# Mine sandblaster sucks!!!



## wpala (Sep 16, 2014)

Hi there I have a HF type of sandblaster unit with the gravity fed system and it pisses me off, 85% of the time the thing is just blowing air with maybe 1 % sand then it will start spit sand for about 30 seconds then nothing I have even a wire inside a cabinet to clean nozzle but that just helps for another 10 sec and back again just to air, is the gun that came with the unit? or just the gravity system is so inferior any help and pointers will be appreciated 

Paul


----------



## SWARFEATER (Sep 16, 2014)

screen your sand,everytime, screendoor screen is good enough. make sure you are not pumping water from the compressor. make sure your sand is dry to start with. these 3 things will do exactly your problem.


----------



## xalky (Sep 16, 2014)

There's a vendor on ebay that sells a kit with a foot operated valve , larger siphon hose and mechanism, and an awesome gun to improve their performance. I installed one on mine a couple of years ago. It's a dream to use now. I'll try to find the link for it if your interested.


----------



## Long Roof (Sep 16, 2014)

+1 to both of those replys. It doesn't take much of a clump to clog up the system. I use glass beads and they will clump up if they have set for a long time in the blast cabinet. If you are just getting air coming out, cover the end of the nozzle and pull the trigger. That will back purge the all the way through the pick up tube and dislodge a blockage. You should get a good stream of media to blast out then. If the problem keeps happening it is probably time to sift all the media.


----------



## PatMiles (Sep 16, 2014)

xalky said:


> There's a vendor on ebay that sells a kit with a foot operated valve , larger siphon hose and mechanism, and an awesome gun to improve their performance. I installed one on mine a couple of years ago. It's a dream to use now. I'll try to find the link for it if your interested.



I'd like to know who the vendor is.
Pat


----------



## xalky (Sep 17, 2014)

Pat I sent you a PM. I decided to post this here. This is an awesome kit. Everybody should have one on thier HF blaster.






Hi pat. It took me awhile to find it. Here's the expired link to the ebay listing. http://www.ebay.com/itm/UPGRADE-KIT-...p2047675.l2557

I did some more digging, and here's the link to the company, you should probably just call them and request the kit they had on ebay. It's a really nice kit. There's no siphon tube, the abrasive gets fed in from the bottom trap door, it comes with a really nice gun, and foot pedal. It's worth every penny and then some. http://www.tacomacompany.com/ http://www.tacomacompany.com/

Nobody else makes a kit like it. You have to drill a few holes to adapt it to your cabinet, but it's fairly straight forward and comes with great instructions too.

Marcel


----------



## cvairwerks (Sep 17, 2014)

One thing that I do with my big cabinet, is to knee, or bang on the front angled face every so often and impart a vibration to the hopper section. Even dry beads can get stacked up and not flow down to the pickup. The vibration causes the pile to collapse down to the pocket around the pickup.


----------



## PatMiles (Sep 17, 2014)

Marcel,
Thank you for the info.
I have a benchtop blast cabinet (don't have enough real estate in the garage for a big one) but still will be calling the good folks at Tacoma tomorrow. This kit looks like the cats pajamas.
Take care,
Pat


----------



## Malave16 (Sep 18, 2014)

Theres only so much you can do on a syphon system without issues. Personally i would get rid of it and get a hold of a pressure pot system and adapt it to the cabinet. The beauty of it is that its portable too, so you can disconnect it from the cabinet and blast outside for larger parts that wont fit the caninet.


----------



## chuckorlando (Sep 18, 2014)

My pressure pot cost less then my cab. Two diff worlds for me. If it's real big or real tough I will set up the PP and some tarps and face mask and hood and sealed goggles etc, etc. For most things I pen the door, hit the light, hit the vac, and go. If I had a room to blast i would use the pp more as it works well


----------



## alloy (Sep 18, 2014)

I adapted my commercial Trinco cabinet to pressure feed with a HF pressure blaster.  The difference is night and day. 

Even with a commercial unit and a 18 cubic foot compressor the performance wasn't good.  I guess I'm spoiled from work with our pressure blaster there.  I was using a 40lb pot but I got tired of refilling it so now I have a 110lb and can go for about 30 minutes using glass beads at 50 psi.

I also upgraded to a dead man gun from Northern Tool.


----------



## GK1918 (Sep 19, 2014)

I have a 40watt drop light in there, is seems to help - it works hatchin chickens i guess......


----------



## shoeboxpaul (Sep 23, 2014)

I own the HF blast cabinet. I was surprised how well it worked when new. Thanks for sharing the Tacoma Company video. Lots of good ideas there. The parts that Tacoma sells look almost identical to those used in the HF 60728 Industrial cabinet. HF does not have replacement parts, if under warranty, they will replace the entire unit. I called, the parts are not available from them. 

