tips and tricks H/F blasting cabinet

[David Pozzi]

I'm using a cheap siphon sand blast gun in mine. I have 170 psi shop air available but I found the media flow is reduced at that pressure. The pressure backs up in the gun. I use a regulator to around 90 psi and get a better media flow.
Drilling out the air jet can cause so much air to flow, you don't get as much suction on the media hose. I put a vacuum gauge on mine to set pressure.

[minendrews68]

Where are you guys getting the replacement clear covers that go over the window. Harbor Freight doesn't carry them. As a Matter of fact Harbor Freight doesn't carry any kind of replacement parts. I bought a soldering gun and the tip burned into. Went back to HF and was told that the soldering gun was a expendable item so they did not carry the tips as a replacement. go figure!

[minendrews68]

Originally Posted by minendrews68

Where are you guys getting the replacement clear covers that go over the window. Harbor Freight doesn't carry them. As a Matter of fact Harbor Freight doesn't carry any kind of replacement parts. I bought a soldering gun and the tip burned into. Went back to HF and was told that the soldering gun was a expendable item so they did not carry the tips as a replacement. go figure!

ok, since I last wrote this I went with the Tacoma sandblast cabinet redo. My HF cabinet was around 15 years old but still looked brand new. I never used it because it was a piece of junk. I was reluctant to buy the Tacoma parts but after reading up on it I bought it. Guys, like daylight and dark. I use my HF cabinet all the time now. If you guys want any information I can help you out. Let me know.

[waynieZ]

How much does the Tacoma kit run? I heard it makes a world of difference.

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by minendrews68

ok, since I last wrote this I went with the Tacoma sandblast cabinet redo. My HF cabinet was around 15 years old but still looked brand new. I never used it because it was a piece of junk. I was reluctant to buy the Tacoma parts but after reading up on it I bought it. Guys, like daylight and dark. I use my HF cabinet all the time now. If you guys want any information I can help you out. Let me know.

Mine seems to work okay, but I am interested in this kit. Where did you get it? Their Ebay store doesn't list them.

[minendrews68]

Wow, I'm up to date. Sorry guys for not getting back with this, but here goes.
Mike Tacoma and his wife own Tacoma Blasting Company. They are based out of Idaho, I think. Somewhere in that vicinity. I think I spent close to $500 for the kit I got, but man, is it worth it. I use mine for just about everything now.
It's funny I used to really crank up the pressure to get this cabinet to work but it never functioned properly. Now I use about 5 cups of media and run 45 lbs of pressure at the cabinet. Sounds crazy but it works.


Address: 124 Star Ridge Rd. Hope, ID 83836

Phone: 208-264-5543 / Mobile: 509-684-6756
Email: [email protected]
Business Hours: Monday - Friday 8am-5pm (Pacific)
Closed Saturday and Sunday

They were so far behind when I ordered mine it took about 2 months to get the kit. Be patient. Very nice people too. You'll have a lot better chance of getting a hold of Mike on his mobile number (above). Call him around 8:00 am (ID. time) is the best time to get him.

Do a search on youtube of Tacoma Blasting Cabinet tips. A lot of good information there also.
Again, I'm sorry for taking so long to get back on this. Let us know what you decide to do....

Carl

[camcojb]

I have one of the HF cabinets. The cabinet is fine, sealed it up extra and no leaks. But I suspect the gun is crap. I've tried 5 different medias and multiple pressures, and none work well at all, clogs the hose constantly. I quit using it for now, going to research different blasting guns. Don't have $500 to fix it, hoping I can come up with a cheaper solution. Don't need any more features, just need it to suck up media.

[camcojb]

So for the heck of it I decided to try a cheap gun from Amazon. Used the same pick up hose and tube that came with the HF cabinet. Wow, what a difference, works great! No clogging, strips metal immediately. Now I can actually use my blast cabinet. Just an FYI for those in the same boat.

[minendrews68]

Jody, Does your cabinet have a foot pedal? just one of the things I really wanted on mine. Mike sells his media gun separately, although I don't remember the price. I did up grade my lighting myself and that made quite a difference. On Mikes upgrade he suggested to take the wire screen that the parts rest on while blasting and cut it down some so you can get bigger things into the cabinet. There were other things like taking the view window out, using nutserts to put it back together. This eliminates the need to half way crawl into the cabinet when you need to change out the glass viewing window. That worked really well too.
If you have any questions about either of these let me know and I'll either send pics or try to talk you through it.

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by minendrews68

Jody, Does your cabinet have a foot pedal? just one of the things I really wanted on mine. Mike sells his media gun separately, although I don't remember the price. I did up grade my lighting myself and that made quite a difference. On Mikes upgrade he suggested to take the wire screen that the parts rest on while blasting and cut it down some so you can get bigger things into the cabinet. There were other things like taking the view window out, using nutserts to put it back together. This eliminates the need to half way crawl into the cabinet when you need to change out the glass viewing window. That worked really well too.
If you have any questions about either of these let me know and I'll either send pics or try to talk you through it.

I do not have a foot pedal, but it's on the list, as well as a better light. What light did you use? The one that comes with it is better than nothing, but only barely.

I did the nutserts for the view window right off the bat...