another paint booth

Steve Melton · #1 10-18-2015, 07:29 PM

I'm feeling that a saga is beginning but I'm not sure how it's going to end.

I have a small T-hangar. My plan is to learn how to paint with HVLP: 1) piece parts , 2) then paint fuselage and empennage, 3) then one wing, 4) then the other wing.

Paint booth to be moved around and expanded when needed. This is the piece part size booth. Seems narrow.... 7 ft.

Kyle Boatright · #2 10-18-2015, 07:45 PM

Make sure you have good filters on the exhaust. I've had to buff my airplane out twice due to careless neighbors (one of whom had a booth).

Oh, and however many lights you have, buy more.

Finally, buy some scrap aluminum sheets and try your spray gear and materials out in your backyard. You can learn a lot without having to go all the way to the airport.

<This advice from a guy who taught himself to paint on his airplane's tail feathers. I learned a lot about sanding and buffing paint defects too.>

Steve Melton · #3 10-18-2015, 07:56 PM

yes, I'm concerned about over spray on neighbors. I'm pulling air thru these, doubled. Any experience?

and yes, I probably need more lights.

Kyle Boatright · #4 10-18-2015, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Melton

yes, I'm concerned about over spray on neighbors. I'm pulling air thru these, doubled. Any experience?

I can't speak to those filters, but they are probably as good or better than what I used in my garage. I used 3 box fans in parallel, with a cheap air filter taped to the upstream side of each fan. My cars were parked 50' from the exhausts and I never had overspray problems.

Larry DeCamp · #5 10-19-2015, 04:48 AM

The filters will get coated with paint very quickly and require replacement. Consider cheap glass filters and cover them with disposable non woven fabric. A little tape will old the disposable fabric in place til fan suction nails it to the filters.

My experience says you don't need a "wind tunnel". Go easy on the fan.

Steve Melton · #6 10-19-2015, 05:18 AM

thanks for that comment. I was concerned about air change rate. with the exhaust filter in place, the fan should change the air once per minute for a booth this size. will that be enough? I may need to experiment with the filters.

Mudfly · #7 10-19-2015, 06:31 AM

Hello Steve,
I am considering building a paint booth similar to yours in my detached garage. I don't have the room you have, so mine will need to be more portable. I will mostly use it for spraying AKZO primer.
I've heard different views on exhaust fan selection..i.e, box fan vs explosion proof. I noticed your fan in the bottom left of the first picture. That looks like a nice set up. What type and where would I find one?
Thanks,
Shawn

Steve Melton · #8 10-19-2015, 10:06 AM

that's a harbor freight vent fan 8 inch and flex ducting, 1500 high and 1300 low cfm. I'm thinking of cutting a square hole in my door for the adapter for Winter painting.

I've been watch stuff like this on youtube, do not put O2 in there, yikes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMVULIjRd4Y

Lionclaw · #9 10-19-2015, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Melton

that's a harbor freight vent fan 8 inch and flex ducting, 1500 high and 1300 low cfm. I'm thinking of cutting a square hole in my door for the adapter for Winter painting.

I bought that same blower for my paint table and am underwhelmed by the amount of air it pulls through my (similar to yours) 20x20 filters. I've been thinking about replacing it with a home furnace blower. They're available on the cheap... Maybe someone can chime in on whether or not that's a good idea...

RVDan · #10 10-19-2015, 11:16 AM

For professional booths, I believe that the air velocity should be around 100 ft/min throughout the booth. Higher than that and you may get the spay pattern blowing around and less you will tend to get overspray on the areas you have already painted. So if the end of the booth is 7X8 that would require 5600 CFM.

The 100 FPM is also in the fire codes.