Hf blast cabinet

[J Hodges]

What do you think of this cabinet.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93608
I know it it not the greatest quality but it would only be used occasionly

 

[krusty the clown]

i have one and it works ok but you'll need to replace the light. eveyone i know that has one had to.....

 

[Cobra6]

For the money, I like this one better
http://www.tptools.com/p/427,54_770-Mini-Cab-Abrasive-Blasting-Cabinet.html

For a little more - I like this even better
http://www.tptools.com/p/432,54_780-TL-Top-Load-Abrasive-Blast-Cabinet.html

I had a friend who bought a HF cabinet, but by the time he sealed the cabinet, got a new nozzle, and had to replace the gloves, he could have bought a better cabinet for the same money somewhere else.

 

[jimvannoy]

I don't have that one but have another from HF. It leaked everywhere when I got it. I sealed all the seams and screw holes good and it's been fine now for several years.

 

[caspian65]

I had a similar one that served me well for years. Upgraded to a better one about a year ago that has a dust collection system and clamshell front.

 

[-lecroix-]

Cobra6 ... the unit that you show in your first link is the same exact unit that is sold at Harbor Freight for less money.

Even TP Tools says in their add it's an imported unit.

 

[OldCarGuy]

I just sold my old Kansas Instruments sand blast cabinet to a fella to replace his Harbor Freight unit. He said it was so bad that he gave it away after owning it for two weeks.

Stick with the one from TP Tools that's not an import...

 

[Vicegrip]

TP tools. The one I got from HF was **** from one end to the other. Poor gun and poor cabinet. They are not hard to build and you can get kits and plans from TP Tools. Don't cheap out on the gun. Poor gun = more time spent less work done and hard to get consumables.

 

[1320stang]

I think the first TP one may have a better gun tho....

 

[timgr]

The TP Tools "$199" one is $50 more than HF for most buyers, if you include shipping. However, it includes a gasket and sealer kit, which I presume HF does not have. The main complaint against the HF model has been leakiness.

 

[RAYJAY]

how do the guys with the HF units seal them up ???

Jeff

 

[Charles (in GA)]

how do the guys with the HF units seal them up ???

Jeff

With sealer from TPTools?

I know, I'm being a smartass.

Charles

 

[Uncle Buck]

With sealer from TPTools?

I know, I'm being a smartass.

Charles

I thought that was a good thing?

 

[partsman]

dont buy it!!!! i know i am new here. i made the mistake of buying one it is a horrible horrible unit. like the other guy says there are leaks everywhere, the feed hose is junk it doesnt bend it kinks the light doesnt work the window scratches to milk color almost the first time you use it.
i quit shopping at harbor freight because of this unit the stuff they sell is made to be used a couple of times and thats if you plan on useing it alot save up for the better unit. you will thank yourself for it later.

 

[-lecroix-]

I have the Harbor Freight unit ... a $2 tube of silicone and the TP gun upgrade and it works fabulously ... and still less money than the "cheap" TP unit which by the way is the EXACT same cabinet.

1. Mine doesn't leak (see above)
2. I had no problems with the feed hose, but did replace pickup tube with the TP unit.
3. My light works fine, even after 3 years.
4. My window is clear, even after 3 years. (use the window covers)

Good luck.

 

[partsman]

for $200 you should be able to use it without haveing to upgrade anything . i didn't even know they had widow covers for them i just figured it was a scratch proof plastic i will look into that .
i probabley came down hard on the unit but mine is junk
i used the 3/8 wide weather strip, sticky on one side to seal up doors and silicon from home depot to seal the corners

 

[-lecroix-]

Hello? ... you know, they use sand blasters to etch glass don't ya? So how is the plastic gonna be scratch proof?

 

[Curious Rash]

I just bought one from HF. I mean JUST bought it and just finished assembling it. It is sealed up quite well. It actually has foam sealant places the instructions say it doesn't and everything is sealed with silicone. Right out of the box.

I paid 198 and some odd sense with tax.

I can see where the hoses may kink. I looked at them and that was my first thought. I had some left over stainless braid **** I threw on which may help. If not I'll deal with it later.

I used one of these at a friends house and had no problems with it. I will seal everything that's left with silicone but I don't see how a guy can go wrong for 200.

I'm interested in what the difference between the TP pickup and the HF is. Also, what's different with the gun? This one came with three replacement ceramics and had one in the gun.


I plan on using a 6 HP shopvac for clearing the air. Anyone have suggestions for a pre-claimer?

