SPRAY BOOTH

[non-stick]

as long as you ONLY powder coat in there, I don't see a problem with it. A blast cabinet never used for blasting doesn't know it's not being used for it's intended purpose. After all.... it's just a box I suppose. Does gasoline care if it's only going in my plymouth and not somebody else's chevy? nope... it just is what it is, right? Square box to do with what you will... blast, powder coat, cook grilled cheese in... it's all the same. Just don't mix one with the other is all. If yer gonna blast in it.... then ONLY blast. If you're going to coat in it... then only coat. If you mix the two, then almost always blast dust will be in your coating, and powder from coating will be embedded into your blasted part. Otherwise.... it's all good.

[ACinVA]

I've been drafting a design for a small paint/powder booth as well and one problem I see with simply sucking on the booth's atmosphere with shop vac is that the negative air pressure will undoubtedly draw in unfiltered air through all the cracks in your booth possibly degrading your quality of finish. An answer I'd thought of was to install a large filter (something like a high-end furnace filter) in the roof with a large fan forcing air through it into the booth. The fan shouldn't be strong enough to disturb the powdered surface but the total CFM of both your gun and the ceiling fan should be at least equal, if not a little more, than the CFM draw of your filtration vaccum. Make sense?

[non-stick]

In all my time as a coater. I've used perhaps 3 booths that were totally enclosed and filtered,etc. All the rest are "open" like you have described and draw in ambient unfiltered air past you, then into the booth. It's not really a huge deal unless you have a lot of stray things flying past you. Basically... you are making a powder coating "room". Much like a room set aside for just sandblasting, am I right? Like I said.... some places have that but it's not necessary in the hobbyist form (or even in most industrial forms, truth be known). I'd build a standard "booth" to coat in and keep the opening a good size where you stand and don't foresee any problems with that. The air coming past you won't be such a pressure or volume that it will pull the powder right off your part. Quite the contrary.... if your powder comes flying off, then something's wrong. If you want to slow the volume down because you feel it's excessive.... I've put a big square plate approx 3" in front of the hole for suction, this way the air gets slowed down yet still evacuates the chamber. What sisze parts are you planning on doing anyways? Just curious..... Russ

[ACinVA]

My goal is to be able to paint and powder items as large as 3' square. Since I'm also painting, and not just powdercoating, in this booth I wanted to make it's as clean running as possible. Unfortunately, my severe shortage of workspace may have me trying to blast in the same confined area. Not my first choice but it'll just mean doing a top-notch clean between blasting and painting. Whatever ventilation/filtration system I rig up it's got to be easily convertible.

[tomg552001]

I wouldnt suggest finishing and blasting in the same area. After time, no matter how clean you are, you will have some cross contamination. Slow down a little and rethink your ideas and don't get ahead of yourself. Finishing with liquid and powder in one booth may be alright, but blasting is not highly recommended.