Feedback on Sandblasting cabinets?

[Lyaec350]

After going to Northern and checking out their poly blast cabinet for $330, I was very unimpressed. Anyone have any other recommendations?

I can get this Clarke unit at TSC for $320, less a 10% coupon. Anyone have any feed back on it?

What about other brands? I would prefer to buy locally as shipping usually kills the deal for just about anything else. What about those kits where you can build your own using plywood, are they any good?

What about dust collectors? Will a shop vac work, or do you need the $250 cyclic collector? Is the one Northern sells a good value?

 

[rsanter]

I have built a couple of sand blasters. if you are up for it I can assure you its not that tough.
a shop vac will work a little but not too well. you could also use 2 shop vacs if you have more than 1. the larger dust collectors work better. you can get these from harbor fright for a deal sometimes. basically you need to move as much air as you can. keep in mind that you need to allow that amount of air back into the system.

I also prefer the pressure feed systems as the work faster

bob

 

[Lyaec350]

Anyone have this cabinet?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93608

Not sure if it would be worth the 160 mile r/t drive to save $60.

 

[Stephenw]

Anyone have this cabinet?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93608

I have that cabinet. When I bought it, the first thing I did was take it apart and seal all the seams with urethane. I use aluminum oxide abrasive (which works real well). The smallest shop vacuum will keep the air clear and also end up plugged up with abrasive. I run a water filter with mine. The fluorescent light was junk. I had to replace it within 45 minutes of use. There is also about a 1 inch lip around the bottom perimeter. The abrasive collects on this lip, so about 10 minutes of blasting, you have to stop and brush it back down into the funnel.

At work I have a Snap-On brand blast cabinet of similar size. The Harbor Freight blaster works comparable. The Snap-On unit only has about 1/2 inch of lip on the bottom, so the abrasive doesn't collect as bad. It also has a built in dust collection bag that works so so. It leaks a lot of glass beads onto the area around the machine.

 

[nonhog]

I have a TIPS brand and it required redoing of some things , made me wonder why I did not just build one ?

 

[JimmyM]

www.tptools.com

I have delt with them for several years and am allways happy with the service, I live about 70 miles from there and generally hit them up 2 or 3 times a year, I built the cabinet from the plans they have out of 2 sheets of 3/4 plywood, the top load
TL780 cabinet they have is a good all around cabinet. If you go with a harbor freight cabinet you could allways up grade it with the TP tools gun and verious parts and re order parts as needed from them, tips, tear offs, gun parts, etc.

 

[PAToyota]

I have a TIPS brand and it required redoing of some things , made me wonder why I did not just build one ?

I have a TPTools 960 Pro model. I've done a few things - added a second light, added one of their extension boxes, vented the dust collector outside, and added a media reclaimer before the dust collector - but the basic unit is solid. Mine is about eight years old, though. Are the newer ones cheaping out or did you have other problems with it?

 

[Benw455]

I have a **** blast from tip tools. Its great!

 

[Lyaec350]

Yea, the only problem with the TP tools stuff is that all their cabinets are $500+$160 shipping to me... thats a LOT more than a $250-$300 cabinet from HF/Tractorsupply/Northern. I'm fine dealing with a few leaks and some nuisance stuff like the lip collecting dust, I just want the frame etc to be solid or easily beefed up.

The water trap, is that just a bucket with water in it that you hook up inline with your shopvac? Got a site with plans? If I didn't have to plan on buying a $250 dust collector I would think about getting a nicer cabinet.

 

[rsanter]

here is a picture of the unit I built
made of 16ga material that was given to me
and some square tube I had on hand
pressure feed system that will drain back into the tank when the inner plug is removed and then you are good to go again

bob

 

[Brad54]

This is VERY timely for me! Does anyone have a pic of the Clarke unit from Tractor Supply?

I've got a Clarke 3-drawer box with roller bearing slides I bought a couple years ago, and was very impressed with their tool boxes, and stunned by the low price. I didn't think about them making blast cabinets. I'm going to be buying a cabinet and a compressor in the next couple months (I've got a couple checks coming in from extra work, and they're dedicated to a blast cabinet and big compressor)

-Brad

 

[Lyaec350]

The Clarke is the same as the HF is the same as the TP tools 770 I just found out.

I am now looking at the TP 780-TL which is a little nicer and American made.

