Modifying Harbor Freight Sandblast Cabinet

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donsrods

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
10,476
Location
fort myers florida
We have had our Harbor Freight blast cabinet for years, actually this is our second one. The plus is, they are cheap, the minus is, they leak sand like mad.

When we bought the second one, we took some time to seal it better than what they give you, but it still leaked. Dust would be all over you when you used it, and you had to wear a dust mask so you wouldn't ingest all that sand.

This is the one we bought (see picture below):


I would have loved to have a good one, but didn't feel like shelling out $1500 on up for one, so we suffered through using our cheapo version. However, we finally had it, and decided to make some changes to make ours better.

We did a lot of on line and YouTube searches, and found how some people had modified theirs, so we tore ours down to the bare cabinet, cut it up, and resealed it with polyurethane roof caulk. Then we ordered a lot of parts , including a dust collector that goes before the shop vac, and we are in the process of finishing it up right now.


I don't have any pictures yet, and will post some as time goes on. I just wanted to get this thread started, and I will detail what all we did to improve it.
 

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Thanks, guys. This one will stretch out over some time, it has taken us a few weeks to sort out how we wanted to redo it, and then order the parts needed.

The last part is to be delivered via UPS today, so we can start finishing it up, and I will be able to post some pictures.

Basically, what we learned in our internet/YouTube searches is that the method HF used to suck the sand out of the hopper was not the most efficient. There is a valve that you can buy that installs into the little trap door on the bottom of the hopper that dispenses the sand much better, that is the part we are waiting for today.

The other big improvement will be that HF originally used a gun that has a trigger on it, and that is how you start and stop the blasting. We ordered a different setup from Eastwood that has a foot pedal you step on to start and stop the blasting. We also installed an air pressure regulator in the line because this new system supposedly needs only about 60 psi to do the job.

I should be able to take a few pictures tonight, and will show you some of the changes we made to the cabinet.
 
I will, Tripper. We got tied up last night removing the outdrive from Don's boat, so we didn't get to work on the sandblast cabinet, but the final part did come in, so tonight Dan and I are going to work on it.

We are actually pretty far along, but I will take pictures of each area we modified and post them.
 
Ok, I got pictures ! :D I am going to have to do this in multiple posts, as there is a lot of changes we made to the cabinet and it is the only way to show it all, please bear with me.

First, let's talk about the HF cabinet itself. For the money (about $180) it really isn't all that bad. Certainly not the quality of the $2000 dollar ones ,but not bad. But it can be made better.

When you get it, it is disassembled, and basically consists of the large triangular shaped sand hopper that is the bottom, and the large square box that becomes the top. You bolt these two together. However, sandwiched in between these two parts is a flat screen affair, that becomes the grate you lay the part you are blasting on.

We did not reinstall that center screen between the two large cabinet parts, we just put down a heavy bead of urethane roofing caulk on the lips of the two cabinet parts, and then we bolted them directly together. We also took more of the same caulk and ran a bead on every seam on the inside of the cabinet to try to keep any sand from escaping.

You will see in these pictures how we caulked all the seams . (Ignore the screen being in there, I will talk about that later on) Sorry, you will have to click on the pictures to enlarge them, I am still not all that smart. :eek:
 

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Once all of that had dried, we were ready to install the legs back on the upper parts of the cabinet, but first we removed part of the large square shelf that HF puts in the middle, under the upper cabinet. It was large and square, and limited access to the underside of the cabinet, so we cut a large V out of it and framed in the cuts with some aluminum angle iron that we pop riveted to the edges to strengthen that shelf.

You can see how much we cut out of that shelf in these pictures. The first picture shows how HF did it, and the second photo shows how much we cut out of it (a little hard to see in the picture, but it is there)

Now, the main reason we did that was that we added that angle iron framework around the very bottom of the legs, and we added casters, so we can roll the cabinet around to where we are working , or even take it outside. We put a thick plywood shelf on that angle iron framework so we could put our extra buckets of blast media on it, and also our shop vac.
 

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I mentioned that we eliminated the HF factory screen/grate where you would normally lay the parts you were cleaning on, and we did that for a reason. Where it sits you can only get parts that are so big in there. Instead, we made an angle iron framework that just slides down into the V shaped hopper about 4-5 inches, and then we cut up the stock HF grate so that it would slide down and lay on top of that angle iron framework.

Doing it this way gives WAY more room inside, and, with the new siphon feed setup we are using, we no longer need like 20 pounds of blast media in the hopper (I'll talk about that later) You can see in these pictures how far down that grate now sits. It used to sit where you see that ledge running around the perimeter of the cabinet...…..much better this way.

We picked up a lot of room inside for bigger parts to go in there.
 

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Ok, that is pretty much it for the cabinet itself. Let's talk about the ventilation system itself. One thing I always hated about the old cabinet was that the blasting created so much dust inside, it would obscure your view of the part you were cleaning. I would have to wait a minute for the dust to settle and then start again.

I actually bought a large dust collection system from HF, it had filters and cloth bags in it, but it was horrible, didn't do a thing. I took it back.

My son found a company that makes a product called "Dust Deputy", and it works with a regular shop vac. You install it before the shop vac, and it spins the dust and deposits it into a bucket below. None of the dust ever reaches the shop vac. It comes pretty complete, two buckets (one that stays fastened down, and a second one that you lift out when it gets sand in it) all the hoses, and the part that goes on the top and does the spinning.

