Hot Rods Harbor Freight Blast Cabinet

I'D NEVER BUY ONE AGAIN!!

We too bought the HF floor model blast cabinet. Four years ago.
What a POS!
1. Not enough light - replaced the interior light with two floods.
2. Leaks dust like a screen door.
3. No easy way to keep the dust down inside the thing to see what you're doing. Wrecked a couple shop vacs and etc. Still too dusty for us.
4. Gun is not reliable - sometimes works sometimes not - usually not. Replaced the gun with a better quality unit from Mac tools which helped.

If I used it all the time, it would have been tossed out long ago. Cheap is what you pay for it and cheap is what we got!
When I do this again, I'll built one from plywood and invest in good internals or just invest in a better cabinet to begin with.

 

Oldsman, which TP gun did you get?

 

I bought the S-25 gun in the medium. It works great in my cabinet

 

Crazy Steve -
You are cool.
Chalk me up as another one who cheaped out with the POS.

 

Picked up a set of the TP plans along with a gun and gloves; but built it out of scrap sheet steel instead of plywood, works as good as any other cabinet I've used and was cheap to build.

 

had a similar experience with a "brand-x" table-top blast cabinet (not from harbor freight). even put an adaptor on it to use a shop vac. still leaked like crazy and the gloves kept coming off. had to wear a haz-mat mask with it. i guess you get what you pay for!

 

Be aware that there is more than one model of the HF blast cabinet. The one everyone complains about is the screw-together one. I bought one that had the main cabinet already assembled, and I had to install the legs, bottom, window, lights, etc. I can see if I can get the model # if anyone is interested. It's a pretty good cabinet. Yes, it leaks a bit, but nothing horrible.
Yes, the gun sucks. I replaced it with the TP tools gun, which works a LOT better.

Chris

 

Cant complain to much about the hf cabinet. When i assembled it i put auto seam sealer all over the seams on the inside of the cabinet. The dust was bad so i bought a dust collector from hf and pulled the air inlet plug out the back and havent had any problems. The only problem is that the glass leaks a bit and that some of the media builds up around the door but it doesnt bug me much. Ill be replacing the gun soon, not cause its wore out but mainly cause i want a foot pedal. It is what it is and for that price for a starter you cant go wrong.

 

Mine was the one that you only had to intall the bottom legs, window. The basic cabinet was already together. I only saw one cabinet listed at the HF store that I bought the booth from

 

The light in my HF cabinet died pretty quickly, but I just bought a kitchen cabinet LED strip and put it on the outside/top of my glass- works GREAT!

Thanks for the info, OLDSMAN- been thinking about upgrading the gun for a while.

 

You will wonder why you didn't replace it a long time ago. I just wish I had replaced the gun earlier. Now it works like it should

 

This the standalone floor model from HF?

 

Mine crumpled and fell into itself.

 

I made mine out of a home heating oil tank I pulled out of my parents house. 275 gallons tank lots of room.Then I got a dust collector from northern tool. Works good.

 

I built one out of plywood also, it leaks a bit, but I can afford a broom with the money I saved by not buying a cheap harbor fright piece of shit.

 

No ,but I will. Thanks

 

I built one out of a 55 gal drum . I have about 50.00 in it , works pretty good . Go to home made tools website for ideas


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We built a walk-in one from a 1200 gallon plastic water tank. A fan in the top hatch sucks up the dust and blows it out in the yard. If you stand in the door we cut in the side, the fresh air coming in keeps you clean. Goggles and gloves, of course.

 

Has anyone tried the redline brand of blast cabinets? Came across them on e-bay and they look pretty nice, but I can't find any reviews.

 

slammed, that is the cabinet that I bought from HF

 

As far as the interior light is concerned,I use a out door flood light and it works great! HRP

 

I was just going to go look at one of these. As with anything from HF I figure you have to modify it a bit to work.

 

Tman I agree with that. I buy quite a bit from HF, but know that some of it will have to be modified. I have no problem with that, as the cost is so low. I just wish that I would have replaced the gun long ago

 

I sealed my HF cabinet with white silicone bathroom calk when I assembled it. I also use a 2 1/2 hose going to my shop vac and installed a pipe tee inside the cabinet one going to the gun and one going to a hose wipe with an air nozzle on it, that way I can blow of the parts and blow the sand away from the door before opening it. I don't have any dust issues with the cabinet after doing these updates. The gun does have a lot to be desired.

 

I bought a HF last year and it works great. The one I bought was their floor model and they were changing to a new style with the light inside the cabinet. This one had a light box on top .I liked that because it didn't take room from the inside. I guess I lucked out that the gun was missing from the display unit as I used a TP gun and it has worked great.

 

I keep having to replace the window on my blast cabinet. I dont know who made it as I bought it a long time ago from a gun shop. I just use plexi glass and it scratches fast. Should I be using real glass?

 

Glass lasts longer.......

 

Are you using disposable shields on it?

 

Crap, no. Would i get them at any tool store?

 

Anyone who sells blasting cabinets should have them. They can be trimmed. They attach to the inside of the window with double-stick tape.