[beowulf]

well...i said i was going to have a go at making a spraybooth on the cheap....

i had to make one of these sooner or later...i live in an apartment on the second floor.....i have been spraying in my utility room which involves going down two flights of stairs and out side.....it isnt the cleanest of atmospheres anyway and i cant vent outside easily.....so i had to create something that was big enough to do the job but small enough not to get in the way

this is what i came up with

shopping list

2 x 12v brushless pc fans from Maplins....£13.99
1 x 240v/12v ac/dc adapter....on clearance shelf at Maplins.....£4.55
1 x large plastic storage box/lid from Wilkinsons.......£4.98........dimensions @ 55cm w x 37cm h x 28cm d
1 x tumble dryer vent kit from B&Q.......£9.98
bits of hard board, timber, nuts, bolts, screws, 'grab' adhesive.......free!.....surplus from other diy projects

so total cost = £33.44.......thats about $65 for you lot on the other side of the pond

didnt want to use the cooker hood fan route........prefered to minimise the risk by using 12v brushless pc fans.....


the box



i cut a piece of hardboard to fit inside the base ot the box....this would give the fan/vent assembly something sturdy enough to be bolted to.....fans postions were marked so holes could be cut


..............like this


board was bolted thro floor of box and holes cut in floor to match those in board


fans bolted thro board and box floor


22mm x 55mm timber screwed to base to create a frame to hold vent hose


after trying it out for the first time i found although there was enough power from the fans it wasnt entirely extracting the excess paint/fumes....i figured this was cos the 'chamber' i had created between the fans and the vent hose wasnt big enough....so i bonded on a second level of 22x55 timber.....a hardboard rectangle with a hole for the vent hose was screwed to the frame.......all edges was filled in with 'instant grab' bond adhesive to stop any leaks


now this is where i get awkward.........i planned on placing the booth on a window sill in the spare room, strange as it may sound but i like to do a lot of spraying standing up.....this also means i get a lot of natural light thro the window.........but i also wanted to make it so i could place the booth on a collapsable table so i could sit when a steady hand was needed for delicate work

i attached a base of hardboard to the box.......the most rearward piece of wood acts as a datum...it butts up to the edge of the window sill.....the forward pieces of wood act to retain a 'leg' which supports the box whilst its on the sill to stop it tipping forward and off


completed.....on table.....vent hose out of window



completed....on window sill...on support leg....vent hose out of window




the box lid i modifyied by cutting off the bottom edge and the clips so it could not 'click' on....this now slides on once i have finished spaying and prevents any dust from entering the box

to be honest it works pretty well but i am already working on a mk.1a to improve it even more........going to add a third fan so they go the entire width of the box.....

[Angelo]

Wow that's quite a project. Looks well done - I may have to try that.

[Ole]

Good idea to use a plastic tub. I would never have thought of that.

[peter]

Very good idea, I'll be trying this out soon as well.

[beowulf]

well...ive just done some proper spraying in the booth for the first time, as opposed to just giving it a test

i can already see a difference in the quality of the paint finish over what i am used to do

and i can confirm that 3 fans mounted across the full width of the box would improve things even more......2 do the job unless you are putting a large amount of paint into the box....it dosnt overwhelm 2 fans but they do struggle a little.........2 would be ok for detailed, low volume of paint type work

im now itching to start a new project to try it out properly but i suppose i had better finish the one ive already started.......lol

[peter]

This is a very timely post... I recently inherited an old IBM server that has 4 powerful brushless motors with a duct as well. That with the powersupply fan which is even bigger should give me plenty of air movement. I'll let you know how I go.

[paumor]

very good I have a wooden one I liked its congratulations!!

[Jojje]

Splendid work!

I was about to ask you "How about suction on that baby" when I saw the pictures,but you answered that yourself.

Nice work.

