hopper for blast cabinet

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Couple pics of my "cabinet" here (made from an old oil tank):http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...ing-cabinet#10I was inspired by the nice hopper kolot did for his:http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...-Blast-cabinetI had the pieces cut by my steel supplier back in October and they've been getting shuffled around the garage since then.  I've got some parts that I need to sandblast and powdercoat for my tractor and thought it might be time to "sharpen the saw" a little by getting this hopper put on the sandblaster.  I'd been debating about how to fixture this in order to tack it and ended up doing something very simple - I duct taped a 16 x 24" framing square to the garage floor, butted two panels up to the inside edges of the square, and then leaned them inward until they were touching along the seam how I had designed them to and held them with my left hand while MIG tacking with my right.  Got that whole seam tacked, then moved the square and repeated for attaching the third panel.  Didn't need the square for the fourth panel, but a putty knife was handy under the edge of that panel against the floor for adjusting how it met the first and third panels since I couldn't quite fit my hand in the 1" square hole at the top (which is really the bottom).  The whole thing is about 24" x 60" x 20" and the panels are 1/8".  Need to finish welding the seams and then if the weather cooperates, I can get the blaster out in the driveway and start grafting this thing on.
Reply:Nice!Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:Thanks!  I got the seams stitched and added the drain nipple today.  Nipple is 2 inches of 1" NPT pipe with the protruding end threaded.  I also made a cap out of a 1 x 1-1/4 bushing by welding a square of scrap 1/8" plate to the end and grinding it round again.  Little bit nicer than a regular cap too (1) since I didn't have to run out to the store and pay for one and (2) the bushing has a hex on it so I can use a regular wrench instead of pipe wrench if it ever needs more than hand torque to loosen it.  With the seams stitched, I was able to stand it up and regain a little floor space.  Drain nipple also makes a nice handle.
Reply:That should do the job for you. Hope it works good
Reply:Turned the outside threads off the cap and faced both ends.
Reply:Been cold and snowy.  Clean-up machined all the outside surfaces of the cap and powdercoated autumn grey:Might do the tank that color when I finally paint it.
Reply:Nice not a lot of people can do them transitions like that. --Gol'
Reply:Thanks!  I used to work with wind tunnels and we had all kinds of fun transitions where you'd have to worry about diffusion angles and tangencies and so on.  So this one was pretty simple in comparison.This weekend's weather was nice, so Friday night I got the tank emptied and stripped of stuff I didn't want getting broken or burned by moving / cutting / welding.  Here's what it looked like inside before taking the light off:Saturday's work time got consumed with repairing some firewood storage, but I got a couple hours today (Sunday) to work on the blaster again.  Started off by marking the ends where a 24" width hit the radiused bottom (with a marker).  Rolled the tank outside on its stand and used a cutoff wheel to make a shallow cut on each end where the marker lines were.  Took the tank off its stand and connected the cuts on the sides with a chalk line and went over those with the cutoff wheel too.The shallow cuts made great guidelines to follow with the plasma (nice fresh sliver against a rusty brown background, plus a little bit of a physical trough to drag the tip in).  Bottom was off in short order.Had some other things to get to, so I cleaned up for the day.  I think I'm going to tack the hopper on with the tank sitting on it's end like this:Will hold the hopper to the tank with a ratchet strap or two and shim underneath to get things lined up just right.  Then, once it's tacked, I can rotate it around to get a favorable position for each seam.Last edited by dbotos; 02-02-2014 at 10:08 PM.
Reply:That's going to make you a great cabinet
Reply:Are you able to recover and reuse a good % of your sand/media? I made a blast pot last fall. So my blasting projects are on hold until Al Gore sends his global warming my way.Arcon Workhorse 300MSPowcon 400SMTPowcon SM400 x 2Powcon SM3001968 SA200 Redface1978 SA250 DieselMiller Super 32P FeederPre 1927 American 14" High Duty LatheK&T Milwaukee 2H Horizontal MillBryan
Reply:With that drum funnel on the bottom of the tank, some would go in there and some would end up to either side of it and I'd have to drag it back to the center with a little hoe I made from half of a wooden wire spool disk and some threaded rod.  I just reuse the media until it get so broken down that it blasts poorly.  I've been using Black Diamond media from Tractor Supply.  Hopefully with this hopper, it'll all come back to the center nicely on its own.
Reply:Got the hopper tacked on tonight.  I wanted to see how all four edges were lining up, so I ended up tacking it in this position:Might be a little hard to see in the picture, but I've got a tee threaded onto the drain nipple and a strap running up to an overhead beam to make sure the hopper doesn't come sliding off.  The tank was pretty stable due to the upper edge of the light window flange not allowing it to roll.  As I expected, there was some pulling and cajoling required get portions of the edges lined up (those tanks like to stress relieve when you cut on them, especially taking big chunks out).  I still need to pull the right front corner together a little and finish tacking there, but I figured I had enough done that I could put it back on the stand without it falling apart.
