Spray Booth ideas

[rjwaldren]

I would like to start spraying finishes but need to set up a space to do so. Does anyone have any advice on a know-down, easy to store/setup booth? I don't need large 6x6 would probably be plenty. Easy to use and store is more important than size.

The best idea I've had is a simple PVC frame covered with plastic that could be folded down and hung on the ceiling when not in use.

If i spray outside what kind of radius do I need to clear? I'm in a residential neighborhood and while it's a decent sized lot there are not a lot of large open areas.

[smorris]

I have some 1x2 furring strips mounted to the ceiling of the shop. I buy plastic dropclothes and staple them to those strips into an enclosed area floor to ceiling. When done I juts pull them down and throw them away.

[docrowan]

This idea seems interesting:

http://www.woodstore.net/pofice.html

I haven't downloaded the plans, but for less than $3.00 how can you go wrong?

I have a number of doors to paint. I'm going to clean out my garden tool shed and try using that. I spray latex paint so I'm not too worried about fumes.

[LarryG]

If you can bring a copy of "The Workshop Book" by Scott Landis to hand, there are a few ideas in there that might stimulate your thinking. One of them: get some cardboard boxes that large appliances like refrigerators come in and tape them together.

I like the stapled, disposable plastic drop cloth idea. Low tech, but cheap and highly effective -- always a winning combination.

[Shep]

I saw a great idea in an old issue of The Family Handyman. The used the oldfashioned pull-down blinds with clear plastic. The attached the blinds to the ceiling in a open box fashion. When the spray booth was needed they would simply roll down the plastic, then attach the corners with stick on velcro.

[rjwaldren]

The woodstore plan is what I had in mind. But I must say that smorris made give out a, DOH!, when I read it. Simple, cheap and way too obvious for me to come up with on my own.

Why do we so often insist on finding complex solutions to simple problems? Even now I'm combining all these ideas into one overly complicated solution in my head

[docrowan]

By the way, what are you spraying and what are you spraying it with? I can tell you from experience that spraying latex paint with an HVLP sprayer doesn't require a lot of open area as long as the work is leaning against a tarp or other disposable surface. The overspray in the surrounding area falls dry.

[cabinetman]

Ideally a spray booth enables a draft of equal air in an out. For small or temporary "booths" the air should be evacuated and there be some allowance for clean air intake.

You could just use PVC pipe and configure a booth and use cloth type drop cloth and cafe rings (like shower rings) to enclose and access. If you didn't glue the joints it could be disassembled. The top should be covered (to keep out dust and little critters from landing on the work). You could use a box fan to evacuate the booth.

The cloth drop cloths are heavy enough to fall straight and not get blown or sucked into the booth as long as you have sufficient air intake. You should wear protective gear and a proper respirator.

I used the drop cloths I bought from Sherwin-Williams. I had it attached at the top to a draw drape hardware (trolleys) like around hospital beds.
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[rjwaldren]

This is what I think will work for me. As smorris suggested, 1x2's mounted to the ceiling. I have a roll of heavy mil clear plastic that I can sandwich between 2 1x2's and attach to the ceiling. Then add a 1x to the bottom of the plastic to provide and anchor point at the floor. That way when it's not in use I can just tie it up at the ceiling. When I need it just throw down a drop cloth, drop the walls and clip the corners together. So kind of a combination of all ideas.

With a little duct tape two vents could be added to provide some box fan powered crossflow (except for when there is an explosion hazard of course). Honestly with the way my house sits to the normal breezes ventilation is usually adequate in the garage.

Chris, my immediate project is latex (new headboard promised to my 5 year old, followed by a couple closet builtins) but I've been trying to broaden my finishing skills across the board.

[docrowan]

RJ,

Not sure what kind of sprayer you're using, but the HF HVLP sprayer (the self contained one that has it's own air pump) does a fantastic job and is pretty inexpensive to boot.

Hope your projects turn out well!

[eezlock]

spray booth ideas

You might want to make a temporary use spray booth with some pvc pipe
with hangers from the ceiling joists to support it. Sort of like an open top shower stall, with plastic shower curtains and curtain rings from the dollar store, or use some cheap plastic table covers from the dollar store, if they get torn up throw them away and buy some more! The dollar stores are the best place to buy disposable items like these without getting expensive.

[drumpriest]

Here's what I did. I mounted a few strips of 3/4" ply just offset from my ceiling by 3/4" and put in a bunch of eye hooks. Then my lovely friend Michelle grommeted a paint throw for me so that I could hook it up there.

It seems to work well. I had it go to the floor plus a bit to ensure that stuff wasn't going under the curtain towards my cast iron tools, as I spray a water acrylic lacquer (EMTech 6000, also called PSL)

Here you can see it partially hung, it goes around to form 3 walls. I may do it again (the throw part) as the 1 piece makes it difficult to manage, perhaps 2 or 3 separate but overlapping ones would be better.

[shoottx]

Here is the Large cardboard box version

[jhart]

I've done similar to what Keith did. I spaced eye hooks around, bought 7 shower curtains (cheap ones - about $1.00 each), threaded some rope thru the eyelets and hung them on the eyehooks. I used some clamps to secure the corners, but the velcro sounds like a nice addition. Easy to put up, easy to store ( got a plastic storage container) and not much eyesore with the hooks. Seems to work pretty well the couple of times I've used it so far.

[drumpriest]

Yeah Joe, it works for me too, like I said, for me the putting up and taking down is a little cumbersome, so I think smaller and more numerous curtains would be a good idea.