As an experiment, I've bought a Badger Mini Sandblaster kit with the intention of grain to produce an 'interesting' surface on the tops and sides of small boxes.
I'm concerned about the risk of scattering aluminium oxide particles about the workshop, on the surface of my specs and so on.
It would be interesting to know how others cope with this situation - possibly by means of some form of enclosure - extraction by a vacuum cleaner hose I wonder?
Jeff
If they're small enough projects, what about a totally enclosed area with slots to put your hands through and a Plexiglas or similar window to see through?
Easiest answer it to do it outside.
Second-easiest answer is that Grizzly makes a small bead blasting cabinet that you could get cheap. There are a couple of benefits to that- First, the sand stays in the box, and not all over your shop or yard. Second, the sand is recycled from the bottom, so you use less of it. And third, they have gloves built in, so the likelyhood of getting pelted with high-speed sand is very low.
You could build your own, but by the time you bought the materials, it would cost a lot more than just buying a cheap one.
If you're really in a pinch, and can't do any of the above, you could try stapling thick plastic up in a corner of your shop to wall off an area- but even there, the cost of a single roll of plastic is only about half the price of this one, and won't work as well:
Harbor Freight has a similar unit for $80:
First of all, use the right grit! Aluminium oxide or silicon carbide, depending on material. You might even use commercial beads, or even ground almond shells (make your own in a coffer grinder) for decorative use on soft wood or plastic. DON'T use sand. It's only needed for some particular tasks on cast iron, and it has a serious dust breathing hazard (sand particles flake and make tiny sharp shards).
"Scatter" is a problem because odd grains will get _everywhere_. If you're also a silversmith or a telescope maker, that's a problem. On a small sandblaster though, it's not a big deal. You're only using lightweight "dust" grains rather than beads or shot and these don't have enough inertia to travel far with any energy. You'll find the odd one in things, but you won't etch out the windows.
You certainly need some sort of blast cabinet. For odd bits of glass etching at a friend's place, we just do it outside in the yard and then sweep up the grit afterwards. The grit is lost, but then grit's cheap and grit with glass shards in it is a respiratory problem anyway. Not much fun on a windy day though. Up at my Dad's place, where most of the sheet steel blasting gets done, then there's a converted '50s fridge (with doorlock) as a blast cabinet. There are powerful lights high up in the top and a grit recycling hopper at the base. Both of these use pressure-pot blasters and they're still very heavy on air consumption.
For smaller blast cabinets, just improvise. I've used cut down plastic oildrums before now, and even cardboard boxes. White opal polythene drums are excellent, as they let light in.
Do get plenty of light inside the cabinet.
Do make a tall cabinet. Mounting the lights high up is the easiest way to make them grit-proof. Even if you have to make the cabinet taller.
Do use clingfilm (maybe two layers) over the glass panels in front of lights or windows. It's replaceable and stops the main panel getting etched. Don't put it directly over lights though, because of the heat.
Do allow plenty of ventilation out of the blast cabinet. If you don't, the grit will leave through the light fittings, the seals or you might even blow the door off its catches.
Do get some extra-long Herriot gloves from a farmer's shop. Don't seal glove sleeves around the cabinet though, as the pressure forces the gloves out of the cabinet and your arms along with them.
If your blaster has a "lance", then allow a few holes to jab it in through. Make a 2" or 3" clamping ring and stick a disk of heavy rubber sheet between, with an X slot for the lance.
A foot-actuated air valve (for a pressure pot blaster) is ideal.
With these small bench top cabinets the slope of the base is not steep enough for the media to fall to the bottom for recirculation. They need periodic agitation and banging which is a real PITA. They also need loads of ventillation, the supplied filter is not sufficient and clogs literally within seconds. I used a ventillation hose going directly outside.
Good to know- I've only used big industrial ones, and hadn't considered that the smaller ones might not work the same way.
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