 

[RAYJAY]

I just bought one from HF. I mean JUST bought it and just finished assembling it. It is sealed up quite well. It actually has foam sealant places the instructions say it doesn't and everything is sealed with silicone. Right out of the box.

I paid 198 and some odd sense with tax.

I can see where the hoses may kink. I looked at them and that was my first thought. I had some left over stainless braid **** I threw on which may help. If not I'll deal with it later.

I used one of these at a friends house and had no problems with it. I will seal everything that's left with silicone but I don't see how a guy can go wrong for 200.

I'm interested in what the difference between the TP pickup and the HF is. Also, what's different with the gun? This one came with three replacement ceramics and had one in the gun.


I plan on using a 6 HP shopvac for clearing the air. Anyone have suggestions for a pre-claimer?

I just bought one also there on sale for $199 plus there is a 15% coupon going on now got it for 169 plus tax

used it tonight it works perfect and what is the difference between the tp pick up and the HF one. i know on the TP import unit you also have to replace the gun

Jeff

 

[PoorOwner]

I got one of the HF one, make sure it's the 9XXXX 5 digit number don't go for the older one they have, it is the updated product. I would say it is better than TP tools import one because the HF is basically 2 piece and easy to assemble, where the TP tools has to be broken down to each panel to ship using hundreds of bolts to hold it together.

I just run a tube of GE silicone over the seams inside and out and the leakage is very minor, infact it seals so well, the vacuum makes the gloves extremely stiff. I also got the TP gun and pickup kit and assembled it with the HF unit right from the start. It works well.

 

[eschoendorff]

I paid 198 and some odd sense with tax.

Some odd sense, eh??? You mean cents by any chance... otherwise, that would be an interesting transaction. I have seen plenty of people in HF with what I would call "odd sense"

 

[RAYJAY]

I got one of the HF one, make sure it's the 9XXXX 5 digit number don't go for the older one they have, it is the updated product. I would say it is better than TP tools import one because the HF is basically 2 piece and easy to assemble, where the TP tools has to be broken down to each panel to ship using hundreds of bolts to hold it together.

I just run a tube of GE silicone over the seams inside and out and the leakage is very minor, infact it seals so well, the vacuum makes the gloves extremely stiff. I also got the TP gun and pickup kit and assembled it with the HF unit right from the start. It works well.

Yes the lot number I got is 93608 it has the 2 tube light on top, was waiting for it to go on sale for a while. and when i assembled the cabinet i sealed the seams also.The cabinet is really made good all welds and even where they sealed it was high quality. and really sturdy.even the gloves seem good really long but good quality

i am going to pick up the TP tube and gun down at carlisle this spring when i go down there.

I tried it last night and it worked really good, I'm using glass beads to start with, what doers every one else use for general paint and rust removal??

Jeff

 

[goodfellow]

how do the guys with the HF units seal them up ???

Jeff

I've had a similar version for years. Mine came in pieces with lots of screws. The best way to seal these cheap units is to paint the entire inside with truck bedliner paint. For $16.00/qt. at Autozone you can paint and seal the entire hopper and cabinet interior.

Also, the bedliner will help cushion the media when it slams into the sides of the cabinet. Since the media cleans through "cutting" action it can dull very quickly by being slammed into the metal sides of the cabinet. Some folk line their units with rubber mat, but the bedliner paint cures and seals to a nice cushion finish.

Once the stuff is applied, it'll last for years without needing a touchup.

 

[PoorOwner]

I got a couple boxes of black beauty medium from ebay I think it was $40 shipped? It works really great, I preped some small steel ramps for my lift and spray painted with rustoleum the adhesion is incredible!

by the way.. I have problem with how the pipe fitting exits the cabinet leaking because it doesn't seal well. Now sure what to do yet. I think I will replace with a short air hose with a grommet and push through instead.

 

[milkovich]

I use black beauty for the nasty **** or hard paint and beads to finish. Nothing looks better than bead blasted aluminum plus it seals some of the porosity (i've been told).

I also ran a bunch of Silicone along the seams as I was assembling it. No leaks. For all intents and purposes you're assembling the unit from scratch.

The gun is **** and if I had the money, I'd junk the whole thing for a unit with more capacity and a foot pedal.

 

[1320stang]

Tractor Supply carries media if you have one near you.

My neighbor uses what he calls "sugar sand" which looks just like the white sand used in lobby ashtrays years ago. He doesn't have a cabinet, he's got a 600# pressurized pot, a trailer mounted compressor with like 1.5" hose, and a hood with fresh air kit.

