My observations from years of using a sandblaster at work, is that the major problem with sand blast cabinets comes down to inadequate suction. Something that's easy to miss is that the input cfm of the air supply overwhelms the cfm of the plugged up vacuum resulting in a stagnet air flow in the cabinet which isn't anywhere powerful enough to evacuate the dust. Fixing the suction side usually requires a much large unit than you'd normally guess. But Something else that helps is to actually create an air curtain/knife effect around the glass so that it doesn't allow particles to hit in the first place. I.e. put the intake vent for the cabinet around the glass instead of on the side of the cabinet. Also placing material around the inside of the cabinet to reduce ricocheting sand grains would help i.e. outdoor carpet velcroed on so that you can shake it out occasionally. Lots of improvement to a univerally recognized very poor design.

If someone is looking to go the Glass Screen Protector route, get the Glass Screen Protectors made for Tablets rather than Phones.
 Tablet versions come as big as 14.6" measured diagonally which is around 12¾" long and 8" wide. You can get a 2 pack of for around $15.

I have a harbor freight blast cabinet here in the states that’s the same as yours and I decided to use your idea with a twist. I took a measurement of the glass in the cabinet and ordered screen protectors for a tablet. I ordered 2 sets of 2 protectors each. 3 protectors cover almost the whole glass. I ordered them right after seeing your video and installed them as soon as they arrived. I used the blaster for the first time tonight and I’m really happy with the result. One thing I did notice tonight though, the protectors on mine all have hairline cracks in them, so I’m not sure that the crack in your is from being impacted by something. Anyway I think it’s a good upgrade. Thanks for the tip.

I used a 100 mesh stainless steel mesh to cover the entire glass.  It can still be easily seen through if you have sufficient lighting from within the cabinet. I used 2x 15W mini led "floodlights" for  PLENTY of light. It works fantatic. When blasting I don't even notice it's there and the mesh is fine enough to protect the glass behind it from becoming etched.3 months in, almost daily use and the glass looks brand new still. A quick blast with the air line and the mesh is clean again.

Hope to see a video of that Douglas Shaper modification

A life time ago when I had no money to buy a prebuilt cabnet I built my own out of MDF and lined it with bits of steel I reclaimed from a old washing machine. back then I just went to the local pick a part wrecking yard and grabed a couple of side windows out of some back doors {cheapest} and glued one into the top as a view window. I have rarely used garnet but using glass beads the automotive glass has hung in there.
In my working life I had to maintain  few quite large hand operated blasting cabnets. The type that push back on the blast nozzle with about 3~5 kg of force.we used 2 methods to keep the window from blast damage. 1 was to add an intake vent surrounding the window so the extraction would draw a draught around the window. It worked well when the media was dirty
2 was to surround the window with a sheet metal box with the base missing. I kept all but the direct inline media from hitting the glass. Kept it clean but made it a pain to use as it needed to be adjustable for different operators line of sight.

I use a fine mesh screen on the inside so the grit bounces off the screen and protects the glass

By putting lines of UV resin across to surface, you captured area with air bubbles. Put down i line on one end, squeegee the resine across, then lay one edge and sgueegee the upper side across to press the lens down to the other side. Btw: you can use suction cups to hold the glass pieces to keep clean and help manipulate the glass. Good Luck!😊

Cheers Preso .. the early indicators certainly look promising for that blast cabinet upgrade. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the content, and also the shoutout to the provider of the original idea.  I did some investigative work on Rega oilcan mechanisms and sorted out an issue on a foot valve.  Had an email conversation with another youtuber about this. They did some material based on that without mentioning my input. You get that on larger contracts....

When putting the glue in put it in as a single thick line down the middle of the screen placement.  This way the adhesivr only pushes outward and wont trap air bubble between flow fronts of adhesive lines.

Looking forward to the long term update. Thank you Mr Presling.

I have been doing this for years at work . We use clear ( car ) body warp plastic sheet over the whole glass . Spray the glass with soapy water first then squeegee out any bubbles and leave it for a couple of days to dry , Its not expensive .

Did my part of engagement with comments!  The best part of your channel is you try things and learn from your own trials and dont just regurgitate videos you watched.

I hope you consider designing and printing your own entirely 3D printed hinge... then you could try casting it... ;)  we all know how much you love casting but this time you wouldnt be chasing a mirror finish.  Lol.  I was worried you wouldnt survive the DC3 project.

Keep up the good work!

I have a spare screen protector and will try it on my cabinet. Thanks for the idea Mark.

Gday Preso, that’s very interesting using the screen protector and watch faces, the 3d printed hinges look like they are metal, brilliant job mate, ch

Thanks Presso. Very interesting on many levels. All the best, Mart in England.

I reversed the vacuum attachment with the filter on my cabinet.  They had the vacuum port up high and on the side.  The inlet is on the back lower down and covered with a C type channel.  The channel bottom is about even with the grate.  This way it pulls the dust down before going out and clean air comes in high and pulled across the cabinet.  Works for me.

I bought a couple old French frie baskets and dump small items like nuts, bolts etc in them.  The high sides keep items from blowing out.  You can remove the handle or cut it shorter.  

Thanks for the suggestions.

thanks for sharing your ideas!

I have a more industrial cabinet but had the same issue. I purchased very fine stainless steel mesh from eBay and put that into the window frame, then glass on top. Providing you have a decent light inside the cabinet it works great. The garnet hits the mesh and is deflected so it does not hit the glass. I only have to clean it with compressed air every now and then. As someone else commented, vacuum is key to the cabinet working effectively. You need more vacuum cfm than is being delivered by the air compressor. I also fitted an eBay sourced cyclonic system to a Bunnings bucket so it dumps any airborne garnet into that (for re-use) before the air exits to the shop vacuum cleaner.