Let's See Everyone's Spray Booth Setups!

Here's my setup...

The booth is obviously homemade, built from melamine covered particle board that I recycled from an old closet organizer.  It sits on a workbench in my garage and is exhausted from a bathroom exhaust fan that vents via a flexible dryer duct to outside.  I think the fan is nominally rated at 110 CFM and it does a decent job in my garage.  When I build a booth for airbrushing while inside my house, I'll definitely use a larger fan.   

The compressor is a Badger 180-1 fitted with an aftermarket regulator/moitsure trap.  I have subsequently added an in-line misture trap as well.  I also have installed an adaptor on the Paasche so that it can attach to the Badger hose, so I don't have to switch hoses when switch airbrushes. 

The 180-1 does not have an on-off switch, so I wired the booth to include a switched outlet for the compressor.  The compressor always had a tendency to "walk" while in use, so I drilled counterbores for its rubber feet and used wire ties to hold it in place.  Ironcially, providing a stable location for the compressor and giving it a conveniet on/off switch was a major motivation for building the booth in the first place. 

Lighting is from three 18" fluorescents fixtures.  Although all the individual fixtures have have switches, I wired them up through a switch, so that a sigle switch turns them on and off.

Any items such as cleaning brushes, pipettes, etc, that get touched by paint thinner are stored in Tupperware bins to keep the smell down.  The booth and bins have made a huge difference in domestic tranquility!

Andy

rodc wrote:

Rod, do yourself a favor and shorten that hose setup so it's a straight line. Your fan will thank you for it. The straighter the run, and the smoother it is, the easier for the fan to move the air.

I'll post my setup later when I get home and can access all my pics...

Bill

Bill,

Thanks for the suggestion. This is the other thing I hoped for when I started the thread.........constructive criticism.......I will indeed shorten my vent hose.

Thanks,

RODC

Bill,

You beat me to the punch on shortening the exhaust duct.  Drats!

Andy,

A couple suggestions.  Since you're using an underpowered fan, you can still improve performance by 1) Closing in the top of the booth; fill that empty square with some plywood and seal it to make it airtight.  2) Removing those plastic boxes.  They create additional turbulence and reduce your overall airflow.  3)  Filling all those peg holes in the boards.  Nothing kills a booth's performance faster than leaks.

Hans von Hammer,

Uhhhhh, Okayyyyy.

Gip

Heres mine as for size it will hold a 1/72 U-Boat just fine, i have a hood vent for my out side ventalation there are there floruessent tube light on the sides and its attached to an old PC desk.

Hans von Hammer wrote:

I hold the model and squirt it with spray paint over a trash can in the hallway...

That cracked me up, I have this vision of some guy standing in the hallway wearing aviator goggles and dribbling paint all over his hands and a model.

Seriously though, thanks Rodc for starting this thread, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do for a spray booth, and I'm sure I'll get some good ideas from this thread.  For instance, the Gunze vent thing for venting out a cracked window looks perfect for my plan, and I never would have known they even made one... so thanks!

Aloha,

Justin 

Mine’s custom made using a kitchen hood:

That’s the Hasagawa 1:32 Stuka for size reference. It’s BIG, maybe too big for my usual builds. Though it sure was nice to be to place the Stuka inside and close the doors for drying.

I use a 14" fluorescent lighting fixture I hard-wired into the hood switch for lighting and the yellow hose exits through the back of the booth and outdoors to a 3 gallon tanked compressor. It vents directly through the wall through a standard 4” laundry vent.

It works pretty well, but it’s not perfect. It was originally built before I had a man-cave, and I could only spray outdoors, when the weather permitted. Can you imagine the whining I made? Now I’m pondering how best to convert it into a downdraft using a bilge fan I got for free.

Gip should be back to warn people away from using kitchen hoods, and he’s not wrong in doing so. I think I avoid blowing myself up by making sure the vent is free of “chuff” and always have good airflow.

