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Sandblasting cabinet buying guide

Updated: 21.10.2026

You have a bracket, a rusty spanner or a brake caliper on the bench, and the listings lead with litres, a low price or a sentence about dust. A sandblasting cabinet buying guide decides whether the box, the air figure and the feed type fit that part. A litre claim does not show the opening, and a dust-free sentence does not show extraction. The seven amazon.co.uk listings are in the [sandblasting cabinet comparison](/hub/compressors/sandblasting-cabinet). This is not a lab test. The notes below come from those listings, the SIP 03868 maker page and public UK guidance. Shelf prices in the table are the figures on those listings.

You have a bracket, a rusty spanner or a brake caliper on the bench, and the listings lead with litres, a low price or a sentence about dust.

Our top picks

BONEW BONEW double-pen lab unit

Best overall

BONEW BONEW double-pen lab unit
3.3/10about £239.99
View offer
SIP SIP medium sandblast cabinet

Rank 2

SIP SIP medium sandblast cabinet
7.3/10about £167.99
View offer
Generic Generic dual-gun cabinet

Best value

Generic Generic dual-gun cabinet
3.4/10about £172.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Three machines share the name
  2. 2.Size, air and what the listing must state
  3. 3.What £109, £170 and £555 actually buy
  4. 4.Extraction, silica and the plug

Three machines share the name

A workshop suction cabinet is a steel box with a window, glove ports, a hopper and a gun that lifts media with a venturi. Most hobby listings are trying to be that machine, from about £109 to about £220, unless the page shows a pressure pot. A pressure cabinet stores abrasive in a sealed pot and pushes it. Guyson's 2022 guidelines say that layout can be up to about four times faster, and it needs far more air. None of the generic cabinets in this set document a pot. A missing word is not a pot. Siphon versus a pot is on suction vs pressure sandblast cabinet. The third machine is a lab pen blaster. The BONEW PSJ at £239.99 is a double-pen unit with a lamp and a drawer. It is a plausible shape for jewellery and the wrong shape for a brake caliper. Most of this set never names the feed.

Size, air and what the listing must state

Litres do not tell you whether the part fits. ActOn Finishing sizes a cabinet by the part and the room the nozzle needs. A 90 litre benchtop is a common hobby size for brackets and calipers. The Arebos 90 litre, outside this set, lists an inner size of 56 × 46 × 28 cm at £116.99. That height can take a caliper. It cannot take a wheel. Only the SIP Medium Sandblast Cabinet, SIP-03868, at £167.99, gives an external size on amazon.co.uk: 63 × 49 × 49 cm and 18 kg. The maker's page lists 490 × 490 × 630 mm. Neither note is an internal size. Match free air delivery at blasting pressure, not tank litres, on the compressor for a sandblasting cabinet page. The SIP states an average of 7 CFM (198 litres per minute) and a maximum of 125 psi.
BONEW BONEW double-pen lab unit

Testsieger

BONEW BONEW double-pen lab unit
3.3/10about £239.99
View offer

What £109, £170 and £555 actually buy

The hobby band on the Sand Blasters snapshot of 19 October 2026 is a rule of thumb. Entry cabinets, often sold as about 90 litres, sit around £109 to £170. A mid band of about £170 to £240 holds the SIP, both dual-gun generics, the benchtop and the BONEW. The generic at £25.99, ASIN B0HBKCQFP7, clashes with itself: steel in the bullets, Synthetic, colour 2m, and a 65 × 64 × 15 cm package in the technical block. The generic at £555.99, model A-1, puts 100 litres and 30 gal in one title and gives no internal millimetres and no review line.

Extraction, silica and the plug

Extraction is the limit on a dust-free sentence. HSE guidance WL18 describes good control for small items as a fully enclosed cabinet under negative pressure, with filtration left running for about two minutes after you stop. The benchtop 98% and 30% faster lines, and the dual-gun 20% visibility line, cite no test. COSHH 2002 Schedule 2 prohibits sand or other free-silica material as a blasting abrasive, cabinet included, in England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland is outside that instrument. HSENI still tells users to avoid silica abrasives. UK mains are 230 V and domestic plugs are BS 1363. The SIP maker page states 230 V and 13 A for model 03868. The amazon.co.uk file for B00BIK425U does not, and the word ac is not proof of a UK plug.

Common questions

Is a 90 litre cabinet big enough for brake calipers and brackets?
It is the usual hobby size for brackets, tools and calipers if you have checked an internal height. The Arebos listing, outside this set, gives 56 × 46 × 28 cm inside at £116.99. A wheel does not fit that height. None of the seven listings in this set publish an internal size.
What should I measure if the listing only gives litres?
Measure the longest part, then add room for the nozzle and for your gloves to turn it. If the page also says 30 gal, as ASIN B0H8RGHYXY does at £555.99, treat the two figures as a clash until internal millimetres appear. The BONEW package of 51.7 × 48.4 × 36.29 cm is a carton, not the working opening.
Does a foot switch matter if the gun has a trigger?
It matters when both hands are in the gloves, because you can stop the jet without pulling a hand out. Several generics here claim a pedal. The SIP saved listing does not.
How do I tell a workshop cabinet from a jewellery pen blaster?
A workshop cabinet is a box for parts, with a window and usually glove ports. A pen blaster is pencil guns for fine media. The BONEW title says double pen, lamp, drawer and metal cups, at £239.99. That is the jewellery-scale machine. It is not the cabinet for a bracket.
Why is £25.99 not the cheap end of this market?
The entry band on the 19 October 2026 snapshot is about £109 to £170. ASIN B0HBKCQFP7 conflicts with itself: steel in the bullets, Synthetic and a 65 × 64 × 15 cm package in the technical block. No pressure and no air volume are stated.
When is a local blaster the better spend?
Send the part out when it will not fit, when it is a chassis, a fuel tank or a thin panel, or when the job needs more air than a domestic 13 A circuit can supply.

Related pages

Best sandblasting cabinet

Sandblasting cabinet

Compressor for a sandblasting cabinet, by free air

How to use a sandblasting cabinet, then shut it down

Suction vs pressure sandblast cabinet: pot or siphon

Sources

Sources taken from the research digest. Listings were checked on 19 October 2026.

  1. COSHH 2002 Schedule 2 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  2. HSE WL18 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  3. HSE HSG201 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  4. Guyson Manual Blast Equipment Guidelines 2022 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  5. Riley Surface World, blast cabinet systems (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  6. Blast It Clean, air supply (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  7. SIP 03868 medium sandblast cabinet (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk Sand Blasters bestsellers (retrieved 20 October 2026)