I made an improvement that I want to share. The glass is a maintenance issue. Getting to all the nuts and washers is a pain. Thank the Lord for magnetism as I have had to fish some washers and nuts from the media already but,  NEVER AGAIN!  Once you get the glass off, install Nutserts into the cabinet and real machine thread screws. Removing the glass is so uncomplicated now.

I need some suggestions. I am on my 4th vacuum. The first was way too small. Next was a 5 gallon shop vac and it worked but, the whistling it produced was so obnoxious - ear piercing, I had to purchase a smaller unit. Burnt that one up and now I am on #4 - Home Depot unit made for a 5 gallon plastic bucket.  The problem now is that the dust is not being removed efficiently. I made a water trap from a 5 gallon bucket when I initially set this up, and it seems to work. I just cannot see two minutes after glass maintenance due to the dust.  Is anyone using the one that HF sells that can be wall mounted and thought on it. Anyone???

Thanks,
Paul


----------



## visenfile (Sep 25, 2014)

Well, no cabinet but the big red HF pot which only works for me half the time.  I have read many articles  , but have not made any mods yet.  The improvements centered on screening, drying and (here's the interesting one) modulation of pressure into the bottom delivery junction (where the pot sand enters the delivery hose). The standard set up puts the same pressure there as on top of the sand pile, right.  The one suggestion is to fit a regulator on the down hose so that it can also be tuned.  Any thoughts?  BTW I use the H.Depot sand along with its health warnings, but a typical session is about 2 minutes, outside.  Play sand does not seem to work any better.  Both room dry, but not heated.


----------



## xalky (Sep 25, 2014)

shoeboxpaul said:


> I need some suggestions. I am on my 4th vacuum. The first was way too small. Next was a 5 gallon shop vac and it worked but, the whistling it produced was so obnoxious - ear piercing, I had to purchase a smaller unit. Burnt that one up and now I am on #4 - Home Depot unit made for a 5 gallon plastic bucket.  The problem now is that the dust is not being removed efficiently. I made a water trap from a 5 gallon bucket when I initially set this up, and it seems to work. I just cannot see two minutes after glass maintenance due to the dust.  Is anyone using the one that HF sells that can be wall mounted and thought on it. Anyone???
> 
> Thanks,
> Paul


 you need a "dust deputy". It's a vortex dust trap. Google it, you can buy it on Amazon. It goes between your blast cabinet and the shop vac. It traps 95% of the dust before it gets to your vacuum. Probably about $50-$75. I have one abd I get no filter clogging at all.


----------



## shoeboxpaul (Sep 26, 2014)

View attachment sbc420manual.pdf

Xalky,
Thanks for the great suggestion. I went to Amazon and they have one for $49.00. I then went to the oneida-air.com and they suggest the metal one for sand blasting and metal dust. The plastic one is $49.00 also and the metal one is (both are called the DIY models) sells for $129.00. Is yours plastic or metal?  If plastic, how is it holding up to glass bead, aluminum oxide, black diamond, or whatever you are using?

On another note, I just ordered a metering valve, blast gun, foot pedal and 2 hoses for my cabinet from Buffalo Tools. They supply Tractor Supply with the industrial Black Bull 110 gallon blast cabinet. With shipping, it came to $180.18. I already have a pressure regulator. All the parts are available individually, even blast gun parts. Shipping, I hope, is today. From the pictures, these units look identical to Tacoma. I have a parts breakdown on pdf. I do not know if I saved any money vs Tacoma. Tacoma responded to my email after I ordered from Buffalo and they too will sell the assemblies separately if you call them. From Buffalo, the push on air fittings are part of the foot pedal  and the blast gun has the swivel push on fitting. They were out of the plug for the metering valve and there are several length media and air hoses available. I will also have to locally source the grommets as they were out of them (True Value Hardware). 
Tacoma company:  509-684-6756    Colville, WA
Buffalo Tools:        636-532-9888    O'Fallon, Missouri
Once I get the parts from Buffalo, I will be modifying my HF cabinet as per the video. 

