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Old 07-28-2008, 02:31 AM
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Newman109 Newman109 is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Sacramento County, California
Posts: 988
Default Nice project!

It looks very nice. You might consider some metal plates inside to protect the wood if there is a spot you tend to hit more frequently.

I have a bead blaster that is modified from a large one I got from HF about ten years ago. I got it on sale because it had some small dents on it and it was the floor model. I threw the gun away because it used ceramic tips that don't last. I replaced it with one from Snap-on that has carbide inner and outer tubes. It's been heavily used for the past ten years and has no measurable wear to date.

Unfortunately I had to pay $80 for the gun and they're probably more now if you can ever find a Snap-on salesman. Tungsten tips are really the way to go on a blaster.

I added 3 shielded lights inside and a tempered glass window that is protected by sheets of clear polycarbonate that I replace when they get cloudy.

I use fine glass beads from a local supplier. They get about $20 for a 25 pound sack. My machine holds two sacks and they last me a long time because I try not to blast anything that's greasy or oily. I do my cleaning first. MSC or Grainger has the gloves.

You will also need some sort of exhaust device to pull the dust away so you can see what you are doing. I use a Cyclone Brand Dust Collector head that I bought about 35 years ago. It's driven by a 2 hp Baldor 220 VAC motor. It sits on top of a 55 gallon barrel with a dust bag on the exhaust for the fines. The barrel has a door that unbolts to clean out the barrel. It has a 4" hose to connect to the blaster and it pulls some serious vacuum. I also use this when I do woodworking for chips.

My compressor has an 80 gallon tank with a two-stage all iron compressor unit. The motor is a Canadian (true) 5 hp that is the size of a small watermelon. IIRC, the machine is rated at 18-20 CFM. It will cycle when I'm working but I seldom do more than five minutes at a time since I'm usually only doing small motocycle parts although the blaster is large enough to take a Cast Harley wheel or a crankcase a side at a time.

I do think you will be needing a larger compressor due to the issue of duty cycle.

Good luck on your project!
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