Need ideas and suggestions - building my own paintbooth

[newbaa]

So, since i have finished the auto body repair course at my local community college last school year i have suddenly found many people - myself included - that want things painted. I have had to turn everyone down - myself included :hah::hammer: - because of no place to paint in.
I have talked it over with my dad and he is willing to help me build a paint booth in our barn. Before you start thinking cows and horses and dirt, let me tell you what it's like. The barn is 80 feet long by 40 feet wide, with a nice concrete floor, good lighting (like the kind they use in gyms - the ones that take a couple minutes to warm up), and decent electricity. There are a couple 110 outlets near where i am thinking of building the booth and there is a 220 at the other end of the shop that i would have to run over to the booth/work area (either for the lighting or the air compressor, etc).

I can build the booth pretty much as big as i want, with some nice amenities. I'm not looking to build a pro paint booth by a longshot, but something that i will be able to produce nice paint jobs in. I know that has a lot to do with prep and the cleanliness of the painting area, but you know what i mean.
I don't want to build one with tarps for sides, i want one that is framed and i'll probably use drywall unless someone else has a better idea.

So i'm looking for ideas from those of you who have a paintbooth in your shop or someone who built one at home like i am planning on doing, as to what kind of fans to use, what filters, how to run my airlines, what kind of compressor, lighting, driers for my airlines, general setup of the booth, what you like about your booths, what you would do differently, etc. If you guys have pictures of your paint booths i'd love to see those too.

I have my own ideas of things, and i am going to go talk with my instructor from my auto body classes, but i thought i'd get your guys' opinions as well.

I don't have ALL the tools i will need, but i have a lot of them. I have SATA guns, i've got body tools, sanding blocks, etc. whatever tools i don't have i would try to pick up from money earned by painting cars.

I look forward to the ideas and suggestions :twothumbs :cheers:

[monza]

Don't really have any build tips for you but I've have seen some for sale for what seemed sorta cheap?? If no,t maybe you can search some similar plans that might help.....

http://www.racingjunk.com/post/1104547/Economy-Cross-Flow-Paint-Booth.html

[pobby_11]

personally I'd stay away from drywall....I'd go with masonite or something you could hose down to knock the dust off it (belive me you want to hose everything down right before you pull a car in to paint. As far as filters go I'd go down to your local body supply shop and talk to them about the most common filter size (and cheapest) and build off of those for a fan I'd run atleast 2 of the big 36 in industrials it will all depend on the size you want to go with. then as far as setting up your draft you could go cross draft (intake filters on the door and exaust out the back wall) or side draft (intake through the roof and exaughst out the side) keep in mind the draft type changes alot a cross draft will push the overspray from the front of the booth to the back so you'd want to start painting from the front to the back. on a side draft its much more forgiving you can pretty much start anywhere(just something to keep in mind) plus you wouldn't want the intake on the right and the exaust on the left you'd end up having a lot of trouble while painting as far as color goes.

Hope this'll help you get started.

[newbaa]

come on guys... i know there are more than 2 of you who have some ideas for me... but thank you to the two of you who did reply.
let's hear 'em!

[rubadub]

I have some stuff I will cut and paste, give me a little bit, and don't post on here, then I can edit it and add, I guess.

This is kind of long, it shows some piping and the paint room. http://www.1969supersport.com/paintroom.html

Heres how and what to build the walls with, anyway thats what I built mine with. http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218380&highlight=paint+room

Heres how and why it works. http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218381&highlight=paint+booth

Heres some information on respirators that you might want to read, I have read on several forums that they don't cover respiratory protection at these technical schools like maybe they could have, at least some of the schools anyway. http://www.1969supersport.com/respirators.html



I'm just a hobbist, old guy, 66 years old, and its all a hodge podge of stuff, but all of it works really good, and theres not a lot of money in it, mainly my time, of which I have a lot more of that then money.

Anyway, some of it might be usefull to you, good luck.

