Help buying a media-blaster Options

[jaredmcginness]

I made a short review video on the 50lb Harbor freight blaster.

Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGtldNb9I3w

I should have waited to get more footage for the video, it actually works great now, with play sand and a water trap.
I am using this for my 912 body. Large and odd spots.

If you are using a tent and a big compressor it will work great for you.

[GeorgeKopf]

I bought the HF media blaster cabinet which didn't work at all until ....

.... added two lights and an exterior switch
.... changed the configuration to pull from the bottom and feed into the gun through the back
.... added an adjustable air intake feed to optimize media flow
.... added a window screen glass protector
.... modified the vacuum to pull from the back with the air inflow from the side
.... just purchased a foot pedal and an improved gun so I don't know how well they will work

I've been using the Medium Coal Slag from Tractor Supply and it works pretty good, now.

George

[vitamin914]

Just bought a big blaster. Pressure fed and suction fed in the same unit. The air supply is really important. The spec on the blaster is usually the minimum needed.

Blasting inside a tent sounds miserable.

A tent doesn't sound that bad...
My blasting experience (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif) ... 50 years of soot build up on the bricks above the wood burning fireplace mantle. Rented a 5 hp gas powered compressor ran a hose from outside and used soda to blast the soot off the bricks and mortar. Cleaned up amazing without damaging the brickwork. Of course even with taping plastic curtains everywhere with drop sheets and an open front door 15 feet away I spent days vacuuming up the soda residue. The wife was not amused - somehow she was over looking how clean the bricks were - I don't understand why... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

If you do use soda for blasting, remember it is a one time use material- it cannot not be recycled like other abrasives. Once the crystals shatter on impact (which is what does the cleaning) the soda turns to flour and won't flow properly from the hopper again. A full face respirator is also a necessity if you are not in a cabinet.

[mepstein]

I wear a respirator when I use the blast cabinet. Even with a good vacuum system, there’s plenty of blasting dust floating around. I know some guys will brag about never using ppi. I just wish I used it more when I was younger.

[Aerostatwv]

Check out https://www.tptools.com/. I have one of their larger cabinets and have been very satisfied. One thing to keep in mind, you'll want a water separator as the media will clump if you don't remove the moisture from the air. As all the others have stated, PPE is a must as you will breath in stuff you can't even see.

Cheers,
Chris

[mepstein]

Check out https://www.tptools.com/. I have one of their larger cabinets and have been very satisfied. One thing to keep in mind, you'll want a water separator as the media will clump if you don't remove the moisture from the air. As all the others have stated, PPE is a must as you will breath in stuff you can't even see.

Cheers,
Chris

If I was buying one for myself, I would get a mid range unit from TP Tools. They make nice stuff.

[PatMc]

I rebuild brake calipers so I do a lot of blasting. I have a 5hp 2 stage 80 gallon ingersoll compressor that realistically is about 1/2 as big as you should have for any sort of continuous blasting. I have 2 different cabinets...one with aluminum oxide and one with glass bead, both run 1/4" nozzle guns, because that's really about all the abuse I want to put my compressor through.

What I've learned about blast cabinets:

The ones where the front/window opens to load parts are way better than the ones with the door on the side...you don't lose a bunch of media out the door when you open it from the top.

The Harbor Freight units are sort of OK....as an enclosure, but everything else is garbage.

The slope of the hopper is critical. Get something with the steepest hopper walls possible, otherwise all your media just piles up around the side and you suck air instead of media.

If you do buy a cheapo blast cabinet, throw most of the parts directly in the trash and go to TP tools and buy their retrofit gun/suction tube...Don't even try using it with the harbor freight parts, they're that bad.

Buy the largest cabinet you have space for....the farther the workpiece is from the glass, the longer the glass will last.

Glass is a double edged sword....you can use the protectors, which are softer than the glass, and waste a lot of time changing them often, or you can just run the glass, and change it as it gets fouled up. I typically have windows cut 10 at a time at the local glass shop...If a piece of glass last me more than 2 protectors, then it's worth the $5 or whatever it costs to skip the extra time to remove the glass and change the protector.

The media plays a big roll in glass life...aluminum oxide will kill glass in short order. Glass bead obviously won't.

I would try and buy a higher quality used unit than a crappy new harbor freight unit. I have a Kelco and a Trinco...both excellent, but I prefer the Trinco.

[Jack Standz]

I made a short review video on the 50lb Harbor freight blaster.

Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGtldNb9I3w

I should have waited to get more footage for the video, it actually works great now, with play sand and a water trap.
I am using this for my 912 body. Large and odd spots.

If you are using a tent and a big compressor it will work great for you.

Very cool 912 project you're working on and best wishes with it!

Not to be a naysayer, but in case you (or others) don't know, silica or play sand is unsafe for media blasting (banned in many places). Here's an article of many available:

https://pittsburghsprayequip.com/blogs/pitt...ety-suggestions

[930cabman]

I wear a respirator when I use the blast cabinet. Even with a good vacuum system, there’s plenty of blasting dust floating around. I know some guys will brag about never using ppi. I just wish I used it more when I was younger.

1/2 of the stuff we did when we were younger should have put us in the grave years ago. You don't know what you don't know. I can recall blasting a speedster in the '70's with silica sand in my dad's garage, it worked great and who knows what my lungs look like, of course NO PPI at all