I found this review on Amazon:
_I purchased the molded Dust Deputy to attach to my RIGID shopvac. The deputy worked well in separating fine particles of dirt and dust and made a huge difference in keeping the shopvac's filter clean. The kit was easy to assemble but I was concerned with the rigidity of the top lid of the plastic bucket where the cyclone attaches. The lid flexes under the weight of the cyclone and seems flimsy. I modified the top lid by constructing a plywood disk that attaches on the bottom side of the lid to add support for the cyclone separator. This keeps the plastic lid from sagging under the weight of the cyclone separator and helps keep it snapped tight to the lower bucket.
If you purchase this unit, be careful not to drop it, mine fell to the floor when the suction hose became trapped and I pulled the shopvac by the handle. The unit with the hoses attached fell on the concrete floor and shattered. I am not sure what type of plastic it is made of, but so far it has resisted the effects of many types of glue commonly available. I have since purchased the metal version of the Dust Deputy, it is much more robust and fits perfectly in the existing hardware contained in the plastic kit. I am very happy with the performance with the Dust Deputy, but you may consider spending a little more money to purchase the more robust metal version._

Food for thought, if it breaks, if you have the ability to weld thin metal, make one out of sheetmetal copying the plastic unit.


----------



## shoeboxpaul (Sep 26, 2014)

This is interesting if you are interested in the Dust Deputy:

http://youtu.be/mdLbf7-F6KA

Well done video and I like the end result but, no dimensions are givenl

This one is not as nice but, he gives some dimensions.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Dust-Cyclone-made-from-a-Traffic-Cone/?ALLSTEPS


----------



## GarageGuy (Sep 26, 2014)

xalky said:


> you need a "dust deputy". It's a vortex dust trap. Google it, you can buy it on Amazon. It goes between your blast cabinet and the shop vac. It traps 95% of the dust before it gets to your vacuum. Probably about $50-$75. I have one abd I get no filter clogging at all.



+1 on the Dust Deputy.  I had the same problem until I installed mine.  They work great, and are worth every penny.

I have the plastic one mounted on a 5 gallon bucket.  I use "Black Magnum" abrasive from Menards, and it gets dusty, but is not degrading the plastic any that I can tell.

It is so effective that I took the filter out of my shop vac and ran the outlet from the vac out the back wall of my garage.  The vac stays almost completely empty, there is no filter to replace, and any small amount of dust is piped outside.  Also, no loss of suction without the filter.

GG


----------



## plangan71 (Sep 26, 2014)

If you already have some 5 gal water jugs and some 5 gal buckets with lids lying around you can make your own cyclone dust collector. I made mine with 2 water jugs cut and placed together to form the funnel and bolted it to the lid of the 5 gal bucket. Ran some PVC into it for connection points and hooked it to the shop vac and cabinet. Whistles a bit but I wear ear protection anyone due to the noise of the compressor and vacuum so it isn't an issue at all. Works great and wait for it.......it didn't cost me a penny because I had all of the parts lying around! There are some good plans on YouTube for building different models. 
Throwing out ideas.


----------



## shoeboxpaul (Sep 27, 2014)

Garage guy, 
How large is your vacuum,  is it along the lines of a 5 gallon shop vac or is it smaller?
I have a smaller unit from Home Depot that attaches to the top of a 5 gallon bucket but, it is not as powerful as a 5 gallon shop vac. I am concerned about the whistling. Did your whistle before or after installing the Dust Deputy?  With the 5 gallon unit attached on mine, the whistling was ear piercing, that is why I went to a smaller unit. Smaller unit, less visibility. 
Thanks


----------



## shoeboxpaul (Sep 27, 2014)

I made a water trap with a long and short tube using a 5 gallon plastic bucket and am not happy with the results. Tempting to get the Dust Deputy but, it looks so easy to make from a traffic cone. Might try building one, if I cannot get it to work, then part with the money for the D.D. Whistling is a concern. 
Paul


----------



## kd4gij (Sep 27, 2014)

This kit makes the hk cabnet a realy nice to use. http://www.tptools.com/USA-Cabinet-Gun-and-Pickup-Tube-Upgrade-Kit,2320.html?b=d*8026


----------



## Shadowdog500 (Sep 27, 2014)

Screen your sand regularly, and put a line dryer on your air line.  Water in your air line makes the media jam up in no time.

Chris


----------



## GarageGuy (Sep 27, 2014)

My shop vac is a 5 gallon Ridgid.  I used all large diameter hose (2 1/2"?) and there is no whistle.  I did not cut the hoses down.  There are three 8ft lengths of vac hose on it.  Cabinet to Dust Deputy, DD to shop vac, and vac to outdoors.

I tried making a water trap, but the vac just collapsed the bucket as soon as you turned it on.

It has worked perfectly since I put the Dust Deputy on.

GG


----------



## brav65 (Oct 4, 2014)

I was just researching the dust cyclone issue as I do drywall repairs in completed homes, and the people living there are not happy about a lot of dust.  check out this link for a large unit that could serve a whole shop.  On some woodworking forums guys have scaled this design down to a 5 gallon bucket with a great deal of success:  http://www.jpthien.com/cy.htm 

A five gallon bucket with a couple pieces of plywood, a couple of pvc fittings and a lid is all that is needed.


