I have an ongoing need to bead blast some 1" x 1/2" parts (one part at a time). I purchased a Harbor Freight blast cabinet and it is overkill for my needs - it's messy, it leaks (I hate to clean-up the powdery-fine glass beads) and it takes up too much space.
I want to design a mini-blaster from perhaps brass fittings and brass or plastic pipe. I don't need a trigger, a simple valve in line with my regulated air supply will do fine. I know the real nozzles are ceramic, but for my use I could maybe get away with a home-made replaceable brass nozzle.
I'm thinking of a 2" dia, 12" long pipe with threaded end caps on each end. The part gets loaded and suspended from inside the far cap. The near end of the pipe would have a 1" X 6" dia pipe joined at 90 deg to hold the glass beads and a plastic pick-up tube.
The far end of the 2" pipe would have a 1/2" x 6" dia pipe joined at
90 deg with a small crankcase breather filter attached. This would be the exhaust port ( I can simply take this set-up outdoors and wear a mask when I use it )I guess the hard part is figuring out how to make the nozzle and attach the glass bead pick-up tube. I suppose I could take apart the existing gun and look at the dimensions. I have a small lathe so making or modifying the nozzle or fittings is no problem.
Am I on-track, or is there a simpler way to go? ( No I don't want to make my existing cabinet leak-proof - that monster has got to go)
Ed