Posted by  |
With our economy being pummeled by high oil prices, higher material prices and manufacturing jobs being lost overseas, it’s a nice relief when an American made product comes along that is both affordable and works well. The metal finishing and prep industry has seen the market flooded with sandblaster booths that are imported, poorly built and cheap. At $299 the Barrel Blaster by Lake Buchanan Industries breaks all the rules.
This patented booth design is uniquely crafted from a 55 gallon drum and outfitted with a pre-installed blasting gun and gloves, internal worklight, 12″ by 16″ viewing window, easy access drain for media changes and an innovative shop vac connection for dust collection. The gun operates on 12 cfm of air at 80 psi. Some abrasives require less air and some performed better with more. Shipping for the Barrel Blaster won’t kill the deal either. All parts including the stand come packaged in the barrel and ship inexpensively via DHL.
During our testing, the assembly was easy right out of the box. All parts were labeled and required no special tools. We found the viewing area to be perfectly adequate and the 50 lb media capacity was more than enough for all the grit we dumped into it. The most pleasant surprise was the shop vac port that was perfectly sized to our Ridgid brand vac. During testing we did opt to shorten the air and media lines leading to the gun. Since we didn’t need to maneuver the nozzle over the entire work envelope, the shorter lines gave us a bit more comfort.
The Barrel Blaster is not just a Winner, it is so widely popular among past customers, it’s a full throttle phenomenon!
This blasting cabinet has a fan base beyond belief until you witness it for yourself at one of the swap meets they are sold at. If you want to save the shipping cost, I suggest checking their website for locations & dates and do not procrastinate. Get there early on the first day as they sell fast, mostly because of the people who waited too long in years past.
If you have any doubt, stand there a while and question previous customer who come by just to thank the guy for inventing it and listen to how many hours they wasted with a wire brush or other brands.
Thanks to the optimized, simplistic and rugged design, you can SEE what you are doing and the media is back in the hopper, where it belongs much quicker than a square one.
You will not be disappointed and it comes with a no BS TEXAS style warranty, if you ever have any problem, it will be cured, PERIOD!
This was a great addition for us at http://www.piersonworkholding.com – We cleaned a lot of workholding components with it.
I tell anyone who will listen when it comes to blasting cabinets that this is the one to get.
I don’t know how many times I would have to stop during a blast to move media down to the suction tube with the Chinese junk.
With this unit you don’t stop until you’re done.
Great product.
I purchased the barrel blaster 4 years ago via the internet and it was personally delivered to me in Bulverde, TX! I have used it to prep parts on 3 aircraft restorations, and I am finally replacing worn parts (gloves, nozzels, window peels. This unit has been great, and the personal service is beyond description. A definite homer.
I, too, will tell anyone who listens. Harbor Freight makes a lot of stuff that”ll work in a pinch. But nothing, and I do mean nothing compares with the barrelblaster.
After the first few minutes of using one you find yourself in shock that you even wasted time with the HF Asian junk.