Drilling Light Cable Hole In Sandblast Cabinet

[pollys1dad]

I'm etching, carving glass in a Cyclone SL3730 pass through sandblasting cabinet, see attached photo, the cabinet is made from 16 gauge steel.I bought an adjustable lamp with a magnetic base, the lamps in the cabinet can be rotated where they are but can't be repositioned. I need to have a lamp in the top left corner. That casts a shadow so I can see where the grit creates an over spray area on the glass resist, mask.

To thread the lamp cable through the cabinet I intend to drill a hole in the side and insert a metal PG11 cable gland see Ebay UK item number
391149977462 in the spec says, mounting hole dia:18.6mm. Someone said to use a hole saw for this, I don't know if can get a hole saw that size, so do I get one oversize,or use a metal drilling bit?
I just bought a Black + Decker EPC12CA 12V NiCd Cordless Drill Driver, has a 24 torque clutch. Bought it for something else, using Forstner drill bits for doing the dog holes on my wood work bench.For this I also bought a Wolfcraft 4522 Tec Mobil Drill Stand see Ebay UK item number 351652051131.

Is not practical to put the cabinet on side to make hole so will have to be done upright, using the drill in the stand. While I'm on the forum I'll also ask,through sandblasting cabinet see attached photo. The adjustable adjustable lamp I bought with a magnetic base and fitted an energy efficient 100W bulb in it and connected a dimmer control to it. I'm using silicon carbide 120 mesh size blast media. The cabinet has a matching dust extraction unit. Someone made a comment the lamps magnetic base would attract the dust to the glass bulb? They also thought using a glass bulb was, what UK folks call dodgy, meaning unsafe. As I'm not using the cabinet for metal car parts or any metal stripping etc. I thought I'd be OK just blasting glass but be careful not to knock the bulb and break it.
Thanks people.

[jcfx]

Use a Uni-bit, that should work a lot better than a drill bit or hole saw in thin gauge sheet metal.
http://www.irwin.com/tools/browse/drill ... tep-drills

Think about what you're doing, you're sandblasting glass, and the light bulb that you need inside
the cabinet is glass....definitely unsafe.
I'm assuming that the OEM lights in the cabinet are protected from the grit, if you're going to add
another light inside I would protect it the same way the manufacturer does.

[warmstrong1955]

My blaster uses outdoor flood lights, both mounted inside the cabinet. The fixtures seal around the base of the bulb, to prevent sand etc from getting into the bulb threads & electrical contact.
The bulbs to use are the ones with the thick glass & jeweled lens's. PAR38 I believe....not sure on that. They are heavy. Indoor ones....no good.
Things bouncing around inside the cabinet, glass beads, sand, flying mill scale & rust....no problem. I haven't changed mine since I bought it.
Those bulbs are thick enough to withstand a lot of punishment, and it's what the cabinet manufacturer recommended. (It came without bulbs) You would have to do something evil to break one in there.
I've operated plenty of cabinets set up the same way.

I agree with the unibit for sheet metal.

Bill

[pollys1dad]

Thanks for the link to the Uni-Bit.
" I'm assuming that the OEM lights in the cabinet are protected from the grit, if you're going to add
another light inside I would protect it the same way the manufacturer does. "
No, there are just two conventional screw light fitments same as what you might have in the light unit in your lounge ceiling.

[pollys1dad]

and thanks too Bill. I see can get adjustable screw in spot lights, sort of like ones used in kitchen, can get them fitted with with par 38 led bulbs, dimmable ones too Which I think have a thick glass or plastic lens cover. If can get a suitable beam angle will look into going down this route.