elwood13

Scott Marzahl

If you only foresee yourself blasting the suspension pieces then I suggest just send it out but shop around because that is almost twice the going price. Pricing is $85/ hour locally for sand and $95/hour for plastic in the Western Washington area. Call some powder coating shops as they often do or work with blasters.
A commercial blaster will make short work of that job while a small cabinet will take you a lot of time.

You will need at least a 5hp 80 gallon compressor and I would purchase the recommended
vacuum unit for the blast cabinet too. You will soon be into your setup a couple thousand dollars. Check out Tip Blasting Products.

Rusty60

i can't answer all your questions but i can answer a few
most suspension pieces will fit fine in there, except sway bar, rear end size piece
sway bar would fit and you could do most of it but the ends would be a pain

we went from a cheap blaster to a pressure pot style at work and there is no comparison, myself i'd rather pay some one then use the cheap one again.
i have no idea how much air you would need, i'm sure someone can let you know but i'd expect a decent size one

sorry i can't offer more help

67's

I would ask around at your local car hangout, and find someone and go blast at there place. If you are really only going to use it that little, why buy one. I am sure there is so one nearby that would let you use their's for a couple of beers.

Hermn59

I purchased a cheap cabinet from HF and it did fine on small pieces using my shop vac for vent. In hindsight, I wish I would have taken the small pieces with the big ones and not wasted my time. I now have a cabinet with 50 lbs of glass bead that probably will not be used for months if not years. The time I spent blasting would have been better spent cleaning and prepping other parts and pieces.

67air

I am on my 3rd frame off. I find my $250.00 cabinet get the job done, but it took me a while through experimenting that the Triple 000 silica quarts works best for me. I use it ALL THE TIME. IMPORTANT, you need good constant high pressure, Ie (at least for me) not one of those loud jack hammer compressors . Mine is a 5HP with a 20 Gal tank & I made an secondary 5Gal. "pony" tank tied in to the line for the extra air capacity. With mine if works best at 100-85 PSI range. I use a shop vac with both a nylon dish towel at the inlet & then a tack cloth over the vacuums air outlet to catch any fine dust. I use it on everything ----Yes, professional shops are great , but on a snowy Sunday when you need to clean a part, you can stay warm in your shop & go right to town. I must have a couple thousand work hours out of mine. LOVE IT ! I believe mine is 36: across & 24" tall.
Good luck.

426 Hemi

A cheapie might be fine but the gun/nozzle might be lacking. A good size compressor is a must unless you wouldn't mind waiting for it to build up pressure frequently.

Years ago we built our own, but bought a quality gun, foot control and pickup from TP Tools. We also put a smaller door on the left side to feed a driveshaft or like sized/length part into the cabinet. We close pin a towel over the opening to stop sand from blowing out.

Hard part was getting an adequate blower. Started with too small, tried shop vacs then finally plumed in a big squirrel cage blower from a house furnace. We're out in the country so it exits outside with no dust collection. Not that dusty in use actually.

Best thing is it doubles as a paint booth. Nice in the winter.

We're just a couple hobbyists (not a business) and the blaster gets used almost every day.

Pop Chevy

I have a small business (work on Harley frames) bought the cabinet you are looking at. Use a 5hp 60 gal tank and a shop vac. Works great for bead blast , been using it for about 15 yrs. Bad part is, all my friends want to use it too!

Sky65

I have a small but freestanding cabinet I bought off ebay for $200 shipped. It's not the best but for car parts and small stuff it's fine. I used the heck out of it when I rebuilt the car. I have a 5hp 60 gal compressor and I use a shop vac to vacate the air in the cabinet. Can't see squat without it. I have it on wheels and roll it outside the garage when using it. It is not air tight and will make a dusty mess in the garage. I find I use it for other things besides the car once and a while. I consider it money well spent for me. When you have your own you are not at the mercy of someone else time wise or quality wise. I find shops can be very unreliable as far as time commitments and an understanding of what is satisfactory. JMO

Tom

DUB

I have to have one and then got another. My big one is from ALC...the other is from Harbor Freight.

I have a vacuum system that can be attached to either one when one of them is being used. That is a MUST. The EPA for the county I live in will get all up in my stuff if I allow dusts to get out.

I do not know what to tell you but I DO have to agree that either pay the money and have someone do it for you or buy the equipment.

There is more than likely a chance that you are going to need brackets, bolts and whatever blasted and WISH you had it on a Sunday like '67air' wrote. And ...I DO have friends who use mine from time to time..and when they use it themselves...it is cheaper than if I blast the parts.

DUB

firstgear

If you decide to buy one, then you MUST get a moisture dryer/separator otherwise it will plug up on you!

Roger Walling

The $145/hr is about what I charge. But, I have a 250 lb blaster with a 3/8" nozzle that will do 10 times as much in an hour than many blasters do.

Drothgeb

I’ve had a HF for about 10 yrs. Gets used all the time. It works OK for smaller part, but I get out the pressure tank setup for anything big. The bigger the compressor, the better. I have a 7.5 hp w/ 80 gal tank and it’s not nearly big enough. A shop vac works OK, but something bigger would be better. A good water separator is important. Also, the glass window gets pitted fast. I buy 6 packs of tempered glass shelves. The tempered glass last longer than regular glass.

dmaxx3500

go find a ''real'' blast cabinet/used,,,but if you go buy the HF one,,google a youtube video on how to make it better

the biggest thing is dust collection/reclaiming media

and at a min ,you need a 5-10hp compressor with a 80 gal tank,,and a way to ''dry'' the air ,so no moister gets into the cabinet

itsforfun

Most any cabinet will work, but a quality gun is a must. A 2 stage compressor will out perform a single stage and are usually better built and longer lasting.

pop23235

I did the Harbor Freight one. Put sealant on all the panel joints at assembly. Have a 5hp 60gal compressor that does fine. Used a Campbell Hausefeld gun. It's slow, but so am I. Use a Home Depot 5 gal bucket between the blaster and my 18 gal shop vac to catch most of the sand. Get the HEPA type bag for the shop vac and work away!

426 Hemi

We picked up a roll of clear sheet plastic---cheap. Removed the glass and cut and taped the plastic on it. Lasts quite a while, never got a hole in it. I clean it between replacements with Windex.

Randy G.

I bought this Eastwood cabinet a few years ago and love it. While I don't use it all the time, when I need it it's worth its weight in gold to me.

Railroadman

I have a HF cabinet waiting to be put together. Have decided on this compressor, may get it next week:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...air-compressor

I understand it's important to silicone caulk every seam of the cabinet when you assemble it.

elwood13