Powder Spray Booth for Dummies?...Need some help

[Mark_H]

Hey guys, I wanted to get some basic idea's/info on a potential booth or other ideas.
In my case I'm working in my attached garage and have a corner of the garage I'm using for my spray "booth" right now. Little by little I'm getting sick of the overspray powder gathering on the floor and I'm beginning to notice some dust particles gathering on my parts while I shoot them. I do alot of car wheels and accessories.(to give you an idea what size parts I do)
So...what would you guys recommend I do? Build/buy a full booth with it's own fans and filters or maybe build a booth and run a standalone dust collector in conjunction with it?? I'd be willing to buy a pre-built booth if need-be, I just want to do it right the 1st time. Fwiw, reclaiming isn't of huge importance to me right now. Any tips, or links to good booths/products would be great.
Thanks for any tips you guys have for me.
Mark

[FigureLLC]

our first simple booth was a walk-in that was 8'Lx4'Wx7'H. it was a pvc frame (maybe 2" or 2.5"?) with an mdf floor. the walls and ceiling were 6mil painter's tarp. we used 1/16" steel cable to cross brace the frame, hang parts from, and aid in grounding. later we added an mdf blower box with some house furnace filters. total cost on booth with an overhead light was well under $100, and the blower box with a 1200cfm squirrel cage blower was maybe $130. i'll post some pics.

[FigureLLC]

here are some pics.

http://forum.caswellplating.com/phot...php/photo/1894
http://forum.caswellplating.com/phot...php/photo/1895

[jreve64]

Here is my spray booth, very simple

[Mark_H]

Originally Posted by FigureLLC

our first simple booth was a walk-in that was 8'Lx4'Wx7'H. it was a pvc frame (maybe 2" or 2.5"?) with an mdf floor. the walls and ceiling were 6mil painter's tarp. we used 1/16" steel cable to cross brace the frame, hang parts from, and aid in grounding. later we added an mdf blower box with some house furnace filters. total cost on booth with an overhead light was well under $100, and the blower box with a 1200cfm squirrel cage blower was maybe $130. i'll post some pics.

Thanks a lot for the info. My main concern at this point is how to setup the filters and where to buy and what to look for as far as a fan/blower. Thats the part I have no clue what the ideal way to set that up is. I have access to have a nice frame for a booth made by a buddy of mine that does fabricating. I just need some info on the whole filtration situation.
Thanks again!
Mark

[FigureLLC]

how much money do you want to spend? most of the filtration systems i've seen on this forum - including mine - aren't particularly good. you'll see various types mostly using house furnace filters with box fans or squirrel cage blowers. these types of air movers are high-volume/low-pressure types, and they lose efficiency (read stop working) quickly when restrictions (filters, ducts, elbows, etc.) are introduced. the proper air mover is a high-pressure blower and those are more expensive and louder. i'm preparing to build a more professional filtration system with a high-pressure blower and a cyclone separator. i'm a big fan of cyclones because there are no filters to clog and from what i've experienced so far with a crude prototype/wrong blower setup it does an amazing job of collecting the powder. also, exhaust to outside unless it's absolutely impossible.

[Mark_H]

Thanks for the info.

I'm willing to spend as much as is needed while still staying reasonable. I have a few ideas running through my head that involve a good blower and a series if furnace filters(I know they aren't the best). I can't vent to outside though, my shop is in an HOA controlled neighborhood in my garage.
Roughyl what CFM fan would be needed? I found some pretty nice ones on good old Ebay that are reasonably priced. Also, what is a cyclone seperator exactly? Again, sorry for the newb questions, I just dont fully understand the exact concept here.
Thanks.

[FigureLLC]

maybe some creative camoflaged external exhaust? it's filtered exhaust air, not blowing powder outside (only microscopic, not enough to see or accumulate), so i don't expect anyone would notice or have a problem with it.

here's the concept of a cyclone. basically, a high pressure blower is mounted to the top of a funnel. the funnel is mounted to a container (trash can, drum, etc.). an intake from the booth comes into the top of the funnel. the air is moving pretty fast coming into the funnel and at an angle so i swirls around the funnel. centrifugal force spins the dust/debris to the sides as the air continues down the funnel until it gets into the container. cleansed air has nowhere to go but up the center of the funnel, through the blower, and out the exhaust duct. there's a guy on ebay making and selling these (cyclone only) shipped for under $200. find yourself an appropriate blower and a container and you're pretty set.




average rule of thumb for flow is 100cfm per 1 square foot of open booth area. so if you have a walk-in booth that's 4ft wide x 7ft tall, supposedly you'd need 2800cfm. this is overkill as far as i've seen, not to mention the blower would be very expensive. we're planning a new booth that will be 5x7, and i think a legitimate 1600cfm will suffice.

[Mark_H]

ohhhh, ok, that makes some sense now.

Ideally I envision a setup thats basically like 3 walls all framed with steel and covered with sheetmetal with an open end to walk in. With that type of setup will I need that much CFM? If so, where can these blowers be found. The one I found on Ebay was only 465cfm so I suppose that one is out.
Thanks again.

[FigureLLC]

i got a 1200cfm squirrel cage blower from "the squirrel cage store" on ebay for like $80. this guy remanufactures (or cleans up?) used motors/blowers and will wire them however you want them. like i said, a squirrel cage blower is going to lose pull fast if there is a lot of restriction. it's not the best, but it still works. if you use furnace filters (the high efficiency super-small micron filters are the only ones that will work decently, and they take a lot of maintenance, or else the powder loads up on the filters, the pressure difference rises, and the powder pulls through blowing it all over your shop) make sure you maximize the filter surface area so the blower isn't trying to suck through a little opening. we used two (it ended up being four ...two stacked) 20x25" filters.

also, if you use a cyclone and absolutely need to exhaust back into your shop, you can add a post-filter to the exhaust. there are loads of info on these websites that will give you lots of good ideas.
http://billpentz.com//woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm
http://www.clearvuecyclones.com/