paint booths, worth it?

On this site you will find an article to build one yourself. I have some others and as I find them I will post them. The most expensive part is the squirrelcage fan, and its correct name is a shaded pole blower by the way (yeah I know it sounds so wrong!). These are not usually carried in home depots and lowes by the way (at least not according to there sites). You can find them at Graingers and places like them. Next is a filter, usually a furnass filter, then you need a box to put it all in. A paint booth is very necessary for airbrushing even with acrylics as these can also be harmful to your lu ngs. A resperator mask would also be a good investment.

Here's a cheap standby that can work (but I won't spray lacquers with it): take box fan and put it in a window blowing out.  Tape a furnace filter to the inside of the fan.  Airbrush your model in front of the fan.  The idea is that most of the overspray is trapped in the furnace filter from the air being sucked out of the room by the fan.  Make sense?

Jesse

Don't know what I'd do without one. Seriously. Mine's homebuilt and not the fanciest but it gets the job done. Don't know how much they've gone up but I paid about $65 for a 365 or 385cfm Dayton blower 5 years ago. I gave the plans to a friend and he cut up some scrap lumber he had on hand and even assembled it for me. The blower is mounted on the rear, there's a little door in the top to drop in a furnace filter, the roof is plexiglass and it has a full door. I bought 3 12" flourescent light fixtures that can be wired in series and mounted them inside the booth on the sidewalls and top.

Haven't cleaned up from the last project. Sorry. You'd think that after 5 years I would have painted the inside of the door huh? Look at it like this; with a booth and a tank or silent compressor you can paint whenever you want in a climate controlled environment. The blower is big enough on this booth that it will exhaust aerosols just fine too. I told myself I'd build a better one later but to be honest, I'm kind of attached to it.

Tony

I guess it all depends on what you mean by "worth it".

If you have a space where it doesn't matter about the fumes and overspray and have a respirator and there is no-one else who can be affected, or don't care if you and your family quickly become poisoned by the chemicals inherent in all paints. Then no, probably not.

Otherwise, yes they are. I built my own out of wood and it cost less than $150, and that includes the doors, fan and lights. If you aren't handy with tools, then consider that it isn't difficult to spend $35 on a kit. Only ten kits at that price will by an excellent paintbooth and respirator and give you peace of mind, and a safe place to spray paints. It's all about priorities. 

 

Will standard home filters filter out paints? I have trouble believing a basic HVAC filter will do the job. And, if it does, why would one need a shaded pole blower behind the filters? If the filter is good, there shouldn't be any risk of a spark & paint explosion.

 I guess my questions come down to: Is there a filter that I can find that will allow me to paint indoors? I don't have any problems finding a shaded pole blower, but I just want to know if the filters will work.

Joshua

Jabbe wrote:

Will standard home filters filter out paints? I have trouble believing a basic HVAC filter will do the job. And, if it does, why would one need a shaded pole blower behind the filters? If the filter is good, there shouldn't be any risk of a spark & paint explosion.  I guess my questions come down to: Is there a filter that I can find that will allow me to paint indoors? I don't have any problems finding a shaded pole blower, but I just want to know if the filters will work. Joshua

If the standard filter isn't enough just step up to a better 'allergy free' filter that has a smaller micron rating. The problem with going to a smaller micron filter is the amount of energy (CFM) they consume. Tighter fiber filter...more power needed to maintain the CFM flowing. I don't run a filter on my exhaust system...I just clean the impeller assembly occasionally. The most important reason to have an exhaust system is to remove vapors...hit a certain level (ppm) and an ignition could cause a flashover. And yes acrylic dust particulates can go boom too! If you're focused on the inhalation of particles, wear a respiratior in conjunction with using an exhaust system. If you do a lot of work using CA...an active exhaust system is important too...inhaling cyanide doesn't do the body good.