Reply:Any more progress on this. I have access to an oil tank too. I have a bad boy pressureized pot blaster and blasting outside on a tarp is getting old.www.tjsperformance.comDynasty 300 DXHTP 240HTP Microcut 380Hyperthem 85JD2 Hyd Bender and HF Hyd Ring Roller all in one =(Frankenbender)Bpt. Mill/DRO4' x 8' CNC Plasma TableInstagram: tjsperformanceYT: TJS Welding and Fabrication
Reply:Got some more time to work on this thing today.  Started out by fashioning a crude chain link out of some 3/16" round stock and welded that to the right front corner of the hopper.  Used it to pull that corner of the hopper up to the tank and got it tacked.  Rolled it out into the driveway and got it off the stand so I could fully weld all the seams.  Not the warmest out today, so I got the seams done, did a rough flap-wheeling on the ones facing the front, and called it good enough for now.Time to put all the goodies back on and test it out.
Reply:Seems to be working.    Brake drum backing plate and brake pedal from the tractor (using old oven rack as grate for now):
Reply:I see it stacking up on the sides. I've had problems with mine doing that (and mines steeper on the sides than yours). I was forced to put a vibrator on the bin to keep the grit going down to the pickup tube.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:angle of hopper works better when adapted to the media's angle of repose , sand is about 32 degrees 30-34...it may vary from one abrasive type to the other, just test your media angle of repose and build a few degrees steeper.
Reply:trouble with sand is, as it wears it will stick to the sides, and not want to slide down, then you know its time to change it. I built a 4x8x4 sand blasting cabinet my self when I was 16, used it lots! My solution to the sand sticking and not sliding is also a vibrator to shake it down. Love it, best thing I have built so far and most handiest! Love the build! I almost went this route as well but I needed even bigger! Love the hopper dont see many of these with hoppers like yours! Here is a video of mine before I fully completed it
Reply:Just kidding but I hate you!I wanted to scrap that old oil tank, now you are giving me more ideas on what to do with it!Pig Roaster was first but don't have enough pigs!How do you exhaust the dust/pressure?
Reply:Most of the media on the right side is from where I just dumped it in there.  The front and back panels are much steeper than the sides.  I could have made the hopper taller to get more angle on the sides, but I wanted to keep the blaster as a sit-down model.  If I run into issues, I'll probably just make a quick-and-dirty wooden hoe/rake to keep in there to coax the media down with as needed.  Some times that is a welcome break when you've been blasting for an extended period of time.    At least it will be easier than in the previous configuration (I would have to move the parts/grate/gun, pull media into the drum funnel, and then set everything back up in the center).Michael.T - I think I've come across your cabinet build on YouTube before - very cool.  If I had more space, I'd probably build something like that.  Nothing like being able to blast an entire bumper or door in your cabinet.  drujinin - some info on my dust extraction setup here:http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...ing-cabinet#13I've since relocated both the dust collector and cyclone to sit on top of the tank and the collection hose goes into one of the 2" NPT ports on the top of the tank.Last edited by dbotos; 02-10-2014 at 12:29 PM.
Reply:kolot here, looks good, I to have had minor problems with my sand returning to the bottom of the hopper but nothing that is a deal breaker and all in all it works quite well. Was thinking about the vibrator but I might experiment with a tube with a series of holes drilled in it hooked into the air system on a ball valve. Kind of like a gas grill burner. Figure I can give the sides a blast of air every now and then blowing the sand to the middle. Have not tested this yet but seems it may work. Cabinet is hand down better than open air blasting other than size restrictions as I have not found away to get a truck frame in their yet.LOL.   SOME DAY if I build a big shop I would love to turn a pickup cab into a cabinet. Seems it would work pretty easily. Might try to combine my pressure blaster with the cabinet, will just have to load manually.  Good luck with it."Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DCMillermatic 251   Syncrowave 300   30A spoolgunLincoln MP210Hypertherm 45(2) LN 25(2) Lincoln Weldanpower 225 CV(4) SA200   1 short hood    SA250    SAM 400
Reply:Thanks.  I haven't used mine in a little while - new baby has been keeping me busy.  I threw a scrap piece of flat stock in there for coaxing sand as needed.  I like the air blaster idea.  Exair makes purpose-built air knives, but they are pretty pricey.  For something that won't be on constantly and where efficiency and noise are not a concern, the pipe with holes seems like the most economical route.