Blasting Cabinet....

[5.7 hemi]

I know a lot people say the HF stuff is junk, but........I bought a blasting cabinet that is HF! I've been looking for awhile for a used one and found 1 on craigslist for 175 obo, came with 3, 5 gallon buckets of aluminum oxide, and another 500 watt halogen light (which is toast) and only 3 months old. I picked it up for 150 and hauled it home. Did some cleaning and added a breather to it cause my shop vac would make the gloves open up and you could just slid your hands right in.....funniest thing I've ever seen, lol!

Anyway, for the price I could not beat it and since it has no motor or moving parts, I shouldn't have any problems with it. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Congrats!!! You'll wonder how you ever lived without it. Mine's a 'little' bigger than the HF cabinets but it was one of the single best investments I've ever made for my shop.

 

[hemi#1]

TP blast cabinets are the best I had one that was 59* wide it was great did a lot of work in it

 

[snakeoil24]

Very nice Cudachick very productive cabinet. 5.7 Hemi go to Tacoma Company also HF mods on You tube you can do a few mods to make the unit better. The gun is a problem, better available.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Thanks for the tips!!! The cabinet is just something to help me get some parts clean, and not take up too much space in my garage.

 

[YY1]

How are you guys installing breathers/filters?

I'd like to get the dust out of mine so I can see what I'm doing, without killing my shop vac.

 

[hunt2elk]

How are you guys installing breathers/filters?

I'd like to get the dust out of mine so I can see what I'm doing, without killing my shop vac.

I rigged up a S&P 4" inline exhaust fan and piped it outside. It has worked great for several years now.

 

[MoparMitch]

How are you guys installing breathers/filters?

I'd like to get the dust out of mine so I can see what I'm doing, without killing my shop vac.

TP makes vac systems specifically for the blast cabinets. I have found out however, that the bearings in the vac motors do take a beating with lots of use.

 

[dieseldazzle]

My only real complaint for my harbor freight blast cabinet is that the tip on the gun wears and finding a replacement is almost impossible. Matter of fact thats the reason Im not using mine at the moment other than also building a shop to use it in.....gotta hit the lottery

 

[CudaChick1968]

Guys, TPTools.com not only sells wonderful SkatBlast cabinets but they also offer a HUGE selection of upgrades that will work on most any blast cabinet manufactured. I highly recommend going with their Gun Upgrade Kit and heyyyy it's even on sale right now!! -- because it will make a world of difference in your results and ease of use, and the carbide tips far outlast the generic ceramic ones. The heavy duty carbide tips are also available without the gun upgrade kit and are well worth the added expense if you use your cabinet a lot.

I'm currently in the market for a vibratory shaker ...... believe me, it's nearly as fun to type that as it is for you guys to read LOL (ohhhhhhhhhh look, Leanna needs a vibrator hee heeee) ...... but that's about my only 'complaint' I've ever had about the cabinet in the two years I've owned it. The hopper is huge -- it'll hold 100 pounds of media -- but the overall design relying strictly on gravity doesn't always work that great. I find myself having to stop blasting, pull one or both hands out of the gloves, bend down and tap on the hopper to encourage the media downward to the uptake pipe.

You can't really see it in my picture up there but my Craig's List SkatBlast cabinet score ($1200!!) also came with their awesome vacuum / media cleaner. It's got a Baldor motor (I'm thinking 3 hp off the top of my head) and it's amazing at keeping the dust at bay, albeit a little noisy.

 

[snakeoil24]

How are you guys installing breathers/filters?

I'd like to get the dust out of mine so I can see what I'm doing, without killing my shop vac.

Run the dust thru a 5 gal pail with one pipe under water suck out into wet vac.

 

[5.7 hemi]

I hooked my shop vac up to the cabinet and the gloves looked like I was inflating them. So I added a valve cover breather in hopes of the possibility that I had sealed it a bit too well.......didn't help whatsoever!!!! The dust is none existent, but the lighting sucks mountain oysters!! So now I'm trying to figure out a better lighting system.

 

[CudaChick1968]

You can use an el cheapo porch light fixture or better halogen lights.

 

[5.7 hemi]

I just checked out some outdoor LED flat string lights. The strip is 9ft. long and can go inside the cabinet and should provide me with plenty of light (having a prosthetic eye and the other is FUBAR thanks to shrapnel from Iraq, I need all the light I can get).

 

[demonram]

I needed one but couldn't justify spending that kind of money. I made one out of plywood. It's 30" wide 24" deep 30" tall with a lexon view area and a tapered drop chute for the media. I used a side off of an old shopping cart for the bottom with fiberglass screen to catch crap and an old pair of jeans with heavy rubber gloves for the arm holes. It works great and cost me about 30 bucks. Had it about 6 years now and still doing its job.

 

[69rtse4spd]

Guys, TPTools.com not only sells wonderful SkatBlast cabinets but they also offer a HUGE selection of upgrades that will work on most any blast cabinet manufactured. I highly recommend going with their Gun Upgrade Kit and heyyyy it's even on sale right now!! -- because it will make a world of difference in your results and ease of use, and the carbide tips far outlast the generic ceramic ones. The heavy duty carbide tips are also available without the gun upgrade kit and are well worth the added expense if you use your cabinet a lot.

I'm currently in the market for a vibratory shaker ...... believe me, it's nearly as fun to type that as it is for you guys to read LOL (ohhhhhhhhhh look, Leanna needs a vibrator hee heeee) ...... but that's about my only 'complaint' I've ever had about the cabinet in the two years I've owned it. The hopper is huge -- it'll hold 100 pounds of media -- but the overall design relying strictly on gravity doesn't always work that great. I find myself having to stop blasting, pull one or both hands out of the gloves, bend down and tap on the hopper to encourage the media downward to the uptake pipe.

You can't really see it in my picture up there but my Craig's List SkatBlast cabinet score ($1200!!) also came with their awesome vacuum / media cleaner. It's got a Baldor motor (I'm thinking 3 hp off the top of my head) and it's amazing at keeping the dust at bay, albeit a little noisy.

View attachment 220296

Till you get a vibrator shaker just cover the nozzel with your other hand. That will force air back through the bottem & break uo the media, so it will flow.

 

[CudaChick1968]

That's great to dislodge blockages from large chunks of old paint and stuff but it doesn't do much to loosen up the media. It hangs up and collects almost at the top of the funnel chamber. Even a dehumidifier for the shop didn't help, and it's always had adequate water drops and filters. Ughhhhhhh

 

[northerndave]

I'm using this ALC unit. I like it so far, fit a drive shaft in it the other day. the whole front panel opens like a big door.

Old picture, it's not quite that clean anymore, lol.

 

[RS23VOA]

I have one of the cheapies i bought at a Homier tool sale for $99. I used silicone on every panel when i put it together. I mounted(self tapping screws) a switched receptacle to it that i plug the light and the shopvac into. It grounds eveything so i don't get shocked from static electricity. On the inside of the cabinet where the shop vac hose connects, i placed a shopvac filter. Most of the media stays inside the cabinet and gets drawn to the filter. When i shut in down, i tap the filter and the media falls into the hopper. I made a bracket that goes on the inside of the filter to attach it to the exhaust port.
On the outside i attach my shopvac.

The switched electrical box that keeps me from getting shocked by static electricity. I also added casters on the legs to roll it around.

 

[YY1]

Anyone got a diagram of the exhaust routing that doesn't burn up the vac with media dust?

- - - Updated - - -

Post 18 just gave me an idea to go buy another HF unit and weld them together.