Cleaning parts is a pain, especially when there are 15 different layers of paint, each a different type or brand than the one below it, intermixed with primer, rust, and who knows what else (using WD-40 to shine up an old paint job has its downsides, but dang if it doesn’t look slick as snot when it’s fresh). Sanding takes forever. Paint strippers remove some paint like magic and then turns some primers into sticky goo. Commercial dip tanks are few and far between. The most logical solution is media blasting. But blasting cabinets can be costly little buggers if you are only going to use it every now and then. Fortunately blasting cabinets are not too difficult to build. We’ve dug up three different resources that will set you on the path to building your own cabinet.

• Corvette Forum - Build my own sandblasting cabinet

• Hotrodders - Homemade sandblasting cabinet

• Autodidactics.com - Build a Homemade Sandblasting Unit

This photo is one of several from the Hotrodders board. A contributor on that forum built this professional looking homemade sandblasting cabinet with “a 55 gal drum, some “l” angle steel, 3/4 plywood and some parts from harborfreight.” Click the photo to see more of this and other cabinet designs.