Thinking about buying a HF sand blaster

[BlueSky]

Anybody on here who owns a Harbor Freight sand blaster? I'm getting the urge to buy one for a couple of projects.

[luvmy40]

I don't have a HF sand Blaster but I have enough of their stuff that my shop looks like a HF Showroom!

 

Their bottom dollar stuff is hit or miss as to getting something that works out of the box. When you get one that works, they are usually more than adequate for occasional/hobbyist use.

 

HF Has some higher end stuff now in Vulcan, Bower, Titanium, and Hercules. Some of those tools rival Miller, Lincoln, Dewalt, and the like in quality for the price.

 

Keep in mind, the highest end sandblaster will not work worth a darn if you don't have an air supply that will keep up with it.

[SpencerPJ]

Keep in mind, the highest end sandblaster will not work worth a darn if you don't have an air supply that will keep up with it.

 

HF can help in that category as well

 

I agree, I buy their stuff all the time. Read the reviews and make a decision. I recently bought a little power washer, that bugger is pretty good for what it is. I'd like a sandblaster, simply don't have the room to give for as little as I'd use it.

[djh3]

Depending where your at you may need to add an air dryer. Otherwise air could have enough moisture in it to clog. I bought one of their media blasters. Little hand held job that uses like walnut shells ground up.

[BlueSky]

My air compressor is a 30 gallon 150 psig upright Kobalt unit which is probably not enough for continuous use but I won't be using it all that much. And it is usually very humid here on the coast of NC. I've been planning to add a water trap on the compressor discharge that might help a bit. Yeah, if I keep buying tools, I may have to kick my wife's car out of the garage!!!

[rbig1]

I have there 100lber. The front leg wont take much abuse{bends}. have used it for years. The piping tends to wear out and the hose barbs do to but I have used the h out of it. First thing to get rid of is the dead man valve. I would buy it again. Your going to be waiting on your compressor a lot. and will need a water bowl with regulator.

[venturesome]

I have both the "open bucket" model (not HF) and the pneumatic 40# model by HF. I live in Alabama and humidity here is HORRID! I used them several years ago when restoring a couple of air planes. I found that when the humidity was above 50% (most of the time around here), and/or the sand somehow absorbed any moisture at all, they were nothing but trouble. This was with using a 6HP, 130#, 80 gal air compressor. I also had a good moisture trap. If you lived closer, you could have both of them. I'm too old for the frustration!

[Condor]

You might give some thought to a Soda Blaster... It just depends on what you plan on cleaning... Sand is pretty agressive and as long as you're doing steel it's OK, but using it on aluminum parts it'll do more than just clean. My 2¢

[grubsie]

Your going to be waiting on your compressor a lot. and will need a water bowl with regulator.

 

rbig1 is correct here. The water bowl is a given, but you are going to have a very hard time to blast anything without a good size compressor. I originally tried to use a 30 gallon compressor with a 1hp 110v motor. I could blast effectively for about 1 minute, maybe 2 if the item I needed just a light blast. Then I would have to wait for the compressor to build up again. It was a royal pain the ^&^%^)*&. It would literally take hours to clean up a bike fender. Wound up buying a 5hp 220v 80 gallon compressor locally off CL and life became beautiful again.

 

You might give some thought to a Soda Blaster... It just depends on what you plan on cleaning... Sand is pretty agressive and as long as you're doing steel it's OK, but using it on aluminum parts it'll do more than just clean. My 2¢

 

I bought a small soda blaster from HF. If not using it in a cabinet, you better use it outside. They create an absolute mess. You ever been in a room or house where the sheetrock compound is being sanded? That would be like outdoors in the fresh air compared to the dust the soda blaster makes.

 

I bought a second sand blaster cabinet to run the soda blaster in. Even with a large shop vac hooked up to it, I couldn't see what I was working on in a matter of seconds.

[rbig1]

Well just remembered this is couple people I know took a 10 foot x 6inch plastic sewer pipe put caps on had up in rafters to increase the air reserve would take about three of them. And make sure the supply line to them is looped 8 inches above them. So water stays in compressor. They have been using theres ove 10 years.

[BlueSky]

I suppose a professional sandblasting rig would have an air dryer on the compressor discharge to make sure the media didn't clump. When air is compressed and cooled, the dew point is lowered and water in the air condenses but the air in the tank remains at saturation or 100% humidity. When the air pressure is reduced coming out of the compressor tank, the dew point goes up, the air is no longer saturated. But, the best way to make sure there is no moisture problem is to install a dryer I suppose.