HF blast cabinet

[purplepickup]

I'll bet someone here has one.  I'm thinking about buying the 40 lb ($200) one and have read lots of reviews that say to assemble it with silicone caulk everywhere.  Any other tips or warnings? Will a shop vac work as a dust catcher?  Can I use sand or aluminum oxide?  The manual warns against them for health reasons.  Are quality gloves and tips readily available?  Is there a better brand for around that cost?

[UGLY OLDS]

Will a shop vac work as a dust catcher?  Can I use sand or aluminum oxide?  

 I built mine using one of those kits from the Blasting place in Ohio..
 ( can't remember the name right now ...)

It comes with everything you need except the sheet of 4'X8'X3/4" plywood ... Makes a nice 48" wide cabinet with a door on the end ... I put mine together with screws & construction adhesive ... Has a foot pedal & works great ... Be sure & line the back wall with a piece of  sheetmetal ..
 The wall made of wood does not take kindly to the blast "overspray" ..

I use silica sand & just wear a particle mask .. Seems to work OK ..

As far as the shop vac to control the dust , mine works great at sucking the abrasive dust from the cabinet & distributing it all over the garage ....



Bob .....

[rooster]

I got the smaller one from HF, works ok! Bigger is better! I use a shop vac for the sand dust, It also helps alot for seeing what you are doing! Dont use it very often.

[enjenjo]

I have a TIP 950 ( from the blasting place in Ohio). It has a built in vacuum with a bag filter before the vacuum.It still put dust into the shop, so I routed the discharge air from the vacuum to the outside. If you use a shop vac, you will need some type of prefilter because the grit will eat it up in no time.

I use black beauty for media, it's crushed slag. No silica, and it's pretty aggressive. Most concrete suppliers carry it in 50 lb bags.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

wear a mask with that type of cabinet.  At least a dust mask.  i would prefer you wear the filter type mask that fits tighter and filters much better

[Okiedokie]

Have had one for several years, works great. I did recently have to replace the gun, bought a $35 one at Northern Tools that is an improvement over the one that came with it. Dust has not been a problem, I do have a vac hooked to it. I would buy it again.

[river1]

Check craigslist, here locally they regularly have the HF one for 100 bucks. I've been casually looking myself just haven't pulled the trigger yet. the TIP build kit looks interesting so I may go that way instead  

later jim

[58 Yeoman]

Years ago, I bought the plans from TIP, and had a friend cut out a heavy sheet of aluminum that I had instead of using plywood.  He was supposed to weld it together for me, but never did it.  I welded it myself with my mig, and it didn't turnout too bad (first time welding AL).  I used a shop vac for quite a while, but finally went with a dust collector from HF, which works way better.

I'm planning on building a cyclone collector (I think that's what they call them) to put before the dust collector, so all the heavy sand ends up in the bucket, instead of going through the fan to the dust collector bag.

[Rochie]

Purplepickup,
I bought one about 4 years ago. I went through it and made sure everything was good and tight. It will put dust into the shop if you don't use a shop vac. I use ground glass as a medium and it works well.

George, it has been too long Bud, Looking forqward to catching up.

[papastoyss]

I  too have the Horrible Freight blaster you are looking at. It's better than nothing which I had previously.I'm 6'2" , the legs were too short so I screwed a 3' thick wood block under the legs to make the use more comfortable. I pretty much used up a shop vac then found a whole house vaccum unit at a yard sale which I rigged up for dust removal. I still get dust in the air so plan C goes whenever I figure out what that is. For abrasive I buy "play sand" in bags at Lowe's & strain it thru screen wire which takes out the pebbles large enough to plug up the gun. A foot pedal control would be nice to have, the spring in the hand gun is fairly strong.

[fast401]

I have a HF unit and it leaks pretty good.  I am going to tear it apart soon and silicon the seams.  It really would be better with a foot pedal.

[purplepickup]

Thanks.  You guys have been real helpful. Consensus on the foot control noted.  I'll keep an eye on craigslist and see if something better than the HF unit pops up.  

In the meantime I found a place near me that rents time on their equipment @ $.29/minute.  That includes any kind of media and their largest cabinet is 10' long, or you can use a large blasting room.  They also have a thermal oven to turn paint & bondo into fly ash if needed.  I'm doing a pretty large batch of motorcycle parts this time so they'll more than meet my needs for now.  I still want a cabinet for quick jobs at home.

[Beck]

Purplepickup,
Using their equipment seems like the best method to me. No upkeep, no media shopping, no room in your shop, no dust control to consider. $17.40 an hour. With a bigger machine you can use that much media. That would be a no brainer to me. Wish I had someplace like that local.

In the meantime I found a place near me that rents time on their equipment @ $.29/minute.  That includes any kind of media and their largest cabinet is 10' long, or you can use a large blasting room.  They also have a thermal oven to turn paint & bondo into fly ash if needed.  I'm doing a pretty large batch of motorcycle parts this time so they'll more than meet my needs for now.  I still want a cabinet for quick jobs at home.

[purplepickup]

Purplepickup,
Using their equipment seems like the best method to me. No upkeep, no media shopping, no room in your shop, no dust control to consider. $17.40 an hour. With a bigger machine you can use that much media. That would be a no brainer to me. Wish I had someplace like that local.

Absolutely agree, and was tickled to find this place.  He apologized for having just raised his price from $15/hr.   It's about 25 miles away but if I plan ahead and take batches it will work for most all my current and future needs.  

If anyone near me is reading this, the place is in Plainwell, MI (site)

I'd still like something for quickie stuff here at home.  I'm currently using a "Speed Blaster" gravity feed gun that is slow and has no media recovery.  I use my old 3M paint masks and a hood to keep the dust out of my lungs and eyes but an inexpensive cabinet that I could wheel outdoors to use would be a huge improvement.

[Beck]

Unfortunately I still have to go to work daily. Fortunately they have a very nice glass bead blast cabinet that I use. My quicky jobs usually take a day longer because I take my parts to work the next day. Sometimes the unimportant small stuff gets painted there, but dust control is a problem.