I have an older Eastwood blast cabinet that works, but has several nagging problems - as discussed below. So, I'm wondering whether I can correct them or if I should get a new one. Toward that end I'd like your input on the cabinets that are out there.

I'm looking at one that is 48" wide as the current one is 36" wide and is pretty tight when working on an oil pan. And, right now the AllSource #41500 from Northern Tool is the top pick. Anyone know anything about it?

And, now for the problems with mine:

• Doors: Originally mine had doors on the sides, only. That was awful for several reasons. First, when you open the door media falls on the floor. Second, when you need to replace the plastic protector for the glass you have to reach in from the side to replace it. Third, you have to take a part out to inspect it. So, I've since converted mine to top opening - and I wouldn't consider a side-door only cabinet.
• Light: Originally mine had a magnetic light on the outside shining in. Poor! I moved the magnetic light inside and it is much better, but the light is always in the way. So, I'm looking for a cabinet with a good lighting system.
• Media Pickup: Mine has a tube that is supposed to lay in the inverted pyramid and suck in the media. But, unless you run a LOT of media in the cabinet it isn't unusual to have to move it in order to get it to pick up media again. However, I'm seeing that better units have the pickup at the bottom of the inverted pyramid on the outside, and I'm willing to bet that makes a big difference. So, I'm thinking of adding that to mine or getting one with this feature.
• Bleed: And, the better systems have an adjustable air bleed in the suction line to regulate the amount of media. Without that the media pulses, meaning it blasts hard for a couple of seconds, pauses for a couple, and then goes again. Anyway, my next cabinet will have the adjustable bleed. Or, I'll add it to this one.

So, anyone have experience they want to share?

 

Hmmm do I detect a small dose of newtoolitis, you looking for us to validate that for you? Would your wife yell at us for encouraging you thusly?

Sounds to me like your needs and wants coincide so the newer better designed cabinet is very much your best bet. Where the existing one once served its purpose time to sell it off and get the one more suited to what you're doing.

HTH but don't tell this wife it was me saying it was okay!

 

Yes, I will freely admit I have newtoolitis. And, my wife of 46 years knows it as I've told her. So, I'm not in denial. In fact, in my mind the decision has pretty well been made, and this thread is more to figure out which cabinet than how to fix mine. So, I'm hoping to get some input from FTE'ers.

However, if one of y'all have already gone done this road and updated an older cabinet I'd be interested in how you did it. For instance, if the feed device that connects to the bottom of the pyramid on an updated cabinet can be adapted, that would fix the problem of having to move the pickup tube. And, since that includes the bleed screw it would fix the pulsing problem as well. But, Norther Tool doesn't carry the blast cabinets in the store, so I have no way to measure that device.

But, I'm not sure there's a good resolution to the lighting issue. My cabinet comes to a sharp corner at the top, so I could put one 24" fluorescent tube up there. But, it would have no protection unless I put a metal screen below it, and that cuts down on the light. In comparison, the better-designed cabinets have a flat spot at the top that houses a 2-tube fluorescent fixture, and it sits behind a glass panel with a plastic protection layer. So, there's no way to put as much light in mine as the new ones have, and no good way to protect what you could put in.

But, those are my observations/opinions. Perhaps someone here has already invented that wheel, or at least has seen it done. Hence my questions.

 

Build one. I hear the 48" pan/box bending brake from Northern Tool is halfway decent-
And now it's on to double toolitis, but it's self neutralizing since one tool can build the other. Plus then you can have the perfect blast cabinet at a fraction of the cost.

 

Thanks, but that doesn't fit with my "story" of "Honey, at 68 years old I'm running out of time. I want to use the blast cabinet, not work on it.)

Seriously though, one thing I've learned about the "automotive restoration" hobby is that I'm not good enough to do all of the work myself and have the project ever get done and done to my satisfaction. I have two more vehicles waiting in the wings after Dad's truck, so need to pick and choose how I plan the projects and what parts I do. And, the bottom line is that my time on Earth is limited. So, while I probably could design and build an add-on to my cabinet to pull media from the bottom, and even include a vacuum bleed in it, that's not where I want to spend my time. Much less build a cabinet from scratch.

But, if I were 50 or less I might take you up on that. After all, I designed and built my shop crane, engine stand, powder-coating booth and cart, rotisserie, etc. So, making my own blast cabinet would fit right in.

 

Depends what you want to blast, Gary. My BIL made one out of 2 275 fuel oil tanks . Welded together, doors on each end, plexi glass viewers exhaust fan and lights. He wanted to be able to put a 8' bed side from his 53 in it. He got most of his stuff from Grainger

 

Now THAT's a big blast cabinet. And, 10 years ago I might have been interested in doing the same - after all, I have a '50 Chevy pickup to restore. But, in those 10 years I've learned that I'm better off to farm out body work, and even my paint/body man farms out media blasting frames, beds, etc.

