Blast cabinet - viewing window replacement?

[jamesroney]

Just to be clear, I did that 45 years ago by putting it thru a window. Not a blast cabinet. But I've been on a crusade for tempered (or, as mentioned above, laminated safety) glass ever since. Mirrors can't be tempered without noticeable distortion, so we have those laminated instead.

"Just to be clear..." I see what you did there!!!

 

[El Kabong]

My oldest brother has a nasty scar from trying to close a window that broke when he was a teenager. Did some tendon damage.

Great PSA.

Yeah, it's wicked stuff. How's your brother today?

I cut 1 tendon, scraped another off the bone, & cut an artery. The doc was able to fix the artery, reattach one tendon, but the second was lost. They tell me it's not an important one. You know how when you flex your wrist you can see 2 raised tendons? I only have one. But it all works. The doc was good at function, but not at making it look pretty. Just like in offroading, function takes priority over form.

 

[ntsqd]

I have one of TPTool's blast cabinets and use their sacrificial shields 100% of the time. The key to keeping dust from getting between it and the glass is Gorilla Tape. I just tape the perimeter of the shield and since I've started doing that I've never had a problem with dust.

From experience operating a range of different cabinets I can say that the bigger that the cabinet is, the less there is a need for something to protect the glass. The race engine shop that I worked in while in college had a cabinet big enough to roll an engine block around in. They rarely had a problem with the bare cheap glass even though they used a very coarse grade of aluminum oxide blast media.

 

[gnpenning]

Yeah, it's wicked stuff. How's your brother today?

I cut 1 tendon, scraped another off the bone, & cut an artery. The doc was able to fix the artery, reattach one tendon, but the second was lost. They tell me it's not an important one. You know how when you flex your wrist you can see 2 raised tendons? I only have one. But it all works. The doc was good at function, but not at making it look pretty. Just like in offroading, function takes priority over form.

He's a crotchety old retired guy now, oh wait that's not what you were asking about. He did have trouble for a few years otherwise he's been good after completely healing. I actually forgot about it until seeing your posts.

 

[mp]

I buy regular old glass at Lowes (they also cut it to size) and use it as sacrificial lens. Lasts a pretty long time, and when I need to replace it, its less than 10 bucks.

 

[DUNK]

I just read through the other blast cabinet thread which prompts me to ask this question…

I have a decent sized ALC blast cabinet on which I recently changed the viewing window due it being really hazy/media blasted. I’m running ~80 grit media in it. I replaced the old viewing window with plexiglass from Home Depot and installed new foam perimeter seals. Sadly, the plexiglass isn’t lasting long at all!

Any suggestions on what to use? Real glass? Lexan? Other material? I can’t locate the clear, protective sheets that peel off, so I’m trying to do this again, but have it last for a while this go around.

MC Master Carr Supply, or MSC Direct. You can buy the plastic protective Film.

 

[Torkman66]

Buy tempered glass on Amazon. I got 2 -12"x24" tempered glass panels for $32 delivered. Tempered glass is very hard to scratch and will last a long time. However, you must get the exact size you need. Tempered glass cannot be cut.