Farmall Cub

Has anyone had any expierence with the Harbor Frieght Soda Blasting rigs? They sell 2 different ones a 15 lb and 40 lb I believe. Just curious as I would like to have something (a good unit) to clean things like carburetors and hydraulic pumps with (since they're soft aluminum). I've got the gravity/hopper gun they sell for $12.00 but it isn't the best at soda blasting cause the tip is too big. just curious about these rigs and what you guys know about them.

Thanks.!

Just a suggestion or alternative option for you, but I have used one like this HF version mentioned in the thread below, works well:

viewtopic.php?f=51&t=67521&p=548385#p548385

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yeah, thats the gun I mentioned that I have. It didn't work very well for me for baking soda as the tip was so large it just "blew soda" everywhere. The guy at harbor frieght said it is more for sand and other larger abrasives and not so much for the soda. I actually tried the gun you have with some aluminum oxide and it did a decent job of cleaning up a pair of cultivator sheilds.

The actual soda blasters like I posted have a much smaller tip and its a ceramic tip that is replaceable.

did you use the soda made for the blasters or are you using the household stuff? the soda you buy for blasting is courser , somewhat like sand from what i'm told.

I too found the tip too big for blasting small items in the HF gravity feed unit. I fixed it with a piece of 1/4 in OD (1/8 inch ID) stainless tubing that I had lying around. I cut a piece about one inch long and inserted it in the tip. Fortunately it fit real tight and now when I use it for carburetor work and other small items it shoots a smaller stream with a lot better control...... and a much less overflow and waste. Try it, it works and can be easily removed if necessary.

I have owned the Harbor Freight 40 lb soda blaster for a couple of years. I love it. Perfect for cleaning tight areas.

It will be fine for what you are doing as you have complete control over how much media you mix into the air stream.

Use only the approved blasting soda as available from Harbor Freight.

ok. That is what I was wanting to know.

Also, (AZ Mike) do you know if this unit would blast an entire tractor using soda (ie. does it have enough pressure and is it agressive enough). I saw within the year where one of the forum members (could have been YT) soda blasted a whole tractor rather than sand blasting. Not planning on doing it, but just curious.

THanks so much for all the input guys~!

Videodoc has had several tractors soda blasted. I think there were some pictures or a video of one being done. That rig was a lot bigger and probably had an industrial size air compressor to feed the tank.

Bob

It probably would do a complete Cub. Best to clean and paint individual parts. It will strip paint but you need to get down close to the surface. It operates at just 90 psi.

we have an 80 gallon sanborn air compressor with 175 psi max and the Marathon 5 hp electric motor. Think that is good enough for soda blasting or sand blasting?

We've been thinking about keeping an eye out at auctions for a good Ingersol Rand Diesel compressor (on trailer) for sand blasting becuase we feel that ours isn't big enough.

Our compressor is rated the same as yours. Good for small projects, but not suitable for large pieces.

Charles (49) Mo wrote:Our compressor is rated the same as yours. Good for small projects, but not suitable for large pieces.

That's what I thought Charles. Thanks for the input.

You need about 18 or more cubic ft of air per minute at 80 lbs pressure to sandblast small items. If you do alot of sandblasting you should have a 10HP compressor with 25cfm output. Never sansblasr the internals of ahydraulic pump. will never be right again.

Thank you so much for the specs. That is what I needed to know (without asking). Yes, soda blasting on the hydraulic pump (external) would be the only thing I would do to it.....or maybe glass beads if I had my blasting cabinet set up.

How do you blast without ending up with grit in nooks and crannies that you didn't even know you had?

I thought I had myself wrapped up pretty good with face mask, respirator, rain coat, hood, and long gloves.