 

[Stephenw]

The water trap, is that just a bucket with water in it that you hook up inline with your shopvac? Got a site with plans?

Here's a picture. You just put a little water in the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket. Use two pipes through holes in the lid. The pipe from the blast cabinet should be just above the water level. The pipe to the vacuum goes just through the lid. There is enough turbulence in the bucket to capture most of the dust in the water. Some dust and water mixture will still end up in the shop vacuum, so I configure it for wet pickup, with a foam filter.

 

[Lyaec350]

Thanks Stephen. I just ordered a TP Tools 780-TL + the carbide user kit (screen protectors, gloves, tips, etc) for $479 shipped.

I'll post up a review when I get it.

 

[Brad54]

Here's a picture. You just put a little water in the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket. Use two pipes through holes in the lid. The pipe from the blast cabinet should be just above the water level. The pipe to the vacuum goes just through the lid. There is enough turbulence in the bucket to capture most of the dust in the water. Some dust and water mixture will still end up in the shop vacuum, so I configure it for wet pickup, with a foam filter.

What if, instead of putting water in the bottom, you installed a divider, or floor, in the middle of the bucket? Put the tube from the cabinet through a hole cut in the divider, and ran that tube to the floor. Then cut another hole in the divider and cover it with women's nylons or some other screen, and put the vacuum cleaner tube into the lid of the bucket.
Would this be enough distance, chambered separation and pre-filter to keep most of the dust and particles out of the shop vac? Would it be enough distance from the cabinet's tube and the shop vac tube to have the particulates fall out of the air stream?

-Brad

 

[John Timmins]

Last month I bought a sandblast cabinet from Complete Hydraulics on the internet. I phoned them and they sold me one over the phone, and I paid with a credit card.

It looks just like the Harbor Freight cabinet in the 3rd posting above except the light is different. I paid $224 plus shipping. Unlike the HF or TP cabinets which I believe all of these are the same maker in china, the Complete Hydraulics deal includes 3 or 4 extra ceramic nozzles and 60 # of glass beads.

I am restoring old Mercury outboard motors and with my air going to the sandblaster at 60 psi, I have plenty of power to blast to bare metal. I place a real light bulb in a holder over the window and have plenty of light.

The cabinet is not hard to put together and I did it by myself, but it is a pain in the *** with out help. The cabinet doesn't leak much. I could have spent a lot more to do the same job. I am happy with what I bought. If I have to I will get a new first class pistol grip some day, but for now I'm good.

I had mine shipped by Yellow freight and I went to their terminal so they could lift it into my pickup with their forklift. The seller told me that if I wanted they would ship the bag of glass beads seperately, that way the blast cabinet could go UPS to the house and the beads too, in 2 boxes to be within their shipping weight limits.

I think I got a better deal than TP or HF since they included the extra tips and the beads. I plug the shop vac into the port and it works OK. I will probably put a couple of 2x4s on the leg bottoms and put some wheels on them so I can roll the cabinet aside so I can clean behind it.

The HF unit might be a good idea for some people if they can go over to the store and pick it up and save freight, but then you would have to buy the beads and extra nozzles.

 

[Stephenw]

What if, instead of putting water in the bottom, you installed a divider, or floor, in the middle of the bucket? Put the tube from the cabinet through a hole cut in the divider, and ran that tube to the floor. Then cut another hole in the divider and cover it with women's nylons or some other screen, and put the vacuum cleaner tube into the lid of the bucket.
Would this be enough distance, chambered separation and pre-filter to keep most of the dust and particles out of the shop vac? Would it be enough distance from the cabinet's tube and the shop vac tube to have the particulates fall out of the air stream?

-Brad

Try it and report back.

 

[eville]

I was looking at this one... anybody here use one?
http://www.barrelblaster.com/

 

[PAToyota]

To me that just looks awfully small. But it all depends on what you are considering putting into it.

 

[Major Ramifications]

I have the HF unit in the third post. I got it on sale, and I had a coupon, which made it irresistably cheap. When I was waiting in line to check out, another customer saw it and told me he had one just like it and he loved it.
I am very happy with that HF unit. It comes pre-assembled for the most part, you just have to put the legs and base on. I don't have any problems with leaks, but I don't see how leaks could be a problem if there is always negative pressure inside. I use my Shop Vac with a CleanStream filter by W.L. Gore and I don't have any problems with clogging or dust.

