MINI DEADMAN VALVE FOR SANDBLASTING

Hello

This is my first time doing this. Instructables has been of great help on many of my projects. I have made a lot of things but have never felt they where different or good enought to share, until now. I hope this will be of help for some of you.

I use to do sandblasting art on glass many years ago as a hobby. Now I want to start doing it again but more as a business. Since the art I am doing is not large, I needed small tools. There are many tools for sandblasting on the market but they can be expensive. So, I decided to try and make some that will suit my needs and do so at a low cost.

Sorry I did not take photos as it was coming together but I am sure you will have no problem understanding how this was done.

Step 1:

These are the tools used for building the Mini Deadman. Most of the things in the photo you will recognize. There is a mig welder tip, clothes pin, a strip of black rubber, and a small piece of aluminum.

Step 2:

The most important part to this project is what is inside the mig welder nozzle ( the contact tip and gas diffuser nozzle). This is ideal because the tips come with different size orifice and are very cheap. From what I have seen on the market as far as mini sandblaters go they use Alumunim Oxide and sand can not be used because of the diameter of the hole.

Step 3:

Take the clothes pin apart and use it as pattern for making one of sides out of the aluminum. The length of the one you are making dependes on the size of the contact tip. The one in the photo is shorter than the one made out of wood. Whats importan is where the spring sits and where the wire sits on top. As far as how long or short it is depends on the contact tip and what is most comfortable for you. There is a small piece of rubber clued to the aluminum.

Step 4:

The diffuser was covered with a 2 part epoxy puddy. This is where the spring will sit and the puddy is also used to cover the holes around the diffuser. Will the puddy is still soft position the spring and tha aluminum handle so as to leave an imprint of where it will sit once dry. Make sure you add some oil on the spting so the puddy will not stick. After the puddy is completely dry place the spring on the aluminum handle then slip the diffuser and tha contact tip into the spring as if it were the other half of te clothes pin. Try and bend the lower part of the spring so it will grip the contact tip a bit. You may have to bend it before you put it together.

Step 5:

There you have a Mini Deadman Valve. I have used this with a pressure pot and they work fine. These are great for sandblasting. There is a lot of room for improvement but I think this is a good start.

Step 6:

This is a siphon type sandblaster. The same nozzle and tip was used. On this one a hole was drilled and a small tube was soldered to let the sand in. The contect tip was drilled out so that the hole on the contact tip would be larger than the sand intake tube.

Step 7:

Here is a sample of the work that can be done. This was sandblasted on glass 11x17.