Hi
Quite possibly the most important piece of equipment to go with your cabinet is the dust extraction system and needs to be one of your first thoughts when buying and setting up your cabinet and compressor.
The dust that is produced when blasting is broken into 2 categories.
a, Dangerous;
This by it's categorisation is bad for your health and comes from the silica in normal sand and as I have mention in other posts should be avoided at all costs. If for some reason; maybe, ready availability, cost of more suitable materials or you just don't care, then ensure that you do have a good extraction system that collects the dust and not a blower that blows it into the outside air where anyone human or animal can breath it. O yes, don't forget you also have powdered glass in the mix.
A basic mask is better than nothing.
But a filter mask is better.
I have a couple of these and my last cost around £20 from a car paint suppliers.
b, Nuisance;
This is the non-dangerous dust created from the use of Aluminium oxide and Silicon carbide, non-dangerous in that it does not cause Silicosis of the lungs, although it still contains powdered glass. So if you have your head in the cabinet with this dust then please wear a mask.
The nuisance part comes in because you can't see what you are trying to achieve in your cabinet so it has to go, and there are a number of ways of achieving this.
These days a lot of the cabinets come with the extractor bolted on the back and all come with the provision to plug in some kind of vacuum system, these rely on your ingenuity of what to plug in and sometimes the wrong decision is made so getting it right the first time saves a lot of bother in the future.
Ready Fitted
These are the more expensive cabinets although you can buy the same cabinet with the extractor not fitted but provision is made to bolt on when you acquire the extractor.
This cabinet is approx £740 with delivery.
These are large extractors 78cm x 30cm x 32cm and weigh around 10kgs, they also take up a lot of space at the back of the cabinet so no use in a small shed and cost around £150 with delivery.
The extractor is motor driven and sucks the air from the cabinet passes it through a filter and out of the top cowling cover.
The filters can be removed for cleaning and exchange filters are available for around £40 each.
If for some reason the motors should burn out (hopefully not) then there is even a spare motor available for £70.
You can also buy floor mounted units that are designed for dust and have bags for collection and easy removal. These are around £300 with delivery
This type sits along side your cabinet for easy hose connection and start stop.
This Glastar system gets is suction from a vacuum and has a cyclonic separator to prevent the vacuum getting blocked..
This type of system is easily achieved for the DIYer and is what I have fitted to my cabinet and it works very well
The separator is fitted in line between the suction and the cabinet, this help to prevent dust getting to the vacuum, all vacuums have a variety of filters fitted to prevent dust getting in and damaging the motor, once these start blocking up then performance drops considerably.
The Internet is filled with homemade solutions to this problem and most work by using cyclonic separation either using or in a sealed air tight drum, I have linked a number of home made ideas from Pinterest.
Pinterest on DIY extraction
Most of these designs were developed for woodworking dust and chip removal but work equally as well for cabinet dust with many ingenious designs.
I have gone a similar route but have bought the cyclonic unit.
These are made of plastic and are designed to bolt onto an airtight drum and the vacuum is plugged into the top. The side inlet is plumbed into the cabinet and when switched on creates a cyclone in the chamber and sucks everything into the drum without it ever reaching the vacuum filters.
There are a lot of different manufactures out there and the first (i believe) was called the Dust Mite
but they all work on the same principle, I went for the Omni as it was the only British made one I could find.
This is mine, around £34 for the cyclone and around £15 for the drum, a used industrial vacuum was £50 plus a Dyson hose at £9 just under £110.
The connections in ready built cabinets may be a hole in the side or back but as mine is home made and large I have fitted two outlets and have used 1 1/2" plastic pipe to plumb them in.
I plumbed mine into the top corners of the cabinet as that seems to be where the bought cabinets have them positioned, maybe right maybe wrong but seems to work. I have also made deflector plates from sheet metal to prevent any direct entrance to the pipe.
This system seems to work very well and if you don't wish to go to the trouble of making one of these your self they are available for around £800.
Of course this is not the only method.
This one sucks directly into the vacuum, will do the job but the filters will get clogged very quickly.
This one uses and industrial fan but where does the dust go.
This is a home made cyclone, generally with a few inches of water in the bottom to collect the dust.
Another fancy system, not sure what the down pipes are for but looks like it goes directly into the vacuum
And last but not least another cyclone like the route I decided on.
So there are many ways of removing the dust to see what you are doing and of course so as you don't breath any in, the choice is yours.
Paul
Pinterest on DIY extraction
Most of these designs were developed for woodworking dust and chip removal but work equally as well for cabinet dust with many ingenious designs.
I have gone a similar route but have bought the cyclonic unit.
These are made of plastic and are designed to bolt onto an airtight drum and the vacuum is plugged into the top. The side inlet is plumbed into the cabinet and when switched on creates a cyclone in the chamber and sucks everything into the drum without it ever reaching the vacuum filters.
There are a lot of different manufactures out there and the first (i believe) was called the Dust Mite
but they all work on the same principle, I went for the Omni as it was the only British made one I could find.
This is mine, around £34 for the cyclone and around £15 for the drum, a used industrial vacuum was £50 plus a Dyson hose at £9 just under £110.
The connections in ready built cabinets may be a hole in the side or back but as mine is home made and large I have fitted two outlets and have used 1 1/2" plastic pipe to plumb them in.
I plumbed mine into the top corners of the cabinet as that seems to be where the bought cabinets have them positioned, maybe right maybe wrong but seems to work. I have also made deflector plates from sheet metal to prevent any direct entrance to the pipe.
This system seems to work very well and if you don't wish to go to the trouble of making one of these your self they are available for around £800.
Of course this is not the only method.
This one sucks directly into the vacuum, will do the job but the filters will get clogged very quickly.
This one uses and industrial fan but where does the dust go.
This is a home made cyclone, generally with a few inches of water in the bottom to collect the dust.
Another fancy system, not sure what the down pipes are for but looks like it goes directly into the vacuum
And last but not least another cyclone like the route I decided on.
Paul
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