Plans for spray booth

Hi everyone.

I have a smallish area in my basement with access to an old unused 4" dryer vent through the wall. I am thinking of making a small spray booth so I can finish rockets during the cold months. Does anybody have some plans or ideas to help me out?

I have quite a bit of 3/4" junk ply lying about along with other scrap things - 2x4, cardboard, etc. Cobbling together something which looks like an airbrush booth seems pretty easy - so easy that I suspect I'm missing something.

What should I use for a vent fan? Should it be mounted on the side at the top or bottom? Or should I try to make a downdraft table? what about a filter?

Thanks for the advice.

Kevin

Kevin,

Search this forum for some good information. I looked into this a year ago and found some good info here.

I'm actually planning to make a booth of sorts as well. Got an electrician coming out next week to give an estimate on running some more power to my basement. I too have an extra 4" dryer vent there.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you will be spraying flamable paints, you need an exposion-proof vent fan. Or whatever they are called... needs to not create an explosion, as opposed to surviving one! I've been meaning to look up a good source for one.

Concensus for filters seems to be furnace filters. Most people I've seen draft through the back.

I've subscribed this thread!

Marc

I was the one who posted about a paint booth I saw on the Instructables.com web site. I live in an apartment and would like to paint in the winter.

The commercial one I have is vented at the top with a baffle thru the middle of it. I have a drawing of it attached. The baffle is open at the top a few inches and about twice the opening at the bottom as at the top. No filter. I take the pipes apart every 3 years or so and clean them out. All I get is paint dust on the fan blades and pipes.

I got it from a school that I was working at 12 years ago. We were remodeling the shop areas and I was instructed to take it out and throw it in the dumpster. Well I threw it on my pick up. Works fantasic.

I guess the baffle is important as to have an even air flow, as well as allowing the spray to dry before it is vented.

View attachment spray booth.bmp

Got just a bit of experience with booths. All the way from small model related ones to the size of a 2 car garage. Really helps to know how big you need it---include a bit of growth--how your spraying--gun--airbrush--rattlecan--all of the above? I lean towards a positive preasure booth. They are a bit more work intensive to build but not bad and negate the need for an explosion proof fan which makes them easier to downsize because of fan availability. One big thing is controlling your airflow---too much is a bad thing. Feel free to PM me.

I took a corner of my basement (10' x 10') and hung thick mil plastic for walls. I also lined the ceiling too. Duct tape sealed all the corners and joints. An old furnace squirrel cage fan ducts the air out through a 4" dryer vent. The main problem I had was the fan moved a lot more air than the 4" duct could handle. So I had to keep slowing the fan down to an acceptable speed. Works fair. At least I can paint year round.
Adrian