Graniteguy

Sandblasting!

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Nice work Easy. Granit the photo resist is not hard to work with. It is almost like the stuff you use to make screens for doing screen print shirts. You expose it the wash it out the same way. or you can use the non wash out. It comes in different mil thickness. I have used it for stone and have not had any problems. As far as the equipment I use. I have two blast cabinets with a 20 lb. and a 40 lb. pressure pots. The larger cabinet is on that I built. It is a pass thru cabinet for doing larger pieces. Most all of the pieces that I blast I do from the back side or the 2nd. surface. Here is a stone that was done with the resist. the stone was only about 1 1/2 inch at the longest point and the design is only about 3/4 inch,

Bob

post-6565-0-39289500-1384968162_thumb.jp

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Nice work Easy. Granit the photo resist is not hard to work with. It is almost like the stuff you use to make screens for doing screen print shirts. You expose it the wash it out the same way. or you can use the non wash out. It comes in different mil thickness. I have used it for stone and have not had any problems. As far as the equipment I use. I have two blast cabinets with a 20 lb. and a 40 lb. pressure pots. The larger cabinet is on that I built. It is a pass thru cabinet for doing larger pieces. Most all of the pieces that I blast I do from the back side or the 2nd. surface. Here is a stone that was done with the resist. the stone was only about 1 1/2 inch at the longest point and the design is only about 3/4 inch,

Bob

attachicon.gifCeltic Stone 004.jpg

Man, that's just beautiful.  I'm gonna have to try the Rayzist.  I use a siphon rig, so I'm running at about 80 psi through a 1/8" nozzle.  Do you think Razist would stand up?  BTW, what kind of gun do you use?

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Eazy, that's really nice work.  Tell us about your equipment.

 

JT

I have an SC cutter for stencils. Been using a homemade cabinet with a portable blaster from Harbor Freight, but  am about to buy the big cabinet from them as soon as I get my new shop built. I used to use acid all the time, but blasting is so much easier and more enjoyable.

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I have an SC cutter for stencils. Been using a homemade cabinet with a portable blaster from Harbor Freight, but  am about to buy the big cabinet from them as soon as I get my new shop built. I used to use acid all the time, but blasting is so much easier and more enjoyable.

Nice.  I have the cheapo floor model from HF.  I had to weld up legs to replace the flimsy ones that came with it.  SiC is heavy.  I changed the gun to a Clemco knockoff and put in a foot valve.  I also added an air jet under the siphon pickup tube so when I press the foot valve, air floats the abrasive.  It improved the grit flow.  Silicon carbide has sharp edges that make it lock together.  The air jet breaks it up.  My dust removal is based on an old Kirby vacuum and a homemade cyclone.  I'm planning to make a better blast cabinet, based on one of those 275 gallon bulk tanks.  I want it to have two doors and also open like a clam.  Next summer.  Too cold right now. 

 

JT

 

P.S.  I like the razorback mirror.

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rlvied Great work !!! but can you post a picture of your set up?  just to see the work area, and for people like me that will like to give sandblasting a trie will you recomend a HF tool ? thank you.

I second the motion.  I think we could all learn a thing or two.  Could we see your Rayzist setup too?

 

JT

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Here is a link to Rayzist for the exposure unit that I bought to start doing photo resist.

http://www.rayzist.com/Equipment/MaskMakingKit_Inkjet.php  I will have to take some pictures of the cabinet that I built. My other cabinet is the larger HF cabinet. For the pressure pots I use the 20lb. on the smaller cabinet and a 40 lb. on the larger cabinet. I will also take pictures of the gun but it is just a smaller version of the one that comes with the pressure pots. I really don't use the siphon gun that often because I don't seem to have as much control for the fine detail because of the larger tips. I mainly just use it for the  over all blasting on larger pieces

Bob.

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a year later and still haven't tried it but made an exposure unit from plans on sandcarvers site for rayzist/ikonics films

post-2742-0-10659300-1385236905_thumb.jp

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a year later and still haven't tried it but made an exposure unit from plans on sandcarvers site for rayzist/ikonics films

Wow!  That's an old flatbed scanner cabinet, right?  What are the bulbs?  See, I priced the stuff at Rayzist.  It's really high quality equipment, well built.  That being said, I'm retired (code for broke) so I have to build most of what I use.  This looks like the real deal to  me. 

 

JT

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Here is a link to Rayzist for the exposure unit that I bought to start doing photo resist.

http://www.rayzist.com/Equipment/MaskMakingKit_Inkjet.php  I will have to take some pictures of the cabinet that I built. My other cabinet is the larger HF cabinet. For the pressure pots I use the 20lb. on the smaller cabinet and a 40 lb. on the larger cabinet. I will also take pictures of the gun but it is just a smaller version of the one that comes with the pressure pots. I really don't use the siphon gun that often because I don't seem to have as much control for the fine detail because of the larger tips. I mainly just use it for the  over all blasting on larger pieces

Bob.

