HF Bead Blaster

[5twins]

I always wanted one of these things and this spring with a good sale and 20% off coupon, I took the plunge (about $80). This is the large bench top model but is really pretty big to put on a bench. I made a metal frame w/ wheels and added a handle to the side so I could pull it around .....



All the joints inside needed to be re-caulked and I added rubber gaskets around all the fittings (glove holders, window, etc.). A short 3' "whip" hose was added to the gun so I didn't have to feed my main compressor hose in and out all the time.





So, how's it work? Well, amazingly well. Here's a 650 cylinder I just did. It was spray bombed black and really grunged up from a leaking head gasket .....



After scrubbing with solvent to get the heavy stuff off (a lot of the paint flaked off, too, lol), it was into the blaster .....



I'll get some more "before" and "after" pics up soon. I just finished the head and it came out very nice.

[dogbunny]

5twins, I have the same blaster, and I made some of the same improvements that you did, such as caulking all of the joints, and adding the short 3" hose. I also installed a 15" fluorescent tube inside the cabinet. This was essential.

The biggest problem that I have is that my media does not collect in the center of the hopper when I am using it -- the slope of the hopper walls is not steep enough. Eventually, the pick up tube is no longer in the media, which is all piled up around the hopper edges.
This could well be caused by my media, DuPont Starblast XL, which I think is too sharp and fine to gravity flow sufficiently.


My solution is to put a battery powered vibrator at the bottom of the hopper. Yes, it is a "vibrating egg" sex toy.
My other big problem was with the media pick up tube, which is designed to draw both media and air. I was not getting enough air to flow the media. Again, I think the problem may be with the sharpness and fineness of my media. I fixed this by putting a small air hose into the pick up tube, which is held in place with duct tape. When the pick up tube is jammed into the media, the small air hose sticks up above the media level, and gives me the air I need to carry the media.

[5twins]

Yes, I could use a light inside mine. Got any more details on yours like a pic maybe and where you got it? I'm using medium grit (#80 I think) glass beads which I also got at HF. They seem to flow OK and collect at the hopper bottom as they should. I had to add a water filter to my air line. Moisture was plugging up the gun. In the hot humid summer now, even with the filter, the gun still plugs occasionally.

[5twins]

More questions ..... did you mount the light to the top or upper back wall? And do you have a shop vac connected to it? I blocked the vac hole off with a plywood plate because it didn't seem to need the vac.

My latest mod was an angle iron support to lay across under the screen. It was sagging badly with some of the heavy items I put in (cylinder head).

[dogbunny]

I think this was a light that I already had, and I installed it as quickly and easily as possible, without regards to looks.
Home Depot has very cheap plain Jane, no-reflector strip fluorescent fixtures. They also have complete units with switched cords that are intended to go under cabinets. Both are cheap and would work. Get as long a fixture as will fit, the more light, the better.
I also think a shop vac is essential -- it is hard for me to see what I am doing when I forget to turn my on. I cheaped-out and bought a mini 2.5 gallon model. I wish I had bough a 5 or 10 gallon shop vac.
The drier is a good idea. So far, I have been too cheap to buy one, but I am probably being penny-wise and pound-foolish, especially with all of the different things I use my compressor for. I will surely buy one before my next big spray-painting job -- a tiny droplet will ruin a paint job.

Upon further reflection, I think you should buy the complete, switched and corded under-cabinet light fixture. They have a lower profile than the strip fixtures, and you want the light to be as close to the metal box as possible and far back enough that it isn't shining directly into your eyes when you're working.

[dogbunny]

Oh yeah -- the angle iron to support the work surface screen is also a good idea. My screen is constantly sagging and getting jammed. The price is right, but like some HF products, this one requires a lot of modding to make user-friendly.

[5twins]

Thanks for the info on the light, I gotta head over to Home Depot and get me one of those. I have been using this thing outside in the direct sun light so I can see pretty good but the light will definitely be needed for indoor use.

[5twins]

The head from that same motor, spray bombed fully assembled with the spark plug still in place, lol .....





Then after a few rounds in the blaster .....

[Chuckwagon]

what size compresser (tank size, CFM) are you guys using with your cabinets?

[5twins]

I have an old Craftsman, 5 or 6HP, 25 or 30 gal. tank. It works but does work hard (runs a lot). It's the most use I've put it through since I got it. It don't owe me nothing, though. I've had it probably near 20 years. If it does crap out, I'll just upgrade to a bigger, better one.

[Chuckwagon]

That's what I have, too, but it doesn't seem to do the job. I did rebuild the pump, which helped a little, but still not great. So I hooked up two compressors (my 30 gal, and a friend's 5 gal) to the cabinet with a T. that was a little better, but still not what I was looking for...
My cabinet is also a HF special, but is an older model that I picked up used, so it may have a different nozzle. Same problem with the media not returning to the uptake hose, though.

I ended up doing a rattle can paint job on the engine. It is already looking crappy after working on it to rebuild the engine (I painted it while apart). If it looks awful after 2011 riding season, I'm going to pull it apart and take it somewhere to have it blasted with walnut shells.

What did you do to make sure the glass beads didn't get into the head?

[5twins]

Since I will be doing 650s quite a bit, I went through the trouble of cutting block-off plates from scrap plywood. For the exhaust ports, I made tapered wooden plugs from old baseball bats. The plastic "caps" for the bottom of the jugs are ready-to-spread frosting containers. They fit so tight, they need to be warmed a bit with a heat gun 1st.

[ohioninja]

It's nearly impossible to remove all the glass beads with solvent alone. They may seem clean but they aren't. It's like sand paper on every mating part in the motor.

Without cleaning your parts in a Ultrasonic washer your engine will die a painful death. Unless of course you find a way to keep the glass out of the inside of the parts & thats not easy to do.

[5twins]

My blaster came with several ceramic nozzle inserts of various sizes for the gun. I'm using one of the mid-sized ones. If you have the largest size in yours, it will use air at a faster rate.