When companies try to sell pressure pots, they mostly sell systems that are permanently combined to the sandblasting cabinet. These are extremely expensive; up to a few thousand dollars.
I think the best way is to buy a cheaper portable one and hook it up to a stationary cabinet. There is a large advantage by configuring a portable pressure pot system to a stationary cabinet. This will allow you to use the system interchangeably within the cabinet for stationary purposes and away from the cabinet for portable purposes. It’s like your getting two systems for the price of one. I think this is the best route for most people anyway. All you have to do is place the sandblaster hose in a drilled hole of the cabinet (it may have to be sealed up if the gap is too large).
The only disadvantage of this is that you have to physically recollect the abrasive media and place it back inside the pressure pot container. It really isn’t too much of a hassle because it is neither hard to do or time consuming. My recommendation is to rig up a valve at the bottom of the cabinet that can be opened to easily empty the abrasive into a bucket.
Listed below are some of the alternative ways to get an inexpensive cabinet for a pressure pot system:
- Make a Home Made Cabinet– As stated in the “Siphon Cabinet section”, you can make your own with materials from around the house or materials from a hardware store. Then just drill a hole to allow the pressure pot hose to enter inside. The photo above is my self made cabinet, with primarily scrap material from around my house. The additional cost that I put into it was about $20 which was from the cabinet door hinges, door clamps to hold the door shut, and rubber gloves. You need to have some mechanical ability and tools to construct one. I now include plans on how to make this same one to my members.
- Alter an Inexpensive Cabinet– Another way is to buy an inexpensive siphon cabinet system and incorporate the pressure pot’s hose into the cabinet. This is genius and my favorite because it allows you to use the Pressure Pot and the Siphon system to create different effects on the glass. This cabinet would give you the best of both worlds without having to move the glass object to different areas, with both artistic characteristic capabilities.
To do this, you just need to drill a hole in one of the walls. I prefer the hose and nozzle to sit on top of my dominant hand. My dominant hand is my right, so I drilled a hole slightly above the right glove opening which is slightly cocked to the preferred side. This is a great way to be able to use a Pressure Pot system with an inexpensive cabinet. Look at Harbor Freight Tools for a cheap siphon system or look for a used one.
These are some inexpensive ways to reduce the cost of equipment, but you could also try other forms of engraving with these etching supplies listed here: glassetchingsecrets.com/supplies.html.
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Hey Eric
A better way to do this is to put a bulkhead air fitting into the cabinet wall near your weak hand and mount the ballvalve there so it can be operated by that hand. Then you have just the nozzle in your dominant hand. You can also use a thinner blast hose inside the cabinet giving you markedly more freedom in movement.
Barry