MGB & GT Forum

I'm thinking about taking the $19 plunge for Lot # 37025 (Abrasive Hopper Kit). I'm just needing something cheap to media blast some minor surface rust under the hood and on the floorboard, nothing serious.

Has anyone had any experience good or bad with this item?

And what about the 16 Gauge Air Nibbler, Lot #46061? As I'm inexperienced at body work, is an air nibbler a good choice for fine cuts in sheetmetal? I know there are options: air body saw, air shear, etc.

I don't generally buy Harbor Freight stuff if its something I use a lot, but for things I may use once or twice I've had pretty good luck so far.

Go to HD and get a siphon sandblasting gun in the hand tool section. It is $10-20. It works great in many different angles. The hopper one I think you are talking about has the plastic can on top with the sand in it. It limits you to angles and reach. Walmart used to carry in under the CH brand, maybe you can still it there. It was $12 there. It is just a gun with a hose that drops into your bag or bucket of media.

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Carl W. French
Alfred, Maine
Southern Maine LBC welfare shelter
67B will be in our will
73BGT Daily driver
72 Triumph Bonneville
Many more that change often

http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y183/leylandauto/

I was looking at the small HF blast cabinets for doing small stuff and finally got their Sand Blaster gun instead. It's the plastic gravity feed job with the hopper on top. Frankly, it did a great job. Something of a pain to stop and load it up but it really wasn't too bad. It goes for $25 but was on sale for 19 the day I was there. Well worth the 19 bucks for what I was doing.

The operative word here is cheap. My friend bought an HF parts washer about a year ago. It has been used very little but the other day when I went to use it, the fitting that attaches the spray nozzle to the pump broke off. It was plastic. The parts washer was, of course, made in China. You get what you pay for, in this case CCJ. If it's a tool you plan to use for many years get a good one, if it's a short time, non-intensive sort of use buy the cheap one.

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Dave E.
1972 MGB GT RED
"Every path has a few puddles"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-09 08:28 PM by dwengdahl.

Well, I can definitely say that it doesn't work with walnut shells. I haven't had a chance to try it with sand.

I took a chance on it because it was so cheap, not because I actually had anything which desperately needed sandblasting. Also, my compressor is a bit wimpy in the CFM department, so that might have been a factor, too.

For what it's worth.

Ed

Anyone used an air nibbler? I'm tired of going through cutoff wheels like crazy.

Hi Terry, I don't have the nibbler, but i did get an in-line shear that was rated to 16 gauge. It bogs down quite a bit on 16 gauge but works fine on 18. If you have a HF near you though you have nothing to loose. If it doesn't work the way you want, simply return it for a refund.

Now, depending on what you're cutting, I've found that my jigsaw with a good metal cutting bit is the fastest & easiest tool to use. You can get metal cutting bits at your local HD, Lowes, etc.

As for sand blasters a decent one for infrequent hobby use is their small siphon feed set up. It's about the same price $20-25 if I recall. It's basically a grey plastic container that holds the media + some hose that connects near the bottom & a gun. I have one of those & it works great. I first tried the 40lb pressurized blaster (34202), but i couldn't get my air dry enough to keep it from clogging. I may try that one again when i get my shop cleaned up & can run a long feed line to get the moisture to condense out... i think the problem I had was my drier was too close to the compressor so the air was still too hot when it went through -- letting it hold too much moisture. I did notice that before it would clog up, the pressurized version is way more efficient -- it uses less media & does a faster job of blasting away stuff.

I have one,(cheap HF sandblaster) works well if you can remove the part, but to get anything under the hood , I would not use it. It is very sensitive to the nozzle angle, horizontal or close is fine.pointing the nozzle vertical it won't feed. I used walnut shells on a fireplace mantle. It fed fine. Keith



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-10 06:56 AM by kuz1.

i have never used an air nibbler, but i have the electric dewalt one, it makes short work of just about any sheet metal, really easy to use if metal is on a table and you can start on an edge, and you can make all sorts of curved cuts and pattenrs, works great on stainless too. The drawback being as was stated above, you have to just about keep it horizontal to the work, also, if you intend to start in middle of panel, you have to drill a rather large hole to get the head through. good luck
Darren

Oh, and the half moon shaped chippings get stuck in everything!! including the souls of your shoes and will scratch the crap out of a wood floor..... ask me how i know!

