DeWalt Abrasive Blast Cabinet (20 CFM @ 90 PSI)

I’ve wanted a dedicated blast station in my shop for a while, and the DeWalt cabinet finally nudged me to clear a corner. It’s a compact, metal cabinet with a hood-style door, a foot-pedal gun, and a simple cyclone that uses your shop vac to keep dust at bay and reclaim media. After a few weeks of projects—small brackets, brake parts, mower hardware, and a cast iron vise base—I’ve got a good sense of where it shines and what you’ll want to plan for.

Setup, footprint, and assembly

The cabinet ships as a flat-pack and goes together with basic hand tools. Expect a couple of hours if you’re working alone and taking your time to get panels aligned. The hopper bolt holes benefit from a scratch awl or punch to line things up, and a nut driver saves you a lot of awkward finger gymnastics on the shorter leg hardware.

I configured it as a freestanding unit using the adjustable legs instead of parking it on a bench. The height options are genuinely useful if multiple people will use the cabinet, and the ability to convert to benchtop later is nice insurance. The cabinet measures roughly 24.6 x 21.5 x 32.3 inches overall, with an internal working area of 30 x 19 x 18 inches—roomy enough for valve covers, caliper brackets, motorcycle hubs, and small lawn equipment parts, but not a full mower deck or a whole wheel. The viewing window is generously sized and comes with sacrificial film to protect the plexiglass from frosting.

The hood door uses gas struts and closes against a full perimeter gasket. Mine arrived square, sealed well, and the struts hold the lid without drama. Fit and finish are better than most budget cabinets I’ve used; panels are straight, the seams seal, and the fasteners and hardware aren’t an afterthought.

Air, media, and the reality of “20 CFM”

This is not a closed system—you bring the compressor and vacuum. The spec calls for roughly 20 SCFM at 90 PSI. With a true 20 CFM compressor, the gun and 3/32-inch nozzle will run continuously at 80–90 PSI and strip scale fast. Most home shops don’t have that much air, so here’s what I found with smaller compressors:

• With 10–12 CFM at 90 PSI: Effective blasting in cycles. I ran about 30–45 seconds on, then paused for 30–60 seconds for the compressor to recover. You can keep moving, but plan on a rhythm rather than a fire hose.
• With ~6–7 CFM: Still useful, but I had to step down pressure a bit and accept slower progress. Great for delicate parts or softer media, less so for heavy scale.

Two tips help a lot:
- Keep media bone dry. Moisture kills flow. I added an inline water separator at the cabinet and purged my tank before long sessions.
- Use the included media vibrator. It’s a small air-driven device that agitates the hopper. It makes a noticeable difference keeping fines and angular media moving.

The 40-pound hopper accepts almost a full bag of most media types. I ran fine crushed glass for rust and paint, aluminum oxide for tenacious scale, and walnut shell for plastics and wood. Don’t use sand—silica dust is hazardous, and the manual is clear on that point. Stick with dry, recyclable media.

Dust management and visibility

The included cyclone mounts to a standard 5-gallon bucket (you supply the bucket and lid), and it connects to your shop vac with the provided hose adapter. It’s a simple, effective system: the vac generates negative pressure in the cabinet, the cyclone spins out most of the heavier particles into the bucket, and HEPA bags/filters in the vac handle the fines. I tuned the cabinet’s dial vent until the gloves stayed slightly “sucked in,” which is my quick check for the right negative pressure. With that setup, I had clear visibility and minimal dust escaping.

The internal LED is bright enough to work by, and it’s easy to remove or replace if you want to add more light. After several hours, the protective film on the viewing window had a uniform haze; swapping film takes a minute and keeps the main lens clear.

One minor annoyance: a tablespoon or two of media can dribble off the inner lip when you open the hood right after blasting. It’s not a mess, but it’s predictable. Adding a thin adhesive foam strip to the inner lip cut most of that down.

Ergonomics and controls

The foot pedal is the standout feature here. It offloads the trigger hand completely, which makes long sessions less tiring and also keeps your grip on the part more secure. The glove ports are chamfered and comfortable against your forearms, and the gloves themselves have decent dexterity. The gun feels generic but serviceable, and the included 3/32-inch ceramic nozzles are standard fare—easy to replace from a variety of suppliers.

The hood door opens wide, and the gas struts make it a one-hand operation. The seal is good enough that I didn’t get dust puffs on opening as long as the vac was running and the dial vent was set correctly.

Performance in the cabinet

Real-world results depend on your air supply and media, but here’s a baseline from my testing:

• Light rust on brackets with 80-grit glass at 90 PSI: clean, uniform tooth in a minute or two per piece.
• Flaking paint on a cast iron vise base with 60-grit slag at 85–90 PSI: fast removal, uniform profile for primer in about 10–15 minutes total.
• Oxidized aluminum motorcycle parts with 100–120 aluminum oxide at 60–70 PSI: crisp, satin finish without peening detail edges.

With lower CFM, I adjusted my pace and let the compressor catch up. The cabinet remains useful; you just aren’t blasting continuously. The foot pedal helps you work in pulses naturally, and the vibrator prevents the “no media at the pickup” frustration that plagues basic cabinets.

What I like

• Foot pedal control and a decent gun out of the box.
• Adjustable legs for bench or freestanding use with multiple height positions.
• Media vibrator that actually helps keep flow consistent.
• Big viewing window, replaceable film, and bright interior light.
• Cyclone/vac setup that works and is simple to maintain.
• Solid sealing and gaskets—visibility stays high with the vac running.

What I’d change

• Packaging could be more forgiving for a cabinet this heavy; mine survived, but the latch needed a tweak.
• The hood lip could use a small redesign or gasket to keep media from dribbling when opened immediately after blasting.
• A quick-access port for adding media without opening the main hood would be convenient.
• A quieter bleed for the vibrator would be welcome; it’s not loud, but it adds to the shop soundtrack.

Maintenance and consumables

Plan on periodic nozzle replacements, fresh window film, and vacuum bags/filters. Keep a roll of thread tape handy for air connections, and check hose clamps on the cyclone and vac hose every few sessions. If you run aggressive media, inspect the gun’s mixing tube and pickup hose for wear—both are user-serviceable. The cabinet’s seals are holding up well; a light wipe of the gasket keeps dust from building up.

Who it’s for

• Small fabrication, restoration, and auto hobbyists who need reliable blasting in a compact footprint.
• Shops with limited air who are comfortable blasting in cycles, or shops with big compressors that want continuous duty.
• Users who value a turnkey cabinet with smart features (foot pedal, vibrator, cyclone) over a barebones kit that needs a weekend of mods.

Recommendation

I recommend the DeWalt cabinet. It’s a thoughtfully designed, mid-size cabinet that works as advertised if you match it to a suitable air source. The foot pedal, media vibrator, and cyclone dust management move it out of “entry-level frustration” territory. If you’ve only got a small compressor, you’ll still get good results by pacing your work; if you’ve got 20 CFM on tap, it runs like a proper production cabinet. A few refinements—better packaging, a tweak to the hood lip—would make it even stronger, but those are minor compared to the fundamentals. For most home and small-shop users looking to remove rust, paint, and scale efficiently, this cabinet earns its floor space.