What to do with an old propane cylinder?

[Tenfour86 41]

Build a sandblaster of course!

 

 

Had an old, out of date, propane cylinder that was just going to get recycled anyway, so I decided to make something useful with it.  A friend used it to sandblast his tractor, so that's how it ended up Farmall red.  Now I just have to find an excuse to try etching some glass.  The laser can do it well enough, but it takes forever to raster anything of decent size.  I'm thinking a stencil will go way faster.

[knucklehead 530]

Pretty dang cool!

[KYSIGN 233]

I would build a blast cabinet next. You don't want to waste your blast media. Please don't use regular sand unless you want silicosis.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

Nice work

[Wildgoose 4,200]

I second KEYSIGN's comment about the sand. It's soon tempting to use the $3 bag of silica sand at the local lumber yard but unless you are properly protected it will quite literally kill you. Even worse if you are using it at your house the particles will come in on your clothes and kill your family too. Very miserable way to go almost the same effects as mesothelioma from asbestos. IT doesn't kill you that day but will show up in a few years once those little silica particles have cut their way into your lungs. 

[Tenfour86 41]

I'd love to either make or buy a cabinet next.  If nothing else, it saves on clean-up time.  I've seen photos where people have made them out of old 55gal drums.

 

I'm definitely careful about what gets put in it.  I prefer not to shred the lining of my lungs like KYSIGN says.  I've found that "black blast" from Menards works pretty well and it's not really much more expensive than a bag of silica sand.  It's made from coal slag.  According to the MSDS the silica content is below detection levels, but I stick to using a respirator anyway.

 

Sandblasting by far isn't the worst thing I've been around I suppose.  I spent seven years in the Air Force and two of them were working in close proximity to nukes, so I had the distinct pleasure of being irradiated and exposed to other fun hazardous materials regularly.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

I'd love to either make or buy a cabinet next.  If nothing else, it saves on clean-up time.  I've seen photos where people have made them out of old 55gal drums.

 

I'm definitely careful about what gets put in it.  I prefer not to shred the lining of my lungs like KYSIGN says.  I've found that "black blast" from Menards works pretty well and it's not really much more expensive than a bag of silica sand.  It's made from coal slag.  According to the MSDS the silica content is below detection levels, but I stick to using a respirator anyway.

 

Sandblasting by far isn't the worst thing I've been around I suppose.  I spent seven years in the Air Force and two of them were working in close proximity to nukes, so I had the distinct pleasure of being irradiated and exposed to other fun hazardous materials regularly.

Nukes! Nice! Thanks for your service. I have never tried that slag but I have heard it works great. A regular particle mask will keep you in pretty good shape with non-silica products. I have a cheap harbor F cabinet and also a 20b pot similar to your DIY tank. The pot will definitely do more aggressive work but I have fallen in love with the siphon gun in the cabinet. Super fast and a little easier to take it easy on the intricate work. I found a local supplier that crushes up porcelain and it works perfect. 

[Tenfour86 41]

Never though of using porcelain before.  Smart idea.

 

The stuff I have in the pot right now is around 70-80 grit.  Should I be looking at something finer than that for etching?  I've seen aluminum oxide that comes in finer grits than that.

[arty-rc 719]

I've been using 150 grit AO in my home built blaster. I have since replaced the top with a full size plexi top.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

80 grit will work but it's pretty harsh for glass. I went with 100 grit on the stuff I switched to and it has since beaten itself down to probably 150. There is nothing wrong with the 70-80 but it might look less frosted which may even be desirable in certain circumstances. 

[Tenfour86 41]

Thanks for the tips everyone.  Good stuff to know.  I think I have an old piece of mirror laying around somewhere that would make a good test surface.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

Try it from the back too. Mirrors are cool. I have gotten in the habit of giving out etched glassware as wedding gifts as our friends kids are getting married. Best one is a set of pyrex with their name echoed in reverse so they can read it from the top. Real big hit. At christmas time I go hit the dollar store or a place called Big Lots and grab small cookie jars and decorate the sides with specific names. People freak out. 

[MadHatterGraphix 1,258]

Build a sandblaster of course!

 

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Had an old, out of date, propane cylinder that was just going to get recycled anyway, so I decided to make something useful with it.  A friend used it to sandblast his tractor, so that's how it ended up Farmall red.  Now I just have to find an excuse to try etching some glass.  The laser can do it well enough, but it takes forever to raster anything of decent size.  I'm thinking a stencil will go way faster.

Love the idea and great way of recycling thats for sure. 

[knucklehead 530]

TP Tools has plans for building cabinets, and all the hardware, and hook-ups.

[DonPittman 18]

In west Virginia to use an old Propane tank you would have to weld the bullet holes. Oh if I can say something about blast cabinets. I have owned two for my machine shop. Never buy one from Harbor Freight. I returned the benchtop 2 times. I leaked everywhere. Fix one spot and find another.

[OWJones 1,981]

I would build a blast cabinet next. You don't want to waste your blast media. Please don't use regular sand unless you want silicosis.

 

Silicosis is a danger any time you blast glass (which is composed primarily of Silica) and so the blast media type you use doesn't matter as much.  Obviously, using a silica/silicon based media is going to increase the danger, but it's the fine particles creating during blasting that are the real danger.

You should ALWAYS wear a respirator and serious eye protection when sand blasting, regardless of media or blast target...

And always leave your watch, cell phone and anything else you want to keep clean and unscratched far away when blasting and don't touch them until you've thoroughly washed your hands - unless you want permanent scratches in your phone screen - silicon carbide blast media is strong enough to scratch Gorilla Glass and strip the finish off of a watch band...