Harbor Freight Sand Blast Cabinet Upgrade - DIY Metering Valve

From the first time I used my Harbor Freight sand blast cabinet... the results were mediocre. Sometimes it would work great, sometimes it was a HUGE struggle. There was never a clear reason why the results were inconsistent. I did what you probably did and searched for Harbor Freight Sand Blast Cabinet upgrade, or something along those lines. What I found were videos that talked about a metering valve, but none showed how to put one together, so I did that with this video.
Hope you get some value out of it. It really woke up my blast cabinet and solved the problem of the intermittent media feed. It's pretty shocking how much it changed the performance.
#diy #upgrade #harborfreight

[@coolhand1964]

The 'older' cabinet is actually sold as an 'upgrade' in Australia because it is larger. We don't have Harbour Freight here, but other machinery shops and Ebay Aus sell them. I bought one over 10 years ago and started upgrading it straight away as I had experience with hugely expensive systems through work. Back then it was just great to know I could clean bike parts in my garage instead of sneaking them into work. Assembly is not that difficult, silicone sealant is a must along all seams as you put them together. Cyclonic dust removal, light upgrades to 12v LED spotlights, large sheets of adhesive film for the glass, footpedal operation saving cramped hands, water separation on the compressor, a wmachine mounted regulator, nitto fittings on all external hoses, a steel cradle on castors to allow easy movement and an extra shelf to store media, snap on plumbing to a shop vac and an internal t-junction with a hose to a small air gun to allow cleaning off of dust and media inside the cabinet. I recently purchased a pot type blaster for large items like frames to do outside, with a conversion planned for water as well. I observed the mixing set up on the base and considered it for this cabinet. This and other videos confirms my belief a mixing system at the base will be successful. If I put a ball valve at the inlet to the cabinet on the media hose, then it will be easy to turn off the media, and just have air only, meaning the main gun can be used for clean up and the second air gun can be removed. Hmmm, idle hands, it's off to the plumbing supply shop then into the workshop. Edit: Put your non alloy items in a tub of water/caustic soda for a few days first and most paint and grease will hose off with a garden hose after. Then put the items in a tub of vinegar for a day or two and hose them off again. The working time of your machinery (and you) will drop by 75%. It works for steel, cast iron, copper brass etc. Aluminium alloys and die-cast monkey metal will be eaten away in 12 hours by caustic soda, but vinegar will soften up corrosion first I you want to soak a heavily corroded item. A mild solution of alkaline salts also works well on alloy parts before beadblasting. Old tips from an old dude who believes in working smart not hard. 👍🇦🇺

[@ArniethePirate]

Sort of missed out on telling others how the rubber tubing is hooked up at the end. I have this sort of setup and it works great, no surging. In the video, it looks like the tubing goes through the door. After you said you need to drill a hole in the cabinet on the front, some may have been confused as to what comes next. Nice job showing the parts list for sure.

[@gerhard6105]

Very nice info. One tip i learned when being a teenager: at minute 3:47 you try to put the Teflon tape on the thread. You put the begin of the tape on the tread. That is going okay. The tape is on top of the thread. Then i see you wrestling with putting it on by turning. The tape starts on top of the thread and then it goes to the top side of the role. And that can be done better: turn the role around so that the tape hoes from the top of the thread to the bottom of the role. This way you have a way better control during taping the thread. This is because of the tension you create. Second: start taping at the the root side of the thread. This way the tape will not be pushed upwards like you can do with an arm sleeve. The first winding of the tape will push on the second one so to say, when assambling the workpiece in the threaded hole.

[@ol-man-duffyj688]

Great video but missed the part about how it connects. Did you do a follow up by chance??

[@davidroberts3489]

What grit are you using? I’ve made this upgrade and it still is very sketchy.

[@davidfisher69]

Wish I would have known this a few years ago, but will definitely be doing this, thanks Preston for the great video

[@ThisOldTrike]

I'm with you there! Baby steps to progress!

[@PHart3]

Guy has a KZbin channel dedicated to trikes, recently attended the worlds largest gathering of trikes, and puts out a plumbing video. 😂🤷🏻‍♂️

[@ThisOldTrike]

Wow, mean... I mean, I have a plumber's crack... so it's not that big of a jump.

[@brentlafleur6741]

So I built a metering valve and now my blast cabinet will not pick up the media

[@jukas8085]

Same problem here, have had it for a few weeks now still didn't figure it out

[@freddieisback]

@@jukas8085same

[@freddieisback]

Have u figured it out yet ?