 

[milkovich]

I've heard to never ever use sand for blasting.

Anyone know why?

 

[PoorOwner]

I've heard to never ever use sand for blasting.

Anyone know why?

sand is basically silica (like fine pieces of broken glass) and could get into your lungs and give you trouble (likely cancer) years later.

 

[Jononon]

sand is basically silica (like fine pieces of broken glass) and could get into your lungs and give you trouble (likely cancer) years later.

World's most prevalent industrial disease. It's not as closely related to lung cancers as asbestosis, far more people die with it, than of it, but it causes horrendous reduction in quality of life. Most of my older relatives have some degree of lung damage, from working in foundries, and my neighbour spent 15 years barely able to leave the house having contracted silicosis as a miner.

There are doubtless places where the health and safety 'police' are over-zealous. This isn't one of them.

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/silicacrystalline/index.html

 

[1320stang]

Most tell you not to use sand when blasting sheet metal as it easily warps if you're not well versed on how to use it and even then....

I wonder how glass bead dust does on your lungs? Or coal slag?

Point is, you shouldn't breath in ANY dust from blasting of any sort.

 

[Uncle Buck]

World's most prevalent industrial disease. It's not as closely related to lung cancers as asbestosis, far more people die with it, than of it, but it causes horrendous reduction in quality of life. Most of my older relatives have some degree of lung damage, from working in foundries, and my neighbour spent 15 years barely able to leave the house having contracted silicosis as a miner.

There are doubtless places where the health and safety 'police' are over-zealous. This isn't one of them.

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/silicacrystalline/index.html

Well put, I could not have said it better myself!

 

[PoorOwner]

Right, so I would spend a few bucks and buy proper media that does not contain silica. For the guy using it at home in a smallish cabinet it is not going to break the bank.
And I also work with a P100 respirator.

 

[milkovich]

Thanks for clearing that up. I never understood why glass beads were OK but sand was a no-no.

Sort of like joking around with blow off guns... I just listen to the old timers and assume there's a reason behind it.

 

[sharpshooter]

I had one from HF that I won off ebay for 80 bucks (new) I can tell ya for the money I spent on mine that it wasnt a bad deal, allthough I had to buy a new hose and sprayer because the one that came with it was complete junk.....

 

[Uncle Buck]

Thanks for clearing that up. I never understood why glass beads were OK but sand was a no-no.

Sort of like joking around with blow off guns... I just listen to the old timers and assume there's a reason behind it.

There are two reasons for not using compressed air in excess of 35psi for cleaning purposes. The first is in the workplace OSHA has regulations prohibiting the practice. At home it is nothing more than a good shop practice. The reason being that you can blow an air bubble under your skin and into your bloodstream and kill yourself in the doing! With all that said many still do it.

 

[Stuey]

There are two reasons for not using compressed air in excess of 35psi for cleaning purposes. The first is in the workplace OSHA has regulations prohibiting the practice. At home it is nothing more than a good shop practice. The reason being that you can blow an air bubble under your skin and into your bloodstream and kill yourself in the doing! With all that said many still do it.

Can you please elaborate upon this? It's possible to embed a bubble under one's skin with psi >> 35 ?

 

[KCHOTBOAT]

I had one from HF that I won off ebay for 80 bucks (new) I can tell ya for the money I spent on mine that it wasnt a bad deal, allthough I had to buy a new hose and sprayer because the one that came with it was complete junk.....

I did the same thing with a new one I bought. The sprayer was junk and with a replacement it worked fine. I did seal mine also because of how bad they leak.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Can you please elaborate upon this? It's possible to embed a bubble under one's skin with psi >> 35 ?

BTW, I was wrong, it is 30psi, not 35psi!

Stuey, here is the link. http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVES&p_id=1742

No where in the text does it specifically tell you that an air bubble can be blown into the bloodstream however when the topic is discussed at length at OSHA's Training Institute in Arlington Heights Illinois I have heard that reason during discussion regarding the topic on more occassions than I would care to mention. Specifically the part of the body generally referrenced is the wrist. If you turn your hands over palm side up and look at your wrist you will notice that there is really not a great deal of skin there so that is generally the part of the body referrenced the most. I would be the first to agree it would likely be a long shot, but I do refrain from using compressed air to blow off my clothes in anything other than a broad way and never direct blasts, and never toward eyes, openings in the skin, or above all else toward my wrists. Check with your local OSHA office if you like, any COSHO worth their salt should give you the exact same schpeel!

 

[Stuey]

Thanks for the explanation!