Is it just me or does the viewing glass need replacing? Half the time I can hardly tell if I’m on the part or not.
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Yeah, it’s nasty, but It’s easier to see what you’re doing when the feed is right, otherwise you’re just blowing dust instead of media.
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Yes. It does. Always. I don’t think I’ve seen the portal clear and usable within 24 hours of replacement ever. I can’t decide if I think the blaster actually gets used THAT much, or if people think it’s funny to fog it up, or if it’s somewhere in between, but it NEVER lasts. Many proposals for improvement have been bandied about, but I don’t think anything has really ever been implemented partially due to the short life-span/cost to benefit.
We are not unique. Googler pukes up tons of results with people struggling with the same.
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Do you think using tempered glass with the inside pane would solve some of the problems? Not sure, but I think it’s plexiglass?
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I don’t think tempered glass will make a substantial difference. It is probably acrylic, for cost if purchased, and/or I think Tom (and/or others) may have donated some.
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I read a few forums and it looks like the preferred method is to get 1/4" glass and then you can get 50-60 hours of blast time out of each pane before needing to replace. Looks like this is another Machine Shop consumable. Maybe Chuck will allow me to try that to see how it works?
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So the best way to keep the glass clear is a Powerful Air Curtain inside the cabinet. Before we purchased the one we have now we looked into the nicer cabinets, but I bet price was the decider for the one we got. Another option is multi-layer peel-able sacrificial sheets. These work well, but are expensive and hard to install if your window isn’t the right size. I believe our window is the right size.
Glass vs Plexi / Acryllic:
So I tested this when I had 2 days worth of blasting to do at DMS. I replaced the plexi with a fresh sheet and after 8 hours of blasting, never pointing towards the window, it was pretty well fogged. The next day I replaced the plexi with a piece of glass from Home Depot. After another 8 hours of blasting it was about 50% the fogging of the plastic. But, the cost it so much higher for glass that it just isn’t worth it.
It is more than likely normal use that is fogging the glass. The tell tell signs of mis-use are ice cream cone shaped or swirl shaped deep blasting marks. The consistent fogging is due to normal use.
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I have regular (home depot style) glass and plexi of that size in scrap - -if you want free replacements let me know.
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Thanks Tom - I’ll get with you when I’m looking to use the blast cabinet.
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send me the dimensions and I’ll cut a few plexi this weekend and drop them off in the next couple of days.
I also have some extra thick glass - def not 1/4" thick I can cut if you want to try that - probably enough for 6 to 10 panes
I’d just replace them - have extra on hand. free is pretty reasonable in terms of cost - and the time it takes to install isn’t much.
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Sounds good, I’ll be up there Monday and get the dimemsions and send them to you if somebody doesn’t send before.
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Nominal 12x24".
http://www.shindustries.com/Replacement-Part-Details.aspx?productid=762&item=40251%20&qry=40251%20&exactmatch=1
Obviously actual measurements will be more reliable…
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It may be a little more expensive, but if you’re feeling adventurous, Gorilla Glass or some other ion surface treated glass might be something to try.
That is assuming the problem is that the window is not as hard (ie rockwell hardness) as the abrasive medium.
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I imagone folks trying to wipe the glass clear just adds to the problem and scratches the glass even more. Any improvement in the current situation would be great. BTW, @mreynolds changed out the broken off nozzle the other night -somebody had broken off the nozzle, pulled the screen shelf out, disconnected the hoses and just left it like that. He got it fixed and put back together and we taped the remaining replacement parts to the side of the cabinet.
I’d like to learn the DMS preferred method for filtering the media if someone could show me tomorrow afternoon, maybe.
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Does the toothpaste trick for headlights work on plexi?
I’m not sure that we actually filter the media. More than likely we just replace with fresh after ours gets contaminated to the point of not working well. I tend to buy fresh media for my projects because I have a few hours worth of blasting and would rather save the time of not having to deal with clumping (aka wet) or contaminated media.
We use aluminum oxide as media, right?
What about something like this? http://www.idsblast.com/sandblasting-equipment/4532
I’d be willing to pay a blasting consumables fee to help fund this 'cuz it’s always good to be able to see what I’m working on. 
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A lot of the clumping is just ignorance or laziness of the users. When I blasted the rusty crusty legs for my pinball game I took and scraped them and used a wire brush on them to get most of the stuff off. When I had to use PB Blaster on one to get the threaded foot out I degreased it BEFORE going back and sandblasting it to keep from contaminating the media.
People should use common sense to keep the tools running as best as they can, but we all know that seems to be in short supply. 
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