I am looking to build a paint booth. Anyone willing to share plans and/or pictures?
Hi Anthony,
Here’s mine. Home built out of spare plywood. Ignore the fancy angles. I only had small pieces of plywood available. There is a fluorescent light inside the top of the booth:
I used a 16" three speed box fan. A 16" x 16" furnace filters fit perfectly. The filters work well. You can see that there is very little paint on the fan shroud. They do clog up fairly quickly so they have to be replaced regularly or the air flow drops off. Too much loss of airflow could overheat the fan motor.
Air pressure adjustment is easy with the valve on top of the booth. Saves walking back to the compressor every time I want to make an adjustment.
This booth doesn’t vent to the outside, which doesn’t matter because I only use acrylics. I use it in my garage and just open the doors a bit for air flow. It would be easy to attach ductwork. Some people will suggest that this set up could be a problem with solvent based paints if the sparks on the brushes were to ignite the fumes. I think you would have to have a lot of paint in the air for that to happen but what do I know?
If you don’t already have a compressor, check out the new ‘silent’ models. They are amazingly quiet compared to the older designs. I’m tempted to get rid of my compressor and buy one of the new ones just to give my ears a break.
Dave
Thanks Dave.
I would only use a squirrel cage type fan. That is what the professional models use. The paint never goes through the fan motor, only the blades, so there is less danger of fire. Then you can run a vent from the fan to outside.
I simply bought mine from MicroMark about ten years ago.
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It has a spark proof motor driving a squirrel cage blower. The oulet matches 4" dryer tubing, so routing the exhaust outside was easy. I ended up using 4" steel exhaust tubing meant for medium duty diesel trucks, just because I had it laying around. It will last for decades!
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-Kevin
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Mine’s homemade, almost completely from materials I had on hand. The base is 3/4" plywood, formerly the top of a homemade end table. Sides, back, and top are 1/8" Masonite, left-over from making coved corners in the layout room. I use metal wall-angle material left-over from installing a drop ceiling in the layout room to put the Masonite panels together using pop-rivets. The fan is from an air hockey game, and is installed in the metal plenum (the only part purchased specifically for the spray booth). I used 1"x2"s to make a slide-in filter holder in the top of the booth - it takes one half of a standard 11"x20" fibreglass furnace filter.
I also installed a turntable in it, but I have never used it, as I generally hold the item being painted.
The photo shows the booth when it was in my basement train workshop, but it’s since been moved out to my detached garage, in a small room used only for airbrushing. There, I’ve replace the plastic dryer duct with metal.
In the basement shop, the fan worked okay, but was somewhat limited in that the house was too “tight” (little or no outside air coming in to replace what was being exhausted).
In the garage, I included a closeable (to keep the wildlife out) opening to provide make-up air, and the fan is now very efficient.
Regardless of the fan type you choose, if you start the fan before you start painting, the concentration of vapours won’t reach explosive levels - it’s not like you’re painting full-size trains or automobiles. Mine has been running for over 35 years, including some commercial painting, without issue.
The compressor I use runs constantly, and is somewhat noisy, which is not an issue in the garage. A rotary-type, it needs no air tank, as the output is constant, rather than in pulses like a conv
I’ll be interested in responses to this one as well. A number of years ago, I salvaged a nearly- new squirrel cage blower with a brushless motor from a piece of industrial equipment that was being scrapped, and before too long will be wanting to build a new spray booth to fit it.
I had a plastic tote box, 18x24x16deep. Laid box on it’s side,cut hole in bottom[now the back]. Attatched a cheap bathroom exhaust fan and vented thru a window.Found a furance filter that fit the bottom/back.Total cost about$15.
took a turn table from a stereo, remounted it on a wood stand,works well
sorry no pics
Wayne,
I love the old compressor! Our water pump at the cottage is actually a bilge pump from the 1920s. As long as you keep it greased it still works great.
Dave
I’m not sure how old it is, Dave. The compressor (the silver-coloured part) was built by Wagner, which has long-since been absorbed into bigger and bigger companies. I contacted them (Federal-Mogul) and nobody seemed to know anything about it. My father built the set-up shown, and the tank on the right appears to be made from the housings of two refrigerator-type compressors. It has a drain valve, but nothing has ever come out of it when opened, and it is definitely not for storage of compressed air, even though it’s connected to the compressor. As far as I can determine, the compressing is done by two screws within an oil bath, but I have never had oil in the paint or, for that matter, even in the oil/moisture trap. The tank may be an oil separator or reservoir, as there seems to be liquid in it, although it’s not accessible.