We wanted to make this whole unit a single, self contained unit to make it easier to move around and use, so I built a little wooden shelf off to the left side, and put the Dust Deputy on top of it (I screwed the outside bucket to the wooden shelf) Then, I ran the inlet hose to the back of the cabinet, and the outlet hose down to the shop vac.

Sorry about the one sideways picture, not sure why that happened.
 

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The way it works inside the cabinet is that there is a "scoop" that covers the hole where the air is being sucked out of the cabinet. That scoop keeps the strong suction from pulling out media as well as dust. (this is the red painted scoop on the back side)

Then, there is another scoop on the left wall of the cabinet that we made, and it is where fresh air comes in to give a free flow of air when the vac is running. The air enters there and leaves via the red scoop. I installed a little round Stainless cover on the outside to dress it up a little and to keep media from coming out that hole)

I just realized I did not take a picture of the red scoop that HF had installed in the back of the cabinet, but that picture of the hose running to the back of the cabinet is connected to that scoop.
 

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So,, that is basically the system that cleans the air inside the cabinet so you can see what you are doing. The air comes out of that one scoop, through that hose on the back of the cabinet, goes to the Dust Deputy, and then another hose goes to the shop vac.


We tested it last night with some pieces of balled up masking tape, and it sucks it right into the Dust Deputy and deposits it into the inner bucket.
 
Ok, that is the air filtration system. Now, there are two other systems that we modified. The first one is the pressurized air that goes to the gun to do the actual blasting. Our air compressor runs at 140 pounds of air, and, all the literature we have on our new system says 60 psi is about right, so we had to put a regulator on the cabinet so we can crank it down.

I found a nice little regulator at HF for about $13, bought a bunch of nipples, tees, elbows, barbs, and other brass parts, and mounted it to the leg of the cabinet. I also put a gauge on there so I can see what my actual pressure is.

And then, Dan had a great idea. He said it would be nice to have an air blowgun on the unit so you can dust off the part you just blasted before removing it from the cabinet, so we added a tee BEFORE the regulator (so we would have full pressure to the blowgun) and we ran a hose to the side and coiled up the hose by the cabinet door.

So that we would not have to keep reaching under the regulator every time we wanted to put on and remove the air hose from our shop compressor, we put a short dropdown hose on the regulator, and now we can reach the air chuck much easier, and not put any strain on the regulator each time.


More sideways pictures, I am such a dummy when it comes to computers !)
 

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The way the air system works on this setup is like this. The air from our air compressor enters the regulator, and the regulated air coming out goes to the foot pedal (blue part) then it goes through the side of the cabinet to the hand held gun inside. The kit (from Eastwood) comes with the pedal, hoses, and gun. It is really a nice setup, and I think it was only about $70, if I recall.


The factory HF cabinet already had a hole in the front for their hose to go in, and we just installed that 90 degree fitting in there to run the red hard hose to.

The two hoses inside the cabinet presented a little bit of a problem. The clear one is the one where the media is sucked into the gun, and it is soft and bendable. The red one is the air supply, and it is hard plastic and doesn't bend well. We finally found a length that was not getting in our way, and we wire tied the two together to give us more flexibility when using the gun. As we start using it we may have to make adjustments to this and some other stuff.
 

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Alright, there is only one system left, and that is the system that lets the media get from the hopper to the gun. The way HF did it was they had a long metal pickup tube that runs down into the hopper and you have to keep the media deep enough so it will not suck dry. I think I had like 20 pounds or more in there to make it work.


Dan found a system from IDS (here is a link to their site)

https://www.idsblast.com/sandblasting-supplies

that you install on the very bottom of the hopper, and sand is sucked down into this special valve setup, and then fed to the gun. It has an adjustment on it so you can decide how much sand you want to feed the gun.

Here is what you get when you buy it:
 

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The idea is, this unit has 1 inch npt pipe threads tapped into the top of it, and some people use a 1 inch pipe reducer to screw in there and to hold it to the bottom plate of the hopper. However, since I work in the marine business, I knew we had 1 inch through hull fittings in bronze at work that would work better. It has a smoother top, so sand can flow over it easier, and it has a smooth bore, for the same benefits.

All we had to do was drill a 1.25 hole in the stock HF trap door, install the through hull fitting, and then screw the IDS valve to it. Then, we ran the clear hose through the side of the cabinet and to the hand held gun.
 

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Here is the cool part about the IDS valve system, vs the HF suction tube. Instead of needing 20+ pounds of media in the hopper, you can use as little as TWO CUPS of media ! It wastes so much less and should run so much cleaner.


We still have to install the new glass I bought on the viewing window and the cabinet light, and also install the new gloves. Also, we are going to add extra latches to the door to make it more airtight. But aside from those small items, we are pretty much done.

Now, what did it all cost? I really don't know exactly, because we have done this job over about 6 months and I forget. But, we kinda ran it through our heads, and we figure $450-$500. That might seem like a lot, but if this cabinet is now usable, and doesn't coat us with dust, it will be worth every penny. I will know in the next week or so how it works, and will let you all know.

There are companies who sell a fairly complete kit to do what we just did, and they get about $450, but it doesn't contain all the parts we used by buying the stuff separately.


Hope this lengthy thread helps someone else. I am going back to work tomorrow for the first day in two months, and I wanted to get this thread done while I had the time. Now I need a nap. lol
 
I don't think so, Phil. I've put intakes and parts like that in there, but a wheel might not fit through the door opening. But I have never tried.
 

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