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Thread: Shop expansion with spray booth

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Leander, TX
    Posts
    210

    Shop expansion with spray booth

    I'm looking at expanding my shop and including a dedicated spray booth. I've allocated about 12' x 12' for the spray booth and I'm figuring on a 3600 CFM explosion proof fan with a 6' x 6' frame for the arrestor filters. I'm not sure how far I should have the arrestor filters from the fan. As drawn, it is 18". I'm also considering using the space around the filter for storage, or possibly offsetting the filter and fan to one side and putting in a countertop with a skink for mixing and cleanup. I may also put the sink outside the spray booth. The other portion of the expansion will be office and wood storage. I intend on having a 4 x 8 rack so I can store sheet goods flat, and shelves above that for long boards. I'm thinking about building a custom double door into the spray booth that has large openings for intake air filters. I'll probably also have cutouts in the wall for more intake filters. The opening on the left will be a double door into the existing shop. Thoughts?

    Spray Booth.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,685
    Wouldn't you want to be able to move units from the shop to the spray booth directly rather than having to move them through the office/storage area? Where is your make-up air coming from with that big fan blowing out from the spray booth?
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    2,758
    Good filters will work up to around 500 fpm. You are set up for 100 fpm so that should be good. To get the best airflow you want to keep it even thru the spray zone. It will help if you blank off the center of your exhaust opening, say 3 ft x 3 ft.

    More important is where the air comes into the spray zone.

    And the quality of the air entering is important. Filter it.

    Your fan is probably rated optimistically at zero static pressure. It will probably perform closer to 2400 cfm depending on your setup. Will that be enough? My guess is that it will work for you, but if not, you know what to do.

    Congrats on the expansion.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    2,162
    Your spray booth will draw better if you can make it longer and narrower. Square booths have large areas of dead air which allows overspray to hang around. Cheers

  5. #5
    Question Wayne. If the booth had to remain square would it draw better if the door were moved closer to the wall and the exhaust fan moved to the opposite corner to have the air flow diagonally across the room?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Posts
    83
    I'm also adding a spray booth, some different questions:

    My fan will discharge to a plenum that flows to a basement window-well (24" from fan to the concrete wall where I'll replace the window with a removable plug). The smallest opening (at the wall) is 12" x 20". The plenum will be 20" x 20" for a fan with a 24" diameter. The plenum's job is to get the fan centered vertically, instead of high where the window is. But it will still be about 20" off-center horizontally. The booth will be 7' high, 5' wide. I can make any length, up to 10' available. The air source will open windows on other rooms of this basement (standard open doors are the smallest barriers to flow). Is that a reasonable plan?

    I can get a little more booth width if I replace an old concrete double sink with something narrower. There are lots of fiberglass options, but they feel flimsy to me. Stainless is expensive. What do folks using a sink for cleaning brushes & spray equipment prefer?

  7. #7
    Do you have a picture of the skink?

    Seriously though, the blower setup should work reasonably well if spraying directly in front of it. There will be relatively less air flow in the corners. You need to consider how you will heat the makeup air in the winter.

    Horizontal storage for sheet goods can be difficult to load and unload without a lift. You will need shelves for different products. Have you considered storing sheets on edge for easier access?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Posts
    83
    Since my spraying will be for only one project at a time, I figure the time spraying (and the time with open windows) should be short enough (20-30 minutes at a time) to just tolerate heat loss. During the coldest part of winter, I'll just brew beer.

    About the corner air flow: The corners are 'lost space', since they're not used for storage or action. Would it be helpful to make plywood baffles? My plan comes from the "Fine Woodworking" article by Geoff Guzynski (2013). Taunton Press sells diagrams with a reprint of the article (through Highland Woodworking, Atlanta). Opinions on baffle dimensions, angles, etc? The filter wall will be 70" wide, 80" tall. Air will flow down smooth side walls, drawn by a fan behind that filter wall.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    2,758
    I think the ideal booth would be round so if you can find some 80" pipe and work in that it would be better. But since you will want a flat floor and round is difficult to build and install lights in, 45 degree baffles on the ceiling would be ok. Install your lights thru these flush inside the booth.

    However since your room is not square but 12' wide x guessing 8' high, you may want to flatten that 45 degree angle some. Start at 6' off the floor and come 4' across the ceiling from each side. That will reduce the dead air and keep your lights out of the way.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    McKinney, TX
    Posts
    2,063
    Plenty of comments on the spray booth. I stored plywood flat for a few years and it was a major pain. Always having to dig down to get what I wanted. You can build two A frame racks for vertical storage in about the same footprint if you have the ceiling height.
    Steve Jenkins, McKinney, TX. 469 742-9694
    Always use the word "impossible" with extreme caution

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