Because the compressor is in the garage, winter use requires a fairly lengthy heat-up of the paint room to get the oil to a viscosity that the motor can handle. It has been extremely reliable, and I also use it with my Paasche Air Eraser, but I have very little knowledge of how it actually works.
I’m sure, though, that my father did, and I very much suspect that the compressor is from a plant, no longer around, where he once worked. They made specialised heavy equipment, mostly for the forestry industry.
And, like your bilge pump, a lot of old machinery, if maintained, will outlast much of the new stuff by decades.
Wayne
Maybe it’s a part of a turboencabulator.
I used a hood vent that was above my stove…
Currently, I’m only shooting acrylics. There is a filter on the back side of the fan. I’m in the process of obtaining a squirrel cage fan so I can upgrade this system.
Here’s a photo of mine, built from plans in the January, 1988 MR. Article was called the Paint Shop Spray Booth by Andy Sperandeo.
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Here is a picture of my “old reliable” paint booth. This poor baby sure has a lot of miles on it.
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I moved it out to the garage and used it for about four hours today.
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-Kevin
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I’ve misplaced the photos of mine so I’ll have to take new ones and post them tomorrow. I’ll include details then, but the box itself is just scrap OSB I had laying around. It includes a light and a Nutone bathroom exhaust fan that you can get at Home Depot, and probably other places as well.
Apologies for the delay. Here are the photos of my spray booth. I’m happy to take any measurements you may need, but my suggestion is to go to your local home improvement store and build your booth around the filter size(s) that are readily available. Also, put your light closer to the front of the booth so you don’t get any shadows on the front of the model where you will be painting.
I bought an adjustable elbow that allows me to route the exhaust out through a window via the styrofoam. Cut the styrofoam to fit the width of your window opening and whatever height you choose. Then wrap the edges of the foam with duct tape to prevent breaking the foam when you flex it to put it in the window. Also wrap the hole there your exhaust routes through to prevent it from being dinged up by the elbow.
Again, the fan I used is a Nutone bathroom exhaust fan from Home Depot, about $20 or so. Tape up any gaps around the fan with duct tape.
The spray gun you see in the booth is an automotive trim gun, a cheapy off of ebay. I highly recommend them for painting models, be it trains, cars, or whatever, and use acrylic craft paints thinned with 91% iso alcohol. Super easy to paint with and even better is the super easy cleanup and no nasty smells.
If you prefer lacquer paints, just use the rattle cans from Tamiya. They have a great nozzle and lay down paint nicely.
For clear coating I use clear acrylic aerosol from my local Hobby Lobby or Future floor shine (with a foam brush) from the grocery store.
Hope that helps.
My Old Hobby Spray Paint Booth:
Where I live, the extreme weather conditions limits when I can spray paint inside my attached house garage. It will be too humid in the hot summer, too cold in the winter or too damp when it rains. My only best option is to spray paint indoors.
I have a very large work bench surface area in my garage, but again the weather conditions limit when I can spray paint. I also have a small limited hobby work area behind my train layout. I mounted old kitchen cupboards above the small work bench. Under the kitchen cupboards I mounted a cheap stove fan to supply light and to blow out any unwanted harmful fumes to the outdoors. Because of the indoor limited space and aisle way restrictions to my hobby work bench area, a wooden box would be difficult to use. Instead I would cut out and use cardboard boxes to prevent any over spray paint around my work area.
My New Spray Hobby Paint Booth:
No more cardboard boxes. I now use a portable airbrushing spray paint booth that does not have a “Brand Name” because it is made in China. But doing an internet “Image Search” using the name “Voilamart Airbrush Spray Booth” seems to be used. The exhaust air hose from this compact portable spray booth is connected to the stove overhead exhaust speed fan. I replaced the metal mesh fan filter with a custom made plastic cover plate and with a custom made plastic hose adaptor. I only operate the stove overhead speed fan at “slow speed”. This spray paint booth only has a small “suction” exhaust fan to only suck out any over spray paint. Not to cause a negative air environment to suck the paint from the spray gun. This spray paint booth is really ideal for individuals that have very limited living spaces.
Compact Portable Spray Booth:
Why can’t you post a picture of what YOU actually have instead of an endless string of copy-n-paste pictures from the internet ? You claim to have the goods - let’s see 'em !
Mark.
I think that he thinks he is a master of illusion.
Joe
I agree, Joe.
Mike