I bought one of those Harbor Fright blast cabinets a few years ago and all the bad stuff you may have heard about their gun is true: POS! Last year I purchased a gun from TP Tools along with their 5/8" suction hose and I now love my blast cabinet. There is also an issue with poor lighting but I use a couple of $4 LED's with magnetic bases and stick them to the cover of the cabinet. If I was not electrically challenged I would have a better solution. I believe that I am still money ahead even after having spent about $75 with TP. This is just my experience to pass on in case you may be considering one of those units or battling one as I did for a couple of years. I did this stuff this winter and am very happy with the results.
I, too bought a Harbor Freight sand blast cabinet, not the table top model, but the model with legs. I never had problems with leaking media from day one to now, About 5 years. I did buy new blasting guns from TP Tools, as the replacement guns were not available from Harbor Freight. However Tractor Supply sells the same cabinet for more money, and they also sell replacement blasting guns.
True, no replacement parts from HF. I have had mine a number of years, the cabinet is fine. TP guns are good also Campbell Hausfield. Oh yeah, on my third glass.
I lucked out. When I went to buy one, all they had in the store was their display model and believe it or not someone had stolen the gun ! The only bad part of the outfit. They nocked off a large chunk of the purchase price and I said sure I will take your problem off of your hands. I already had some nice T.P guns that I had bought previously to build my own cabinet. Worked out great and I am in business.
Here is how I solved the poor lighting problem and some other deficiencies. I still have not replaced the gun but will do that soon. I had to replace the gloves with a better set from Northern tool or HP tools (I can't remember which). I also replaced the window with a pain of glass cut by the local glass shop for less than 10 bucks. I removed all of the rubber seals it came with during initial assembly and used clear silicone instead. I also made a floor and installed some casters. This makes it very easy to move around. It's mobility makes it easier to clean up the mess it makes all around it. Spot lights I robbed from an old double flood light system. I had this old switch box laying around so I installed a simple switch in it. The wiring is certainly not up to code but works well. I built a 1 inch square tube frame to attach the casters to. I decided to make a bottom shelf which come in handy for storing the blast media off the floor.. The Craftsman vacuum is little strong for this application but really keeps the cabinet clear of dust. The bottom vacuum is just a case with no motor. I tried routing the dust through it before it enters the upper vacuum but it did not settle the dust as I had anticipated. Someday I will have to make some internal mods to it so that it will actually separate the dust from the air. I added a moisture separator on the side. It has made a big difference on the amount of moisture entering the sand. The gray thing behind the spot light is a baffle that was installed last year. It seems to help separate some of the sand from the air before it enters the vacuum hose. So you might wonder if I think the cabinet is a piece of junk. No, it's basically a good cabinet for the hobbyist. The mods I made cost me very little as I had most of them in my pile of junk I keep around here because I might just be able to re-purpose it someday.
Worst part about the HF blast cabinet is now we need a bigger one for bigger parts. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
We started with the HF cabinet too, but it got too small. Our replacement is a 58 inch wide cabinet from TP Tools. One of the best pieces of equipment we have ever bought. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A separator made with a "Dust Deputy" cyclone and a five gallon pail is another good addition; really saves on the filter in your vacuum getting plugged by the carry-over. I found you need to reinforce the lid with a plywood disc inside and out, not mounted directly to the lid, as in the ad picture I attached. This prevent the lid from sucking in.
I did some research on that gizmo a couple of years ago Rich I just never got around to buying yet. Thanks for the tip on reinforcing the lid.
Somewhat the same here though we don't have HF we have Princess Auto. Parts were missing and additional parts, like a heavy duty deadman gun, were added. All I needed to get was the fitting for the gloves (had heavy duty gloves I got for about $10 at PA) e plastic window. May change the plastic to glass. There is an up-grade kit avaiable from Tacoma Tools I believe. I got the unit from Princess for about 1/3 the regular price. Right time right place.
Grabbed a picture of my separator that shows the reinforcement, the inner piece is the same size. You can kinda see the spiral dust bands left by the internal air flow. I've posted this before; but here's another deal to extend window life without buying the expensive cover sheets; I get a roll of clear acetate from the local art store, saw the rolls to the width of my window and attach it with cheap masking tape. Works just as good as the $5 sheets the vendors sell for around 50 cents a cover.
I've got one in the box that I bought on sale with a coupon last month. I'll probably used some of the suggestions above when I get it together. When I was teaching shop class we had a big sand blast cabinet in the shop that you could put some good size stuff in but it still had issues. The nozzles wear out no matter what gun you have and the tips have to be adjusted right for the venturi effect to pull the sand out of the hose on any of them. The one I had had a bag on the exhaust from the dust collector to pick up the fine particles after the big stuff had dropped in the canister. The one we had had the lens on a hinge so you cold swing it out and put saran wrap across the face of it to protect the glass. I had to replace the glass once in 12 years after some of the kids got a bit lazy and didn't put the saran wrap on it. That unit got used every day and usually for a couple of hours a day. As far as I know the art class still uses it to do etched glass and other artsy projects. I picked up one of these Sears sand blasters at a yard sale last year and it works pretty good for outdoor blasting. http://www.sears.com/craftsman-50-lb-sandblaster-kit-with-1-4-in/p-00916706000P You can buy just the gun and hose by it's self for 35 bucks and it works pretty well. http://www.sears.com/craftsman-portable-sandblasting-kit/p-00916707000P?rrec=true The ceramic nozzles are replaceable.