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Should i really have all these parts leftover?
wheres my adjustable hammer???????

I have the air nibbler and it works well. I like it better than using a saw or cut off wheel on many things as it will cut a fairly tight radius and leaves a smooth edge. I have a number of air tools from HF and can't complain about any of them. Yes they are 'cheap' but for the hobbiest that isn't using them daily they do a good job and are reliable with minimal maintenance. High volumn tools like cutoffs, die grinders, and sanders want frequent lubrication.
I am a self described "tool junkie" but having a selection of different power tools can change some jobs from hard to easy and HF makes that selection very cost effective.

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Bill Young
'73 Midget
'59 MGA

There is a fine line between a 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

I got both a HF air nibbler and a set of thier air shears. I finally had a set of thier shear lay down on me after three race car builds and about three years of heavy use, so I decided I would buy a better quality one, I got Mac off the tool truck, took it out of the case and relaized in about minute, it was half as god as ther HF one and four times more expensive. The HF nibbler and air shears are as good if not better than most brands you can buy.

Air nibbler: A nibbler is a good deivece to have if you need to make some compound curve and such, it kind of leaves a tooth mark looking finish, so cut outside the line because it isn't finishing tool, I use this tool way less than my air shear, but it pays to have it around for that every once and awhile job.

Air shears: now here's a tool I can't live without, it will cut thinner aluminum and steel section for sheets alot easier than anything else. BUy the HF unit is as good if not better than most higher prices unit, and you're talking to someone who has been thru about a dozen of them.

Cut-off wheels: They still serve a purpose and are part of my arsenal of sheetmetal working tool, but you don't want this to be your only method, as they can be expensive and consume themselve rather quickly. Tip: the cutoff disc that HF sells are just as good as the Norton ans other brand name unit at a fraction of the price, I also get those flapwheel disc form them as well, these bad boy can cost $6+ a piece in a tool store, but at HF they are like $5 for a pack of 4 or 5, and just as good as the higher priced ones.

Hand files and patience: This is what separates the men from the boys when it comes to quailty sheetmetal work. While all the above mentioned tools work great to get you roughed out, when it comes to final fit and finish, there is no magic wand special tool to get that almost perfect fit, it just hand files and patience, belt sanders on the thin stuff can grab the piece and bend the crap out of it, so I dodge the belt sander on most sheetmetal work. Hand files, here where it pays to buy the good stuff, there is definate quality differences in hand files, get some good ones, all different shape and bastard files and smooth files as well, make sure you have rat tails and half rounds in your arsenal of files.

Hand snips: The color handle set Craftman sells at Sear is about as good as it gets, then I also have one big hand shear for longer cuts and thicker stuff.

I pride myself on custom sheetmetal work, I'm sure I could get a job right now in Nascar doing this if I wanted to do this for a living. The best advice I could give you, is make really good templates to go off of and be patient, it's the kind of work for a nice piece that you have dedicate some time to, and it very self rewarding when you make a nice fitting piece.

I made everything you see in these pictures with the above mentioned tools and alot of patience.

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Hap Waldrop
Acme Speed Shop
864-370-3000
Website: www.acmespeedshop.com
hapwaldrop@acmespeedshop.com

As a former HVAC guy, I agree that the Craftsman offset snip set is as good as it gets. I used to literally wear out a pair a month, or more. They can be purchased less expensively under the manufacturer's name of Midwest, if you're interested. The big home improvement stores carry them I think.

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jeff@advanceddistributors.com

Great thread guys!
Lots of good info and help for those of us considering "diving in" to our bodywork!!

Mike

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Mike Butts

"Restoring a car yourself makes you feel like a doctor of orthopedics with x-ray vision. While others admire the patients hat, all you can see is that badly healed fracture of the left clavicle." - Peter Egan

Jazz and Blues, Aged Scotch, Good Cigars, LBC's - Ain't life grand..

We have little use for the nibblers, just because of the mess they make. We've got some cheap electric shears that have needed 2 sets of blades in about 8 years.

As for hand cutters, we like the Wiss brand (you can find them at Menard's), and we get the ones with the red and green handles.

For us, it's best to use the electric shears to get to about 1/4" from your final cut and then use the hand shears for the final cuts.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm definitely going to spend some money at HF today. And I look forward to less dust in my shop from these cuttoff wheels.

Where is good place to buy a good cost effective respirator? I've heard blasting without the right protection is a big no-no.