[@ZenithClarity]

​@@freddieisbackI'm wondering the same thing. Not picking up much media at all no matter what I've tried yet. Walnut shells are the only media I've tried so far.

[@wirefeed3419]

@@ZenithClarity Have you assembled the valve correctly with Teflon tape used on all threads. The quarter turn ball valve needs to be in the open position, Not Closed, if it is closed you will not draw up any of the blast media. You may also need to adjust the valve to find best performance. I also prefer that it point upwards when fully assembled on the cabinet.

[@garyyorke1080]

Well young man i feel your frustration on the syphon set up .. I'm still using mine as that but really do need to get this style set up its a tiny round circle and pulsing the gun to get anything done . And I'm really into to bikes as resto projects so you just gained another sub . Cheers

[@willowmobilesystems4008]

Nice job! Just curious...instead of using the pipe flange, do you think you could have fed the 1 inch nipple through the door and used jamb nuts with the door sandwiched between? I know that means the nipple would protrude up into hopper more but that shouldn't interfere with flow...right? It seems it might be a slightly easier install.

[@ThisOldTrike]

Yeah, I don't see why that wouldn't work. Definitely could be an easier install. The only possible downside I can think of is it may wiggle more since the surface area connecting one surface to the other isn't as large. But functionally it should work just fine.

[@Ampman007]

Great idea! Mosquito had me swatting everywhere!

[@223cycles2]

Great stuff! I need to do this to my dry blast cabinet.

[@ThisOldTrike]

Thank you sir!!

[@brotherjesus4246]

Were you able to use your original gun or did you upgrade that as well? I built a 3/4 inch metering valve hopefully it will work.

[@ThisOldTrike]

I am still running the original gun. It worked well over the weekend. So it's still holding up!

[@lilmegill727]

I just did this exactly like yours and I still can’t get it to flow correctly. Is there something I’m missing? Thanks

[@ZenithClarity]

Did you figure it out? I'm having problems with media being picked up to.

[@lilmegill727]

@@ZenithClarity no I didn’t

[@charles-hr7ir]

Is the flow metering valve better on the side ? Or the top ? I see alot on the top

[@Toomzer]

I've just done the same mod, for some reason I'm not picking up any media no matter how much PSI or how open or closed my valve is, any idea what im doing wrong?

[@ThisOldTrike]

Hmmm... does it do the same thing with smaller media?? I'd try dropping down a size or two and see if that does the trick? I ran some course black beauty in mine after doing this and it didn't like it.

[@Toomzer]

@@ThisOldTrike I've ordered some new media so hopefully it does the trick, failing new grit im stumped though?

[@ZenithClarity]

So did changing media do the trick?​@@Toomzer

[@Toomzer]

@@ZenithClarity it was the gun that was faulty buddy. 😜

[@pauloneill8912]

hi nice video, what size flange did u use please

[@wirefeed3419]

To save a lot of extra work whenever you have a part as rusted as that hub was soak it in Vinegar for 2-3 days. It will do 90% of the work for you and come out almost rust free. Greatly reducing the amount blast cleaning needed.

[@Motown454]

Did you do a video of the vapor blaster setup? I would like to see that.

[@Ampman007]

What media are you using?

[@rogertaylor8615]

Definitely made a great difference

[@DonnaBourcier]

Is the 1/4 inch valve just a vent

[@ThisOldTrike]

It let's it suck a little air to let things flow better. You can open it wide open or restrict it to work best with your media.

[@duanejohnson4043]

Do you have any rear plastic for a 1985 honda ATC 70

[@alnaveckyjr3347]

How did you adjust the valve

[@JoeOlcese]

isn't that gasline tape? teflon tape is white and comes in a white and red, or white and blue roll. great video BTW

[@cainbeeping8480]

So how does it work???

[@ThisOldTrike]

Great! Did you get to that part?

[@cainbeeping8480]

@@ThisOldTrike I watched it all yes it works but how does the pitcock play in ??

[@tricycleguy2657]

I forgot in addition to all your other goals you have to produce high quality videos too......27.3 days

[@ThisOldTrike]

You are correct sir. Very, very correct...

[@hookybit]

superb 👍👍

[@cainbeeping8480]

Ok I KZbind it and I understand now.

[@ThisOldTrike]

Oh, I thought you were asking if it worked well or not. Didn't realize you were asking about the principal behind how it works.

[@petermoygannon698]

I wouldn't think you need Teflon tape it's not water

[@tricycleguy2657]

Last

[@cainbeeping8480]

Here

[@PHart3]

This Old Blast Cabinet

[@ThisOldTrike]

YES!