# Best Homemade Tools >  Harbor Freight sandblast cabinet stand and modifications

## sossol

Prologue: Glamour shots

  


Fit the first: the stand.

Though it looks planned, the real reason I built it in this 2-box style is that I'd bought 70 L-shaped things (no idea what they are) at Purdue Surplus that were made from 1 1/2" x 1/4" L-channel with one 27" leg and one 15" leg. I wanted this stand to be 32" high, so I had to stack them. It would have been much easier to just weld two bits together to make one 32" tall leg, but that's not how I roll. It turned out to look better this way, and it provided more mass in a compact space (it weighs 65 lb). I decided to not add wheels or feet. I'll fabricobble some socketed bolt-on feet later. 

 

Fit the second: the exhaust fan.

I took advantage of the dead space under the cabinet for the air tube from the cyclone to the fan intake plenum. 

  

This whole thing was built around the black stovetop hood fan. Other than the fan and the Chinesium cyclone, it's entirely made from PVC (arbitrary rule). It's 1/4" and 1/8" Celtec board and PVC piping. Looks were not a concern with this part of the project. I just cut, carved and bent stuff as I went along.

This was a botched part that I repurposed as an elbow.

This is the vortex mount / catch bin lid. It is removable and makes a nice seal.

I wasn't sure how long the pipe should be, so I made this is a rotating adaptor the original air intake port on the back of the cabinet. The part in the center rotates. The rest are glued together.

This is a slip-on adapter to connect the metric vortex to the SAE piping.
Attachment 23751
This is the CAD file I used to mock up the fan unit. I mis-measured a bit, and the tall pipe is about 1/2" too short. 


Fit the third: the lights.
I gutted two mini LED work lights from Rural King, and they happened to fit the filler panel that was between the freezer and fridge doors on our old fridge. The same one that donated its doors and shelves to my lathe table. They're printed onto aluminum sheet, so don't need a backer and computer standoffs were perfect. The glass is an oven light lens. It diffuses the light and will survive whatever heat the LEDs put off. They're cushioned on both sides by neoprene foam.
  

The light switch box was salvaged from the same fluorescent light that donated the ballast box (now the wiring/switch box for the fan). The plastic is a scrap of ABS that I heat-bent to fit. This part tuned out quite nice.
  

Fit the fourth: the cabinet mods.
Some of these can be seen in the glamour shots.
I relocated the blast air inlet to the top of the left side panel, added a swivel joint to both ends of that air hose, which I made from a heavy-duty air hose. 
I made a cover/guide for the air inlet (formerly exhaust port) from the back panel of a drier cabinet. The number of bolts may be excessive, but it allowed for even clamping without distorting that panel (it's spaced away from the wall with neoprene foam). 
I replaced all of the craptastic sheet metal screws with bolts & nuts or steel rivets. 

I replaced the short power cord of a small power strip with an 8' power tool cord, and bolted the strip to a panel under the light switch. The lights and fan plug into this. It could double as a big, bulky extension cord. 
 

I painted this when I painted my bandsaw stand, and it's just as much a Monet. As usual, the colors are inspired by 80s BMX freestyle bikes. This time, SE racing (almond tan) and Haro (red & blue). I used cadmium plated bolts left over from my Shedipede because they looked right.

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brianp (Oct 12, 2020),

clydeman (Oct 7, 2020),

emu roo (Oct 7, 2020),

Gregraper33712 (May 18, 2018),

jlrice54 (May 17, 2018),

Jon (May 18, 2018),

nimedic (Sep 22, 2018),

Paul Jones (May 16, 2018),

PJs (May 17, 2018),

rlm98253 (Sep 21, 2018),

rossbotics (May 18, 2018),

Seedtick (May 17, 2018),

Texf1 (Jan 4, 2019),

Tonyg (Jan 4, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Sep 21, 2018),

WinDancerKnives (May 17, 2018)

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## Paul Jones

sossol,

Great pictures, details and modification explanations. I like this posting.

