Paint Booths & Safe Ventilation?

[ewetwo]

Nice.

 

[ratdoggy]

Just built one out of some scrap wood, An Ebay hot water heater power vent, a furnace filter, Amazon LED light and some PVC pipe. Probably have around $50 in it. The most expensive part was the bench it's on...We all know how expensive a couple of 2X4s are lately 🙂

 

[bill-e-boy]

Spent a bit of time this morning tidying up and setting up the spray booth

Front overview shot shows booth the the top, hot box at bottom right and compressor bottom left, Drawer has airbrush parts, paint bottles and general stuff

The air regulator at the top is set up for two airbrushes

Shot from the left shows storage bins and compressor below

The hot box has a light on a dimmer and a circulation fan for paint curing - acts the same as a dehydrator

I built this years ago but had to tip it on its side to work here. Just having something roomy to let the paint dry without dust getting at it is a godsend

The storage are to the left has bins and space for the cyclone separator - used for purging the air brush when cleaning. It is half full of kitty liter which soaks up the liquid

And finally - the spray booth in all its glory. There is a filter behind the sacrificial cloths which are held in place by six spring clips

The LED strip light gives out heaps of light helped by the white walls. It has a reflector fitted so that the light does not shine into my eyes when working

The booth was made up from custom wood boards then painted. The fan I have had for a while and was a NOS fan I picked up from a swap meet. The adaptor for the exhaust hose was made from a home brew kit can that was the perfect diameter for the job

I am an electrician so that helped when I wired it all up

   

 

The paint booth and two airbrushes are all set to go

 

 

[W Humble]

I not only have painted some show-quality 1/1 cars over the last 50 years, I've been blowing paint on model cars since about 1960, but I worked in a PPG paint store as a retirement job, and I can tell you that there is no really safe way to paint with air-sprayed materials.  Even water-based aren't good to breathe, but at least don't contain cyanide-affiliated materials -- I don't think!  You always run some risk, never doubt it!

I usually use catalyzed PPG or similar 1/1 materials, but have a place to shoot that is not confined; eg., some air flow exists at all times.  I don't think I could do a good finish in a little spray-booth box, frankly. I wear gloves and the best face mask respirator money can buy! Lots of light is essential of course, but also access to the subject from all angles. 

I have a pair of really nice Iwata brushes, but do most of my shooting with the little purple Harbor Freight gravity gun that they sell cheaply.  I love my old DeVilbiss EGA 'finger gun' but it is a 1971 acquisition -- and the darned fluid tip gaskets are so expensive!  Yes, I generally clear-coat with PPG DC660 or 661; it's pretty obvious, but at the last show, several club members wanted to know how I got my gloss...   😁!

I almost never use rattle-cans: I don't trust the paint quality, firstly, then there is so little control over the actual spray itself; no adjustments.  The old PreVal system is a reasonable compromise; at least one can use 2-stage materials! Off the shelf aerosols; only if I find a color that I can't duplicate otherwise.  Too many disappointments!

[W Humble]

Oh, also, most 1/1 paint suppliers will give or sell cheap mis-matched or over-age paints to grown-ups; you'd be amazed...!!

[Zippi]

I thought I would give an update to my new Spray booth and how I vented it.  I thought I had a post on here but couldn't find it.  I really didn't want to put a spray booth in my garage due to over spray and my 49 Chevy 1:1 is parked in the garage and I spend a lot of time in my garage as it is also my model building area.  I bought a dual fan spray booth for the extra exhaust power to move the air straight up as I vented it straight up through the ceiling into the attic.  Also the dual fan units are bigger in size.  I was concerned about paint getting into the attic so I wrapped two paint stirring sticks to the end of the exhaust tube and then wrapped paper towels around the sticks.  I've now had my spray booth up and running for about 3 month and it's been used a lot.  I just went up into the attic today to check the paper towels I wrapped around the end of the exhaust tube.  I see no trace of paint on the paper towels so the filter inside the spray booth is doing it's job.  I also have not felt any over spray on anything in the garage.  I'm a happy camper.

[Pete J.]

17 hours ago, Zippi said:

I thought I would give an update to my new Spray booth and how I vented it.  I thought I had a post on here but couldn't find it.  I really didn't want to put a spray booth in my garage due to over spray and my 49 Chevy 1:1 is parked in the garage and I spend a lot of time in my garage as it is also my model building area.  I bought a dual fan spray booth for the extra exhaust power to move the air straight up as I vented it straight up through the ceiling into the attic.  Also the dual fan units are bigger in size.  I was concerned about paint getting into the attic so I wrapped two paint stirring sticks to the end of the exhaust tube and then wrapped paper towels around the sticks.  I've now had my spray booth up and running for about 3 month and it's been used a lot.  I just went up into the attic today to check the paper towels I wrapped around the end of the exhaust tube.  I see no trace of paint on the paper towels so the filter inside the spray booth is doing it's job.  I also have not felt any over spray on anything in the garage.  I'm a happy camper.

