Spray Booth Recommendations?

austin132010

austin132010

New Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2011
Messages
190
Hey guys I was was wondering what spray booth would be right for me, a 14 year old scale modeler.

Any ideas?

I was hoping to find one under $200.
 
Build one it's not very hard, you tube has lots of vids on how to make them
 
I built my own, there are two or three build ups on the painting part of the forum. Both Spud and I have a thread there as well as Elm City Hobbies.
 
check out Grendels vids on his build you will get some ideas from it. like making sure you have room before u build :p
 
Austin ! Nice to hear you are looking about making a Spray-booth !

Since you must be on a Budget.... (presumably) you can make one using scraps found in your basement!

or get a few pieces from your local Home Depot type of stores...

I used a Piece of MDF as a base.... A good "Squirrel cage" Bathroom Fan to keep it Cheap !
and some Corrugated Translucent Plastic to form the BOX ! all in all 45$

DSC05995_resize.jpg


You can go cheaper or More Elaborate.... as your Wallet permits ?

You need a way to connect the Exhaust to a Window in such a way that it won't BLOW back in...
So for that I used Yet another piece of Translucent Corrugated Plastic to serve as a support for my Exhaust Port and Still let some light in !!!
DSC00280.jpg

I have added twist Tabs to the Window to easily remove the panel if I need to !!! I seal the Panel to the window frame with a No Mess Removable Silicon Caulk... to keep Air,Bugs,Dust to find a way in ! while the exterior window is Open ! The zip ties are there to quickly disconnect the Hose for storage.

Corrugated plastic sheet comes in many size... and are fairly affordable ! So while you are drawing the shape of your Booth... you might want to consider the size of those Sheets that are available to you ! to save on money and maybe the Space that this booth will occupy once in your Room or Basement or where ever you are allowed to have it installed semi-permanently !
correx-sheet.jpg


I know many of the readers won't agree with using a Bathroom Exhaust Fan... but since it is your First Booth... might as well keep it on the Cheap side !!! if you don't Overwhelm the fan with a Rush of Paint... like the output of a Rattle Can.... it will do fine for years to come until you can afford Building or buying a Better Booth ! Something just over 100 CFM will suffice ! for a small bedroom or Hobby Room.

The more it sux... the more expensive or Loud it can be... but make sure it has a "Squirrel cage" design to minimize chances of a Motor Fire... If you keep using Enamel based paints...??? If you can't find one...or its too expensive get a Bathroom Fan with a Sealed Motor (No Exposed Commutator & Brushes) IF you can't find a squirrel cage Fan.

BTW..... air speed (feet per minute) X area (square feet)= CFM

Design your Booth with the size of models you are building in Mind...??? if you plan too small ?
some models will be hard to fit in there.... the bigger the booth ! the more CFM you might have to use to evacuate all that Floating paint particles...

It can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be !!! so Start small and you can always Modify and Modernize as you go !!!

oh... another nice thing about translucent Corrugated Sheets is that you don't have to MOUNT a Light internally !!! light passes thru the material just fine !!!

DSC00281.jpg


as you can see my Booth is now too small !!! but I work around that till I build a bigger one !

oh.. get yourself a Small Lazy Suzanne to spin your work around... so you don't have to manipulate your models while in the booth... 10$ top !

Hope to see you make a WiP of your Spray-booth... best of luck and Happy Modeling !

Norm

OUT !
 
I think Norm has pretty much covered it Austin. Remember, when you're on a budget, you don't have to get too fancy. My first "spraybooth" was a cardboard box. I cut the flaps off the top and turned it on its side so that the front was open. Then the cheap bathroom fan that Norm mentioned was set on a hole in the top. Dryer vent hose was connected to a piece of blue styro that was cut to the size of an open window and off I went spraying. I would caution, if you make your own, have someone assist you with the electrical wiring and the use of any power tools. Here's a picture of my current booth which was easily and economically made by converting a workbench from Canadian Tire.DSC02074small.jpg
We replaced our kitchen stove hood so I used the older one for the booth. A few 2X2's, some 1/4 inch panels and a bit of dryer flex and I was in business. I am loving the large size of this thing! Just another design for your consideration. Good luck with it Austin. Keep us posted!
 
austin132010 said:
Hey guys, thanks for all the help! :)

Do you think this exhaust fan would work? Is it to powerful? If I were painting with enamels could there be a chance of a motor fire?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-INCH-HYDROPONIC-440CFM-INLINE-EXHAUST-VENT-FAN-BLOWER-/140608512020?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20bceba014#ht_4112wt_1189

Where did you get your fan schweinhund227?
Click to expand...


