Harbor Freight sandblasting cabinet...

Bob Jasinski said
Please explain why the glass should be tempered? I just replaced my glass (non-tempered) and the glass business suggested to not use tempered glass as if it breaks it will basically crumble (shatter like a tempered shower door) and require the media to be replaced. They made a 1/4" replacement for me. Normal use doesn't put force on the glass, and I always use the stick-on clear covers on the inside that can easily be replaced when they get cloudy. I see no advantage or need to use tempered glass, 1/4" glass with the plastic inside cover is very durable.
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It's a catch 22. Tempered glass was often used by sandblaster manufacturers especially in industrial cabinets because it is much more durable than plate glass. If an inexperienced operator has really high air pressure to the gun and pulls the trigger the gun could kick back and shatter the plate glass causing injury. Does tempered crumble when hit hard? yep but it takes a much harder whoops impact for that to happen. Plate glass is also much more likely to cut than crumbling tempered.