Regards,

Paul Jones

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PJs (May 17, 2018)

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## sossol

Thanks! I have a lot more photos, but there's apparently a limit to the number per post, so I had to select the most descriptive ones.

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Paul Jones (May 17, 2018),

PJs (May 17, 2018)

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## DIYer

Thanks sossol! We've added your Sandblast Cabinet Stand to our Dollies and Stands category,
as well as to your builder page: sossol's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:















Sandblast Cabinet Stand
 by sossol

tags:
stand, sandblaster

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## DIYer

Thanks sossol! We've added your Sandblaster Exhaust System to our Cleaning category,
as well as to your builder page: sossol's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:















Sandblaster Exhaust System
 by sossol

tags:
exhaust, sandblaster

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## DIYer

Thanks sossol! We've added your Sandblaster Lighting to our Lighting category,
as well as to your builder page: sossol's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:















Sandblaster Lighting
 by sossol

tags:
LED, sandblaster

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## WinDancerKnives

Reused, Re-purposed, on hand, modified- my kind of build. And,oh yeah, it works! Great job!
Dave

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Paul Jones (May 21, 2018),

PJs (May 17, 2018)

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## PJs

Great pics and write up Sossol! Compact and proper height with lights and power onboard. Interesting frame design using the verticals reversed from normal, seems like it might be stronger that way. I am curious about the plumbing schematic and what that white vertical plenum thing is next to the motor assembly? It seems like it is re-circulatory and curious if you have and starving or stalling issue yet. Might want to use 2 45° elbows if it does for smoother air flow.

Great build, cheap and cheerful to boot!  :Clapping: 

PJ

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## sossol

> Great pics and write up Sossol! Compact and proper height with lights and power onboard. Interesting frame design using the verticals reversed from normal, seems like it might be stronger that way. I am curious about the plumbing schematic and what that white vertical plenum thing is next to the motor assembly? It seems like it is re-circulatory and curious if you have and starving or stalling issue yet. Might want to use 2 45° elbows if it does for smoother air flow.
> 
> Great build, cheap and cheerful to boot! 
> 
> PJ



The reversed channels were mostly a visual thing. The material is thick enough that it would be plenty strong in any orientation. My original intent was to replicate Mid-Century Modern style, but in metal. Obviously I diverged from that, but the influence is there. 
er
Do you mean the thing that resembles the USS Arizona memorial (also intentional)? That is the intake plenum for the fan unit. Here is is out of the fan unit. 
. 
The "V" shape is to allow air flow around the motor. In its original mount, it relies on air from the fans to cool it. I fully expect this motor to burn out because of the increased load and lack of forced-air cooling, but I have other fans, and I designed it so that I'd only have to change the piping. 
It looks like a recirc system, but it's not. Air is drawn from the cabinet near the top in the back to the top of the vortex separator; then out of the vortex to the intake plenum, where the airflow splits in two; around to the fan inlets, which are on the ends (the green tubing sections); then out to the room. The dust falls into the green tube under the vortex. 
I ran it yesterday, blasting off some nasty thick & flaky rust off of a C clamp. I figured that it would make as much dust as anything I'll be blasting. The fan worked well and was able to clear the cabinet, though it did cloud up on occasion. I'll space it away from the cabinet a bit. 

I had suspected that my inlet passage was too thin. Before filling the hopper, I tested the airflow with an incense stick. The intake air had a higher velocity than the exhaust air, and there was a vacuum at the edge of the metal. It looked cool, but isn't terribly efficient.

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Paul Jones (May 21, 2018),

PJs (May 18, 2018)

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## Jon

Congratulations sossol - your Harbor Freight Sandblast Cabinet Modifications are the Homemade Tool of the Week!

