Struggling with Harbor Freight Benchtop Blast Cabinet

[CZ Eddie]

I'm using very abrasive media.
Summit Racing's silica slag.

Pardon Our Interruption

1) The bounce-back is destroying my window liner in just 30 minutes of use.
And I'm already ready to replace the liner again after blowing through the free three that come with the cabinet.
But can't find new liners? Are there any out there that will last longer?

2) I've got media filled almost to the grating but after several minutes of blasting, the media moves away from the middle and builds up on the sides where the pickup can't "inhale" new media.

3) The gun experiences frequent "hiccups" where it'll blast, then no media comes out, then it'll blast, then no media comes out. Even though the pickup is stuck into a huge mound of media and the top of the air intake tube is not covered.
I replaced it with this cheap gun and that helped some but I still have a little trouble.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G468RC9/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Are there any fixes for my issues or should I just live with it?

 

[The Cobbler]

you need very dry air for sandblasting, a tiny bit of moisture can wreak havoc

 

[CZ Eddie]

Thanks. I have an inline water seperator and also about 50' of zig-zag copper tubing.
I let the water out of those two and the air compressor before every use.

 

[rcjoy]

You can buy replacement window liners by calling the Harbor Freight parts dept. $8.60 for five, free shipping.

 

[GeoBruin]

I know this is going to seem like a lot of work/money for what was obviously purchased as a budget blast cabinet but I started with the HF benchtop cab because the dimensions were perfect for my space. Then...

- Threw out the gun and replaced it with the TP tools gun and pickup tube kit
- Wanted to get better still, so I threw out the pickup tube and built an adjustable metering valve. I re-routed the pickup line from the valve and the air line into the cabinet from underneath at the very top of the hopper.
- Made a sheetmetal airbox to divert the vacuum intake closer to the bottom of the cab and fashioned a baffle out of a sheet of fiberous material to fit in the airbox
- wired 2 x 24" long runs of magnetic backed led lights to a switchbox I made on the outside of the cab
-installed the tacoma company quick change glass kit
- mounted the whole cabinet on a US General 1 drawer cart (from which I had removed the drawer and cut a whole to drain the media from the valve)
- mounted a cyclonic dust separator inline with a shop vac to the vacuum outlet.

It now runs like a champ and with the medium tip/jet kit in the TP tools gun, it removes as much material as I could hope with the compressor I have. The visibility is great and swapping in a new sheet of glass is quick. New glass lasts a lot longer than the tear sheets.

The one problem I haven't solved is the media getting stuck up on the hopper walls. I'll eventually wire a "thumper" with a switch but for the time being, I just give the sides of the cab a couple good smacks.

Good luck!

 

[Jswain]

Best thing you can do for the glass is make a frame that either removes or swings down and put metal window screen over it. Make your frame material around 3/4" thick(I just used 3/4" plywood ripped about 2" wide) and staple the window screen to it. Paint the whole assembly black and mount it. I countersunk and glued a bunch of magnets to hold it in. Never have to change your glass again, or very very very seldom. I have probably 20hrs of blasting on mine since I've put it up and the glass still looks like new, every once in a while I pop it down and clean the glass but a blast with air keeps it mostly good.

Try running glass beads or a finer aluminum oxide as it will flow better back to your pickup point. Sounds like your gun and siphon tube is working ok you just need the media to move better





If your siphon tube is the one with two tubes beside each other you can also easily modify it and they work decent. But ultimately a metering valve on the bottom of the cabinet being top fed is what you want just depends how much time you'd like to invest.

 

[ZRX61]

I had one of thjose, used it maybe 4 times & gave it away.

 

[engineer2]

I posted about it earlier today

The Abrasive Blasting Resource Thread

Need some help picking a size of glass beads blast media for my friends blast cabinet. Large industrial style blast cabinet for general paint and rust stripping and paint prep. Mostly car parts. This is home shop use, the big cabinet was bought used from a medical manufacture, and the original...

www.garagejournal.com

Agree the pickup tube is troublesome. I run it without the expanded metal bottom and just keep scooping media toward the end of the pickup tube.