I have this vision of some guy standing in the hallway wearing aviator goggles and dribbling paint all over his hands and a model.

Actually, you aren't far off the mark... 'Cept for the goggles, you're about right... 

Hans von Hammer wrote:

...I hold the model and squirt it with spray paint over a trash can in the hallway...

I shoot outside and keep the rest of the money in my pocket.

...I have this vision of some guy standing in the hallway wearing aviator goggles and dribbling paint all over his hands and a model....

Dribbling is for amatuers.

This is my booth.....still not wired or piped. Cost: $40 in sheetmetal (but I work with sheetmetal)

$110 (wholesale) for a 750 cfm centrifugal fan. (It's outside in my truck so no pics!) and another $20 in metal pipe to vent thru the window behind. The sizes are 36" across, 30" high and 30" deep. (Someday I will build a 1/48th B-29!) The compressor is a 2 gal tank Chinese Harbor Freight thing that works well......regulator and water filter, plus an in-line Bagder filter. I'll get it hooked up by winter Painting outdoors right now.

If you have a friend that works in HVAC and builds sheetmetal duct......there you have it!

It can be done! 

Well I almost hate to post my HIGH TECH setup. I really dont want anyone stealing my amazing plans for the booth. It took me many years to design this rig... LOL  NOT!!!

The booth reflects my painting skills. My skills STINK! But Im trying..

Here's that award winning booth.

My guns.

The compressor.

Kevin.....Kevin? The right-handed painter? Oh heck Spiral.....whatever works.....works!

Look at my sheetmetal beast...........never been used! When the weather starts getting cool.....well, the fan and lights go in the booth.

You are protecting the surroundings with that booth.......that's first priority! 

Spiralcity--

I'm sure you meant your post completely with tongue firmly planted in cheek; however, the setup you've displayed is actually one of the worst possible means of spraying.  What you are doing is concentrating the aerosols and vapors in the box as you spray.  The fluorescent light heats the aerosols and causes faster vapor evaporation and expansion; the bottom line is that you are increasing the potential for an overexposure to organic vapors using your current setup--regardless of whether you're spraying enamels or acrylics.  You really need to get rid of the box and get some sort of ventilation moving in your spray area.  Properly positioned fans, open windows, etc. go a long way toward reducing vapor concentrations and potential inhalation exposures.  An organic vapor respirator will help, too.

Just as a side note, the cardboard also increases the risk of fire.

Fenderman,

You stated, " You are protecting the surroundings with that booth.......that's first priority!"

Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Spray booths are engineering controls designed with two primary purposes in mind, to reduce the risk of fire or explosion, and to reduce the potential for overexposures to organic vapors and particulates.  Those are the first priorities.

In spiralcity's case, if protecting his surroundings is the first priority, there are better ways to do it, and at not so dear a cost.

Gip

styrene wrote:

Spiralcity-- I'm sure you meant your post completely with tongue firmly planted in cheek; however, the setup you've displayed is actually one of the worst possible means of spraying.  What you are doing is concentrating the aerosols and vapors in the box as you spray.  The fluorescent light heats the aerosols and causes faster vapor evaporation and expansion; the bottom line is that you are increasing the potential for an overexposure to organic vapors using your current setup--regardless of whether you're spraying enamels or acrylics.  You really need to get rid of the box and get some sort of ventilation moving in your spray area.  Properly positioned fans, open windows, etc. go a long way toward reducing vapor concentrations and potential inhalation exposures.  An organic vapor respirator will help, too. Just as a side note, the cardboard also increases the risk of fire.   Fenderman, You stated, " You are protecting the surroundings with that booth.......that's first priority!" Nothing could be further from the truth.  Spray booths are engineering controls designed with two primary purposes in mind, to reduce the risk of fire or explosion, and to reduce the potential for overexposures to organic vapors and particulates.  Those are the first priorities. In spiralcity's case, if protecting his surroundings is the first priority, there are better ways to do it, and at not so dear a cost. Gip

I spray directly in front of a wide open window plus I have one to my right with two fans blowing out. Lets be real, O.K. 

