Indoor paint booth Q.'s

[vjp]

Does anyone know of a source for blowers and filters suitable for use in a small indoor paint booth?

This would be a small box booth, used mostly for airbrushing, constructed from a large cardboard box (about 4' x 3' x 2'). I have a filter mask, which I can use to avoid inhaling the fumes, but I'd like a filter capable of catching the particulates so I don't spread paint dust throughout the house.

 

[doxiedog315]

How about using furnice filters ,and a box fan behind it,you can g et the filters real cheap at walmart.seems like you would want cheap throw aways!

 

[Rocketman35]

dunno the exact answer but i do know you dont want to use a standard bathroom type fan or box fan.......enclosed areas with paint fumes and sparks DO NOT MIX!

 

[Nite Builder]

Gonna have to agree with Rocketman on this one Vjp....Worked as a spray painter for a few years and I know that the exhaust motors were in fact,"Specially grounded motors" and had well protected electrical connections in the spray booth I spent 8 hours a day in. I myself have wanted to fabricate " some" sort of exhaust fan spray booth for my rockets, but unfortunately I ran into the same "unsafe" problem as well. In fact about the only thing I could come up with was designing a fan assembly that was "seperate" from the motor(motor being outside the actual booth, fan being inside) and turned by a fan belt. At least that way fumes wouldn't pass through the motor itself.

As for "filtering" the paint fumes, I think just safely exhausting them from the booth will be your biggest challenge. Hopefully you can push the fumes "outside". I was thinking about modifying a basement window to "pull" the fumes outside. That way I won't need to worry about filters at all. If all else fails do what I do, paint outside, run back inside. ......Good Luck

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>=====> Fly High

 

[KermieD]

Waiting for Stones to jump in with his design. BTW, you don't necessarily need to have the motor completely outside the airflow path. Others have used a brushless motor fan (a computer cooling fan or exhaust fan), and they're still posting, so I don't think anyone's blown up yet.

Seriously, a brushless fan goes a long way towards eliminating potential sparks and should be reasonably safe.

 

[Stones]

Ok Kerm....jumping in.
Pics of the booth I did are here. The thread with more info on paintbooths is here. As far as where you can get a brushless motor or something safe to run paint fumes through, computer fans would fit that bill but, I'm not sure you would get enough air movement with something that small. I have no info on where to search for one as I happened to get lucky with a fan from work that was being discarded. I would check with a local computer store and see what's the biggest thing they have.

 

[Micromeister]

Vince:
You have complete plans and specs. in the library section of Narhams. it was also published in sport rocketry a while back.

Blowers can be picked up locally at Grainger or on line www.grainger.com as well as any of the electrical supply houses.
I been using furnice filters for about 25 years without a problem, actually reusing filters by beating the overspray out in the step-well.
Here's a pic of my 3 x 3 x 7' home made unit. note the small square opeing above the OT body, that's the filter in the blower opening. The Drawn plan is much clearer in Tech-tip-011
Hope this helps

 

[vjp]

Thanks to everyone for the replies and the links. It's going to be a long while before it's warm enough again to paint in the garage, so this is a "must have" if I'm going to keep the peace with the wife.

I'll post some pics when I'm done!

 

[Prowler901]

Yes, I'm curious about how it goes for you too. I'm beginning to get quite a stockpile or nekid rockets here. The weather outside is just too cold So, I'm gonna have to make something here, or I'm gonna have one heck of a painting session this spring

Todd

 

[Micromeister]

Guy's:
I'm am turely a very very lucky man. I ask Mary last night if she could tell me if my basement paintbooths eliminated the "spray paint" odor from the house. To my surprize she said "most of the time I don't smell paint, but when you prime things I sure do" HUMM! I've been using the cheap K-mart sandable primers which has a very strong odor, so bear this in mind when placing your vents and hoses. Change or clean the filter after each use.
Hope this helps.