I too, had the blast cabinet described, we wanted a bigger one so we took a chance on the industrial sized unit at Harbor Freight, http://www.harborfreight.com/industrial-blast-cabinet-60738.html it still wasn't big enough for some items (the dash out of the 49 in the avatar) so I fabricated an extension on the side which was easy to do with a door at each end, that might be a solution with any blast cabinet if length is a problem, I've been cutting the window protectors the same way using mylar? from Hobby Lobby.
I have a princess auto blaster cabinet with legs. The problem I have is the reflection on the glass and can not see in the cabinet. I have installed the light kit that is for the united but still no good. If I use it when it is pitch black out side I can see ok. Maybe I need a brighter light. Any suggestions.
I Josef's couple of those small halogen outdoor lights. Works very well. Perhaps setting up a wide platform to stand on may cut the glare.
I have a TP cabinet. I made up a filter housing out of a 2 gallon plastic paint bucket and installed a Husky shop vac HEPA filter. This is ahead of the vac and it's filter. It does a good job of keeping the vac in good shape. I found a great deal on LED desk lamps. They were subsidized by the local electric utility so they were only $5 each. I disassembled one of them and basically just used the lamp head which is about 2.5 x 6 x .5 inches thick. I plan to make an array out of them and mount them inside the cabinet. The slimness makes them a good fit and I can mount them up in the top of the box and out of the way of any direct sand. I'll have to post to show how they work out. Thanks for the tip about using saran wrap to protect the window. I usually just picked up the protective sheets from TP when I visit their booth at shows, at least it saves the shipping. Last fall I splurged and bought a new window, protectors and some other tune up stuff from them. I keep a towel held in place by magnets over the outside of the window to keep shop dust and grime off the window (it's plexi). I'm looking forward to the saran wrap protectors though, I hope they work, they certainly will be inexpensive.
If you are not doing long items very often; extensions don't have to be very fancy, I've made them out of cardboard, taped the seams, and hooked them over the side door with a couple bunge cords and recycled them when done. I do a lot of beam axles and and have a rectangular hole just big enough for the axle cut in one end of my cabinet, I do half the axle at a time, and close off the hole with duct tape when not in use. Hole works good for wishbones, too. I use 90 watt floods for lighting. I take the angle adjustment screw out and replace it with a longer screw and a spring tightened enough to permit adjustment, I also connect them thru an entrance ell facing down, this way the bulbs can be aimed up, down, and rotated so the light is just where you want it. Kinda curious how those new flat LED work lights might work or if the light might be too broad and un-focused. Others have mentioned it; but you sure can't beat a TIP Tools gun sized to match your air supply, works better than any other gun I've used. Consumables and repair parts are readily available, the main body should last forever, if you watch and change the nozzles as they wear.
Hey, we've been there too............ Bought the HF stand up cabinet. The Cabinet itself is OK but everything else is Chinese crap. Fought it for a couple years but it never did work right. Half the time didn't work at all. This winter, we tore into it and replaced the light system with led strip lights, added a MAC gun and air hose, built a new larger pickup tube, sealed the cabinet seams, added air dryer and rigged up a swap meet tank vacuum with dust deputy. Ran the air supply line with a downhill run to trap moisture. With all new parts added the little POS works pretty well.
