What Makes the Best Sandblasting Cabinets Great?

The best sandblasting cabinets are hard to list until you know what project, or application, you’re working on. Machines vary greatly, and the best sandblasting cabinets for blind-hole cleaning aren’t the same as the best cabinets for soda blasting. To answer the question of which machine is best, you first have to ask, “What am I trying to accomplish?”

Choosing the Best Sandblasting Cabinets

Now that you know there is more to answering the question, let’s examine how you can figure out what are the best sandblasting cabinets for your specific needs. We recommend asking yourself the following questions to hone your list:

1. How much compressed air is available to run the blaster? This is measured in cubic feet of compressed air per minute, (cfm).
2. What size abrasive is being used? Most loose abrasive is measured in mesh size just like sandpaper, never use slags for sand.
3. What type of abrasive is being used, cutting or non-cutting? Cutting abrasive is hard on machine parts so the machine parts need to be able to handle the pounds per minute flow out the nozzle without costing money to operate.
4. What will be the daily usage in hours, or the machine duty cycle? This is no different than duty cycle for a welder, an air compressor or many other tools. If the duty cycle does not match the expectations of the user it often results in an instant mess and or failure of the equipment.
5. What is the application category? We break down our applications into: Production, R&D General Purpose and Light Duty, which is meant to include home use machines.
6. Do you need a specific abrasive delivery method? It’s good to know up front if your application requires direct pressure, siphon, or micro-flow controls.
7. What’s the budget? This one is a trick question because if you decide your budget before knowing what blasting machine model you need for the application, nine out of ten times your machine or its dust collector will fail.

If this list of questions seems daunting, start with the ones you can easily answer and work your way through. You can also visit our Buying Guide, which helps identify machines that fit your needs.

ProTip: Knowing how to match gun size, cfm used, duty cycle, separator reclaimer and dust collector size allows you to purchase the right blasting machine the first time. This takes time and research, but it saves you money in the long run because you won’t have to replace or upgrade your machine. This is why Media Blast offers over 50 different models and more than 170 different abrasive blasting machines.

To Sum It Up

When it comes to the best sandblasting cabinets, number one on any list should be the biggest cabinet, with a 100% machine duty cycle operating with the largest gun size possible for safe operation inside the cabinet. Add in the largest dust collector and you have the best, now decide on what you need, then look at the budget.

Media Blast & Abrasive has been manufacturing sandblasting cabinets since the 1970s. We make more than 50 different models totaling almost 180 individual cabinets with some models available in as many as 13 different cabinet sizes. In addition to a comprehensive list of included features, we offer more than 80 optional features for increased productivity, durability, and operator safety. If you’re not sure what machine is the right fit for your needs, give us a call.