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Building a Paint Booth


RacerX

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Those homemade plastic sheet booths can get it done as long as you make sure you have the inside clean as possible. And once you've used it you have overspray stuck on the plastic that will come off and ruin other jobs so dont plan on using it more than once or twice without replacing the plastic. Be careful of fume buildup too because the lighting your using isnt rated for that kind of use and a spark during spray can blow you out of the booth and burn you good without good airflow!

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I didn't mention that the inside of the booth is lined with .6 mill plastic sheeting so that it could easily be replaced after all the priming is done. Yes, I am aware (thanks for mentioning it) of the overspray sticking to the plastic which is why it is double lined. When we're ready to spray final color new plastic sheeting will be remounted on the inside. The outside has the 6 mil clear heavy plastic.

 

There are no lights inside the booth - the fumes evacuate well enough so there isn't alot of volatile material in the air for very long. Again, thanks for bringing up those facts! It is a fully encapsulated paint booth!

 

Ernie/RacerX

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Looks very close to what I made to get my car in primer! Worked out very well! I don't think I even spent that much on mine. Those 7' 2x4's are pretty cheap! Nice job!

 

About the exploding booth, I wish "Mythbusters" would do that one on one of there shows!

 

Guy

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I did something similar to Ernie, except that I used 1/2" and 3/4" PVC pipe. It was easy to build (just glue together, and in some places I simply pressed the pieces together) to build the frame and some of the structures used to hold the parts for painting. The only change I would make is the use 4 fans instead of the two that I used.

I found that the heavier films of plastic sheeting had a film of silicone on them, so be sure this does not touch any parts being painted.

The wife was happier about this than I was. No overspray anywhere. The "allergy" grade A/C filters I placed on the exhaust and intake fans worked well in cleaning the intake air, and capturing overspray in the exhaust air, but again doubling up on both would have been better (Walmart had them for $14 a piece which is insignificant compared to paint costs.

 

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the plastic is actually really nice to have in a booth. it draws all the paint away from the car, and reduces the overspray on the body. my early spray booths were like that. now i finally built a permenat one, insulated and all. i still put a small sheet of plastic on the wall to draw any dust and particles to it. you may want to put filters on your fans to avoid being spotted in the neighborhood, and making your garage and house the color of the paint job.

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Thanks Ernie and Terry!

 

I will be doing this soon...at least I hope so. I think I may go the route of using PVC as it would be easier to put up and take down for future use. It looks like it works well to create stands as well.

 

A question regarding the fans. I only have one now, how many should I ultimately use and how many for intake and how many for exhaust? It looks like Ernie used two to exhaust the fumes, but nothing for intake? Terry, you mentioned upgrading to four and it sounds like you would use two intake and two exhaust.

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this is great thanks for some guidlines guys. there's a shed on the side of my house about the size of a one car garage only longer, until now i figured i would just turn it into storage for the projects in the wings as we build our shop. if i were to put some 12'' floor fans (maybe two drawing and two blowing like bart was saying) and a PCV frame inside the shed lined with heavy mill plastic... would that work? what kind of heating is required to ensure a proper dry?

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this is great thanks for some guidlines guys. there's a shed on the side of my house about the size of a one car garage only longer, until now i figured i would just turn it into storage for the projects in the wings as we build our shop. if i were to put some 12'' floor fans (maybe two drawing and two blowing like bart was saying) and a PCV frame inside the shed lined with heavy mill plastic... would that work? what kind of heating is required to ensure a proper dry?

 

As long as the products and reducers match the weather your painting in heat isnt an issue. I personally suggest ( having been a painter/bodyman) is that you shoot for 70-85 degrees and low humidity. I never had the luxury of a "baking booth" so dry time was slower which allows more flow-out if you use the right reducers... Also allows more surface trash so make sure your area is closed off well from traffic as it stirs dust and you have to resist the urge to keep going in and out to admire the job..LOL !

Also make sure you cut off all lights immediately!! after your done so you dont end up with "critters" in the paint.

I had a gypsy moth about the size of a freaking small bat flop around on a hood and roof one night and ruin a customer job!!:shock:

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Bart,

 

The intake filter was going to have a fan blowing air thru and into the booth initially. After I had fabricated the exhaust filter frame and the exhaust fan mounts - I turned the fans on to see how well they pulled air from inside the booth. I went inside and took a spray gun with basecoat, then sprayed a small part near the intake filter. To my amazement you could actually see the overspray drift in the direction of the exhaust filters - jus like a regulation P-booth!

 

I then went and got an aerosol can of zero rust primer. I started to spray the underside of the fender you see suspended in the above photo, and the draw of the overspray was so strong that it almost prevented the spray can paint from reaching the panel and needed to bring the spray can closer to the panel! So, there was no need to blow air thru the intake side - at least in this case.

 

Please understand that the different materials you spray, primer surfacer, basecoat, topcoat clear or single stage color, etc., will have different characteristics in the way it is drawn out by vacuum. This is due to the difference in weight between the different materials.

 

As for heating - I'd recommend painting when the ambient temps are above 65 degrees!

 

Hope this helps!

 

Terry - thanks for sharing those photos - I hadn't had the opportunity to see those previously. Hope all is well with you and family!!

 

Ernie/RacerX

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I had a gypsy moth about the size of a freaking small bat flop around on a hood and roof one night and ruin a customer job!!:shock:

 

ouch it's great to have experienced guys who've been through this stuff willing to help out those of us who haven't been there, done that. i'm going to try setting the shed up then build a frame and such inside it, i don't own the house so i don't want to set up something permanent yet, if i need help i know where to turn!!:wink:

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Bart,

 

The intake filter was going to have a fan blowing air thru and into the booth initially. After I had fabricated the exhaust filter frame and the exhaust fan mounts - I turned the fans on to see how well they pulled air from inside the booth. I went inside and took a spray gun with basecoat, then sprayed a small part near the intake filter. To my amazement you could actually see the overspray drift in the direction of the exhaust filters - jus like a regulation P-booth!

 

I then went and got an aerosol can of zero rust primer. I started to spray the underside of the fender you see suspended in the above photo, and the draw of the overspray was so strong that it almost prevented the spray can paint from reaching the panel and needed to bring the spray can closer to the panel! So, there was no need to blow air thru the intake side - at least in this case.

 

Please understand that the different materials you spray, primer surfacer, basecoat, topcoat clear or single stage color, etc., will have different characteristics in the way it is drawn out by vacuum. This is due to the difference in weight between the different materials.

 

As for heating - I'd recommend painting when the ambient temps are above 65 degrees!

 

Hope this helps!

 

Terry - thanks for sharing those photos - I hadn't had the opportunity to see those previously. Hope all is well with you and family!!

 

Ernie/RacerX

Thanks for the explanation. I don't know why I didn't notice it the first time I read your post, but now I see that you had an intake filter built into one of your walls. Your testing results seem to indicate that the exhaust fans are able to draw the air in through the intake quite well.

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