bfair67

[sm=spinnyeyes.gif]Any Suggestions

Boomerang1

I have worked on a few spraybooths in my time & they have one thing in common, flameproof motors.

Paint fumes, gases & indeed even some dusts are explosive in certain concentrations with air. Be careful & don't use a brushed motor with a sparky armature!

I have thought of building a fume extraction system myself but watch for where the paint laden fumes exhaust to, your neighbors may not like the new paint job on their house or car. - John.

mgnostic

I'd have to say it depends on how much booth you need. If you are going to be painting everyday then you should probably look into auto body equipment supplies. Be mindful that this is absolutely not OSHA approved. The paint smell may irritate your neighbors and home paint booths are illegal in some jurisdictions. Be VERY CAREFUL about what you are spraying. Paints can be VERY TOXIC and some of them require a lot more than a hardware store respirator. Use at your own risk, void where prohibited. If you are painting on a budget and cranking out a project every once in a while a temporary booth can be made very cheaply using plastic drop cloths. I painted my Austin Healey Sprite in my garage. I built a pressurized booth (helps keep the bugs and dust out) by stapling drop cloth to the ceiling and then forming walls with more drop cloth. The walls drape down to the floor. mop the floor just before you paint to control dust. the floor should be a little damp but no puddles to slip in or sling water from. I pressurized the booth with a box fan (no brush motor) that had a stack of those "gets everything" central air conditioning filters. I used an overlapping section of drop cloth for a door. The pressure holds it closed. With a high pressure paint gun a lot of overspray collects on the walls and floor. I have since purchased a HVLP gun. It is the better of the cheap harbor freight knockoffs but it still lays down a LOT of paint with out nearly as much overspray (wasted paint). Don't skimp on covering the ceiling. The drop cloth is cheap and unless the ceiling is perfectly smooth and clean there will be dust. Also it keeps paint off of the ceiling. One could get fancy with an exhaust port to direct the exiting air. A great part of this is that when you are done you can yank down the drop cloth and put it to whatever other use you have for such things. When stapling up the drop cloth it stays up a lot better if you staple through little squares of cardboard. The weight of the drop cloth can pull it right off of a staple.

Redwulf__34

I built on from 2" PVC Pipe that can be taken apart and stored. I used a regular fan I bought at wal mart for $10.00. I'm spraying water based Warbird Colors so no worry about explosions. If I can find the photos I'll post them. I've got some crude drawings if you want to duplicate it.

I have a single car garage with a window. I build the booth out of PVC and covered it in plastic then placed it right at the window. In the summer time I would open the garage door.

hopefully I can find pics. I built this in a few hours and it works awesome.

sean

jetpack

My Feedback: (1)

Fan units...

I build both plastic models and also balsa and built me a spray booth box of my own and used a squirrel cage blower and 1/4 horse motor unit pulled from a clothes dryer. Look in the dump or the back of an appliance repair. Explosion proof and can suck the paint off ten feet away, standard 4" ducting. If thats too much for you, a simple cover plate to choke down the fan is easy to make.

Couldn't have fell into a better setup and found mine at a yard sale, already pulled for about $50. Using it in my three foot square wood box it not only removes the fumes it removes the overspray. Paint jobs are comming out nicer now. Balsa sanding in front of it, it forms enough draft for none of the balsa dust to land in the room.

Yes, it is ugly and it sits on the floor next to the booth and I had to do some simple residential wiring, but it sits on its own frame and drags around okay. I started using an old microwave cart. The motor and blower fits in the cabinette underneith and the booth sits on top where the microwave would be. It made it a bit more portable but the microwave cart is pretty flimsy with all the weight on it and it being just a cheap cart to begin with.

I cut some plywood for my window and jigsawed a hole for an exhaust flange out to the neighbor's house.[X(]

I don't run any filters, I just let the overspray coat the dryer hose (replace it or do what I do and just knock out all the loose stuff now and then) and the fan is large enough to go forever without having to worry about scraping the blades for it to work..LOL!

Money well spent and worth the effort in my case. I waited too long to build one and really enjoy working in it with the airbrush or touch up gun and its always there ready.

For lighting I used two under the cabinet flourescent lights, and one 75W bulb for a heat sorce when I'm done spraying and use it as a drying booth.

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

Here is the booth I constructed. I researched booth design to determine the proper air velocity. However, I believe the previously mentioned "spark free" fan has merit. The fan I am using is a typical round shop type fan. The fan exhausts outside the window of my shop. I have used this setup for one project shooting Stits poly paint... so good so far. More project photos here http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8231225/tm.htm


By the way, the frame is built from parts ordered online at Ace Canopy.

