Small Parts Spray Booth

[DGlide04]

Admins, if this belongs in another section feel free to move it to where it belongs.

As part of my winter project, I will be painting a few small parts (lamp housings and the like) and am looking for suggestions on building a small paint booth to paint the parts in.  Something that is maybe 2' h x 3' w so that a couple of small parts could fit in, nothing too large.

Pictures?  Plans? fan cfm?  I'm looking to building something for not too much $$$ that can be taken down and put away when not in use.

Thanks.

[harleytoprock]

How about putting the booth up against a window with an exhaust fan. For the booth just use a cardboard box  with one side cut out to work through and a section of the back side cutout to align with the window fan. When your done you can fold the box up or just throw it out. I guess you'll need a table or a set of shelf brackets to hold the box at the desired height. If your epa concerned you can put a air conditioning filter in the back of the box to catch the overspray. Those filters are available in lots of sizes and only cost a few bucks.

[DGlide04]

Ii thought about something disposable, but the only thing I am concerned with is pulling flammable fumes through a non-explosion proof motor like on on a standard fan.  I was thinking of something that used a squirrel cage type fan which didn't expose the fan motor to the paint fumes.

[MMOCGuy]

DGlide,

I've used bathroom fans in the past for exhausting fumes. They are available cheap at your local home improvement store. A cardboard box of suitable dimensions will work just fine. You can attach the fan to the rear of the box after cutting an opening to fit the intake of the fan. You can then run a flexible exhaust pipe to an open window or open door. I would strongly suggest painting the inside of the cardboard box first with ordinary white house paint to seal any dust that might come loose from the inside box surface. Also, a piece of plastic sheeting (also available from your home improvement store) cut to fit over the front opening of the box will work as a good seal to keep dust from getting on the wet paint. Tape the plastic sheet to the top of the box and then leave it folded over the top while you are painting. After you have finished your painting, shut off the fan and fold the plastic sheet over the front box opening.

Hope this helps.

NormS.

[ultra 08]

I you use the fan to push air into the box and out the window the paint fumes won't be going through the fan and hence not a problem with it going bang .

[PoorUB]

Ii thought about something disposable, but the only thing I am concerned with is pulling flammable fumes through a non-explosion proof motor like on on a standard fan.  I was thinking of something that used a squirrel cage type fan which didn't expose the fan motor to the paint fumes.

The fumes will not be that thick, plus a cheap bathroom fan uses a induction motor, no sparks, nothing to cause an explosion. If you blow yourself up using this setup your number was up anyway!

[harpo1313]

the only problem with the fan is dragging all that dust and crap through your box past your wet paint.i paint sm stuff in the shed then go away for a while.i guess you could use a bath fan with a dimmer switch at a low setting.

[ThumperDeuce]

How do you plan on supporting the small parts while you shoot them as they tend to blow away?  One trick I've used is to use either a large box or a drum with a large mesh screen over the top.  You set the parts on the mesh and they won't blow away.  You could vent the bottom out the window and fit a cover for it with a filter to keep the dust off while drying.

[DGlide04]

Lots of recommendations and lots to think about here, thanks for all of the suggestions.  My Dad built a small booth for his model train painting but the set up is built-in and I'll see what I can do with a collapsible set up with a small 50-60 cfm bathroom fan.  Home Depot and Lowes have bathroom fans for as little at $20.00 which look like they'll be perfect.  A correct sized box seems like a good way to start and if that works out, I'll make something a little more permanent, but keep it portable so i can use it outside when the weather warms up.

ThumperDeuce, I thought about that and was looking at having small parts suspended from a wire inside the box or on a small wire turntable.  The pressure the paint will be applied with shouldn't be enough to blow the parts around.  Either way, I'll have the fan pulling filtered air out of the box either through the back or bottom, depending on what the enclosure ends up looking like.

I found this link to a do it yourself booth: http://pages.interlog.com/~ask/scale/tips/booth.htm  and may have to look at that closer. Lowe's has inexpensive hoods for under $50.00 so it may be the way to go.

[sir_will_yum]

You said paint not chrome...So if you were planning on spraying them black your local powder coat shop will paint them for 5 to 10 dolars a piece. Then you won't have to deal with paint coming off later and looking like crap. Having gone both ways powder coat is hands down the way to go.

[hbkeith]

if your painting chrome,get it blasted first,good etching primer &paint it,dont blow air in your booth,suck air out, and ive used all kinds of fans ,never had one blow

[ReddHogg]

I HAVE PAINTED IN ALL KINDS OF BOOTHS  JUST REMEMBER LESS AIR MOVEMENT IS BEST AND WITH HVLP SPRAY GUNS YOU WILL HAVE VERY LITTLE OVER SPRAY,ALSO TODAYS LOW VOC. PAINT IT LESS VOLATILE THAN OLD LACQUER AND ENAMEL PAINTS ARE , A CLEAN AREA AND LINT FREE CLOTHING AND GOOD LIGHTING REALLY HELP, IN AN OPEN RAFTER GARAGE TRY PLASTIC ABOVE PAINT AREA AND WET THE FLOOR    GOOD LUCK!!!

[garyajaz]

been watchiing this and had a suggestion but it is cheap.
so i waited.
what we do for gas tanks and dirt bike stuff is a frame of pvc.
wood can be used but pvc is ultra cheap/free with our contacts.
some new shower curtains hung on it.  wet floor and plastic.  step in wearing good mask.  paint and walk out.
no fans, no drafts no bugs.  quick and easy.  before we built a little paint booth we did plenty of bultacos and maicos this way..

[dablaze]

I had a set up for over a decade that I built around using a range hood and a lazy susan, had it set up right below the basement window. i know the fan was not correct, but I went for about 8 years like that and then found an old inline squirrel cage from an old printing press that was dryer tubing sized an put that in instead.

Craig