Some Blaster Improvements

The blaster has been a little finicky lately and I needed it out to do some rearranging so I decided to look into what's going on.  The tray above the pressure pot that catches things was full of stuff that needs to be cleaned out.  The tray was up against the wall and hard to get to so it's time to make a few mods to the blaster.  Everything got moved out yesterday so I'm gonna come up with a plan today to do a few improvements and make some changes to it to make it better.  Making things better and easier is one of my fav things after all...   

I'll prob spend a lot of time this week doing things to it like everything else around here lately so stay tuned if you want some ideas.  It's gonna be 60 and sunny this Sat so I may even give it a Wheel Horse style paint job this weekend if time allows... 

1st pic of what that area looks like now.

 

Spent a lot of the day with lighting and moving pegboard to the blaster area so it's all ready to put the blaster back where it goes.  I called Blast-it-All about the foot pedal switch that isn't as it should be and they don't have the switch anymore.  The replacement is a little foot switch instead of the one that goes all the way across like it had when new.  To add insult to injury it was $136.00 plus freight and was made in China.  What on Earth has gotten into everyone...    I said no thanks for less than 10 cents I'll just fix mine. 

I had already looked at the manufacturers site that made the switch and found out the original switch had a roller in it that was missing that made the pedal harder to push down.  They didn't make the correct switch anymore either so I decided to just make another roller for it.  Less than an hour later it was good as new for just a little work and a used piece of 5/16 rod.  

Tomorrow will be getting deeper into the blaster work since the lights are done and everything else is moved around and ready.   


 

Well it looks like I've opened a pretty big can of worms this time... 

Note to self, try to check the drawer more often or stop blasting off decals. 

The drawer is getting turned 180 degrees around so it won't be up against the wall anymore so it will be easy to keep an eye on now.  I found a few things in the top that are pretty rough.  The fan is pretty much done (supposed to be 1/8" thick), someone has been inside patching and playing with the center cyclone pipe, and a few bolt heads are about gone.  I've been talking to the Blast-it-all peeps and just need to check a few more things with them in the morning.  I think the best thing to do is replace the entire center pipe but I need to check some specs with the blaster peeps first as to length and such.  There is no part for that but I can cut the old one out and get a 6" id steel pipe to weld back in there.  

 

More worms in this can than I thought.     I'll put things in here as I figure out what will be done, and as they are done, it's too much to post all at once.  I still can't believe what peeps are charging for things, For what I have planned I could sink over $1,000 in the dust collector alone in parts really quick.  If I want to make everything myself I think I can do it for around $50.00 in steel. 

Today was getting it all apart, not easy for 1 person but it's apart.  First up was fixing a mess on what is called the purge adapter.  There's a plate that bolts on the top and they blew a hole in the rubber seal and the metal at some point.  It's where all the pressure is blown off of the pot whenever you stop blasting.  Someone put a hard piece of rubber in there that wasn't sealing good, they cut a hole in it that's not supposed to be there, and made the mess on top as you can see.  

Not a bad fix for this, just a little weld cleanup where it was thick on the corners stopping a good seal, a heavier and little softer piece of rubber, and a heavier plate.  It looks nice, will have better suction, and last longer than I will.  

 

Didn't do much today, had a lot of other things going on and it was almost 60 deg out today. 

It is weird coating things in plumbers putty but that's what it takes.  Cleaned up the top plate where the bolts go, put the putty on, tightened them up, then cleaned off the excess putty.  The grade 9 bolts with the harder and thicker head should last forever, I wouldn't think anything would damage them like the original low grade bolts.  This cabinet had glass bead used in it most of it's life, the glass dust from it is what caused most of the damage.  The aluminum shot that I use won't do this, it's too heavy, doesn't make any dust to get to the top, and is good for 7,000 cycles instead of 3-4 cycles for glass. 

Also took a look at the blower housing to cyclone chamber that wasn't sealing good, you can see the glass dust on it.  You can also see on the chamber that the only good seal is where the bolts were, and the seal wasn't hitting between the bolts.  The problem there was when it was built they used self cutting thread bolts that raised up where they went in.  They just needed the lip knocked off and it should seal up good.  These are little things but a lot of little things turn into a big thing that keep it from performing at it's best. 

 

The motor and tank got prepped and painted red today.  The center panel that holds the filter drawer and goes between the top and bottom is also ready for paint.  All day I've wished I had another blaster, I forgot how long it takes to do all of this without one.  

I got ready to start on the legs but had a little accident so I'm leaving a little early.  We'll see how everything is in the morning and may give more details then.  

 

The legs and center piece with the filter drawer got prepped and painted today.  They can dry overnight and be ready to put together in the morning. 

 

Got the butyl tape (upgrade of plumbers putty) on this morning and the drawer center piece mounted.  The legs and wheels are also on.  There was a hole in the center of the filter drawer with a plate over it.  It's not a problem except the bolts would hang up and it was hard to get the drawer out.  They had the right idea, they used a short jam nut but the bolt was too long...   

It was an easy fix, just flipped the bolts and now it's easy to get out.  The drawer is also turned 180 degrees so I can get to it from now on.  The drawer is prepped and getting painted now.  I'm off to finish the paint and make a new gasket for the drawer.  More pics later today. 

 

Here's the other things done today.  The original seal for the filter drawer was way too soft so I used some foam that's been around here for a long time meant to do the doors on the blaster.  The filter drawer is painted but it will be tomorrow morning before it gets tightened up so the paint can dry overnight.  Just got done painting the pressure shutoff bracket red, it will be ready in the morning as well. 

I trimmed the buytl tape this morning but it's still sealing and coming out, wonder when it will stop...  

It's starting to get some Wheel Horse vibes to it now. 

 

I hoped to get more done today but stuff happens...  Had to run out to the bank, chiropractor, and get a haircut.  When I got settled in to work peeps showed up, what else is new...   

I did manage to get a plan and cut all of the pieces for the fan blade.  It was pretty simple really, just shearing a piece of 4" x 1/8" thick metal into 2 7/8" long pieces.  After the shearing they were put on the mill and trued up to perfect on both sides.  This isn't so much OCD as it has to do with fan balance.  It will still get balanced when done but this will still help. 

Last pic is a sort of mach up of what I have in mind.  Every thing is ground clean and ready to weld up, it just got a little too late today and I want to do them all at once.