DIY Paint Booths?

Hi all:

I am at stage now where I need to prime all my wing ribs and rear spars and components. I would like to see/hear what others have done to create a paint booth. My workshop is in my walkout basement complete with a single bay garage door. My hope is to put this booth near that opening so that I can set up some sort of fan exhaust system to the outside with the door partially open. Okay fellas, whatchu got?? ...pics?... Thanks in advance!


Jeff
jdmunzell

Hi Jeff

Here are a set of pictures I took while paint my -8 last year.

http://rv8bldr.tripod.com/the_paint_job.html

I used heavy duty plastic vapour barrier from the Aviation Department at Home Depot ;-) It worked fine, except that I should have sealed around the hangar door better. One night just after laying down the white, a big wind came up and blew crap off of the I-beam over the hangar door onto my wings. You have to be up close to see it (as bumps under the paint) but I am still going to sand down the wing tops and repaint them this spring.

Two pieces of advice:

1) If you think you have enough light, you don't.
2) Spray down your floor with a spray bottle of water jsut before laying on the paint. This will keep down the dust.

Hope this helps,

DIY Paint booth

Here is a link to some pictures of my DIY paint booth. It uses an inexpensive bath exhaust fan from Lowe's, 3" galvanized duct, PVC pipe, a furnace filter, 4 mil plastic sheet, clear tape, and whatever wood I had laying around. It does a great job of eliminating overspray in the shop.

I haven't cut a hole in the wall for the vent hose yet, so I just run it out the door for now. All the overspray is caught in the furnace filter or just falls to the bottom of the cabinet. The exhaust hose eliminates most of the fumes, but I still wear a mask. After a priming session I just vacuum out the filter and the bottom of the cabinet.

It's on casters so I can move it easily, none of the plastic pipe is glued so I can reconfigure it if necessary. I can also remove all of the top part to make the exhaust platform easier to store.

Maybe $75.00 dollars in parts. I sized it for the lower wing skin of the RV-9 QB kit, the biggest part I need to prime.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mdoyle_45068/album?.dir=/51fb&.src=ph&.tok=phchcSEByMY9G.wC

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mdoyle_45068/my_photos


Mike Doyle RV-9A QB

Your original question stated that you are about to spray primer. For primer, spray booth needs are minimal. The primer drys so fast that over spray is VERY minimal and the parts are dry within seconds. So until you are ready to spray enamel or urethane, don't worry too much.
Mel...DAR

I was going to echo Mel's comments - it isn't a finish coat, so even if there is a little dust in the primer no biggie.
I just spray mine in the garage with a couple of box fans from Menards at the bottom of the garage door... I open the door about 2' and fill the empty spaces to the sides of the fans with scrap plywood, boxes, etc. Opening the window across the garage gives some cross ventilation.
I wouldn't go to the hassle of building a booth just for priming...

Thomas
-8 wings

Location, location, location!

TShort said:

I was going to echo Mel's comments - it isn't a finish coat, so even if there is a little dust in the primer no biggie. I wouldn't go to the hassle of building a booth just for priming...Thomas -8 wings

Click to expand...

Overspray occurs whether you are shooting primer or a finish paint coat. I would suggest things depend on WHERE you plan to conduct your priming operations. In my case, it is in our residential basement. Since my wife has the potential to go ballistic everytime I so much as open a can of Akzo epoxy primer, I had to do something to keep the domestic peace. I cobbed together this exhaust vent made from an old furnace blower motor and it is simply wheeled in front of the (open) casement window when I get ready to shoot. Keeps the fumes down dramatically but sucks so much air out of the house that I have to make certain the (upstairs) fireplace has no ashes in....what a mess THAT makes... even the pilot light on the hot water heater gets extinguished! Still, even with these measures, primer overspray has cast a light green patina on the drop ceiling, paneling and floor in the immediate area. I just might fab up a paint booth to support the -8A project. I'm sure my wife won't mind a bit.

Rick Galati RV-6A "Darla"

Be aware that solvent based paint fumes are flammable (we all know that). Most proffesional paint booths utilize explosion proof motors and lights- i.e not Home Depot fans or fluorescent lights. Just be careful in your planning.

The HD exhaust fan is a shaded pole motor, no brushes, or centrifugal switches.

I built a 4'x4'x7' booth and a small exhaust fan and it was cheap and
worked superb. After I was done with it another RV builder took it and made good use of it and now I have it back for yet another round of painting.


I used a 6" 12v fan to draw air out from the bottom. The top had 4 - 4" holes for inlet air. I used a 4" dryer vent flange and hose and ran it out my doggie door from my shop. This little fan pulled enough air that the sides would draw inward.


It was a walk in with a magnetic flap door.


I put a small regulator inside to the paint gun. Just hook the hose to the outside and wahla...ready to shoot.


-Jeff

Thanks guys for the replies. My workshop is in fact my residential basement, and as such need to be able to vent any noxious fumes outside ,.. primer or otherwise... lest I be invited to leave!... Don't want that 'cause then it would be hard to finish my RV!... Will my plan to install a common house filter upstream of the fan/motor lessen the chance of any fires due to the flammability issues, or will it simply cut down on the overspray getting into the motor assembly? Nice pics guys...some great ideas there. anybody else??

Jeff

Paint Booth-Retractable

[/URL][/IMG] This is my retractable paint booth and
paint table on casters.

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Bruce Pauley
Kitlog
RV 7A
Rowlett TX

paint booth

I have always wanted a decent paint booth that I could fold up and put away, so here is what I came up with. It is 12x12x8, uses 2 marine bilge blowers (blast proof) to suck contaminated air out of the booth and 4 furnace filters for intake and exhaust filtering. Works awesome! I used to have clouds of mist in my garage while painting, now there is absolutely nothing!

Quickie Paintbooth

When I decided to paint various airframe components in a relatively closed environment, I thought....what could possibly be quicker than setting up a cheap screenroom and shrouding it in 6 mil plastic? This 10'X10' "paint booth" sets up and breaks down quickly in the backyard and as a bonus, spousal nagging came to an abrupt end!