We love a good Harbor Freight mod (more here: Homemade Harbor Freight Tools), and this combination of mods certainly qualifies. I've also just increased the forum photo upload limit per your feedback; you can now upload 100 photos per post.  :Smile: 

Some good picks from this week:

Benchtop Air Cleaner by jjr2001
Pneumatic Pocket Hole Jig by Bellevue Woodshop
Portable Bandsaw Stand by sossol
Jacobs Taper Chuck Removal Tool by olderdan
Amplifier Housing by rendoman


sossol - we've added your tool entry to our All Homemade Tool of the Week winners post. And, you'll now notice the wrench-on-pedestal award in the awards showcase in your postbit, visible beneath your username:



You'll be receiving a $25 online gift card, in your choice of Amazon, PayPal, or bitcoin. Please PM me your current email address and gift card choice and I'll get it sent over right away.


Congratulations and well done!  :Thumbs Up:

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Paul Jones (May 21, 2018)

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## PJs

Congratulations Sossol! Thanks for the plumbing details and do like your Mid-Century Modern style and the USS Arizona plenum, Classy. The baffling seems appropriate inside your Arizona plenum. Tubing size should be ok at 2" depending on the motor/fan rating. The differential you are experiencing may be from the 90° elbows and possibly how far up into the cabinet the return protrudes, the grate and the height of the inlet. Maybe try a little filter paper at the inlet collection or a slide gate maybe to balance things out if the motor isn't an issue for you.

Great job and Congrats!!
PJ

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Paul Jones (May 21, 2018),

Toolmaker51 (Sep 22, 2018)

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## sossol

Thank you very much! I barely consider myself worthy, especially considering the quality of company in the group. 

Neil
(sossol is just a screen name that I use)

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PJs (May 19, 2018)

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## PJs

> Thank you very much! I barely consider myself worthy, especially considering the quality of company in the group. 
> 
> Neil
> (sossol is just a screen name that I use)



Neil...Worthy, are you kidding...we all put our britches on the same way...one leg at a time. Keep em' coming!

 :Hat Tip:  PJ

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Paul Jones (May 21, 2018)

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## sossol

Wait... my both-legs-at-once britches technique isn't the standard?

Seriously, I appreciate it heaps.

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PJs (May 19, 2018)

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## Toolmaker51

The project shows a lot of thought, even if portions are last minute variety. That's what makes re-use fun, when imagination/ budget runs the visualization camera. The reutilizations are just plain perfect. Great pic's, good text of fabrication steps. 
But what entertained me equally, is found among several clever descriptions and jibes. ie Prologue: Glamour shots, much easier to just weld two bits.....but that's not how I roll. fabricobble Looks were not a concern with this part of the project. I just cut, carved and bent stuff as I went along. painted my bandsaw stand, and it's just as much a Monet.
Only disappointment, Purdue Surplus  :Drooling:  turns out 8 hours, 500 miles away. Boohoo : :Frown: :

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## sossol

> Only disappointment, Purdue Surplus  turns out 8 hours, 500 miles away. Boohoo ::



It's worth checking into whether colleges local to you have surplus outlets. building. Many locals still don't know that Purdue has one. The better surplus items are posted to govdeals.com.

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PJs (Sep 23, 2018)

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## emu roo

Hi Sossol, Great project have similar and will do to mine also, many thanks for sharing.
Cheers
Allen.

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## sossol

> Hi Sossol, Great project have similar and will do to mine also, many thanks for sharing.
> Cheers
> Allen.



Thanks! I recently finished a complete refit. All new feed line and exhaust & filter. I'm having trouble uploading the photos, but I will update this with the recent changes.The above setup wasn't working very well so I scrapped the whole thing and started over. I switched to 2" central vacuum lines (it is smoother inside) and a 2-stage filter. The first stage is an Oneida Dust Deputy cyclone separator. The second stage is a Honda Element air filter box (which is also a cyclone separator!). The fan unit is an Ametek/Lamb pass-through unit that I sacrificed my 1960s Sears-Simpson vacuum sweeper to use for this. Ironically, this fan unit is still in production. It's primary use? Central vacuum units.


Neil

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