Collapsible Sand Blasting Booth

[d-jones]

I had made a version of this many years ago when I was restoring an old car and it was really very helpful. Blasting media isn't all that expensive, but if you only get to use it once the cost adds up quickly. Good metal cabinet type blasting booths can be rather pricey and they take up too much space for many garages. They also tend to leak blasting media all over the place as well. No thanks. But since they're so handy for removing old finish and corrosion from parts in need of restoration, if you do that sort of thing often they really are a valuable tool to have around.

 

Anyways, since I really need to get moving on my moms DG906, and some of the parts need refinishing, I redesigned the old collapsible booth to make it stronger, and scaled it down a bit as well. With the exception of the canvas liner, this particular booth is made of material readily available at lumber yards and hardware stores all over the place, and after a small amount of disassembly the two sides fold down onto the back. The entire affair can then be leaned up against a wall somewhere out of the way.

 

In the following drawings, while the dimensions are correct on all of them, only the exploded view isometric drawings accurately reflect the joint construction used. With the exception of two boards left out for clarity, the last drawing shows what the finished structure will look like. The two missing boards will be very obvious in the construction photos that follow.

 

I'm posting this here so that if any of you think a thing like this might be useful, you can go ahead and make your own using this as a guide of sorts.

[this post was last edited: 8/29/2014-03:00]

 

[d-jones]

Here it is sitting in my folks garage after initial assembly. While sanding, a massive splinter lifted on the upper cross member, so I had to glue it and clamp it back down. That's why the clamp is there. Some of the lumber seen here was recycled from the old booth, so it's a different color, but most of it was so warped from weather and years of neglect that it had to be replaced.

 

[d-jones]

All painted up and reassembled. If you look through the various photos you can see exactly how it's put together. Now I know what you're all thinking. How in the world will this capture the blasting media? What isn't shown is the canvas liner. It forms a funnel that hangs from boards beside the work top. This funnel directs all the used media into a standard bucket that will sit below the booth. A liner then covers the sides and hangs down into the funnel, while a canvas cap will cover the top. While you're working a small amount will ricochet past you and be lost, but the vast majority will be confined to the booth for reuse. Of course you'll need a full face shield and a respirator whenever you use it.

 

By the way, the work table on this booth is just large enough to accommodate the base plate of a Maytag HOH dryer.

 

[d-jones]

Today I got started on the canvas funnel. It's the only part of the liner that I consider a pain in the pants. I'd already cut the canvas panels for the funnel out yesterday, but the top edge of the funnel needs to be rolled over and doubled up so that the brass eyelets it will have will have enough material to grip properly. With that in mind the iron was warmed up, the spray bottle was standing by, and I got to work. Now later today I'll find out if I remember how to use a sewing machine. It's been a while, but I shouldn't be too pathetic at it. More later.

 

[tolivac]

At the transmitter site they have the shop type fixed sandblaster cabinet.It is used by the rigger and grounds staff-as well as by the transmitter staff.Great for cleaning transmitter parts-esp the plumbing parts.There is a "portable blaster here-no cabinet just the blaster and a tank to hold the abrasive-used outside on large items.We use the glass bead type media.Works for several blasting sessions-then is too worn out.Both blasters work from the "house" air compressor-a Gardner-Denver 20Hp unit.

 

[hydralique]

Nice . . .

I'd love to have one of these, though maybe not enough to make one! Let us know how the canvas chute works out.

 

[d-jones]

It didn't work out at all today.

I stopped by my folks place this afternoon, but got absolutely nowhere with this project. I haven't used the old Singer Touch and Sew in a long time, and it seems no one else had either. It was in serious need of cleaning and lubricating before any attempt to use it could be made, so that was what I spent my time on. I'm a bit disappointed about that, since I honestly think that a couple of solid hours with the sewing machine will finish this thing, and I'm eager to get it done and put it to use.

 

[sudsmaster]

I bought a floor standing bead blasting booth at Harbor Freight a few years back, and it's been great. I think it was around $150, maybe $250. It doesn't leak beads all over the place because I hook it up to a shop vac with a HEPA filter whenever I use it. The only catch is that if the compressed air has moisture in it the beads can clump. And, if the compressor can't keep up, then you have to slow down or wait for the pressure to get back up.

I actually have two compressors, but have yet to try hooking them up in parallel to see if they give me more blasting time.