[Ron]

I like that...gave me a few ideas, thanks for sharing this!|

Ron

[beowulf]

well just to update........i have bought a third fan......i plan on making a new base and mount the 3 fans in a pyramid formation .......my theory is that im gonna concentrate the point of suction in the centre of the booth

im quite happy with it so far.....i wouldnt use one too much when spraying with rattle cans as they put too much paint in there for it to cope.......im very careful when using tamiya primer cans for example

[Jason]

I hope you put some sort of filter to catch any pigments that are currently being sucked out and blown out the end of that duct all over whatever is below or around it! Now....to round up some materials. Great idea!

Jason

[beowulf]

Jason, on Jun 27 2008, 04:49 AM, said:

I hope you put some sort of filter to catch any pigments that are currently being sucked out and blown out the end of that duct all over whatever is below or around it!

actually....no.......it dosnt seem to need it.......i think theres a couple of reasons for this......it is vented to the outside several storys up.......by the time the particles hit air they seem to be dry already and since i use an AB rather than rattle cans im not putting huge ammounts of pigment in there anyway............i was concerned about this too when i started but ive used some pretty strong colours recently and ive seen no evidence of it settling any where cept in the vent hose......ive even gone outside straight after a spraying session and can not even smell any fumes

[peter]

Hi Paul,

Just wanted to let you know that I've finally strated on mine, it's largely based on this concept. The main difference is that I'm using 4 fans that are actually rated as some of the best as far as CFM. All up it they will move 230cfm which is better than what I read most hobby spray booth do. The only extra thing I'm doing with mine is getting some filters. I'm thinking of getting either paasche or Mr Booth filters.
So just wanted to say thanks, and great idea. How did you power your fans? Is that an ac/dc adapter I can see in the corner? I'm thinking of getting an old PC power supply for mine.

[Kila2000]

peter, on Nov 6 2008, 05:34 PM, said:

Hi Paul,

Just wanted to let you know that I've finally strated on mine, it's largely based on this concept. The main difference is that I'm using 4 fans that are actually rated as some of the best as far as CFM. All up it they will move 230cfm which is better than what I read most hobby spray booth do. The only extra thing I'm doing with mine is getting some filters. I'm thinking of getting either paasche or Mr Booth filters.
So just wanted to say thanks, and great idea. How did you power your fans? Is that an ac/dc adapter I can see in the corner? I'm thinking of getting an old PC power supply for mine.

I'll be interested in how you get to power yours Peter as I'm gonna have to build me a spray booth at some stage, even have an old plastic tub I can use.

[beowulf]

just a couple of ac/dc adapters.....one for each fan to be sure they get adequate power

[peter]

Thanks beo, yeah, I nave a few old PC power supplies that definitely have enough juice to run the four I'll be powering up. I'm actually also thinking of adding two additional smaller fans at the front bottom of the unit. I'm thinking this may help blow the fumes into the other fans. Trial and error, let's see how it goes.

[beowulf]

doubt if you will need them.......even with 2 fans i dontget anything settling on the floor of the box, it all gets sucked to the back of the box

[lqdmindz]

Hey guys,

Just gonna throw this out there...perhaps it will come in handy for some...

In my earlier working days i worked at BOC(SOC), im sure Peter will know who that is, and i helped recondition the gas bottles...Now the spray booth we used had a wall of water for the particles to fly into and trap...what you could do instead of filters, which require constant changing...you could divert the air to a container of water like below...

 untitled.JPG (9.81K)
Number of downloads: 10

Now all you would have to worry about is changing the water every time

I will be attempting to make a booth tomorrow...god willing the shops are open.

[lqdmindz]

I just completed my first attempt at a DIY Spray Booth...It took me a while because i couldnt find any bloody tools as usual...But in the end i managed to get it all done...

It cost me about $100...

It only cost me that much becuase i didnt have any of the materials and i bought some 120 Cfm rated Thermaltake fans...i have a slight difference on mine that i will post a picture of...I also noticed the fans seem to drain each other of power...anyone else have that issue?

[peter]

How did you wire your fans Cheyne?