Spray Booth

I used an old stove exhaust fan. Because it was near grease it had to be spark free.
You need to make sure you fan is sparkless because almost all spay (except water) will be somewhat volatile.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

DAGS on “build portable spray booth” and you’ll find a wealth of information.

Pay close attention to proper air movement, and check with your local building codes for proper venting (Venting directly through a window may be a no-no in your area as an example)

A lot will depend on what you’re spraying.

-- Nicky

Thanks for the reply. I am relatively new to this and don’t know how to find source you mention in your post. Would appreciate your further assistance in telling me how to access it.
Thanks,
Thumbs

-- Mitakuya Oyasin

I am guessing that DAGS means – do a Google search on the phrase “build portable spray booth”.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

You might want to check with a local furnace contractor in your area. I used a furnace blower motor and “squirrel cage” fan out of a furnace that was replaced with a newer one by the contractor. They often just toss them, and you can get one for nothing. I put it in a box as an air filtration system. (See my projects for pics). I think this concept might adapt well as an exhaust system as it can move a lot of air quietly.
Having some experience in the auto painting industry, I’ve learned a couple of things about spray booths: First, if you’re spraying solvent based finishes (flammable), it’s a good idea to shield your fan motor from the exhaust flow, only the fan part should be in the duct, and second, it’s a good idea to spray your fan blades with Pam or some other cooking spray to keep paint/varnish residue from building up on the blades. Also, it’s a good idea to put your filtered air inlet up high, and have your exhaust outlet low to create a down draft effect. It keeps the floor dust & dirt down low. Air flow should not be excessive, you don’t want a windy booth. Lighting & other electrical stuff should be shielded.
The goal is to have a nice finished product without exploding.

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you

Thanks for those safety tips SST.

-- John

SST,
Thanks for the info. The idea of a furnace fan sounds good. Just thinking about it, I thought I could use the fan as an outlet on the floor exausted outside, and have a filtered inlet @ top of booth. Your advice on shielding motor from fumes is the sticking point w/this, but I can see the importance of this. I think I need to get ahold of a fan and see how I can build an outlet around fan w/out exposing motor. Definitely needs some thought. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Off to visit my Grandkids till Sun. so will have some time to ponder it till next week and hope to get on it then.

-- Mitakuya Oyasin

After I wrote about using a furnace fan, I went & looked at my filter unit and maybe there’s no way to get the motor shielded, since it sits in the middle of the fan. I have seen these squirrel cage fans that don’t surround the motor and are operated by a v-belt. Maybe one of those could be adapted to an extended motor shaft that runs through a grommeted hole in a motor enclosure box. Another thing about exhausting a spray booth, is to draw the air through a fairly porous (cheap) furnace filter, or maybe 2 successive filters to get most of the air born material out before you run it through the ducts and past the fan. These will fill up fast, so the pricey filters with the really small pores will plug too fast. The filter should be right at the booth/exit duct interface so the ducts stay as clean as possible. We used special auto spray booth filters. Maybe an auto paint supplier has them.-SST

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you

This is a great story to keep going. I bet a lot of us would like a spray booth of some kind, so it is nice to hear of someone building one.

Have you decided on the size of it yet?

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

I’d kiss a monkey just to have the space for a spray booth:-))

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

What I’m doing isn’t original, but I thnk it will work. Was a hint I saw somewhere. I have some heavy mil plastic and will cut my sides to width and cut the length long. Then fasten to ceiling. Fasten some type of solid (PVC, wood strip, etc) the length of each side on bottom of each side. Use velcro tape on edge to fasten sides together when using booth. I don’t think it would be necessary to use a solid strip, just short pieces. On ceiling put velco strip near top of each side near ends. Then just roll the sides up and fasten w/velcro strip on ceiling and they are out of the way, ready to drop down and make a booth. Hopefully this works, justy a theory now.
Now if I can come up w/a reasonably priced setup for a fan I might have something. If there is any of this that isn’t clear, I”M not surprised, just ask and I will try to make myself clearer. I don’t have extra space either, but thought this would give me one when I need it and out of the way the rest of the time.
P.S. I’m not a monkey so don’t get any ideas

-- Mitakuya Oyasin

It seems that if you use non rigid walls you will not be able to have much air movement because of a “balloon effect”. It also occurred to me as I’m remembering the auto spray booths we had, in addition to the vent van removing air, we had an intake fan to balance the air flow. On a small scale, you might not need both, but if you only used one fan setup and it was to push in the air, you could mount it just outside the booth, and since the air flow was away from the fan, you might not have to shield the motor. (unless, of course, you shut it off and then restart it while the booth is full of fumes/vapors/exploding stuff, some drifts back, and then you blow yourself into the next county.
But, if you leave it run until all the fumes are pushed out, it’s probably ok. A couple of other things to think about, as if there aren’t enough, already: You need to filter the air that comes in, and (this should be a given if you are only pushing air in, and not also sucking it out with another fan) the booth should carry a slight positive pressure. That way, you’re not sucking dust, etc into it through cracks & holes, or when you enter or leave through a door to refill your sprayer.
Wow, once I get to rambling on, there’s no stopping me. To bad I don’t think of things in the right order, it would save writing space. -SST

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you

Lots of good advice and thiings to think about. It’s actually starting to sound like we might come up w/something. What about a furnace fan or actually any type, mounted high and outside of booth, w/a filter in front of it, to push air in and a closable vent on opposite side mounted low exhausting to the outside.

-- Mitakuya Oyasin

there was an article on making a booth in the last issue of Canadian Woodworking.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

What did they come up with Debbie? I do not recall ever seeing a Canadian Woodworking magazine in these parts…

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

I’ve never seen one in a book store down here either. I did find their web site.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I found the magazine… June/July 2007 pg 24
Portable Spray booth

4 pieces of “coreplast” (I think I know it as foamcore), duct-taped together (easy folding for storage) and sits on a larger piece as the base. It is taped in a way that allows the three sides to fold up.

1/4” ply for the back. Blocks are added in the corner of this with holes to slide dowels through and through the coreplast to stabilize it when it is put together. (plans uses cotter pins in the dowels to make sure they don’t slip out during use)

A window is cut in the back, smaller than the size of fan to be used. A furnace filter is placed in front of the fan, which they have sitting on a wooden stand, at the right height for the window. The back panel can be bolted to the fan stand.

that’s it.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Thank you Debbie. Sounds practical and simple. It will be awhile before I get a chance to persue this, but defininitely sounds like it’s worth trying. Will put in a post when I have tried it.

-- Mitakuya Oyasin

A picture would be nice to see, if one is available. But, this sounds like a good start for a spray booth.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com