Austin! That is one wicked Fan! LOL
Hold down to your hat! When that Sucker will run! LOL

Don't over worry about that claim about motor fire! There is such a thing as Explosive Atmosphere
Where all the right conditions would have to be met in order for it to happen!

Have you ever watch the mythsbusters! They had a guy pouring lighter fluid directly into the commutator for it to ignite..... Since you won't do that right? There are very little chances your booth will catch on fire...


My fan was a 14$ special
At Home Depot regular at 40$ o that's why I bought it.... Cheap!

Yours is a monster compared to mine!

Best of luck! Buddy!
 
The chance from fire occurs when there is a spark in the air stream. You have to have that spark.

The source of that spark can come from a motor. Some electric motors spark while running.

So there can be the source of your spark. It all depends upon the design of the motor.

In addition, if you are spraying a "HOT" fluid through the booth, it can eat up the insulation on the wires which can also cause a spark.

So if you are not careful, you can get a spark

Now a spark is not the only ingredient you need to cause a fire, you need fuel. A spark in air is nothing more than a spark.

The problem occurs when you are spraying "HOT" fluids. (Lacquer thinner comes to mind) These fluids act like a fuel source. Giving the spark something to burn and causing fire.

Most Acrylics won't do this. The thinner is usually water, or alcohol. Alcohol is flammable, but the quantity of it in the air stream will be too low to cause ignition. I don't know the exact numbers but if you have too little fuel, or too much, you won't get and fire with a spark. Fire all depends upon the material you are working with. The mixture of air to fuel will be different for alcohol than it is for lighter fluid.

Enamels and Lacquers are a different story. The are flammable on their own. Don't believe me? For an experiment take a rattle can of paint, and a fire place lighter, spray the paint and try to light it. You will get something that looks like a flame thrower. (Only do this if you know what you are doing, and have someone with you in case things go wrong. Adult supervision if you are not an adult!)

One thing: Did it explode? No. And it probably won't

Does this apply to a spray booth? Yes. The air flow in the duct carrying the exhaust is very much like that spray can. Get a spark, and you will have a jet of flame.

The good thing is that if you shut it down, the air flow stops and the flames will subside. It may not go out, until you put the fire out. But it will not be a mini jet engine in your house.

Now is this likely to happen? No, not likely. Especially if you use acrylics. But if you venture into Lacquers, it might as it will eat the insulation off of the wires. Or if you get the wrong kind of motor in your fan.

I had someone comment on one of my spray booth videos that this very situation happened to a friend of theirs. The lacquer paint ate the insulation off of the wires causing a fire.

This quote is from the thread on my spray booth build:


sunsanvil said:
Biskup said:
How do you calculate the fan cfm from size? Is there same kind of a ratio to use there?
Click to expand...

We calculate the required CFM (volume of air) by taking the area of the capture surface in sq.feet and multiply that by the desired airflow in LFM (speed of air), 50LFM for downdraft, 100LFM for cross draft.

So for Elm's booth: [(16x20)/144]*50 = 111 cfm minimum required for proper air velocity
For Grendel's: [(25x25)/144]*50 = 217 cfm minimum required for proper air velocity
(both downdraft designs)
Click to expand...

That motor you posted is over sized unless you want to make a very large spary booth. Use the above calculations to help you get it right.
 
I've been looking into a booth myself , my home made one is just not cutting it ,
I also set a budget of $200 .
That narrowed it down to the paashe and artograph brands,
You get a little more size and back draft in the Paashe , the artograph is a down draft
I prefer the back draft and the larger size for the money in the paasche.

I looked into an explosion proof fan /home made but the fan alone, materials and time.made it worth while to just buy the booth.

only problem that of all the hobby spray booths I looked at ...none of them are explosion proof and recommended for acrylics and minimum solvent use.

you have to step up to "industrial" to get the explosion proof fans and they are not cheap !

here's the best bang for the buck I found for my needs, ,, since I'm using acrylics it fits the bill.
and it will last many, many years
http://www.amazon.com/Paasche-HSSB-22-16-Hobby-22-Inch-18-Inch/dp/B0038DANR6
 
that looks like a extrator fan for a pc. your be better of going to your local hardware store and buying over teh counter that way if it dont work you can get an other one
 
Alright... I guess I will go to Home Depot and pick a fan out. (It good I'm asking these questions or I would get the wrong kind.:p)

Thanks, Austin. :)
 
what you want is an extractor fan for a bathroom shouldnt cost u more than 20
 

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