Vapor Blasting Cabinet

[archimeech]

Wouldn't wet media be cleaner in a poly vice ferrous container?
And far as pumps go, what are materials for seals, cylinder and vanes in concrete pumps?

I would think that a concrete pump would be too large and costly. Also, they move too much volume, unless you know of a very small one. The portable trailer pumps start at around 300 yards/hour which converts to 135 CFM. the vapor honing machine only needs around 1/10 of that. (15cfm)

[archimeech]

Nice, Jon.
I'll keep everyone in the loop and if it works, get some video on here or a link to some once I'm using it.

Rare build! We only have two other homemade vapor blaster builds listed in the encyclopedia. Here they are for ideas:

Vapor Blaster by Luders on KR-1S.co.uk

Vapor Blaster by Roger-SA on TriumphRat.net

[C-Bag]

Nice, Jon.
I'll keep everyone in the loop and if it works, get some video on here or a link to some once I'm using it.

The devil is totally in the details and for some reason fascinate me. What is a useable amount of concentration of glass beads/water Like how long does a useable amount of glass beads stay in suspension? How much water pressure do you need at the nozzle so that when you air blast it doesn't back into the pump? All these different details would determine to me how I would do other things.

One guy mentioned in the previous builds that he used part of the pump pressure redirected back into sump to agitate the slurry with. Make me wonder if the bottom of the sump was waffled or v'd with bars with small air holes might work. Not so much make roil, but let the bubbles do the agitition. A centrifical pump if done right would not have the valves etc that would clog and die. I wonder if the pump could be suspended in the solution with the drive shaft long enough to keep the motor outside the sump and then you wouldn't have to worry about seals etc? Do used glass beads turn into a solid after they are used and settle for an amount of time? Can it be be re dissolved or? I'd hate to let it sit after a project and like an old cement mixer go to use it and find it turned into a solid

[archimeech]

Dude, I think that's more questions than I've had the entire process, thus far. lol

[PJs]

Dude, I think that's more questions than I've had the entire process, thus far. lol

I agree but those are the things rattling around in my noggin too...but that is the nerd in me. Some things pop up and in during the build but if you can create a base of the trickier things like seals, type of pump that will survive, creating/agitating/recycling the slurry, etc. it gives you clue what to look for to do the job. The development of the nozzle is foremost in my book as it will be a key in CFM and the actual mixing of slurry without destroying the nozzle and to the quality of the cleaning/polishing. As for longevity and usage, it's a DIY project from recycled parts not a commercial product so failure rates will be higher. I can live with that and if I only use it once every 6mo. I would definitely clean it up before storing it for next use and seal the pump I/O.

As for Jon's post (good one Jon) the plastic barrel build was quite well done in my book, particularly using a mig tip (which I had seen for something else on YT) and readily available pool pumps for a cheap and cheerful budget. He didn't give much detail to the venturi siphon system for the nozzle but think that is the direction I might pursue where the mixing is done at the outlet or just inboard of the tip...angle of entry will need to be played with I think. His nozzle assy looked a bit clunky and difficult to hold and maneuver but works obviously. Another thing he mentioned on his want list was silicone gloves. I was thinking Milking gloves are heavy enough and long enough to work for quite a while and fairly inexpensive and liquid tight.

One other thing to consider is venting.

Great posting so far, looking forward to your progress. ~PJ

[C-Bag]

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one with questions! When something strikes my fancy I start looking at what I have and what I'd need. So I can't figure out either until I have some questions settled in my head. Once all those things are lined up then I can start hunting the stuff I don't have and that usually means as I'm doing my craigslist searches I have to add those criteria to my wanderings. Some guys do on the fly builds/experiments or draw things out. I do brain sim's and as I was trying to picture this all these questions came up. Sorry.

[archimeech]

No worries. I thought of the same questions.

I actually have a spray gun that I found rather inexpensively that is designed specifically for this purpose.

The pump is a Harbor Freight sump pump, so it's not expensive and I expect to sacrifice it to the project.

I don't have the typical hopper style due to the items I had on hand, so we'll see how well the slurry mixture is agitated in the bottom of the sink. I may need to add a secondary pump of some type for this purpose.

I'm an ADD Architect, so I don't have a specific style to my tinkering. Sometimes I work the problem to death in Autocad and in sketches. Other times, I just start building from what I can see in my mind. All with varied results.

[archimeech]

So I now have the door reinforced at the viewport and hinged to the body of the spray booth. It's taking a bit longer than I expected to finish this build. It was freezing the other weekend and I had shoulder surgery this past week. Kind of cuts down on my free time to work on it.

[C-Bag]

Yup, that my experience of all my big projects. I get the basic broad strokes done then it's the those details. And they seem to take way longer than the main part. It's cool you have so much stainless to work with. I don't know how I'd get anything done until the shoulder heals up though. Good luck and thanks for posting your progress.

[archimeech]

Thanks, C-Bag. I've recovered fairly quickly so far. I had the procedure on the 11th and by the weekend I was riding my motorcycle again. I hope to get more of it done this weekend.