Sand blast gun

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Yote

Yote

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Had my HF blast cabinet for a few months. The gun is giving me fits . Clogs in a matter of seconds, maybe 5-10. Sand is dry ,screened. If I put my finger on the tip to blow air back wards it will unclog and blow sand again for about the same amount of time and stops again. Any suggestions for a fix or a different gun? I checked with Sears and TSC a couple days ago and they didn't have any. My old Sears hopper system works great with the same sand ,but then I have to do it outside and lose all my sand , not to mention peppering myself.
Yote
 
The biggest problems (I believe) are water in the air, or moisture in the media. The type of media may not like flowing through the system. I doublt it's an actual problem with your gun, unless the sand has severely eroded it internally
 
Disassembled gun and it looks good. Have a moisture seperator on compressor. With our normally low humidity 20% or less I don't think moisture is my problem.
Yote
 
I have the same cabinet and found that a medium grit sand works great but a heavy grit will not flow at all.
 
What grit size are you referring to. I am using play/ mortar sand from our local lumber store. Not many choices near to me.
Yote
 
Mine varies. HF cabinet with tractor supply gun.

I get between 15 sec and a couple minutes before I need to reverse blast.

Usually somewhere in the middle.

Kind of a pain, but livable.
 
How much blasting do you do? Or want to do?

Reason i ask is this. You can turn your harbor freight cabinet into a sandblasting MACHINE, with an upgrade from Tacoma Company found here: Tacoma Company.

I make antique gun parts for a living, and use my blaster A LOT. I have a great cabinet but the gun and internals were shot. I found Tacoma Company through a youtube video here:

I bought the upgrade kit and my blast cabinet works better than any cabinet I have EVER used. It is now a media blast monster. I cannot recommend Mike at Tacoma highly enough. I sent him about a dozen pics of my machine and he put together the right parts, and bango, trouble free ever since.

Oh and get yourself some good media too. I use 60 grit a/o. find some here: Enco - Guaranteed Lowest Prices on Machinery, Tools and Shop Supplies

Best,

Chris E.
 
Oh, and an added benefit is that I used to have to blast with 90 psi. Now with Mike's system I only use 60 psi to get the same effect. Saves a lot of compressor run time.

C
 
Get a Gun Upgrade Kit from TPTools.com. It's got a better gun, carbide tips (ceramic ones suck), and a new pickup tube.
No one should EVER blast with sand of any kind. Read up on silicosis and you'll find out why. Further, playground sand is too soft to cut well and it pulverizes into dust much faster. Get some real media instead. There are dozens of media blasting discussions on the internet -- try The Garage Journal for a great start and to learn what each does best.
 
pauly said:
Silica sand works best in my HF cabinet
Click to expand...

That may work, but it is a bad idea, as it is horrendously bad for your lungs. Silicosis will kill you.

I use a hepa filtered vacuum on my machine and I still wear a respirator while blasting using aluminum oxide media. In fact I have another hepa filter i run in the shop just to be constantly improving air quality.

Be good to your body, it is the only one you get!!!
 
Understand the silica issue . I use a vacume on my blast cabinet with a wet trap ahead of that. The playground sand works great in my cabinet when the gun works.
Yote
 
ValiantOne said:
How much blasting do you do? Or want to do?

Reason i ask is this. You can turn your harbor freight cabinet into a sandblasting MACHINE, with an upgrade from Tacoma Company found here: Tacoma Company.

I make antique gun parts for a living, and use my blaster A LOT. I have a great cabinet but the gun and internals were shot. I found Tacoma Company through a youtube video here:

I bought the upgrade kit and my blast cabinet works better than any cabinet I have EVER used. It is now a media blast monster. I cannot recommend Mike at Tacoma highly enough. I sent him about a dozen pics of my machine and he put together the right parts, and bango, trouble free ever since.

Oh and get yourself some good media too. I use 60 grit a/o. find some here: Enco - Guaranteed Lowest Prices on Machinery, Tools and Shop Supplies

Best,

Chris E.
Click to expand...

I purchased a kit from the TACOMA Company and it has made a significant difference in my cabinet from hf. I use less air pressure which creates less dust and with the regulator that it comes with I can adjust the flow and the pressure for the best flow for your media type.
 
I hear about modifying the cabinet. What would be the minimum type of compressor used?
 
I have a Brut 50# blaster, made in Ohio. I have found that with the harbor garbage one I had, and the made in USA one, you can’t shoot anything bigger than fine grade media. I tried lots of stuff, a reverse male air hose end, changing this and that, and both will only work with the fine using the 1/8 tip. I did my whole car with it. Little at a time of course. From time to time the good one will still clog, but you’ll have that
 
LS-300 said:
I hear about modifying the cabinet. What would be the minimum type of compressor used?
Click to expand...

You want 10 CFM (@90) minimum, just to get in.

I wouldn't do it with less than 15.

I have 32 and could still use more!
 
Yote said:
Had my HF blast cabinet for a few months. The gun is giving me fits . Clogs in a matter of seconds, maybe 5-10. Sand is dry ,screened. If I put my finger on the tip to blow air back wards it will unclog and blow sand again for about the same amount of time and stops again. Any suggestions for a fix or a different gun? I checked with Sears and TSC a couple days ago and they didn't have any. My old Sears hopper system works great with the same sand ,but then I have to do it outside and lose all my sand , not to mention peppering myself.
Yote
Click to expand...
Is it clogged or is it cavitation. I have to re-position the suction hose often but works great other than that. I'm using 80-120 grit recycled glass.
 
It doesn't matter if you have low humidity. Your compressor is still going to generate condensation regardless.

My gun would clog in about 2-3 cycles of the compressor and I have a 60gal IR.

I had to run the air through the filtering system I set up for paint which is essentially a couple of different types of filters along with a desiccant filter. I wasn't even able to blast a lower control arm without it clogging. After I filtered it, I blasted the upper and lower control arms as well as all the hardware for the front suspension.

Finally, Cabin sandblaster fix. - The Garage Journal Board

Here is a mod that worked for some other folks.
 
Yote said:
Had my HF blast cabinet for a few months. The gun is giving me fits . Clogs in a matter of seconds, maybe 5-10. Sand is dry ,screened. If I put my finger on the tip to blow air back wards it will unclog and blow sand again for about the same amount of time and stops again. Any suggestions for a fix or a different gun? I checked with Sears and TSC a couple days ago and they didn't have any. My old Sears hopper system works great with the same sand ,but then I have to do it outside and lose all my sand , not to mention peppering myself.
Yote
Click to expand...
I had the same problem found my clear pickup tube becomes rough on the inside & sand tends to suck up in large segments rather than a steady pickup of aerated sand changed the pickup fixed the problem ,also dry sand no foreign lumps .
 
Glass bead is the best in my cabinet. Its an industrial one i found on the buy and sell.
I upgraded the gun,made a world of difference. I use mine often.
My cabinet exhausts through wall,outside.

Biggest issue i had when it would block, the stop ring on the ceramic tip needed to be adjusted.increased the gap slightly and it doesent block any more.
The more money you spend on the gun,the less air you need.
 
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