Norm, I've never used a tumbler. Do you tumble parts individually or in batches? And for how long?
I think I've got the same blast cabinet that you have. To blast small parts, I stick them on a big chunk of magnet that I found. I blast the the parts on the magnet. Re-arrange them and blast again. I can do 4-6 small parts pretty easily this way. For a single part I just hold it in my gloved fingers, using the magnet only as a parts container.
Another thing I did with the blast cabinet, is remove the bottom interior grate. That gives me a lot more room to work. Most of the time, I just use the magnet to prevent losing the part in the media. If a certain part needs a shelf to sit on, I cut one to size out of plywood.
My best blasting upgrade was getting a professional gun made out of bronze. It triggers off a foot-switch that I got through Amazon. It NEVER clogs or jams. The gun is compact, so it's easier to manuever in the cabinet. It cost as much as the entire HF cabinet set -- but was WELL worth it!
I'm about to go into the shop and make my first tests with the Caswell chemistry. Thanks for your insights!
