Harbor Freight Paint Pot for a pressure pot???

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Fat Boy

Fat Boy

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Oct 7, 2010
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Hudson, Fl
So i read a thread yesterday on another forum, i will have to look the link up it was on my work computer, that people were making pressure pots out of a paint pot from harbor freight. The thread said about swapping around a couple valves and capping some off and voila! I am pretty new to all the casting stuff so i spent most of the my allowance on PR molds and micas. if i spend 250-300 on a pressure pot i think my wife would stop talking to me (which may not be a bad thing......) :p anyways the paint pot is 2 1/2 gallons like the ones sold, i am aware of harbor freights quality or lack there of, but i have a half off coupon and it would be 40 dollars to start. Providing i do not blow up the garage, after christmas i plan to buy a good one. any thoughts on the harbor freight one?
 
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Mine has been working fine for me, but there can always be a lemon. You might also check out your local pawn shops for a name brand pressure pot. They may be better quality that the HF ones.
 
Fat Boy said:
i am aware of harbor freights quality or lack there of, but i have a half off coupon and it would be 40 dollars to start. Providing i do not blow up the garage, after christmas i plan to buy a good one. any thoughts on the harbor freight one?
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The harbor freight one will serve you well. The thing about HF's quality is that some of their stuff is junk while others is as good as the similar 'name brand' item. Their pressure pots are the latter. Like any pressure vessel, keep it well under the rated pressure and you will be fine.
 
Many use the HF paint pot. I nearly killed myself with one with less than 50 lbs of pressure. I have since bought a used Dilvilbiss for about the same price as a HF pot.

Be very careful when pressurizing this pot. As you can see by looking at several in a HF store. The quality of these pots seems to vary greatly from pot to pot. At a minimum, I would build some type of cage so that if it blows, you don't have a grenade effect.
 
I run 3 of them almost full time and have for years without any problems. Just use some common sense and don't try to make it do thinghs that it isn't made for.
 
I just want to go on the record, "Don't blame me!" Those pots are dangerous. Put an ad in any local classified, and some paint contractor will sell you a used pot. Most of them have moved on to a different system, so the old ones are going cheap. I picked up a Devillis that has many miles on it, but it is perfectly safe. The HF pot I bought tried to fly around the garage, leading me to question the wisdom of the purchase. If you insist on using one, make sure there is a wall between you and the bomb. ...and be quick on your feet. Better yet, give me the important details and I will take out a term life policy on you.

Thanks Andy. :)
 
CONGRATS on the new addiction (casting).

As you can probably tell, there are two thoughts on the HF pot. Some people think it is a bomb waiting to happen, while others use it regularly with no issues. While it could be argued that the second group is just the first group minus time and experience, there are people out there with OLD HF pots that have cast gobs of blanks, and had no issues.

I use a HF pot and have had no issues. My pot also never goes over 40 PSI, and i stay plenty clear of it when it is inflated.

SO, with all that in mind, If i had to get another pot, I would get another HF pot and call it good.


PS... I did a little tutorial a while back on how to start casting blanks for right at $100. It does not include a pot, but a pot isn't a must when starting out anyway. You can take other steps to insure no air in the blank, and have good results. It should be in the Library here (the tutorial that is).
 
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