I broke down and bought a blast cabinet because I'm tired of not being able to breathe after I etch. I was going to go with harbor freight but I checked tractor supply and they not only sell the cabinet, but the replacement nozzles and parts which harbor freight does not. The only one they had was a display so I got a 5% discount. The light went out 5 minutes after I hooked it up but I called buffalo tools and they are shipping me a new one. It works great! No sealing needed. It's smaller than the HF model. But like I said, they have all the replacement parts for it.

even with a cabinet you will get a lot of dust in the air. i bought a fresh air hood and turbine like this one...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Supplied-fresh-Air-Respirator-breathing-Hood-system-/300342961598?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45edd5e5be

i am thinkin about a half mask like this because the hood is kinda clunky for use with a blast cabinet...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Supplied-fresh-Air-Respirator-breathing-half-1-2-mask-/380153845245?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5882ef55fd

to everyone; if you are sandblasting, do your lungs a favor and get one of these.

bb

Nice find Bill - makes it much nicer to work with

I built my own blast cabinet. It has a foot pedal and I use a shop vac to collect the dust, works great, no dust to contend with and the foot pedal though exspensive makes it alot easier and faster to work with.

i have the same cabinet from TS . I love it  but does need more light.I am going to try the extra light in the bottom thanks for the idea. . I have  a small shop vac on mine really helps   with the dust

Bill,

That's the cabinet I've been lookin at. Glad to hear that it seals pretty good. I looked at the HF cabinet and wasn't really impressed. I figured I'd have to duct tape some of the seams and such. I'm still trying to wrangle this cabinet where I work. They don't use it and it's just sitting there collecting dust and takin up space. However I'm not gonna hold my breath waitin on em to make a decision.

Congrats on the new cabinet.

Bill if yer blasting air into it the airs gotta be coming out somewhere; and even tho you cant SEE dust floating around there are still particles in the air that can kill ya. I'd still wear the respirator.

+1 

Quote from: Booper on February 02, 2011, 02:19:03 PM

Bill if yer blasting air into it the airs gotta be coming out somewhere; and even tho you cant SEE dust floating around there are still particles in the air that can kill ya. I'd still wear the respirator. 




Ben

don't confuse respirator with fresh air masks/hoods. they are two totally different things. respirators are not rated for blasting. their filters clog quickly and they leak around your nose.

bb

What he said!!!!

I have had troubles of leaking and when I put a vac up to the filter, the gloves expand like crazy

How do you mean leaking?

The gloves will do that, that means you have a good vacuum on the cabinet. Mine actually sucked the one glove right off. I had to put a better clamp on it and tightened the other one up. When I turn on the vacuum I can't open the lid.

I also took off the intake filter on the back. I clean the filter after each use. I don't take it off but smack it to clear it out a little. After a couple of weeks I do take it off and clean real good. It's a pain but it is what it is until I get time to and an idea on how to modify it.