Anyone Have a Set of Plans to Build a Spraybooth

I don't have any plans per se, but the photos below give an idea of what I did.  I cobbled the thing together out of white melamine covered particle board that in a previous life had been a closet organizer.  I vent it with a bathroom exhaust fan.  Light is provided by three 18" undercounter fluorescent lights.  The compressor plugs into an outlet that is located under it.  The fan, lights, and outlet are individually switched.  All the power for it is supplied via a heavy-duty extension cord.  There's a little storage room under the switches to hold my jars of thinner.  Be creative, and good luck!

Andy

Check this link out....

http://www.briansmodelcars.com/tutorials/tutorial.asp?TutorialID=23&CurPage=1

Andy I like your idea of an open area at the top. It would make it easier to see what you are doing.   Greg

http://blackrook.net/workshop.spraybooth.php -- this was my project.

NOTE:  I am replacing this little fan with a brushless one, on the advice of guys around here.  The danger is explosion due to combustion of chemicals in the fan engine.

Guys,

Thanks for the info.  I will consider all ideas when I plan my booth and will paste some pictures when I get it done!

Cheers,

RODC

I think the open top makes it less efficient unless you have a really powerful fan.

MikeV wrote:

I think the open top makes it less efficient unless you have a really powerful fan.

Certainly having more open area would have to reduce the draft over a given area.  The exhaust fan is reasonably decent, and since I built the thing it has done a pretty good job of controlling the smell, thus I am assuming the vapors as well.  About the only time that it seems to get overwhelmed is when I have used my Paasche H and its large #5 tip to varnish display stands.  When I am doing that, I probably am spraying two to three times the volume rate as I do when airbrushing enamels.

One tradeoff in its favor though is because of its open on top, I can place the model deep into it and still get over the top of what I am painting, so possibly some of the inefficiencied of the draft may be partially offset by painting deeper within it than would be possible if I had closed off the top.  Who knows?  Maybe some day I'll try lighting some smokey incense sticks to try and see how the air circulation goes.

Andy

If your looking for somthing CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP try this.....

http://www.briansmodelcars.com/tutorials/tutorial.asp?TutorialID=65&CurPage=1

That's what I have planed for me till I can get a real one.

Good Luck

Bud

 

rodc, you might want to check this out which I found on FSM & I've downloaded a set already
http://www.finescale.com/fsm/default.aspx?c=se

Hey Hippy-Ed

I clicked your link but it only takes me to an empty search page in the FSM website.  I tried searching for "spraybooth" but returned no hits!!!

Could you tell me what you found or how I could view what you referred to?

Thanks,

RODC

rodc wrote:

Hey Hippy-Ed I clicked your link but it only takes me to an empty search page in the FSM website.  I tried searching for "spraybooth" but returned no hits!!! Could you tell me what you found or how I could view what you referred to? Thanks, RODC

Ok, It was in the articles Archives. May 2002 issue of FSM  Paul Boyer did an article on "Compact Spray Booth.

Also, what I actually downloaded was "Build your own spray booth" by Bob Beary(which  was a Finescale Moderler Special Pull out Section)
I went back to look at it after reading this & noticed I didn't print it out to where I could read it & I deleted it from my computer. I dunno what happened to the download as I looked & tried several different things.

i have a couple of sketches i did for a fellow member of my ship modeling club in colorado http://www.rkymtnshipwrights.org. he built one that is collapsible. there are few specific dimensions as he was using scrap wood from his shop but i gives you an idea. it has a blower that vents externally so it needs to ne near a window or you need a reeeeally long hose. drop me an email. i have already gotten permission to share this and habve sent plans off to another person.

This is my home made booth, which only cost about £30 in all. There's a bathroom extractor fan at the back, so it's probably not the best idea to spray flammable solvents directly into it (you could put a filter in front of the fan). I then have a normal tumble dryer airhose going out the window. I put a kitchen light behind the front panel as well so it gives you nice illumination for working. It does very well for me, really happy about it. I've uploaded the plans here in PDF-format. The measurements are in millimeters but that's easily converted (1 inch=25.4 millimeters).

