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Harbor Freight Gravity Feed Abrasive Blaster Gun with 20 oz. Hopper (Product Review)
- Thread starter Jim
- Start date
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- Tags
- product review tools
That "Product Review" section would be a good one!
Hightower-Ash98
XS650 Addict
Good to see that I, am in fact, the dummy here. I actually just bought one as well! I'm not getting nearly the same results as you are. I guess my 30 year old hand-me-down craftsman Air compressor isn't up to snuff
Glad to see that It isn't a total waste!
Glad to see that It isn't a total waste!
I see your point. Well, you da' boss.... boss.You guys know I don't like sections.The last time I was convinced to make new sections was for the regional forums and they are rarely used.
Finally found time to get back to the frame. Picked up 2 bags of play sand from Home Depot. Soon as I started, the hopper clogged up. Had to take the gun apart to remove a pebble stuck in the hopper feed hole. Stopped what I was doin' and made a sieve to filter the sand for more consistency. I jus' took a 5/8" copper pipe roll and cut off enough for a circle. epoxied a piece of dowel in it to complete the circle and hot glued some aluminum screen to it. added some aluminum tape around the glue so no sharp wires stuck out. Worked a treat... never had another clog.
Set the frame on top of another frame that sat on a 12X12' concrete patio. Made it easy to sweep up and recycle the sand. The 2 bags at about 3 and a half bucks each was more than enough. The little Harbor Freight gun gets two thumbs up.
Set the frame on top of another frame that sat on a 12X12' concrete patio. Made it easy to sweep up and recycle the sand. The 2 bags at about 3 and a half bucks each was more than enough. The little Harbor Freight gun gets two thumbs up.
Nice!
Did you rig up some kind of enhanced hopper or gravity feed system, and how long did it take?
Did you rig up some kind of enhanced hopper or gravity feed system, and how long did it take?
Didn't change anything on the gun. Kept a scoop in the bucket. Two scoops... full. Shoots for about 30 sec..... 10-15 sec to refill and shoot again. Once you get into a rhythm it goes pretty good. I didn't think about time. Maybe 2-2 1/2 hrs....
Thanks for the review. I’m going to get one for some small work I need to do.Twenty bucks for a made in China sandblaster. What's not to like huh?
A little background.... I have a blasting cabinet.... works great. What it won't do is swallow something like a bike frame. I've used a local sandblaster in the past who's reasonable on his prices. Apparently he's no longer in business. I called a few places local and they all beat around the bush on pricing, saying a frame would most likely be about $200, but none of them would let me pin 'em down to a specific number. Yeah... not gettin' a warm fuzzy there. So, plan B.
I don't want a sandblaster that cost's a fortune, and it's an item I'll seldom use since I have the cabinet. I decided to give the little gun Harbor Freight has with the hopper on top a go.... Twenty bucks. I should mention that Harbor Freight is a mere 3 minute drive from my house. Yeah, no temptation there.
Unboxed it and yes, it's as cheaply made as the price suggests.
View attachment 190577
The only assembly required was to fit an air hose QD.
View attachment 190578
It's a pretty straight forward affair. There's a cap to fill the hopper, a lever just below the hopper to regulate the media flow and a trigger to set the whole works in motion.
The instructions state "Do Not Use Sand." But... raise your hand if you always follow directions.
The reviewers online said they used playground sand and it works just fine. The only downside I see is the nozzle isn't ceramic, it's steel. So using sand is definitely gonna affect longevity. Hmmm... how do you define longevity on a 20 dollar tool...
So, right now I don't have any sand, and being the cheap bastard I am, I ain't gonna buy some 'till I know this thing works. What I do have is a coffee can of wore out glass beads from my old blast cabinet. Set up in the back yard and gave it a shot. Face shield, dust mask and gloves on.... filled the hopper and pulled the trigger... sumbich... it works. And better than I expected at that. Here's the before:
View attachment 190581
And here's the after:
View attachment 190583
That little area used up the hopper and took about 30sec to do so, but keep in mind those were worn out glass beads that were more powder than beads so yeah.... I think it'll do nicely.
I don't plan on sandblasting the entire frame. What I'm doing is using coarse 3" roloc disks on all the accessible tubing. The blasting will just be for those areas the die grinder can't reach. I've no illusions about this being quick... no doubt I'll burn up some serious man-hrs on the frame, but time I have. Money for something seldom used, or paying out the ass for someone else to do it, not so much.
Tomorrow I'll head to Home Depot for a bag or two of sand and git to blastin'. I'll add a comment on how the sand works then, but right now I'm callin' it twenty bucks well spent.
View attachment 190584
Look back up a few comments.... I made a sieve to sift the sand with screen door wire. It filters out the paint chips and rust. Never had it clog after numerous time through.
Good review! Agree with all above.
The reviewed HF blaster is very useful when fabricating with rusty steel around the shop...sure, stick burns through rust, but most fellas use wirefeed, you only blast where you're going to weld. I use #30 construction sand.
I too use supplied air to breathe, and I take wind direction into account. Work from windward. (the speedo/shower bit is cute, done that myself)
In the past I've built pressurepot blasters. Both the little gun gadget and any bigbrother blaster use lots of air.
For occasional use, an old american V8 set as a stationary engine - take out some pushrods and use dead holes as compressor... The job will tell you how to do it. My shop compressor is a copy of an Ingersoll T-30...nice but inadequate.
The little HF gunblaster nozzle wears rather quickly with sharp #30 sand. Propper nozzle ought to be from un obtain ium ceramic, imho.
The reviewed HF blaster is very useful when fabricating with rusty steel around the shop...sure, stick burns through rust, but most fellas use wirefeed, you only blast where you're going to weld. I use #30 construction sand.
I too use supplied air to breathe, and I take wind direction into account. Work from windward. (the speedo/shower bit is cute, done that myself)
In the past I've built pressurepot blasters. Both the little gun gadget and any bigbrother blaster use lots of air.
For occasional use, an old american V8 set as a stationary engine - take out some pushrods and use dead holes as compressor... The job will tell you how to do it. My shop compressor is a copy of an Ingersoll T-30...nice but inadequate.
The little HF gunblaster nozzle wears rather quickly with sharp #30 sand. Propper nozzle ought to be from un obtain ium ceramic, imho.
Little advice, protect your ears from blasting media. Ear plugs and earmuffs and hood, seal them off or damage will be the result. Maybe even, leave the ear plugs in until after you shower.
A side note, Jim: now that the frame is all clear, will you be doing anything to clean up those "bubblegum" welds left by the factory? A die grinder, or Dremel tool would really clean them up. Any pits left could be brazed and filed smooth, if you plan to powder coat the frame... 
That frame is already painted Tebo...A side note, Jim: now that the frame is all clear, will you be doing anything to clean up those "bubblegum" welds left by the factory? A die grinder, or Dremel tool would really clean them up. Any pits left could be brazed and filed smooth, if you plan to powder coat the frame...
Dang! That was quick work, Jim, and purdy too! Shweet! 
Beer o'clock!
Beer o'clock!
Hahaha! I just noticed that sand blasting post was from a while back... 
Long time back, I needed to blast a small section on a frame. I had just bought the Harbor Frt cabinet so I removed the suction tube and gun, stuck the suction tube in a pale of black beauty coal slag and went at it. That coal slag really took it off quick. Worked for what I wanted to do.
Has anyone tried one of the pressure washer sand blasting attachments.
