| QUOTE: Just as an aside, who has had an explosion in their spray booth, and I don't mean third party hear say, I what to hear form the people that have accually had it happen. |
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There was one individual who did experience such an incident who was once a member of this forum. Perform a forum search; the topic should be there.
| QUOTE: All this paranoia about the amout of vapor produced while doing hobby scale painting and the resulting explosion that will occur... |
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| QUOTE: Too much paranoia about exploding fans!! |
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| QUOTE: ...agree with the fact that theres too much paranoia about exploding fans, |
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You guys are funny. You sound like a bunch of conspiracy theorists.
The bottom line here is not paranoia, but how much risk are you willing to accept? Booths are designed for two specific reasons: (1) To prevent a fire, and (2) To eliminate or reduce the potential for inhalation exposures to the vapors and particulates produced during painting operations. I will be the first to admit that given the amount of paint that I put through an artists' airbrush during any given session, compared to the amount of air being moved through many home-made booths such as those mentioned on this forum, the resultant likelihood of fire or personal exposure is pretty much nil. However, once the spray cans of lacquer come out, or a Binks spray gun is used on that 1/8 or larger scale kit, the hazard potentials change dramatically.
The folks that developed the criteria for booth design and performance weren't paranoid psycho-schizophrenics. They were part of the painting and coatings industry--and a whole lot smarter than I am. They realized that there is great variability in painting functions, and sought to develop minimum standards that would provide adequate protection in the majority of painting and coating situations. Was some of it excessive? Possibly in some situations; but a lot of risk assessment went in to those developmental aspects. If you buy a spray booth off the shelf today from reputable dealers, you get the benefit of the work these folks accomplished.
Therefore, building a homemade booth should closely follow the standards set by the people who originally understood the chemistry and physics of what happens when controls are and are not adequate. By doing so, you are accepting a reasonable amount of risk. Obviously, no one is forcing you to follow anything. You have the freedom to do what you want, and make your own choices. But know this: At some point the statistical probabilities will catch up with you. If the risk you've chosen to accept is reasonable based on your applications, then you've nothing to worry about. If, on the other hand....
One final statement and I'll shut up. I agree with the statement that "anything worth doing is worth doing well". The statement takes on renewed meaning when the safety of myself, my family and where and how we live is at stake. When I offer advice on building spray booths, or anything dealing with exposures and prevention, I am putting almost 20 years of professional safety and industrial hygiene behind those recommendations. I cannot do less.
If you want to build a spray booth, then build one. If you want to build a toy, have at it.
Gip Winecoff