But, what I want to blast are engine parts, like oil pans, valve covers, timing covers, etc. and suspension components like springs, pivot arms, A-arms, and so on. That's 'cause I powder coat and media blasting gives the perfect "tooth" for powder. And, it cleans the part as well. So, I don't need bigger than probably 48".

 

This ole time would love to have a such a set up; unfortunately, restricted to a smaller unit because I would need to upgrade the existing electrical circuit to accommodate a compressor capable of putting out any thing close to 20 CFM.

Have a smaller cabinet, same/similar, to what you described, but rather than use the syphon hose I drilled a hole in the cabinet and use an inexpensive pressurized blaster, since I do not use the syphon hose I could probably have use the existing hose inlet? If by chance I should move, my emphasis will be on the garage and how much juice (electrical) it has so I can operate the air tools without limitations!!. As a side note; I searched online for an industrial Sand Blasting equipment and supply company and found 1 locally, so I am able to purchase a variety of media cheap.

 

Dave - I'm running an Eagle MaxAir single stage C7180V1-MS-MAP compressor capable of 30 CFM. It requires roughly 30 amps at 220v single phase when running. So, I have plenty of air to run a 20 CFM cabinet.

I went with that one on the advice of a tech at Eagle Air. I was looking at a two-stage compressor but he explained that I don't need PSI, but CFM for what I'm doing. So, instead of going with two cylinders and have one feed the other for pressure, which is two-stages, go with each of the two cylinders feeding the tank - for twice the CFM.

 

Yep, that aught to do it, as a life long back yard mechanic, man do I envy you!!

 

Interesting. It looks like there are several purveyors of the same cabinet I mentioned above. Here are three and I'm pretty sure they are the same cabinet. What do you think? Which would you buy?

• Tractor Supply: $2,154.48 with shipping
• Northern Tool: $1169.99 with shipping, plus a bag of media worth $59.99 is included for no extra charge
• Grizzly: $894 with shipping.

Now for my favorite story about one of my favorite tool providers - Grizzly. Years ago I bought a lathe/mill/drill machine from Harbor Freight, an HF44142 if I remember correctly. I hadn't had it long and realized that one of the nuts in the vise was stripped. So, I took it apart and found that it was a metric T-nut and it wasn't going to be easy to make. I pulled out the owner's manual - and discovered that the drawing was wrong. In fact, you couldn't even make what was shown and the T-nut wasn't depicted. So I called HF and the young lady that answered had no clue what a lathe/mill/drill was, much less a T-nut. After quite a while on the phone I realized I was going to get nowhere and needed a different solution.

So, I started looking at other lathe/mill/drills and discovered that most were very, very similar. In fact, when I downloaded the owner's manuals on two, one from Busy Bee and and one from Grizzly, they had the same mistake on the vise. So I called Grizzly and the older gentleman that answered not only had used their lathe/mill/drill, he was willing to help me in spite of me explaining that I owned the HF version, not the Grizzly one. And, he was shocked when he looked at the drawing for the vise. He said "You can't even MAKE that!" He then asked for my phone number as he was going to take the floor model apart, find out what the nut was, and call me back. He did just that, said they had several of the nuts in stock, and shipped me two for $2 each.

To say I became an instant Grizzly fan would be an understatement. I replaced the lathe/mill/drill with an Enco lathe and a Grizzly mill, and have been very pleased with both. And, I've stopped by Grizzly's show room in Springfield, MO many times to buy tooling. So, I am thrilled to find that they not only carry what looks to be a really well-designed blast cabinet but have it at an outstanding price. They may get to load one in Big Blue closer to Christmas.

 

I've sourced Grizzly parts for my Jet shop equipment before.
They are REALLY good about service and that makes me want to spend my money with them.

Same tool with a different switch/****/lever.
I can live with green instead of white, blue or gray for 1/2 the price!

 

Right now the blast cabinet is close to the mill, so the green would be a good fit. However, while perusing the Grizzly catalog I ran across the big brother (G0704) to that blast cabinet and I like it a bunch. Not only more room, but 4 fluorescent tubes instead of 2, and a much larger door. So, now I have to see if I can get that one in.

Edit: The blast cabinets are red, not Grizzly Green.

 

Did some measuring today and, at first blush, neither of the two Grizzly cabinets will work. Here's what Grizzly shows in the owner's manual for the G0714:




However, the 48" front/rear dimension seemed odd, so I called Grizzly. Turns out the drawing must be wrong as the cabinet itself is 24" f/r and 48" l/r. And, that 24" dimension matches my current Eastwood cabinet, so it'll fit where mine currently is, although it'll come toward the camera another 12" in this pic:




But, with a bit of cleanup of the piping that goes to the powder-coating booth (the wood thing on the right), I can move the cabinet back 6". However, that means I'll have to remote the dust collector. But, that's easy as there's a utility room on the other side of the wall. In fact, that's where the current dust collector is, so that's an easy mod. And, I'll have to put the switches for the light and dust collector, shown on the far right in the drawing, some place else as that extra 5" is just too much.

 

Do you blast with sand or crushed glass?