 

Not being critical but just a thought.  Not too sure about venting a paint booth into an enclosed space like an attic is really safe.  Although particulates are one of the reasons you use a paint booth, toxic and potentially explosive vapors are the other and the filter on your booth don't do anything about those going into your attic.  Just me, but if I had put the work you have into your paint booth I would go the extra step to run the vent outside. 

 

 

 

 

[W Humble]

Boy, sanitary!  My work area is also tidy -- occasionally!

You're right, no one wants spray-paint effluvia, it has a lot of bad attributes related to solvents and the various chemical bases of 2-part materials.  However, at the volume that your little spray operation must produce, whether with rattle cans or airbrush, it isn't likely that society will be demanding air-quality standards!  Just don't breathe the stuff!

I just spray most of mine in the open, while wearing a good mask, oc; when I look at an airbrush cup 1/3 full, I know I'm not making much of an impact on the atmosphere, even when using 2K finishes.  One half ounce once a month, on average, plus some rattle-can primer/surfacer occasionally.

Don't you experience some problems with the angles available on a turn-table platform, in getting paint just where you want it?  The reverse tongs tool that MicroMark sells is okay, but not self-supportive.  My solution (cheap and dirty, I suppose) is to tack two paint stir-sticks to the sides of a scrap of 4X4" lumber, mask the base, and carefully tape the car body to the uprights (interior, of course) to allow manipulating it for oblique angles, etc.  Only once did this flop on me, and a '60 JoHan Chrysler that I salvaged (to make a pro-stock CHP car, on the Mono Duke's Charger chassis) came unstuck and broke of 1/4" of the tips of it's fins!!  Rebuilding those!  The heavy wood makes a stable base for the drying cycle, and even used stir-stick serve!  Just my way.  Wick

[Zippi]

5 hours ago, Pete J. said:

 

Thanks.  I appreciate your concern.  My exhaust tube is pointed at the perforated sofit and I have 2 foot overhangs so it doesn't bother me.

[thegeneralbushdiy]

Is acrylic suitable in model cars?

[thegeneralbushdiy]

No, the Badger airbrush is not explosion proof.

[NOBLNG]

1 hour ago, thegeneralbushdiy said:

Is acrylic suitable in model cars?

Yes.

1 hour ago, thegeneralbushdiy said:

No, the Badger airbrush is not explosion proof.

??? I don’t recall an airbrush ever exploding.🤔 The fumes created by spraying lacquer or solvent based paints may ignite if they are in high enough concentration and exposed to a spark or flame though.

Edited February 1, 2023 by NOBLNG

[NOBLNG]

On 7/14/2022 at 11:47 AM, W Humble said:

Don't you experience some problems with the angles available on a turn-table platform, in getting paint just where you want it?  The reverse tongs tool that MicroMark sells is okay, but not self-supportive.

I made these from a piece of 1”x4” and a coat hanger. Pretty much free to make, and easy access to spraying inside and out.🙂

Edited February 1, 2023 by NOBLNG

[Joe Nunes]

3 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

I made these from a piece of 1”x4” and a coat hanger. Pretty much free to make, and easy access to spraying inside and out.🙂

Nice idea.  I'll be making a couple of these for my own use.  Thanks for sharing the photo.

Joe

Edited February 1, 2023 by Joe Nunes

[Dale361]

Glad I saw this thread. A lot of neat ideas! Figured I'd share mine too. Just wish I would have made it bigger. I had to laugh. The date on the newspaper is Feb 6th, 2000! (I didn't see the dang cobwebs until I looked at photo!)

[Sonorandog]

I just got a new spray booth.  This is my first down draft model.  So far it is great!  I was just playing around a little with it today and it sucked all the fumes away.  Can’t ask for more than that.  It is an Artograph 1530.

[W Humble]

Always wondered how those booths worked when you need 360-deg coverage, or even 'in the round' coverage:  for aircraft for instance?  You still have to handle the model, etc.?  Old Philistine that I am (in rural area) I still spray 'al fresco' and mount my car bodies on a thingie that holds the body from the underside so I can pick it up and spray from my best angle.  Aircraft -- doing some for the first time in 65 years -- are trickier; some kind of clamp-mount like a pylon, and then clamp that in a vice or something to let it cure/dry.  Looks neat.  Wick

[stitchdup]

11 minutes ago, W Humble said:

Always wondered how those booths worked when you need 360-deg coverage, or even 'in the round' coverage:  for aircraft for instance?  You still have to handle the model, etc.?  Old Philistine that I am (in rural area) I still spray 'al fresco' and mount my car bodies on a thingie that holds the body from the underside so I can pick it up and spray from my best angle.  Aircraft -- doing some for the first time in 65 years -- are trickier; some kind of clamp-mount like a pylon, and then clamp that in a vice or something to let it cure/dry.  Looks neat.  Wick

you can get holders that have a rotating base. or you can use rotating cake stands.old record turntable

[W Humble]

Les, still seems awkward, huh?  Think I'll stick with my Flintstone method! I still prefer 1/1 auto finishes, and teensy spray guns, too!   Wick

[ewetwo]

I don't know if I saw this video in this forum or where but felt it would be worth posting here for people with no way to exhaust the paint fumes outside. I haven't tried it myself.