Sandblaster!!!

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The adapters require 6.75" outer diameter circles. You could knock those corners off in the lathe but it would be a lengthy process.
You gotta week😉

But seriously, wood cuts really fast on a metal lathe with sharp HSS knives.

I can take 1/4" cuts with ease on my wee taig lathe. With a machine big enough to spin your wood, I bet you could hog even more.
 
I have tried to make my first sandblast cabinet from a microwave oven. It should have been for very small parts. I have made the adapter ring on the 3D printer ((for an additional polycarbonate front door - or cover). Very fast, as it is not a tall part. Actually was the only part I have designed in CAD and it was very simple due to its symmetry and certain automated CAD operations.
I adapted that oven, finally, for airbrush painting...
 
Yesterday I made up the shelves that fit below the sandblaster and painted them. Nothing there exciting enough for a picture. I have spent much of today looking at various modifications made to Harbor Freight sandblasters on Youtube. I am not going to make any of these modifications until I see how my own cabinet with an aftermarket gun actually performs.
 
Today I did nothing--except---watch about a hundred video's about sand blasters. I am becoming the world's leading authority on sandblasters, even though I don't have one up and running yet. The actual gun I'm using works well, as I have had it for a few years now--it was originally designed to syphon feed sand from it's own one quart cup. The cup and cap unscrews and leaves you with a gun with the syphon tube exposed. The biggest change that every one recommends is that you change the cabinets syphon feed over to a gravity feed. This involves about $15 worth of plumbing added to the bottom of the hopper. This change allows unpressurized air to enter at the hopper end of the feed tube and helps immensely with the blasting medium entering the feed tube and making it up to the gun.
 
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Today I did nothing--except---watch about a hundred video's about sand blasters. I am becoming the world's leading authority on sandblasters, even though I don't have one up and running yet. The actual gun I'm using works well, as I have had it for a few years now--it was originally designed to syphon feed sand from it's own one quart cup. The cup and cap unscrews and leaves you with a gun with the syphon tube exposed. The biggest change that every one recommends is that you change the cabinets syphon feed over to a gravity feed. This involves about $15 worth of plumbing added to the bottom of the hopper. This change allows unpressurized air to enter at the hopper end of the feed tube and helps immensely with the blasting medium entering the feed tube and making it up to the gun.

It remains siphon feed with that modification. The media is still lifted from the bottom of the hopper to the gun with suction, no defying gravity involved, no pressure feed. What the metering valve modification does is mix air in the stream which prevents clogs and gives a better "atomized" sand stream. Drawing off the bottom of the hopper is also a improvement giving more reliable feed. I did it to my sandblaster. If you do it, be sure to use 1 inch piping for the metering valve assembly.

Another common modification/accessory is using a shop vac with a cyclone to provide airflow through the cabinet so you can actually see what you are doing. There is a connection port right on the cabinet for a standard shop vac hose. The cyclone is needed so as not to plug the vac filter quickly, only a small one is needed, they are on amazon and mount on top of a 5 gallon plastic bucket.
 
Those dust cyclones actually work well.
I purchased one and mounted it over a 5 gallon bucket.
The only reason I did not keep using it ahead of my shop vac was that I did not have a central shop vac system, and so it was cumbersome to have on the shop floor.
I am going to resurrect my sand blasting cabinet though, and mount the cyclone under or over that cabinet, to filter the air in the cabinet.
I will use a shop vac to pull air from the sand blaster enclosure, through the cyclone, and use a hose to route the shop vac output outside, so any remaining fines go outside.

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Found the Amazon bucket cyclones work better if you toss in one of these:

2PCS 9.25'' Car Wash Washboard Insert Bucket Dirt Remove Filte Black 23.5cm https://a.co/d/73qQvr2


For me it really cut the amount of material that escaped the bucket. But I also put swarf through the same system.
Before you get too worked up over cyclones and 'clearing the air', take a look at the Bill Pentz site on cyclones, he's the guy they copied the 5 gallon pail cyclone from. Pay attention to the parts that talk about how effective they are and what their limitations are.
https://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.php
 
Before you get too worked up over cyclones and 'clearing the air', take a look at the Bill Pentz site on cyclones, he's the guy they copied the 5 gallon pail cyclone from. Pay attention to the parts that talk about how effective they are and what their limitations are.
https://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.php
his site is...Highly detailed. this will take some time to read through.


https://www.amazon.ca/Cyclone-Colle...a6684c14e0cc133c8d1&tag=googleshopc0c-20&th=1

Brian: I went with the above and it's honestly only meh. If I was you I would build a separator for less.
 
Before you get too worked up over cyclones and 'clearing the air', take a look at the Bill Pentz site on cyclones, he's the guy they copied the 5 gallon pail cyclone from. Pay attention to the parts that talk about how effective they are and what their limitations are.
https://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.php
Great site, I would say that the amazon bucket cyclone I linked to suffers from the issues he lists as common issues with commercial units. It's especially sensitive to interruptions in the air flow which makes stuff from the bucket, swirl up and into the vacuum.

In a sand blasting hood, that shouldn't be an issue but if you are vacuuming down a lathe, it certainly gets old.

I don't have experience personally with a Thien separator, but from the videos I have seen, they are cheap and quick to build, compared to other systems, and preform very well with a constant air flow. Might be ideal for a sand blasting hood.

I plan to make one up out of 18ga steel for spark removal from a grinding cabinet, they seem to excel with heavy dusts.

https://www.jpthien.com/cy.htm
 
Today I am bored to death!!! My new bandsaw blade hasn't come in yet, and I can't really do anymore work until I have it here. I am setting at my computer cruising the internet, learning about a whole world of crap that I care nothing about.
 
Welcome to the club.
That is the downside of retirement.
The good side is you don't have to do the normal work stuff, you can focus on hobby material.

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Welcome to the club.
That is the downside of retirement.
The good side is you don't have to do the normal work stuff, you can focus on hobby material.

The downside is that you are getting older and less alert so you keep doing things wrong so you have to do them over again. Don't ask why I know about that this week. :)
 
The cyclones work suprisingly well, even with fine material.

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I have a Dustopper in front of an 8 gallon ShopVac with 1-7/8" Ridgid® hoses (2-1/2" between the Vac & Dustopper). I use this combination with Loc-Line pickups at my Mini-Lathe & Mini-Mill, with a 2-1/2” adapter on my Craftsman 10” 3-Wheel Bandsaw and various nozzles to clean up after using all machines & floor. It collects steel, cast iron and aluminum chips/swarf as well as saw dust from the bandsaw and handtools. While not a heavy user (so to speak), very little gets past the Duststopper.

HD DustStopper.jpeg

Red hose is 1-7/8" going to collection nozzles/pickups (only one at a time), black hose connects the Duststopper to the Shop Vac; there is an exhaust "muffler" on the exhaust of the Vac to 1) reduce velocity of the exhaust (doesn't seem to have a significant impact on the volume, but I never measured it), 2) reduce noise and 3) keep mices out of the Vac – one was storing Pistachios in there and I had to take the Vac apart to get all of them out.


I chose the Dustopper for the price and the low headroom required. The only issue I have ever had with my setup is when I was using 1-1/4" hose and the plastic Homer bucket would occasional collapse breaking the seal: I fixed this with a steel 5 gallon pail.
 
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