Here's pictures of our blast cabinet that we reworked. Front shot of the cabinet. All seams were sealed with silicone, and you can see on the left hand side of the blast cabinet the PVC piping that carries the dust outside through the wall and into the dust deputy/vacuum. The iron pipe on the wall behind the cabinet is the incoming air line, 1/2" line all the way to the reducer and 3/8" pipe at the reg/dryer. There is a very slight slope in the line leading downward towards the dryer and regulator on the end. You can't see it, but at the bottom of the iron air line coming up the wall, there is a ball valve to drain out any water in the line. The red plywood box on the top is the cover for a fluorescent light we added that is 1 of 5 lights in total. This is the dust deputy already mentioned, and while it is overpriced for a piece of plastic, it really does work wonders. And definitely reinforce the bottom of the bucket lid with plywood or something. Sealing the base flange with silicone would be a good idea also. A garden variety vacuum is employed, it is in the back underneath a chainsaw. This picture shows the lights. The lights are as follows: 1 flood style LED in the corner, and 3 LED under cabinet strip lights (1 is under door and not visible in this picture. And finally the double bulb fluorescent up top which you also cannot see in this picture. Also, in this picture you can see the grate has been cut down to sit lower in the cabinet, making more room. The stock style pickup tube has been replaced with a home-made version made out of electrical conduit. Big improvement over the stock pickup tube. The flimsy clear plastic hose has also been tossed in favor of a beefier rubber hose to connect the Mac Tools gun to the homebrew pickup tube. All the lights and the vacuum are wired into this main box so you just hit the one switch and everything is on. Be sure to change your tips out periodically also. You can see the used tip on the left with a hole blasted down the side. The other two tips are brand new. Here is a good drawing found on the internet depicting how to fab up your own pickup tube to replace the cheesy HF one. We used different glass liners for a while and ultimately decided that it would just be easier to leave the glass exposed and replace it periodically. We mainly use black beauty (coal slag) for media. If you are having trouble getting the gun to dispense media and blast efficiently, check your gun tips both inner and outer, check your media as it is a consumable item, and make sure you are not getting water in the incoming air to the blast cabinet. This means an inline dryer is mandatory for good performance. If your gun seems clogged, place your finger over the tip and pull the trigger which forces air back through the media below; dislodging any clog and sucking the pickup tube deeper into the media well. The Dust Deputy is a cyclonic separator, but there are youtube videos of people building water style separators which you can find with some basic searching. The consensus on that matter seems to be that while a water separator is probably better than nothing, a cyclonic style separator seems to be much better for the job. This can be setup to be a great blast cabinet but you really need to do serious modifications to achieve that: Seal all of the seams with silicone Improve the lighting ( can get pretty creative here) replace the gun with a better style build a better pickup tube ensure that you are getting clean dry air to the cabinet get a cheap but decent vacuum and preferably some kind of prefilter setup like a dust deputy.
Asked this question before and didn't get a clear answer... most likely I didn't ask too clearly I want to buy a Skat Blast gun for my HF cabinet, but don't know which one to get- I work on anything from antique tinplate toy trains (Lionel/Ives/Flyer/etc) to car parts. Would love a gun that can handle both delicate/thin gauge metal and cast metal parts. Any thoughts? Also, considering taking the plunge and getting a gun that's pedal-operated. Do I need to get the SB pedal, or is there something else (translate as less expensive) that can be used? Thanks as always, Bill (aka Mac the Yankee)
The regular guns are all the same, try it with both the medium and small nozzles and see which works best for you. Get ceramic nozzles, the steel ones wear out almost instantly. A good pick-up tube is an important part of the process also. You regulate the air pressure for blasting various stuff, heavy rust, light metal, glass, wood, mirrors, etc. You can also switch the abrasive to match the job you are doing. If you plan to do much blasting, pedal operated is the way to go; much easier on your hand. Any pedal will work that flows full air volume; there were some pictures posted the other day of a home brew pedal set-up made out of a gutted die grinder and one of those old cast aluminum "mouse-trap" gas pedals. I also saw pictures of a fixed pedal that operated a spring loaded ball valve.
I believe that TP and Skat Blast are the same company. I have had 3 of them over the last 25 years . Always graduating up to a larger cabinet. I have out grown their largest cabinet and am planning on building my own using their parts. Vic
On any of them nozzle size has to work with the air supply you have. Back when I was teaching an had the Davis sand blast cabinet in the shop I had a hard time getting parts from Davis but had several boxes of vale guides in a cabinet in the store room that had been in that cabinet long before I was a student in the came class in the mid 60's. I chucked one in the old Atlas lathe and turned it down to fit the gun as it was (gun was a 3/4 inch galanized pipe T with a brass hose barb in one side, a brass fitting drilled for the nozzle in the other side with a set screw to position the nozzle in the right spot and a brass fitting /barb in the bottom or T part that connected to the pickup tube. Thinking about it for a second I think the fitting from the pickup tube also had set screw to hold the piece at the right spot to match the air flow. Air flow across the pickup tube is what pulls the sand up into the nozzle with the same venturi effect that a carburetor
Guys, thanks for the info! Okay, so I am happy to go ahead with upgrading to the pedal operated Skat Blast gun (and ceramic nozzles), and modified pickup tube, and TP has a combo kit for $199 on Ebay that will do ALL of that... But would it be prudent to buy the gun and nozzles separately, modify my pickup tube, and purchase a less expensive pedal, like this one (total savings of roughly $85), or am I wasting money on something that won't last? http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-way-2-position-Pneumatic-Foot-Operated-Pedal-Valve/290642567579?
Guess it depends if the internal passages of the ebay pedal are large enough for the airflow needed; kinda curious why that pedal has an 1/8" exhaust port; never saw one on a cabinet pedal.
let me know how this works. i just inherited a full tp built your kit. called them to buy cabinet and they won't sell it separately. curious to known how it all works with the hf cabinet Sent from my SM-G920R4 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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