TAC Tech => Parts Review => Topic started by: roadking77 on October 28, 2024, 03:59:19 PM

Title: Harbor Freight Table Top Blast Cabinet
Post by: roadking77 on October 28, 2024, 03:59:19 PM
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54101175934_657afa0460_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2qqJEKq)20241028_154142 (https://flic.kr/p/2qqJEKq) by Kerry Grubb (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156399515@N07/), on Flickr(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54101287855_780f940e7f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2qqKf26)20241028_154151 (https://flic.kr/p/2qqKf26) by Kerry Grubb (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156399515@N07/), on Flickr(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54101287610_4a6133f73e_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2qqKeWS)20241028_154237 (https://flic.kr/p/2qqKeWS) by Kerry Grubb (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156399515@N07/), on Flickr(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54101089253_f298f9db02_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2qqJdYV)20241028_154254 (https://flic.kr/p/2qqJdYV) by Kerry Grubb (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156399515@N07/), on Flickr(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54101088808_95f8303a80_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2qqJdRf)20241028_155132 (https://flic.kr/p/2qqJdRf) by Kerry Grubb (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156399515@N07/), on Flickr

I have been wanting to replace my small blast cabinet for the last 8 or so years now since mine was 'lost in the fire' :shock:

I got this at Harbor Freight, it was around $200 but my son has the rewards program so it ended up being $160. The bigger floor unit is $220 but it was not on sale. I would have liked the bigger unit but frankly I really dont have room for this one, let alone one that will take up permanent floor space. At least I can pack this away on a shelf out of the way when its not in use.

Right out of the box I opened the door to get the directions out and it almost broke off the cabinet. Someone either lazy, end of the day lunch break etc. only put in one pop rivet holding the hinge in place. I did not have any big enough to I ran some self tappers in. All is good again. It was pretty easy to hook up, has a port for the vacuum, other than the pop rivet thing seems well enough made for the price. It has a nice big door on the side. My old Tractor Supply cabinet had a flimsy lid with the glass that hinged open. This one is much better and looks a bit more prof.

I only had a small amount of worn out media and it worked ok, I think it will be fine overall for what I paid for it.
Title: Re: Harbor Freight Table Top Blast Cabinet
Post by: 5th T/A on October 28, 2024, 08:01:41 PM
While their qualify control might be lacking I feel Harbor freight gives a good bang for the buck. You will definitely get your money’s worth back.
Title: Re: Harbor Freight Table Top Blast Cabinet
Post by: langss on October 28, 2024, 09:37:12 PM
When I changed Departments for what I thought would be the last time before I retired, I bought a HF 90* Die Grinder. I used it every day and at one point it just locked up. One of my co-workers asked if I had been oiling it...Of course...then he showed me this little ball bearing thing on the side of the head. Well turns out...no I had not been oiling that. I put as much oil in it as I could, and let it sit Later that day I tried to turn the shaft and since it had cooled down it turned slightly. I kept turning it back and forth and eventually it tuned completely. I hooked it up to an air hose and just like that good as new...of course some nasty black oil came out all over everything, but it was healed. I bought that in 1998, and I just used it this last weekend cleaning rust off some angle iron.
Over the years I still had to work I bought a lot of stuff from them including a 1000# capacity Transmission Jack...and I'm still using it today. :-P
Title: Re: Harbor Freight Table Top Blast Cabinet
Post by: FormTA on October 29, 2024, 04:51:22 AM
I have a similar cabinet from them I bought back in 2001. It has seen a boatload of use but I swapped out their blast gun for another siphon gun I had that worked much better and it has been that way ever since. I use tye black diamond (used to be black beauty) from tractor supply. One bag has lasted all those years only swapped it out once. Hey, I'm cheap. For what it's worth I think I payed like $80 it back then.
Title: Re: Harbor Freight Table Top Blast Cabinet
Post by: roadking77 on October 29, 2024, 07:56:01 AM
I like the TSC black diamond as well. Luke, I think we are made from the same mold :lol:
I bought a bag of media from HF and it was some white stuff :shock: Very fine and did not touch the rust. I suppose it will be usefull with something. I had a buck full of the black diamond that has been used and used again. I am super cheap, lol. I really think it has lost most of its bite  by now.

Some of the HF stuff is ok. For this thing, its a steel cabinet. How can that go wrong? I almost bought one of these at Hershey from an Ohio co. called TIP. Theirs was really nice but for the same size the start up price was around $1k. If I were a prof. and used it everyday then yes, but I may not use this one again for another year.