DIY blast gun cabinet from reclaimed parts

[martin54]

Before I joined the forum I was building a plywood router with aluminium angle & skateboard bearings. After joining the forum I bought a gerber system 48 with motherboard problems that I haven't got round to sorting yet but is on my list of things to do lol.

Anyway, the ply router was almost complete so I decided to finish it & start using it but I seem to have gone wrong somewhere as it doesn't seem to look like the other plywood routers I have seen.

[GEOFFREY]

Hi Martin, can't open your pics. G.

[martin54]

Must be something I did uploading the pictures Geoffrey

[Swarfing]

Blast those dam wooden CNC's, don't you just hate it when that happens.

Good job of e cabinet Martin.

[WandrinAndy]

Martin, I'm guessing that the original plan for your wooden CNC was delivered in pieces that had to be assembled like a jigsaw puzzle? And I'm thinking that the plan-assembly-stage is where things went wrong with your machine.

The good news is that once you have re-assembled the plan correctly, you should find that most of the machine parts are reusable..... Alternatively you may just find another use for the symmetrical geometry of your current machine!

Hope This Helps.

[GEOFFREY]

Got the pics now Martin, it just looks like an up to date version of the Gerber, but with the advantage of a superclean hands on controller. G.

[martin54]

It's not finished yet but is usable as it is, didn't have the wood to make a framework & hopper or the steel mesh which will at some point form the bottom of the cabinet.
Unit next to mine is a glazier & the one next to that is a builder so I should be able to pick up some scrap CLS or something else suitable for the frame in the not to distant future.

I mentioned to someone I know that I was thinking about buying a blast gun kit (gun, hoses, 5kg of glass beads & 5kg soda) as I wanted to do the wheels on the car & they kindly gave me a gun & pick up hose they had bought used once then shoved away to rot lol.
So while I was waiting on them dropping it off I got to thinking that it was a bit of a waste of media doing it out in the open & a cabinet may be a better option, quick look on line & they didn't look hard to manufacture.
Most of the frame is 18mm ply as I had that but not quite enough, the top is 12mm ply because I had a bit of that lol, lined it with an old industrial rubber mat that I had rolled up in the corner but that is black which isn't a great colour for the inside of the cabinet so the back has a covering of white vinyl over the top of the mat,
The door is on a piano hinge because I have a few of those lying about plus I had a few door latches so one of those was used.
Two old bits of clear acrylic for the light & the viewing window which I have put a covering of clear vinyl over to help reduce the amount they get marked. It's mainly forest green because I had half a tin left over from a job I had done for a customer. Already had a few gear trays kicking about for the lights but did have to buy 2 3 foot tubes as the ones I have are all either 5 or 6 foot.
Already had a compressor & air hoses as well. I did have to buy the gloves & the glove flanges, the flanges were nearly 8 squid each & they are just plastic, did try a bit of drainage pipe but although I could get my arm inside I couldn't really move my arm about so not worth using.
Quite pleased at how it has gone so far & it will be getting tested in the next day or so. I had already used the aluminium angle from the router for something else so I am slowly recycling it, need to find something to do with the skate bearings & ballscrews still though.

[Swarfing]

Skate bearings is easy. You know how the stuff rotates in a microwave? make a table up so that you can turn your parts while blasting, save lifting and shifting?

[martin54]

Skate bearings is easy. You know how the stuff rotates in a microwave? make a table up so that you can turn your parts while blasting, save lifting and shifting?

Yer that would be a good idea, thanks for that. Blast cabinets I use to use had a revolving table, mind you the table itself was bigger than the machine I've built lol.

[Lee Roberts]

Use for the ballscrews...Turn this in to a cnc blast cabinet, you load the material, push the green button, the machine retracts the material, close's the door and blasts the part while the microwave table waits for the "ping" to sound

.Me