Jim Garrett wrote:I have 2 TIP cabinets that work fairly well, one is 48" the other 36" Bigger is better. The 48" is more practical for most of what I do. I keep coarse grit in the small cabinet and glass bead in the other. The vacuum is a big help to maintain good visibility. I found both of mine at different times, used. Keep your eyes on Craigs, etc and you might get lucky. Think I paid about $200 for the 48" and $150 for the 36". They are out there. jim
I found a few candidates on Craigslist, but they had been beat to death, and would take a lot of time and money and trouble to rehab. So, I decided to pony up the bucks for a new cabinet, and went with the
Skat Blast / TIP 960-DLX. A motorcycle fender fits inside with room to spare, and it's easy to blast all sides of the fender. There's a lot of headroom, so you could do car wheels standing up in this thing. The DLX model's wide window and extra light makes it easy to see large objects like fenders - I think it's worth the extra $100 for the DLX. For motorcycle restorers, this 48" cabinet is the right size cabinet - it's a joy to use.
- Pallet forks come in useful
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I built a little house for the vacuum, so I could locate it outside behind my garage. This is because I have limited space, but a side benefit is that I don't have to listen to the vacuum's whine. 2" PVC electrical conduit run through the wall. Connecting the conduit to the oddball-sized vacuum hose connectors was a little problem, but the answer was donuts - 2" Donuts in the plumbing department of Home Cheapo.
- Vacuum house
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I sprung for the accessory Bolt Bucket, which does come in handy, but it's hard to get all sides of a bolt blasted. I keep a pair of pliers in the cabinet. Perhaps a pair of small kitchen sieves (one to hold the bolts, one for a cover to keep the bolts from jumping out) would work just as well. I bought a "User Kit" as I will need these consumable parts down the road. For my limited space, I also got the wheel kit. I could have fabricated wheels, but for the price, I figured the time and trouble wasn't worth it.
All told, this thing set me back $1600. Pretty pricey, but my only regret is that I didn't do this 20 years ago...