paint booth

I would like to build a paint booth that could be put up and taken down when not in in use. Like something you could assemble in the corner of your hangar that is not permanent. Some that I have seen are constructed w/ 2x4's and covered in plastic. Does anyone here use a paint booth like this, and what's the best type of exhaust fan and filter to use? In the past we always just painted our planes in the garage, but now my mom seems to think thats where she should park her car

I'm doing one now. Furnace filters on one side, lots of sealed flourescent lights, and cheap box fans on the opposite side from the filters. The fans are magnetic motors, and don't spark, but I keep the cord ends taped together in the booth and the outlets I use are outside the booth. Sparks are bad. The sealed flourescents are an idea of an electrician friend.
SB

You can make the frame out of PVC pipe and slip it together. If you put the lights on the outside of the booth you don't have to worry about sparks. I had a corner of a rented hanger drapped with plastic from the ceiling and made a work bench on one end with filter sabove the bench top and a box fan in the other end and it worked fine. Spray the walls with alcohol in your paint gun to kill the static.

Paint Booth

I bought some Kirsh hospital track like they use for curtains between hospital beds and mounted it to the ceiling in my hanger (about $200.00). My track (booth) is 23' long by 12' wide with a curved corner and enough trucks to space every 12". The curtain is made out of 6 mil fiberglass reinforced construction poly ($50.00). Tri fold the top and install brass grommets (Home Depot) every 12". A couple of 1" web straps screwed to the wall to tie back the curtain when its not in use. I can set up and be spraying in 5 minutes or take down in 2. It is a handy set up. I used to build a temporary booth every time I sprayed, what a pain. Crash

Thanks guys, good advice!

When I built mine I also filtered the discharge air so as not to fill my hanger with emron. Something else, do a rough estimate on the cubic volume of your fan discharge so you know how often your turning over the air inside the booth. Remember a to have a fire exstinguisher handy and a rope tied to your booth just in case. Lots or lights are the key to good finishes. Old squirrel cage ac fans move the most air for cheap. I guess by now everybody uses fresh air respirator. plan to have some strong way to hang parts, I use a mg 9 hvlp so i mounted the regulator and dryer inside the booth for easy adjustments. A bench inside is also handy with everything you need to so you don't have to go outside and possibly let in contams.

I have been using one I just built up a cpouple of weeks ago. I wood framed the outboard side (26') and hoisted the wood up from the ceiling in 3 places. This pulls out the top and sides, which are visqeeun.The inboard wall is actually a wall, I still put visqueen over it. I have a window to vent out of with a cheap 18" fan. I am spraying with a turbine hvlp setup and the whole thing works well.
I think the trick is to work with what sttructure you have around and have a good venting setup. Lighting you can move around is a must also. I have been using halogens.

Good ideas!

I use a booth with multiple sections framed from 2x4's and covered in reinforced poly. It's not really as temporary as Crashs', but can be disassembled in sections. I've built disposable booths from 1x2 firring strips covered in poly with a filtered fan providing air rather than sucking exhaust air. Also, the PVC tubing frame with poly draped over it works great. All of these posess the problem of dust falling from them if the poly gets rubbed, bumped, or if someone opens the booth door or even the outside hangar door. Maybe Steve P's alcohol spray idea solves this, I'll use it next time.

Crash's is a great idea. How is the top sealed where the hospital track and track "bogies" run? How about the floor?

94SUPER18, you're not exhausting your booth air into your hangar, are you? You confused me when you were saying about "..filter the discharge air so as to not fill my hanger with emron..". If you don't know, let me tell you........the solid parts in Imron or other polyurethanes will accumulate and hurt you, but the isocyanate vapors left over in your "filtered" air WILL KILL you.....Sometimes within days.

Anyway, crash's 'curtain booth' sounds like THE idea if the top and bottom seal well and the static holding dust to the sides can be solved.

David,

You may have something there, I've been shooting the stuff for almost 26 years and I don't feel the same was I used to. I wonder if it's old age setting in or Isocyanates. Did we spell that correctly, you know how I am about misspelled words. Seriously,the reference to fresh air respirators in my piece hopefully clarified I wasn't trying to kill myself.
The main point was to filter solids out of the air so an not to trash your hanger or anybody within 100 yards. So many filter the dust and debris out of incoming but forget the discharge side of the equation. Hope that didn't hurt. Good points on urathanes if someones just cutting there teeth with that type of paint. Emron is poison as well as many others.

I am now spoiled. When I bought my hanger I built a real paint booth with framed walls, a filter wall and a sparkfree exhaust fan. It is big enough to cover and paint most anything in. I hung pipe from the ceiling to hang things on. Over kill if you don't use it all the time but I keep it full most of the time. T'craft wing in there right now with a Clipper fuselage waiting to go in it for cover and paint.

Booth

There is about a 2" gap at the top of the curtain for air to come in. It is not filtered but gives a "down draft" to get the "air suspended" paint down. I have a garden hose spray head that has a "mist" setting and I mist down the curtain to get the loose stuff off and keep the other stuff in place. I also mist the floor. A lot of crap is kicked up by your feet and hose dragging on the floor. The bottom of the curtain is about 18" too long and this forms a "foot" that I put my old diving weights on to hold the bottom in place. I can flair the sides out to get a larger booth if I need to. The fan inside creates a negative pressure so I can spray inside the booth and not worry about my plane outside the booth getting overspray on it. My paint jobs have very little "particle" debris in them. I installed my air compressor in another room for "explosion proof" purposes, ran 3/4" PVC from it up into the ceiling with drop downs in key locations around the hanger. My regulator and air scrubbers are inside the paint booth area. Crash

Yeah, I was thinking of that 2" gap at the top. I don't like the idea of that. I want only filtered air coming into the booth. You must be lucky to not get alot of debris through that gap.

I was thinking about maybe a 12" long drape that would hang down outside of the track and provide a seal that hangs down onto the "curtain". The negative pressure on the inside of the booth might suck the seal up against the curtain.

Anyway, I love the idea of not having to dedicate hangar space to a booth.

This track system idea sounds like the ticket.