----------



## shoeboxpaul (Oct 13, 2014)

Update about Buffalo Tools
I received my metering valve, hoses, foot pedal and blast gun. The foot pedal is identical to the Tacoma unit. The blast gun looks identical to the Tacoma unit, difference being the ceramic nozzle. I did receive 4 different sized nozzles with the blast gun. The metering valve looks similar to the Tacoma unit, theirs has a better finish and a nicer looking flow adjustment. The flow is just an air bleed to reduce or increase the amount of vacuum on the blast media and my valve assembly did not come with the adjuster. On mine, it is just a 7/16" coarse thread bolt that threads in to close off the 2 bleed holes. Not the greatest design but, I am sure it is effective.  Since the metering valve assembly did not come with a tube to mount in the bottom of the blast cabinet trap door, I purchased a  1-1/4' pipe floor flange and a pipe nipple, this negates the need for a nut inside the trap door. The floor flange requires a large hole for the media and 4 smaller mounting holes for bolts. I will use Phenoseal Caulk between the door and floor flange and on the threads of the pipe nipple. Buffalo Tools does not stock all the parts. If you need any particular part, you have to call and ask. If they do not have it in stock, I was told they cannot get it. This is due to the stuff being made in China and what businesses deem necessary for inventory. Most state governments tax a company's inventory.  To be honest, Tacoma is a good deal. I already had the air pressure regulator and did not need a second one. I also had many of the pipe fittings so that saved me a couple dollars also. I just started working on updating my cabinet. When complete, I will update with the results.


----------



## kd4gij (Oct 13, 2014)

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to your revieu. As a side note Grizzly has the parts also. here. http://www.grizzly.com/products/g0708/parts


----------



## JimDawson (Sep 30, 2015)

I had to do some production sandblasting for a project and my HF blast cabinet really wasn't up to the task.  I haven't upgraded it yet.  Has not been a top priority because it normally gets used for about 5 minutes every couple of months.  The production job was sand blasting some plastic parts to get a mat surface and to hide minor surface scratches, about 200 pieces.  I was having the normal problems with the sand delivery.

One thing I found is you have to keep plenty of sand available to the pickup tube.  I had about 30 lbs in the hopper and it was starving.  So off to HF and pick up two 50 lb boxes of 70 grit, black aluminum oxide (silicon carbide?).  Never doing any thing by half measures, dumped both boxes in, that helped, no more starving.

I cut about 10 inches off of the suction hose because it was getting tangled up in my work.  Oops, that didn't work well, now it kind of crimps on the bottom because of the way I wanted to hold the gun.  OK, now what?  I started looking at the nozzle and realized the venturi could be installed with the suction tube on top.  Remove the ceramic cup, and reach in with a 10mm deep well socket and remove the air nozzle, pull off the venturi and rotate 180 degrees and re-install everything.





This made a nice loop over the top and no more crimping.  Sand delivery was just about doubled!   Cut my per-piece process time down by about 2/3.  Much better!

The next mod to the cabinet will be to install this concrete vibrator to shake the sand down.  I bought this for another project and found I didn't need it.  Hopefully this will eliminate the need to bang on the cabinet with my knee.




I'm also thinking about installing a couple of air tubes down low in the sand hopper to ''fluff'' the sand to keep it from packing.  This would be on a manual valve that I could hit occasionally.  

Here is a picture of my dust control, an old shop vac bolted directly to the cabinet.  No filters on it so the dust is going through the vacuum motor.  It's still alive after 4 years, but starting to get noisy.  I just run the hose out the shop door.




The other problem is my air compressor.  I inadvertently turned my 5 HP compressor into a 2 1/2 HP compressor when my old motor blew up after 25 years.  The original  motor was a 3450 RPM motor and being an idiot, I ordered 1725 RPM motor.  It has worked OK for all operations in my shop but is coming up a bit short for sand blasting.  It will maintain about 70 PSI continuous, but I would like to have a lot more.  With a full tank (150 PSI) the sand blaster works very well, but at 70 PSI, not so much.  I will be ordering a 12 inch motor pulley for the compressor to get it back to the original speed.  This is going to be a recurring order, so time to upgrade a bit.

I'm thinking about installing a 3 phase motor and a VFD to run the compressor, that way I can run it at low speed for normal operations, and speed it up when I need more air.  Just thinking about this right now, not sure I want to spend that much money on it.


.
.


----------

