mike4444244 Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Hi Machine mart vat free day is coming up, I'd like to invest in a shot blast cabinet, does anyone have any experience of the 2 sizes they offer? the bench top looks quite small and the floor one looks like it would take up all my garage! not to mention the £200 price difference is the smaller one big enough for most home/DIY use or is it really worth going bigger? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yalan Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Yup, got the smaller one. It is fed from a good, strong,dry air source and has delivered mixed results. In a previous job I've used a very good industrial machine so held high hopes. As standard it isnt great. It'll function, but light, visibility, exhaust filtering and efficiency aren't great. But you can modify them as I found out from another forum. I'll stick up some links and photos of what I've done to improve things. Someone elses mods... http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=20261 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yalan Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Yup, got the smaller one. It is fed from a good, strong,dry air source and has delivered mixed results. In a previous job I've used a very good industrial machine so held high hopes. As standard it isnt great. It'll function, but light, visibility, exhaust filtering and efficiency aren't great. But you can modify them as I found out from another forum. I'll stick up some links and photos of what I've done to improve things. Someone elses mods... http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=20261 Regarding size, i've used mine for lots and the size hasn't really limited me. Done lots of brackets, calipers etc with it. Too small for alloy wheels but I can live with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 You do need a big source of air to get best use out of them.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 I'm in the process of setting mine up. I'm putting a condenser on the airline, using a blast pot with a proper valve/gun run into the machine, and I've got a Hoover to rig up on the filter to extract the dust. Essentially I'm copying a friends set up that works very well ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yalan Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 I'm in the process of setting mine up. I'm putting a condenser on the airline, using a blast pot with a proper valve/gun run into the machine, and I've got a Hoover to rig up on the filter to extract the dust. Essentially I'm copying a friends set up that works very well ..... Yeah, I thought mine was being limited by being a syphon based system so invested in a clemco pressure pot to feed into the cabinet. Eventually decided the benefit didn't warrant the extra kit so went back to the syphon system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike4444244 Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 thanks, I have a 3hp 300L compressor so should be ok, I have an old Hoover I was going to chuck but might keep it, I can't really imagine anything on a car that wouldn't fit in the small one and would fit in the big one, big stuff like axles etc would be too big for the big one I think so might go with the bench top... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yalan Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Yeah, with a few mods they work well. Mine is a 3hp 200l and does run quite a bit to keep up. Heres mine with mods.... 2x 60w halogen mini floods, and a massive extraction filter (cut up henry hoover filter behind the mesh). All glass is stove glass custom cut and protected by disposable OHP film. I also added a hose whip to make connections easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 I would think 3Hp and 300L would be fine, but its the CFM that makes the difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 So basically the bench top one is fine if you completely rebuild it..... I can confirm the bench top one is disappointing in standard form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Agreed Barry. We bought the bench top Clarke version at work, just for a few small odds and ends. I have to say that out of the box it is utter rubbish. Visibility is non existent after a few uses, extraction is also non existent, and the darned thing blows grit all up your front when using it, because the door just flexes up under pressure. It was necessary to wear a dust mask when blasting, even just for a moment or two. We even had the air pressure set lower than the recommended max. The intended use didn't warrant spending any more on a better model, so having to modify it to make it any good is pointless. Complete waste of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Yep I ended up weighting the door down putting cloths around all the joints to avoid the nose full of dust. Oh and squinting to see ... ended up working in the shed with all the lights out and just the blaster cabinet light on so I could sort of make out what was going on. Yalans mods look like they solve most of the problems, however I can't help thinking you'd be better off folding your own steel and buying a blasting gun to make your own. It isprobably a useful kit of parts to build your own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Mine came from eBay and I made up some legs for it: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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