A side note: My light generates zero heat, I can grab it with my hand with absolutely no discomfort. As you can see the box is well used and it's one of many that I have used, same setup NO FIRE! Becuase there is no heat being generated anywhere.

Look closer at the photos posted.

Here's mine.  First is the over all view of my workbench. All my tools are stored in the drawer at the right side of my workbench. And the building materials in the plastic drawer on the workbench shelf.

On the left side of my workbench is the custom made spray booth. The booth has a 24" wide by 16" high opening and a 21" depth. With extract holes on the floor a home made "lazy susan".

 I like to spray standing. Before, the spray booth was mounted on the table height stand. But as I realized. I spent  less time seated while spraying.  So I asked one of my contructor to build me a new spray booth stand. I'm an Architect by day. So I designed a new stand that I feel needed to include.

A cabinet for airbrushing accessories.

A drawer for paint.

 A glass top for mixing paints and space for my compressor.

 And a small shelf for me to put my airbrush when cleaning and disassembling the unit. 

The fume is extracted by a 8" diameter fan with a 450 CFM power. I'm still trying to find a flexible duct for this unit. The size is not readily available in our area(Brunei). The spray booth is on casters for easy cleaning and rearrangement (my workbench is inside my rented bedroom). And I'm happy with it. And enjoying every minute of airbrushingwith it.

styrene wrote:

Fenderman, You stated, " You are protecting the surroundings with that booth.......that's first priority!" Nothing could be further from the truth.  Spray booths are engineering controls designed with two primary purposes in mind, to reduce the risk of fire or explosion, and to reduce the potential for overexposures to organic vapors and particulates.  Those are the first priorities. In spiralcity's case, if protecting his surroundings is the first priority, there are better ways to do it, and at not so dear a cost. Gip

I'm sorry this post got by me....your point is taken. I was referring to saving overspray from landing in unwanted areas......what idiot would smoke while painting? Damned if I know how I've used rattle-cans and other methods to paint since age 10 without blowing up the planet!

My spelling seems spot on, so I believe my brain works in that respect. 

Zircor,

These small magnetic lights are OK but they alone will not give enough light.  I would suggest mounting a small fluroescent fixture inside the spray booth and then use the small magnetic lights to provide brighter areas of illumination since they can be moved around easily inside the booth.

RODC

I have the Badger Spray Booth as it's smaller and fits on my bench better than the larger ones would. I am not sure if Gip would approve of it's design or CFM rating or not though.

I still am not sure what it's rating is as I haven't looked it up in a while. 

 Here's my mess

Set-up -

Here is what I got setup in my room.

The exhaust vent go's up into the attic and out a vent that was already up there to the out side.

I have just about all I need to start ABing right in reach.

Bud

Robert92562 wrote:

I have a question,(I hope its not to lame).when you guys paint does the over spray go outside and leave paint splater on the roof or window frame or where ever its exhausted.

No, because it goes through a filter that catches it. Anything that is not captured by the filter is dry as it exits and you see no signs of it.

Yea like MikeV said. It hit's the filter 1st and up and out with no paint anywere but the model and the filter.

Hope this helps

Bud

Bud,

That is a nice booth and a great setup but the hose is so long. Does it affect the exhaust capabilities of the motor? 

I see you have a window close by as do I. This is how I did mine and it's great as I can put it in and take it out as needed.

It is a thin sheet of plywood with weather stripping on the edges and I set it in the window sill and shut the sliding part of the window up against it. It has a flap on the back side that you can't see in the picture that keeps anything from coming up into it like you have on a clothes dryer exhaust on a house. 

Believe it or not, it does not affect the exhaust capabilities of the motor fan. it sucks it all up and out.

I see what you did and I was thinking about the same thing whe I was getting my room set up, but I went this was and it all works good.

Bud