Rob



Rob

[newbaa]

Heres some information on respirators that you might want to read, I have read on several forums that they don't cover respiratory protection at these technical schools like maybe they could have, at least some of the schools anyway. http://www.1969supersport.com/respirators.html


I think i remember seeing some of your stuff on chevelles.com...
and thanks for the info.
luckily, our instructor beat it into our heads to always wear a good respirator.
I can't quite afford a supplied-air respirator, but i've got a full-face mask which is the next best thing. I used a half-mask for a while, but after getting basecoat and clear blasted back into my face and eyes (even with my regular glasses or safety glasses on), i said enough of that and bought the full face. i don't know why i didn't buy it in the first place:screwy: . lol

i appreciate the info. i'll take a good look at all of it.



anyone else? i'm open to all ideas and suggestions - especially from you pro's.

[jy211]

buy the one I have listed in the for sale section :santa3:

[newbaa]

buy the one I have listed in the for sale section :santa3:

haha, tempting, and it sounds like a pretty good booth, BUT, there's no way in heck i want to ship that thing all the way across the country! :wedgie: (that's pretty much what the shipping company would do to me......)

[jy211]

well I could get it to Nashville, TN if that helps....:bananna2:

[Lance-W]

I see them all the time out her in the Craigslist. This is a really inexpensive one. The ones I usually see are about $2000 - $3000. I'd have one but I don't have the property to put it on.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/bfs/623103524.html

Lance

[1973tpi]

This is what I uses. The fan is a (JENNY) I got it somewere on line. I think it was $450. Not much of a booth or lighting, but I have rolled out some nice stuff. I have been doing body work for 26 years.

[Duesey2]

When it comes to homemade booths size matters. Cleaner jobs can be had with wider booths like 16' since your further away from the walls that will pick up junk. Years ago I had a fan in the wall of a 24 by 26 garage. I would put a filter in the dog door and run the fan which was around 3500 cfm and had great results. Clear would start to haze in the shop though. Not a lot of air movement but enough. Less is more for homemade. Steady/slow moving air means clean. In my new shop I built a semidowndraft clone. I've been battling with it for a couple years now getting it to my liking. Works good but I'm going to have to purchase a new one for insurance reasons. I picked up a used devilbiss 24" booth fan with a 2hp motor. I believe in this type for safety. They are designed for the job. I have a back filter wall with cheap glass filters to catch most of the solvents. I have a 8 by 8 area in the front ceiling that has blanket filters. Their is a 8" subceiling above the booth that has standard 20 by 20 filters lining the outside. Double intake filters. My door is a storage building type roll up. (this type works better in my opinion than swing out). Of course I don't have much room for the swing out. I have a small man door which is no more than a closet door. Dinky and not made for big people. Originally my fan would move so much air that I always had heavy vacumm and heavy dirt. I put a variable frequency drive on the fan motor with a pot switch in the booth. Lets me adjust the fan speed and vacuum. (Best thing I've done for the booth). I have 6 angle iron hangers across the ceiling and a bunch of 1/8" diameter rods with hooked ends. Never seem to have enough hooks or hangers in a booth full of small parts. My booth is shaped like one you by with the corners angled and lights in them. Can't have enough lights either. Standard 10 light booths aren't enough in my opinion. That is why higher end have 16 light fixtures. I do have a heated air makeup unit that I never installed. I have floor heat in my shop and the booth area has twice as many runs in the floor. Very efficient way to heat a car to 95 and sustain it for a week after I spray clear. But.... If your just doing a few here and there on a budget then a bigger area like 20 by 28 with maybe 8 20by20 intakes filters and slower moving fan will do a great job. (slower meaning 4-5k cfm) Just make sure your using proper lung and body protection such as gloves, suit, and respirator.

[backtobasics]

I would try, via some generic calls, to find out what the rules are regarding painting in the area if applicable. EPA fines are not light.

Otherwise, build it as big as you can, and with as much lighting as you can.

[muthstryker]

check around to see if any body shops are closing down or have a line on a paint booth, my cousin took down the old booths in his new shops and put up brand new ones, i think he may have sold them all but i will check for you.

[muthstryker]

just checked craigslist for the hellofit and they have 2 on their but they look like POS and one needs all nuts and bolts! lol...

[newbaa]

thanks guys for the info. i'm still looking at stuff, but it's goin slow right now because of school. hopefully i'll get something figured out soon.

[muthstryker]

talked to my cousin he sold his last booth a week ago

[newbaa]

talked to my cousin he sold his last booth a week ago

well thanks for asking!