Here's a photo of it:

NikToo, that looks pretty good Looks too clean for a paint booth Have you even used it yet? j/k

Hippy-Ed wrote:

NikToo, that looks pretty good Looks too clean for a paint booth Have you even used it yet? j/k

That was when it was new, you should see it now. I've developed a habit of testing the airflow on a paper underneath, so it's covered in painted newspaper, wads of kitchen paper, bottles, paints, water, brushes, tools, and so on.

NikToo wrote:

Hippy-Ed wrote: NikToo, that looks pretty good Looks too clean for a paint booth Have you even used it yet? j/k That was when it was new, you should see it now. I've developed a habit of testing the airflow on a paper underneath, so it's covered in painted newspaper, wads of kitchen paper, bottles, paints, water, brushes, tools, and so on.

A photo is worth a 1,000 words So, show us the pics

Hi all. I am in the works on making a Spray Booth and " NikToo " has a GREAT one that I am going to try to make, with my add on's  hehhehehe

The thing I need to ask now is what type of fan is a good one to use for this ? Other them the fan I think I for it.

Thank all

Bud

Thanks. I just use a bathroom extractor fan. Works pretty good, although I use a filter mask as well. Look forward to seeing your modifications. Might have to update my booth.

Here are a couple of pictures of mine that I built with from the design that H2O_MARK mentioned above:

NikToo wrote:

Works pretty good, although I use a filter mask as well.

If you're having to wear a respirator, then your booth is not working pretty good.  Part of the purpose of a booth as an engineering control is to eliminate the need for personal protective equipment like respirators.

Just my 2 pennies, but in looking at your booth, I would submit that the fan is placed too high and too far forward near the booth face to be very effective.  If I were a betting man, I'd bet that every time you spray, the vapors simply "backwash" out of the booth and into your breathing zone; I would not be confident that the current setup is providing very much (if any) capture of any airborne contaminants.  In addition, the bathroom fan you're using is inefficient for the purpose you are applying it towards.  I'm assuming you have your fan connected to exhaust ducting that terminates outside.  If not, you're pumping any exhausted contaminants back into your workspace.

Your basic booth design looks really good.  I would lose the bathroom fan, and install a good shaded-pole motor in the back of the booth--no computer/oven/range/bathroom fans.  Centrifugal ("squirrel cage") fans with backward inclined (curved) blades are quite efficient, seem to be pretty good for modeling operations, and come in a variety of cfm sizes to fit your particular application. 

Gip Winecoff

I still use a respirator with the booth I just posted.  Technically, I don't think my blower is big enough, it's a 265.  I do think it does a pretty good job, but I'm not sure if I trust it enough not to use a respirator when using enamel paints.

styrene wrote:

If you're having to wear a respirator, then your booth is not working pretty good.  Part of the purpose of a booth as an engineering control is to eliminate the need for personal protective equipment like respirators...

I concur completely, for the most part. The fan ventilates to a hose going out of a window just behind the booth. Since it's a garden shed I also have the door open (which is right next to the booth on the left) so there's a constant airflow. I realise that the fan is somewhat underpowered but it was a case of finding something to do a somewhat decent job at a minimum of cost. It is, however, quite a good little fan, when I spray with the sun coming in I can't see any vapor drifting around, unless I'm trying to spray varnish on the flies in there... I also only spray acrylics at low pressure, which aren't as harmful as enamels, and when I spray cleaner through the brush I do so into a jar which I hold right under the fan (and it's quite visible that all cleaner vapors go out the fan).

It's a case of finding a balance for what you consider 'safe' use of the booth. For me, I find my design works quite well. If I was spraying large models with enamels, thinners and other harmful stuff, I'd go with something bigger. A friend of mine even sprays without any form of ventilation or mask, but then he chain smokes while airbrushing so I guess the tar has already blocked his lungs up.

On the whole though, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Ventilation is a major factor and if I was building a better booth, ventilation would be the main thing I'd focus on.

Here is mine - to give you some more ideas...
http://www.finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/539748/ShowPost.aspx

thevinman wrote:

Here is mine - to give you some more ideas... http://www.finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/539748/ShowPost.aspx

Hey Vinny, the link isn't working. You might want to try it again.

Hippy-Ed wrote:

thevinman wrote: Here is mine - to give you some more ideas... http://www.finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/539748/ShowPost.aspx Hey Vinny, the link isn't working. You might want to try it again.

Thanks - I fixed it.