vibrator. Got it mounted and plumbed today. It works well!
I tried it out and was able to blast for 10 minuets without stopping to move beads down to the bottom, I quit because the part was done.. Used to have to stop every 2-3 minutes to scoop them to the bottom. Put it on the right side as that's where the most build up was. I'm going to add one one the left because they are cheap and don't use a lot of air. As a added plus it gets beads off the doors so I don't loose beads when opening the doors.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313232172895
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Thanks @Downeaster for starting this thread. It reminded me I needed to try out the pneumatic vibrator. Got it mounted and plumbed today. It works well!
I tried it out and was able to blast for 10 minuets without stopping to move beads down to the bottom, I quit because the part was done.. Used to have to stop every 2-3 minutes to scoop them to the bottom. Put it on the right side as that's where the most build up was. I'm going to add one one the left because they are cheap and don't use a lot of air. As a added plus it gets beads off the doors so I don't loose beads when opening the doors.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313232172895
The slope of my cabinet is deep enough (not a benchtop) that all the beads fall to the bottom, so I don't need one of those. So how come I want one anyway? :umm:

:laughing:
 
@GLJ - Is that on a benchtop blaster? Looks like a great solution.
Yes it's a bench top. I had to take the grate/shelve out so I could move the beads to the bottom without opening a door. Now it's back in.
The slope of my cabinet is deep enough (not a benchtop) that all the beads fall to the bottom, so I don't need one of those. So how come I want one anyway? :umm:

:laughing:
Either because you can or I have one.:lmao:
Plus if you lean against the cabinet when it's running it gives off "good vibrations".:laugh:
I will warn you guys if you have anything on top of the cabinet they will end up on the floor!:laugh2:
 
I also did a couple of other things to the cabinet. Dust was a problem so I added a hole and fitting to attach my portable shop vac to it. It creates a lot of negative air pressure, enough that the gloves were hard to use. It was just getting air back in through the existing exhaust filter.I added a hole in the front diagonal from the vac to get cross ventilation. It works. I need to make a movable door, when doing a small quick job I don't always use the vac.

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I built a home-made cyclone filter to avoid having the silt from the media plugging up my vac filter. Dead simple to build, but quite effective.

My media is getting pretty worn out and there's a lot of silt/dust in it. I emptied most of a pint of it out of the cyclone after spending maybe 30 minutes blasting that vise.

I have sand in it at the moment, but I have a bag of "Black Diamond" slag for my pot blaster. I wonder if it would feed that?
 
I built a home-made cyclone filter to avoid having the silt from the media plugging up my vac filter. Dead simple to build, but quite effective.
I'd like to see pic of that. Watched a bunch of Youtube videos on making 'em. Can't say any of 'em impressed me that much.
 
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Just need a 5 gallon bucket and a pair of PVC 90 elbows and a short length of pipe. A FERNCO connector or two makes it simple to connect to your blaster cabinet and your vac.

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Hose from the blaster cabinet connects to a 90 inside the bucket. I placed mine about halfway up the height of the bucket.

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Another 90 into the middle of the top and a short piece of pipe to connect the vac hose to.

I do want to do one minor mod to mine which is reinforce the top so the vac hose doesn't flex the top so much. I have a suitable piece of steel around here somewhere, just haven't dug it out.
 
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