 

[tolivac]

The compressed air systems in our building have air dryers in them to remove moisture.Some of the moisture is removed from the air when it is compressed into the air tank-that is why you have to bleed the tank-drain the water from the air.For something like the blaster or our switchbay-a dehumidifier air dryer is used.These can be expensive but worth it in air systems.If the water should freeze in the air lines in our switchbay we could not change antennas on the transmitters.And the water can interfere with operation of pnuematic thermostats and other air operated HVAC equipment-as our building has.

 

[d-jones]

Rich

If you have the space to keep a sandblasting cabinet that's out of the way then there's certainly nothing wrong with just buying one, provided you get a good one, and it sounds like you did. For a short period I had to share my hangar space with a helicopter and its mechanic/pilot that had a metal one that leaked like a sieve. The spilled sand on the white painted hangar floor was hard to see and made the floor around the sandblaster far too slippery for safety. I used it a few times, but I was glad to see it go when the helicopter found a new home.

 

Since I don't have a lot of space, one of the nicer features of the one above is its ability to fold up flat and stand against a wall somewhere out of the way. The actual sandblaster I have is an older portable type, so when combined with a portable compressor the whole affair is very mobile, which is also very handy. With any luck I'll be able to finish this thing next week.

 

 

 

[d-jones]

Catastrophe!

Well, sort of. I went to use the sewing machine today and before I could manage a single stitch I discovered that the bobbin wasn't rotating. A bit of investigation soon lead to the cause; a stripped gear. Great. It's always something. The injured machine is a Singer Touch & Sew  Model 630. I'm sure it can be repaired, but I'd rather not have to wait for that to happen, so I'm thinking of putting the old machine back into the cabinet. It's a Singer model 301 that was removed to make way for the fancier 630, but since I'm just stitching straight lines I think it should work out fine. Looking around on the internet, a lot of folks are calling the 301 a heavy duty model. Is that correct? If so it would likely be a better choice to use on canvas anyways.

 

[hydralique]

Oh my, one job becomes two, good luck with this!

 

[d-jones]

one job becomes two

Isn't that the truth. Had I known I was going to run into all of these problems I would have waited a bit to start this thread.

 

[d-jones]

Out with the old, in with the older!

The Singer Model 301 is back in it's cabinet for the first time in forty years. Everything seems to be working properly, so with any luck I'll get the canvas lining done tomorrow. If you're one of the handful of folks that are curious to see how this turns out, I apologize for the delays.

 

[hydralique]

That Singer looks to be about the same color as your Filter Queen, it was meant to be!

 

[d-jones]

Good catch!

I hadn't noticed that, even though I used my parents Filter Queen to vacuum out the cabinet today.

 

[d-jones]

The old Singer worked great, and I managed to get the canvas liner done over the last few days(it took longer than I thought it would). Anyways, the first photo shows the booth with the canvas funnel hanging in place for a test fit. At this point all it needs is twelve brass eyelets and it's done. The remaining  photos show the upper liner clamped in place to make sure I didn't screw up my measurements. Thankfully it fits as it should, so now I just have to figure out how I want to attach it. The canvas needs to be firmly attached to the wooden frame in such a way that the frame can still be folded up flat when it's not needed. I have a couple of ideas in mind, it's just a matter of deciding which one will work out best. With any luck I'll be able to finish this tomorrow.

[this post was last edited: 9/9/2014-20:37]

 

[d-jones]

Just about finished at this point.

I was able to work out a method of attaching the canvas liner that didn't make the thing look like an abomination, so at this point it's almost done. In all of these photos the work table has been removed  so the liner can be seen more clearly. The first two photos show how the bottom of the liner tucks into the funnel to capture the blasting media.

 

I mentioned that this thing is supposed to be collapsible, but I designed and built it to very precise dimensions that made folding it up difficult(DOH!), a mistake on my part. To get around this problem I had to sink the hinges into the wood to get the clearance I needed, but I also had to work out a low profile way to hold the liner in place in the right hand rear corner so it wouldn't interfere with the left hand panel when it was folded away. The solution is shown in photo three. It's just an aluminum strip that was drilled with holes, wrapped in canvas, and nailed in place. It's not fancy, but it works.

 

The last photo shows the thing folded up and leaning against the back of my parents house, so thankfully, in spite of my foolishly tight dimensions it does fold. This is an important detail, since the ability to fold is what makes it both easily store-able and easily transportable. All that's left now is to install a couple of snaps that will hold the loose canvas flaps at the front in place against the upper and lower cross members. Then I'll finally be able to start using it. I bought enough material to fit it with a top cover to capture anything that tried to ricochet out the top, but I think I'll use it a bit first to see if that's really needed.

 

[hydralique]

Looks good, glad to see it come to life! Someone should make something like this commercially available.