Anyone built a spray booth?

[Matt Meiser]

I'm looking for ideas for a spray booth. Something like this one (http://www.tools-for-woodworking.com/knockdownsprayboothdesign.pdf) on Highland Hardware's site. I started on the filter panel tonight. I going to go with their basic design, but I'm on the lookout for ideas on things like construction techniques, a fan, and how to deal with finishing larger items that won't fit completely into the booth. I've seen a lot of ideas for hanging plastic curtains, but my ceilings are 12' making it harder to deal with.

[Chris Padilla]

Matt,

That spray booth looks pretty good. Jeff Jewitt has one in one of his finishing books that is bascially 3 sheets of plywood hinged together. He has a fan in the middle piece with a filter. If I can remember (and I won't unlees you PM/email me), I'll try and get the title of the book so you can check it out some time.

[Jim Becker]

That does look like a nice design for a portable unit to help control overspray...but do note the warning at the end that it's for water-bourne (non-flamable) finishes only. That's fine by me since that's the only thing I spray!

That all said, I considered building a similar system for my shop but never got around to it. But judging by the "spraying dust" that gets all over when I do spray, I may rethink the priority of the project purely from a shop cleanliness perspective. Thanks for posting the article!

[Matt Meiser]

Jim,
I've been looking more and more at the water based products. I've noticed that you've been getting good results and if I would have had more time, I would have used the product you used on your kitchen cabinets for my last project. The overspray that got on everything from that project is what prompted me to actually get started on this.

[Byron Trantham]

Matt, I converted to WB finishes and I have been very pleased with the results. I got there for two reasons one, my wife could not handle the nitrocellulose smell of lacquer and two, Jim convinced me to try it. I have used alcohol based shellac for a couple of years but hated the cleanup! :mad: Jim, more or less, talked me into trying the WB shellac from Oxford. I finally bought a quart and it's in the shop. I don't have a project for it so I don't how I will like it. I am anticipating success. ;)

[Jamie Buxton]

Matt --

I'm somewhat of the opinion that small spray booths are getting obsolete. Back in the olden days of solvent-borne finishes and high-pressure spray guns, a fan reduced the explosion hazard -- which was a Very Good Thing. Today, with waterborne finishes, there's no explosion hazard. Furthermore, with HVLP guns, there's much less overspray. I no longer bother with a spray booth. Heck, I rarely put a drop cloth on the floor. The sprayed finish dries to dust within two feet of the nozzle, and there's no crust of finish like there was with older technology.

I'm not sure I buy Highland Hardware's argument that dried finish particles degrade the finish quality. The particles are very very small, and in my experience there just isn't very much of it. (However, I must admit I mostly shoot for a satin finish. Gloss finishes are too hard to live with. They show every fingerprint and tiny skratch.)

Jamie

[brent lenthall]

I recently switched from solvent based lacquer to using Fuhr 355 water based varnish. I used a similiar knock down booth (made from 1/2" ridgid insulation panels), but didn't even bother when it came time to spray drawer boxes because the overspray wasn't even an issue. Very little odor and a great finish. I would encourage anyone thinking about trying water based finishes to give them a try.

brent

[Doug Shepard]

I've got an el-cheapo one I made. There's no fan system. My motivation was more to give pieces an enclosed space to dry before dust or grit could blow onto the finish since I'm forced to spray out in the shop/garage with the garage door open. It's 3'D x 5'W x 6'H, made from 1x3's and heavy clear plastic sheeting. There's a back, 2 sides, and top. Each piece is a frame of 1x3's with a half-lapped 'X' running diagonally into the corners, then a couple of layers of clear plastic wound around the frames and secured with staples and duct tape. There's another piece of plastic secured to the top that drops down to act as a curtain on the open side of the box after I've finished spraying. I cut a 3 ft round plywood platform and mounted it on a large lazy susan bearing and set that inside the box so I can turn the workpiece around inside the booth. The booth sections hook together with hook & eye hardware. The whole thing is extremely light. When not in use, all 4 pieces stack and hang together from the ceiling joists with some long bungee cords.

[Michael Gabbay]

Matt - I just recently bought a conversion gun and I'm planning on setting up a spray booth in my basement shop. I was going to hang plastic from the ceiling joists so that when I'm done I can roll everything up and store it. I was also planning on installing an exhaust fan using an existing/unused 6" duct to the outside.

Mike