Sandblast Cabinet

Sandblast Cabinet FARM SHOP Handy Hints 19-3-27 Michael Gilbertz, White Lake, S.Dak.: "My son and I made this sandblast cabinet to clean up old car parts, or anything else that needs dirt or rust removed. We made it from an old fuel tank. We cut an opening in top and made a 1-in. angle iron frame that we welded on and then fitted with a pane of glass. We then set a 4-ft. ship light on the glass to light the interior of the cabinet. "The side window was also fitted into an angle iron frame. We put plastic edging on the glass and hold it in place with four clips. We had to make it easy to remove because the glass gets chipped and needs to be replaced periodically. "We made the glove openings by welding flat iron circles to the inside of the tank.The gloves are held to the circles with large hose clamps. We got the long gloves from a local auto parts store. "To make the large door on the end, we welded a piece of 1-in. sq. tubing just in-side the tank for the door to close against. "At the bottom of the tank, we cut out an 8-in. wide strip along the full length of the bottom of the tank and made a narrow funnel out of sheet metal with a sliding door at the bottom to remove the sand. An expanded metal floor was put in about 12 in. from the bottom of the tank to set objects on to be cleaned. "A suction-type gun is used to remove the grit. A 2-in. plastic pipe with a slot cut along the pipe was put just above the metal floor and our shop vac was hooked to it to remove dust. "One problem we have is with the sand getting damp from humidity. We solved this by putting a hairdryer with a hose under the sand and putting a little heat on. It works to keep the sand dry."

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