harbor frieght blasting cabinet?

[brans72]

I was wondering if any one here had the blasting cabinet from harbor frieght? Any do's or don'ts? tips to make it work best? Have a reclaimer on it? Whats the biggest car part you hve fit in it wheel?

[dwcsr]

Wheels are hard to do in it. Make sure you brace the legs. The legs on mine with 40# of grit and some parts laid down like a camel. I had to empty it and cross brace the legs. Do get a reclaimer and do get an air dryer otherwise it shoots mud at your parts.

[red69ss]

a vaccum system is almost a neccesity with a cabinet,I see guys using a shop vac for this, not sure how well that works though. they say you have to use caulk to seal up the seams on the HF cabinets, I was considering one of these but found a quality used one on craigslist for $400 with the vaccum system. good luck

[Shane]

replace the pickup tube and gun with the retro-fit-kit from TP Tools and then purchase a tube of silicone and caulk EVERY joint.

makes it almost perfect for about 1/10th the cost.

[dwcsr]

I have had mine for 5 years now and never had to caulk or seal anything. Its been a very tight unit. If you use a vacuum on it even if it does have some leaks air would be moving into the unit not dust out of the seams. My only issue was the weak legs

[Shane]

count yourself lucky if you don't have leaks ... EVERYONE i know that has bought one of these uses a vacuum and still had to caulk the joints.

[dwcsr]

Which one do you have
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=42202

or
http://www.harborfreight.com/40-lb-c...net-93608.html

I hear a lot of issues with the first one, leaks and the like.

[Shane]

2nd one ...

[dadsworktruck]

i have the second one too, i made me a water bong style air filter for a small vac system, works ok, i used a too flimsy bucket for water, want to move too much and fill my vac at times, my issues for me is lighting, i am going to somehow add an extra light into it , and brace the legs and raise it up, hurts my old back i am 6'2, cant stoop over as well as you young folks. i am just a newb at all this but enjoy playing, now if i could only get back to actually working on my rust bucket..

[dammitmitchell]

we have two in my aviation school.
they are awesome for the price.
.. better then making one of our own i guess...

[eldogg]

I have one also. I caulked mine and put some casters on it. Works great.

[brans72]

I think I wanna up date gun and get a foot pedal also not sure if I got to much of a vaccum on it but it makes the gloves swell up from h%ll when I cut it on and hard to work. Manual say only 10 lbs on media but I wanna try ading another 5 and see what happens. What media are you guys using? I am playing with some play sand right now since cheap but open to other ideas. Brandon

[red69ss]

Originally Posted by brans72

I think I wanna up date gun and get a foot pedal also not sure if I got to much of a vaccum on it but it makes the gloves swell up from h%ll when I cut it on and hard to work. Manual say only 10 lbs on media but I wanna try ading another 5 and see what happens. What media are you guys using? I am playing with some play sand right now since cheap but open to other ideas. Brandon

the foot pedal is great. you need to get a different media, you are not suppose to use sand in a cabinet because the dust can cause silicosis. I use aluminum oxide or glass bead depending on what I'm blasting.

[allengator]

I have the second one, use my shop vac....
Didnt caulk anything... works great, but nozzle clogs constantly if the air isnt dry!

[brans72]

any one found something better for view then what they give you? Has anyone installed a foot pedal set up on theres?

[cdowns]

play sand is poor for blasting,due to the fact it is tumbled to b smooth and not cut little knees// blasting sand has sharp edges for cutting// but sand isnt good in cabinets//play sand sometimes will have trace salt deposits in it too depending where mined

i use commercial black beauty stuff if holds up well for a long long time cuts fast

i personally like bigger blasting cabinets that i can load up with more and biggger stuff// usually load 3intakes and a couple pair of valve covers in mine when i get to blastin

[Tx Firefighter]

I know this thread is kind of dormant, but I was reading it and thought I'd add a few thoughts...

I do a lot of powdercoating, so consequently, I do a lot of blasting. Let me say that again, I do a LOT of blasting.

A blast cabinet is nothing more than a bunch of consumables bolted together. If you use it quite a bit, you're going to find that lots of parts will wear out.

I use the 40 dollar tips and they still wear out. Even the gun wears out internally every year or so. I change lens protectors several times a week. I change lenses twice a year or so. Even the pickup straw that goes down into the media wears out.

Why do I go to the trouble to say this ? Because you must have a source for these parts if you have any hope of keeping your cabinet working well. I cannot imagine Harbor Freight being very helpful in that area.

I use TP Tools stuff, which is made in the USA. I can call them and they will ship any components I need that same day. Believe me, I'm not trying to be an elitist either. You can buy a real good TP blast cabinet for under 400 dollars and it will last you for the rest of your life. Figure in some periodic part replacement and you've got your blasting needs covered. In my opinion, this is one area where spending a little more up front will pay large dividends in the long run.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

.....

I use TP Tools stuff, which is made in the USA. I can call them and they will ship any components I need that same day...

Wheres a good place to buy a TP Tools cabinet?

[cdowns]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Wheres a good place to buy a TP Tools cabinet?

www.tptools.com is where to buy or they setup at some of the major swapmeets around the country and have good show specials

[Tx Firefighter]

You won't be sorry with TP Tools. They are one of the old-school companies owned by real folks.

[KSCHEVYUP]

TX Firefighter is giving out some really GOOD ADVICE!
I wish I had thought of this before I bought the blast cabinet I have.
The parts do wear out as he stated; and then where are you going to get replacements; such as nozzles;glass and light covers;etc.
Just my .02 cents worth.
Ron

[Shane]

I've bought replacement parts for the el cheapo Harbor Freight cabinet from TP Tools.

[cdowns]

a quality cabinet was my choice. can load 2-3 wheels or 4 manifolds at once in it and get to do serious work

[Mike Bradbury]

I have the floor mount cabinet from HF and it seems to work well, If I owned a business of sandblasting then this unit would not do. But for the home hobbyist then it suffices. I have had to replace the nozzles several times and getting ready to replace the gun also but sounds like that is normal for even the expensive system.
One thing I have done is to get a dedicated shop vac for the cabinet. The dust gets all stuck to the ridges in the vac line and the inside of the vac will never be the same. I run two dryers on the compressor. One at the compressor and one at the blaster.

[Zumo]

What compressor are you guys using in your cabinets? We need to get one for ours and am looking for something in a 60-80 Gallon range with CFMs around 11-15?