I will say that my friends, my father and I have never had anything but good experiences with TPtools and their products over the years. My dad bought his first sandblaster from them when they were called TIP.

 

[Brad54]

HA! I just picked up one today off Craigslist! It's a GAMM 24x36 blast cabinet. Side load, all heavy-gauge steel construction, fully welded. Tempered glass window, foot control, heavy-duty nozzle, and it came with a tall dust filter...the old gent said the filter needs a new vacuum motor. The cabinet must weigh about 150lbs!
I'll post a pick next week...getting it out of the truck in the AM, but then going to deer camp for the weekend.
Here's a link to their webpage: http://www.gammind.com/venturi.html
It's the 24x36 unit.
I can't find a price anywhere on the website, or anywhere else on line either, but I'd like to know what these go for.
I'm sure when I find the price, it'll make the $25 I insisted the guy take even that much sweeter
He and his wife posted it up on CL, with no price. I asked how much, they said "We were asking $25, but you can have it for free if you come and get it." They're retired, and are doing very well according to his Harley, new Dakota, motor home and house, but I still had to give him SOMETHING for it. And even at that, he tried to give me $5 back so I could buy lunch on the way home!

I'd just decided in the last couple weeks that I NEEDED to buy a blast cabinet for work (freelance writer and photographer for car mags), and an air compressor. Ran it past The Boss and she said "if you need it for work, get it," but I didn't want to break the bank and was going to get a Harbor Freight unit. I couldn't have afforded anything this nice.

It's got a little age to it, but it isn't rusty, there's no dents, and the glass is good.

Totally made my week! The Boss is tired of hearing about it. She understands the value and costs involved, but is still tired of hearing about it.

-Brad

 

[Stephenw]

Here's a picture. You just put a little water in the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket. Use two pipes through holes in the lid. The pipe from the blast cabinet should be just above the water level. The pipe to the vacuum goes just through the lid. There is enough turbulence in the bucket to capture most of the dust in the water. Some dust and water mixture will still end up in the shop vacuum, so I configure it for wet pickup, with a foam filter.

Someone Pm'd me about a problem they were having using a water filter.

They wrote...

I was sucking up a crazy amount of water, is this normal? How do you keep the top of your bucket from flexing like crazy? The pull on my hoses seems to want to pull the bucket over... Did you glue the hose inputs in with epoxy or something?

This is my reply, so that all may benefit...

It sounds to me like you don't have a vent hole in your blast cabinet. You need at least as large a hole to let fresh air into your cabinet as the vacuum hole to pull air out. Your cabinet should not be pulling into a vacuum. Some water will be pulled from the bucket due to turbulence, but it shouldn't be a large amount. Also, I am using the smallest shop vacuum that they sell. I bought it just for the purpose and it was very inexpensive. You only need to vacuum enough to keep the dust down. You don't want to pull all the abrasive out of the air.

I forgot to add to my PM reply...

I glued the hoses to the bucket lid with urethane.

 

[racecar14]

I was looking at this one... anybody here use one?
http://www.barrelblaster.com/

I use the barrel blaster for 10 years now and I love it. great service and no problems. I replaced the left glove once because I hold things in that hand and I work the tips of a couple finger out. Great deal and cheap.

 

[BigMike782]

I know this is an older thread but it is related to my question.
I built one of StephenWs air filters and it works very well but I cannot figure out how to stop the water from going into the vac.

 

[Greatbear]

The water going into the vac happens because the air entering the bucket through the long tube blasts the water in the bottom, splashing it upwards where the vac will pick it up. To stop this, you need to baffle the bucket roughly half way. Make a panel out of plastic (use an extra lid for material) to fit the bucket in the middle, make a large hole for the inlet pipe to go through, and make a series of smaller holes surrounding the bigger hole. Don't make any holes more than halfway across. This will shield the outlet from splashing water. If you are still having problems, make another baffle, but this time place the smaller holes in the opposite "hemisphere" of the first baffle.

 

[BigMike782]

Thanks!
Kind of a DUH! moment for me.

 

[BigDogSS]

I was looking at this one... anybody here use one?
http://www.barrelblaster.com/

I know this is an old thread, but I'm new here.
I've had the Barrel Blaster for about 8 years and it works GREAT!! Inexpensive and NO LEAKS!!
I also built a water-dust collector as shown in StepenW's diagram. It works very well, although I may need to add baffles to stop water suction into the vac.