Redwulf__34

Very Nice!

I never found the photos of mine. Yours is much nicer but similar in principle. I build mine from 2" PVC so I could disassemble it for storage.

What is holding the fuselage up? Did you build some sort of levitation device in there!!!!!!!!!????????

Sean

Redwulf__34

Just after posted my last post I remembered I had posted some photos of the booth on my DUS Thread. I went back and copied them from the thread.

Here is mine. I was spraying Warbird Colors which are water based. I didn't bother to build mine totally enclosed. I never got a single smell inside the house using this one even open on the front end. Probably if I had had more room like you did I would have build it totally enclosed.

Sean

bfair67

Thanks Texan, Hey you wouldn't happen to know a fella by the name of Gary Dye would you.

bfair67

Thanks Redwulf

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

Nope... never met him

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

Redwulf,

I'll bet your design is much more economical. It's not a bad way to go and probably a little less risk of accidential over exposure to fumes.

dhal22

i just taped and thumb tacked my plastic to the walls, ceiling and floor. i taped a filter on the fan (in a window)and cut out the plastic around it, taped that to the fan and i had a disposable paint booth. nothing wrong with a frame though. either way a temporary paint booth is a simple project.

david

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

I've done that in the past with decent results. However, I have also had some problems with overspray getting on other surfaces in my workshop... including my other finished planes. If you are careful it should be fine... make sure you have enough fresh incoming air!

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

Here is a pic of my fuselage levitaion device... or fuselage paint rotisserie. Just make sure you have a strong firewall before using!

Redwulf__34

Really like the levitation device! Texan, $$$$ is all my paint booth has on yours! Mine was very very cheap to build. I forget what I have in it but it's less than $30.00 I think. Very easy to build too. I built it in a couple hours.

The downside to the PVC is the fittings are a little loose and it does move around a bit. When I use it again I'll glue the fittings into one of the joints. That will stiffen it up some.

Sean

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

Thanks, I've used it on several planes successfully. As you can see, it is simple to make and removes the stress of trying to find a place to store your wet fuse while drying. I believe it speeds up the process and has improved quality for me. Basically, I shoot paint while rotating the fuse. I find my coverage is more uniform.

CoosBayLumber

My Feedback: (1)

I am probably different. For I like to spray (anything) outside, when wind is down, sun is shining brightly, etc. That bright sunlight allows me to look over quite hard the object for any spraying errors like sagging, balding or general non-shineyness. I tried under bright lights indoor, and got the problems. So, went outside.

In you area mey be difficult, as the sun is not always up where you need it, too cold, etc. But wait then until spring or early summer.

Once you got the spray gun in hand, the compressor running, and paint still in the cup, then is easy to give the part which you thought finished, just one more quick shot. And then, clean it all up.

Wm.

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

I always seem to get bugs in my finish when I try that on large parts. Just bad luck I guess.

frequent flyer

My Feedback: (6)

BEWARE! I have a professional spray booth because the plastic sheets, pvc, etc. wal mart fans you guys describe are all adding up to an explosion and or fire! Very Bad idea what I have seen in this thread. I know becuase my friend had one of these type of setups and it blew up, threw him 60 feet out of a second story window and he was on fire. Not a pretty sight I'll tell you . Think again if you spray in some home made booth . You had better buy explosion proof motors and lights.

Redwulf__34

I spray only water based paints in mine. I'm assuming there is no risk of explosion with water based? I assume if the water based paint was in an aerosol can the aerosol could ignite. But when I mix and spray there should be no risk of explosion. (????)

Sean

dhal22

yeah, i'm only talking water based paint also.

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

Sorry to hear about your friend. I hope he had a full recovery. Perhaps you could share some photos of your professional booth.

I agree with taking steps to eliminate ignition sources. One thing I will say, having the proper air flow across the booth is critical as well as exhausting fumes outside and providing fresh incoming air. I researched OSHA requirements for air velocity and designed my booth to meet their safety specifications plus a safety margin. You can see the measurement in my pervious post. Here is a resource for consideration [link]http://www.ronjoseph.com/q&a/spraybooth.htm[/link]
I shoot solvent based paints and there is a significant risk that must be properly managed. Do your research and wear the appropriate respirator and stay safe.

dingo 570

Have you tried the new coating for foam from Industrial Polymers Corp Styrospray 1000. It contains
No solvents or water, makes a really tough plastic protecting coating that can be recoat with standard Krylon without damage to the underlaying foam. www.industrialpolymers.com