Collapsible Sand Blasting Booth

[d-jones]

Here's the booth as it sits now.

Overall I'm pretty happy with it. As you can see, a small section of the liner wraps around the front on both sides. The second photo shows the snaps that were installed at the top to keep them from flapping around.

 

[d-jones]

And here's the first little project to make use of it.

It's a panel found at the back of the earlier Maytags(like the 142, A700, and A702) that holds the power cord and the three solenoid water valve. This one was bent up by the previous owner somehow, and it was suffering from a fair amount of corrosion, so it had to come off for some much needed attention. The first order of business was to straighten it out, which was accomplished using a small anvil and a body hammer. Once that was finished(second photo) it was ready for the booth.

 

[d-jones]

This is why I prefer sand blasting to grinding or sanding.

This photo was taken while I was in the middle of cleaning away the corrosion. This is where the worst of it was, and as you can see, there's a fair amount of pitting here. The sand blaster has blasted the corrosion out of those pits without stripping away any of the non-corroded metal. To remove this corrosion with a grinder or a sander, all of the surrounding metal would have to be brought down to the same level as the bottom of the pits, leaving the area noticeably thinner than the rest of the panel.

 

The second photo shows the part ready to be painted.

[this post was last edited: 11/8/2014-00:06]

 

[d-jones]

Painted up and ready to bake.

I left it in the oven hanging from this rack for about an hour at 220 degrees, then took it out and ran it under some cold tap water(second photo). It now has a thoroughly hardened finish and is ready to go back in service.

 

[circlew]

Both your booth and the part you worked on in it turned out very nice!

 

[d-jones]

Thanks Tom.

It really is nice to have the new booth up and usable, though it looks like I may need to fit it with a cap after all. I had a friend of mine over while I was using it, and in spite of all the material that was trapped by the booth and fed back into the bucket, he said there was so much flying out the top it looked like a chimney, so I guess I'll have to do something about that.

 

Just for fun, here's a before and after shot. All of the parts seen in both photos are the same, they've just been repaired, refinished or cleaned.

 

[hydralique]

d-j . . .

That Maytag panel looks really, really good! What kind of paint did you use?

 

[d-jones]

"What kind of paint did you use?"

Just an ordinary can of "smoke gray" Rust-oleum. Baking the part in the oven makes a huge difference in the way the finish turns out. Obviously this isn't possible with some of the larger parts since they just plain won't fit, but with smaller metal parts that do fit I never skip this step.

 

[firedome]

nice work!

a cheap and quick alternative: ...and one that should have some appeal to this group, one can make a great sandblaster out of a metal dishwasher tub! My uncle made one out of a d/w he found at the curb 40 years ago and it's still in use! An oven liner might also work.

 

[d-jones]

Firedome -

I would love to see that. Is there any way you can get a photo of it?

 

[ovrphil]

That's a neat idea for a collapsible sand blasting booth...thank you for sharing and giving some inspiration to the DIY side. I haven't used a baking soda blaster, but would this work for this, also?

Phil

 

[firedome]

David....

will try to get a pic of the dishwasher sandblaster, he's not too far away.

This same uncle once also used a washing machine lid to repair a fender on a rusty '75 Nova... he is a great recycler!

 

[hydralique]

"washing machine lid to repair a fender "

Gotta love that! Now if it was a proper old-school lid with a porcelain enamel finish he could guarantee that part of the fender would never rust out. No doubt it would help if the Nova in question was white, harvest, or coppertone . . .

 

[d-jones]

Phil

 Unless I'm mistaken, baking soda type blasting media is essentially a powder, which means it'll get airborne and stay that way much longer than heavier media, like sand or ground walnut shells. Considering the much more open nature of this design, that could be a problem. Sand will ricochet a few times and land, but powder could engulf you in a cloud that'll leave you looking like you crashed into a flour factory, and I doubt you'd enjoy that. I'd be reluctant to try it.

 

[ovrphil]

djones - it is a powder, but how it's dispersed after application is something I never learned. Yet, we were thinking of using the services of a man who I met at Home Depot, who had this business with baking soda blasting. The interesting thing about bs blasting is the level of control, where you can effectively(as told by the man who made a living at it for a while, full time)remove paint off a car, but leave the primer. Intriguing, I thought.

Anyways, your sand-blasting tent is cool, since it collapses. Is sand-blasting equipment something you rent or own?

Phil

 

[d-jones]

Hi Phil -

I do have my own equipment, but it's probably not what you're thinking. My sandblaster is a small portable type that I bought at Sears a long time ago. It basically consists of a small portable hopper, a hose, and a gun. It wasn't very expensive, and similar set ups are still readily available. The one in the photo below is a lot like the one I have, though mine has no wheels. They're intended for small projects and somewhat infrequent use, which is exactly the way I use mine. One does need a compressor to use it though, and that will easily be the most expensive part of the affair, unless you already have one. They're a lot of fun to use, and the ease with which they remove every last trace of corrosion and old paint makes restorations a breeze. The only down side is that the cost of blasting media has risen to the point where you really want to recover as much as you can for re-use, hence the booth.

 

[tolivac]

GREAT blasting job-the connector panel looks like new.I use the sandblaster booth at our plant for corroded or dirty transmitter parts.Cleans 'em up FAST!!The blaster here uses glass bead abrasive media.It can be reused several times.Out stationary booth gets air from the main house compressor here-20Hp Gardner Denver.

 

[ovrphil]

hi David - thanks, all this gives me ideas. I need to get a compressor sometime - not this year - as there's a few projects that will be more easily finished with having that tool and the accessories.

Thanks again for stirring up the imagination.