Tool-Time Tuesday: Bead Blasting Cabinets

When working on cars, especially restoring an old classic, a bead blasting cabinet can save you hours of time. A bead blasting cabinet isn’t a necessity but definitely a great tool to have in your shop. 

A bead blasting cabinet, or sand blaster, allows you to put a part into it then hit it with a gun that shoots a stream of sand. The beauty of this is that sand won’t go everywhere and you don’t have to wash sand out from your hair for the next month. Another benefit is that it recycles the sand, so you don’t have to keep buying more and more like a traditional outside set up. 

Normally when restoring a part you would grab some sandpaper or a brush and spend hours cleaning it up. A bead blasting cabinet can be used a ton of different ways for just about any metal part to speed up the stripping process. If you want to strip the paint off a part, pop it in and in a few minutes later it comes out looking new. Even if you have a rusty part, a sandblaster can strip the rust right off without harming the part itself. 

The cabinet itself has a door on the end that you set parts inside. Then there is a set of built in gloves that you slide your hands in, while grabbing the blasting gun to point it at the part. A portal window allows you to see inside the box and a light inside will help you see what you’re doing. 

Sand blasters come in different sizes. The biggest is one that you would typically use outside, say if you were stripping an entire car. The ones we are talking about are bead blasting cabinets that go in a garage and require only an ample air supply. They range in size, so you’ll need to make sure you have the room in your garage. The only downside to them is that they can be rather big and take up space. But given the amount of time you can save with sanding and scraping, they are well worth the investment. 

About the author

Tim King

Tim grew up in the garage with his Father. From those early years grew a passion for anything with a motor. Helping his Dad and brother restore a '67 Nova is what fueled Tim’s passion for cars. At the age of 15 he bought his first car, a 1966 Chevelle which he still owns to this day. That car started his journey into the automotive world where he’s done just about everything, from being an auto mechanic to an aftermarket Sales Manager. Not only is he a gear head, but he also holds two Bachelors degrees from Cal State San Bernardino.
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