DIY vs. Commercial Spray Booth?
Hi All,
I followed JeremyR's thread on the Pace booth with interest, and the ending posts in the thread seemed to conclude that it might be a wash in terms of cost on DIY vs. commercial. Although I'm not yet airbrushing, it is something that I have been noodling on, and a critical consideration is the spray booth. I have read many, if not most of the posts on this subject.
In terms of DIY, the capacity (CFM) of the fan appears to be contingent on size of booth, length of exhaust ducting, and diameter of exhaust ducting. In any case, it seems that one is looking at something on the order of at least 200 CFM and upwards to 400-500 CFM for a squirrel cage fan (which seems to be the consensus for safety). I have not been able to track down such a fan for less than about US$120-150 for the 200 CFM size (I reside in the States). Does this seem reasonable? Are there any cheaper sources? I would likely order from an online source as this is a specialty item and not something your Lowes or Home Depot carries.
If I were working in a well-vented area (patio or garage with a fan), would it be reasonable to use a non-squirrel cage fan? Or is the simple contact of paint stream with the fan the only consideration?
I've seen some posts on using the type of fan used in cooling computers as an option? Do these have enough CFM to utilize? Are they shielded or grounded in a manner to be considered "safe"?
For the record, I would be generally using acrylics, but one wants to be able to have the flexibility for other types as well.
Thanks in advance. Cheers, Rick