No time to build spraybooth. What to buy?

Bought mine from Pace paintbooths. Works great, and they're relatively reasonable.

Go PACE. One nice thing about Pace, they'll customize your unit to meet your needs. Sure you can buy an off the shelf unit but if you have some a unique situation such as your exhaust vent it twenty feet from where your booth is going to be setup, let them know and they can make adjustments to give your booth optimum performance. Yes, there may be a slight difference in cost, but in the end it performs.

I was all set to buy a Pace 24" Super mini and then read all kinds of negative opinions about it in other threads: Underpowered, flimsy, etc. etc. Any comments on that?

I believe I have the 24... It's DEFINATELY not underpowered, it sucks the paint right outta there. I have it on a wood table-like-thing, so it's on a solid base. Not flimsy at all, it's rather strong. Not sure who you were talking to, but as an owner I am VERY pleased with it.

Great to hear! There was another thread on here where people did all kinds of calculations, pretty much arriving at the conclusion that it is underpowered and that it is made very flimsy. I now know what to get. Anyone else with this 24" PACE? Thanks!

Where do you get filters for this one? How much are they and how long do they last?

Get mine for $2-3 at the Home Depot. The more you spray, the less time they last. Mine usually last 3-4 months, but I use my spraybooth MAYBE weekly, even once every 2 weeks. Also depends on your paints and such. In retrospect, I think mine might have a more powerful motor than the stock one. My dad ordered another motor... I'm not sure if he swapped the better one for my booth and the under-powered one on our dryer. I'll ask him. But really, you don't need THAT much power to suck the fumes out, unless you're a long way from your exhaust port. If anything, you can buy a better motor and install it. Good luck!

Boba,

Would you mind measuring yours' width? Is it really the 24" Super mini? According to Pace it's one of the booths with no lighting included.

Thx

Just looked at it, Mine is actually the 20 inch mini.

http://www.pacepaintbooths.com/pace/

one at the very top. Mine does not have lighting, but apparently the super-mini has 2 75 watt lights. The 20inch is really all you need though.

If you don't want to deal with ducting there are some booths with charcoal filters available, but you will pay a lot more for them. The nice thing with the Pace booths is they use standard furnace filters available at most hardware stores for a few dollars. Many of the other hobby booths use specialized filters available only from the manufacturer.

There is a modular portable booth I saw advertised that looked interesting. It folds up into a briefcase sized box (with a handle). You can also use more than one connected together to make a larger booth. I don't know anyone who has actually used one though to know if they are any good. It seemed like a nice idea for people without a lot of space.

As far as recommendations, I've heard good things from many who own Pace booths (regardless of what the math says about the fan capacity), but I built my own so can't speak from personal experience.

Personally I really think it is worth at least considering doing it yourself, you will get a lot more booth for a lot less money. Not including drawing up the design and shopping for materials, it only took me about 1 day to build my booth and it should outlast me.

Aaronw

If you don't want to deal with ducting there are some booths with charcoal filters available, but you will pay a lot more for them. The nice thing with the Pace booths is they use standard furnace filters available at most hardware stores for a few dollars. Many of the other hobby booths use specialized filters available only from the manufacturer.

You will need the charcoal filter if you do not have ventilation to the outside. Yes, those specialized filters are expensive, but necessary. The standard furnace filters hardly do anything and will dump all the paint particles right back into the room if it is not vented.

Some Artograph user said that the charcoal filter lasted a fair amount of time. But........

I do agree with you that if one is thinking Pace, he should consider DIY.

I have a Paasche...the 22" in the link.  It has served me well through the years.  One can get it cheaper than the posted price via the internet.

http://www.paascheairbrush.com/booths_hssb.html

keilau

Aaronw:

If you don't want to deal with ducting there are some booths with charcoal filters available, but you will pay a lot more for them. The nice thing with the Pace booths is they use standard furnace filters available at most hardware stores for a few dollars. Many of the other hobby booths use specialized filters available only from the manufacturer.

 

You will need the charcoal filter if you do not have ventilation to the outside. Yes, those specialized filters are expensive, but necessary. The standard furnace filters hardly do anything and will dump all the paint particles right back into the room if it is not vented.

Some Artograph user said that the charcoal filter lasted a fair amount of time. But........

I do agree with you that if one is thinking Pace, he should consider DIY.

Sorry incomplete thoughts combined on my end. I was pointing out there are ductless spraybooths that use charcoal filters. Then (and not intended to compare with the ductless booths) pointing out that the Pace booths use cheap easily purchased furnace filters, while many comparable hobby booths use brand specific filters. I did not mean to imply furnace filter = charcoal filter, you are correct the only real value of the furnace filter is trapping over spray. It does little to nothing about the fumes, but if you are venting outside overspray is really all you care about so you don't coat the ducts and outside of the house with paint. 

WRT filters, I purchase Purity filters at Walmart.  The beauty is you can cut it to size.  One 20" X 25" filter costs around $8.00 and I can get three filters out of it.  Also, it has a sheet of charcoal incorporated into the furnace-like filter.  But I am not a fan of ductless....vapors would scare me and I never trust the filter would catch it all....but that is just me.

Since the 20 and 24 inch Pace both use the same cfm blower, I would think the 20" will have better suction than the 24, right?

vaw1975

Since the 20 and 24 inch Pace both use the same cfm blower, I would think the 20" will have better suction than the 24, right?

I would assume so, since the booth is also enclosed on both sides. that helps. Honestly, the extra 4 inches really don't do much, and the 20In is cheaper.

I am on the opposite end of the spectrum.  I'm new to airbrushing and don't have the budget to purchase a lot of  equipment.  So, I built my own spraybooth.  I built it from some particle board I had at home.  It is 20" high, 40" wide at the front and 20" wide at the back,  20" deep.  The sides are 8" deep before they angle to the back wall.  The back wall is 20" x 20" and holds a filter.  I'm using acrylics so I'm not too concerned about fumes.  I'm sure I'll have to purchase a professional spraybooth at some point, but this works great for me for now as I learn what I'm doing.  I'll try to post some photos

Craig

I think building one is the way to go. You can have doors on it so you can store the painted model. I built one with a dayton blower and it works great and it uses furbnace filters cut in half. i believe the plans were in FSM but I dont remember the issue.

Bill