I'm really interested in your cabinet.  As for the gun, like I said in an earlier post, I switched to a Clemco knockoff and a foot pedal valve.  I modified the air jet to accept orifices of different diameters as needed.  Most of the time I blast with a 1/16" air jet and a 1/8" boron carbide nozzle.  I was having control problems too, mostly related to the fact that my compressor couldn't keep up with the old gun because the orifice was too big. The pressure kept fluctuating, changing the rate of cut.  Kind of like trying to bowl with a ball that keeps changing it's weight.  I've been wondering if it would be possible to use a siphon gun with a pressure pot, only applying pressure to the pot when applying pressure to the gun.

JT

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The cabinet plans they had was using one of the OLD flatbeds that are deeper, scavenge the parts out of a Chinese UV nail curing unit off eBay and a mirror from my local glass place - it is harder than you think to find one of the deeper flatbeds that haven't been thrown away by now.  the idea is it is a flat glass and a hold-down already in place for holding the film and print flat.  not as compact as the letralite but much cheaper

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great!!  i have a old Lexmark X85 attachicon.gifLexmark X85.jpg  

 scanner printer that i think will work great if i remove all the mechanical and electronic parts 

Yeah, you can get an old flatbed scanner for 10 bucks or less at Goodwill.  I think I'm gonna go that route when I get around to doing this.  I'm in the process of moving to a new venue with my design station.  Out of the house.  Yeah!

 

The cabinet plans they had was using one of the OLD flatbeds that are deeper, scavenge the parts out of a Chinese UV nail curing unit off eBay and a mirror from my local glass place - it is harder than you think to find one of the deeper flatbeds that haven't been thrown away by now.  the idea is it is a flat glass and a hold-down already in place for holding the film and print flat.  not as compact as the letralite but much cheaper

That looks like the best route to me.  I'll be accumulating parts, little by little.

 

JT

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Geez.  I just looked on ebay.  You can get 5 of those lamps for less than $8.  I can definitely afford this.  Looks like I might be getting into this sooner than I thought.  I do a lot of pet memorials and being able to do halftones would be a big help.  This is certainly cheaper than a laser engraver.

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Jt  here is a link to try and help with your home made exposure unit that may help build one, I am away at the moment so I will take picture of my cabinet when I get home. This site has a lot of info for building your cabinet also.

Bob

http://www.cuttingedgesandcarving.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16084

Here are some plans for building a cabinet also,

blastcabinet.pdf

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I scavenged a whole unit - where are you going to get the lamp sockets etc?

Probably an electrical supply of some sort.  That kind of stuff is pretty standard.  If I need to, I'll make my own.

 

JT

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I just tore apart cut up one of these- sockets, fuse holder, switched - everything I needed on that end   http://www.ebay.com/itm/36W-Nail-Art-UV-Lamp-Salon-Gel-Curing-Dryer-110V-220V-4-X-9W-Light-Tube-/151097692106?pt=US_Nail_Care&var=&hash=item232e1fcfca

How many sockets are in one of those units?  Speaking of tearing things apart.  I think I'll use the timer out of a microwave to run the whole thing.  Most have a control relay to put power on the clystron, so it wouldn't be a big stretch.  I can get a used microwave at Goodwill for about 20 bucks.

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How many sockets are in one of those units?  Speaking of tearing things apart.  I think I'll use the timer out of a microwave to run the whole thing.  Most have a control relay to put power on the clystron, so it wouldn't be a big stretch.  I can get a used microwave at Goodwill for about 20 bucks.

4 bulbs 4 sockets, fuse holder, switch - figured I didn't need a timer for a few seconds

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ok, ok, I just threw away a copier/scanner today but I can still rescue it. will this work as a light box for weeding. gonna go look at the link above to see about adapting.

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Sure, all they are really doing with the scanner is making use of the glass box and lid. Although for a lightbox I think you'd prefer an opaque surface. Taping some thin paper to the underside of the glass would do the job.

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ok, ok, I just threw away a copier/scanner today but I can still rescue it. will this work as a light box for weeding. gonna go look at the link above to see about adapting.

 

 

Sure, all they are really doing with the scanner is making use of the glass box and lid. Although for a lightbox I think you'd prefer an opaque surface. Taping some thin paper to the underside of the glass would do the job.

Yes!  Go-go-go!  The paper is a great idea.  You could control the intensity by adding or removing sheets of paper.  You can also get some white sheet plastic at a place like TAP plastics.  They'll even cut it for you.  You could use some of that spray-on window frosting, too.  I can tell you that a light box is a great addition to any graphics setup.  I finally got one and it speeds up line drawing from photos about 10 times.  I wish now I'd thought of the flatbed scanner trick.  Great idea.

 

JT

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4 bulbs 4 sockets, fuse holder, switch - figured I didn't need a timer for a few seconds

       Wow.  Cheaper than buying the sockets alone, then.  Looks like I'll be ordering one of those things.  Thanks for a super idea.  The other thing I like about the scanner is the weighted lid to hold everything flat.  

       

      If you wanted a larger unit, there are surplus places where you can buy a dead copier.  Standup operation, large work area, storage underneath, maybe even a power supply if you wanted to use UV LEDs instead of florescent bulbs.  

 

JT

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