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Limitool

Limitool

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Jun 9, 2013
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Hey all.... I have not goggled anything about this yet but was hopeful someone here with some experience might help me. I'd like to build a "spray booth room" just off my new 1800 sq. ft. wood shop.

I'll be using a couple of electric HVLP spray system's. I'd like to know this just for starters. How do you use an exhaust fan and keep the controlled air temp in the room? This means cooling air or heat. I kind of understand the use of a filter in from of the fan but I probably have to "pull" air from another controlled system (right?).

Thanks for any advise or help... Brad
 

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Room within a room. Recirculate scrubbed air.
 

Depends on the type of finishes you'll be using. If anything potentially explosive, then you MUST vent to outside! If water-based, you can recirculate the air, but still need to wear appropriately approved respirator. If set up correctly, you can make it so you can spray water-based during the cooler months, and save the other stuff for warmer weather.

As for your vent fan, make certain it's approved for hazardous location, even if you "plan" on using only water-based finishes. Reason being is that if there were ever any kind of explosion (like a gas can blew up from static electricity), your insurance company could come back and deny the claim stating it was your vent fan igniting fumes. Also, keep all electrical contacts outside booth, with light entering through the thin walls or clear panels. Contacts (mostly switches, but also when you plug/unplug something in the "on" position) spark, and this is a normal thing...to a point.

After that, it's basically figuring out if your vent system should "pull" air or "push" air.
 

Be careful with the paint fumes. They can give you brain damage or even kill you in an enclosed space. Don't bet your life on a vent fan.

I painted my '72 Road Runner in my back yard and was stoned for days! The base coat fumes weren't too bad, but the clear coat fumes were deadly! Working with paint fumes that are toxic and flammable shouldn't be taken lightly...
 

I paint alot and have built many portable spray boothes . I have also painted in permanent professional spray boothes. Im in florida so temp is not an issue for me. I spray all types of finishes including epoxy, acrylicurathne, polyurethane gelcoat, 2kclears, pearl, flake, candy etc.etc..... when I build a booth I pull air from a filtered opening in the top of the booth. The fan will be down low and should be pushing paint fumes and over spray through an opening that is connected to a scrubber box with several layers of filter screens that can easily be pulled and changed. This creates a down draft effect in the booth and limits the V.O.C.or volume of contaminants that are expelled into the surrounding environment. All this sounds technical but it is no more than a sealed room with an opening up high with an A.C. filter covering that opening to catch any dust entering the booth. The fan placed down low sucks air through the filtered opening and pushes air through another opening down low. This creates the down draft effect in the booth. Law requires that the fumes and overspray be captured and filtered before being expelled into the atmosphere. This is accomplished by directing the airflow exiting the booth through a scrubber box. A scrubber box is a long box with alternating layers of filter screens that capture the solids and neutralize the evaporated solvents . Basically air conditioning screens with activated charcol elements in between. These must be changed every few spray outs.
 

I'll be spraying oil based wood stains and poly. Today I'm hand applying the stain and spraying on a water based poly the next day. I'd like to switch over to an oil based poly due to costs.

I'm making toy boxes and putting on the finish is the biggest bottleneck I have at the moment. That's all I'll be spraying within this booth. I'm really torn between the water based poly and the oil based. Water based dries very quickly but it costs a lot more then the oil based. I don't need a huge booth at all. Just enough room to get 2-3 toy boxes in, spray, push back out through an opening, reload with more and repeat.

I do appreciate the advise thus far and THANK YOU ALL... Brad
 

Keep in mind that longer drying time = more time for dust to settle on your project.

Also, what kinds of projects and who for? If toys for kids, I'd pay the extra amount and go with a safer finish. While the "oil" in an oil finish dries as the solvent evaporates, it's still not nearly as kid-safe as most water-based finishes. (keep in mind I haven't been active in woodworking in nearly 20 years - much has probably changed)

Have you considered shellac? Can be bought in flake form with unlimited shelf life. Then add alcohol, mix and use. Might be a possible in-between for you.
 

I have a fondness for lacquer especially Deft brand. Extremely fast dry time and very tough.
 

Deft Tones said:
Room within a room. Recirculate scrubbed air.
Click to expand...

But the recirculated scrubbed air is blown outside... right? I'm assuming the scrubbed air by the filters wouldn't eliminate the fumes... right?
 

You must wear a respirator while inside the spray booth. A full face sheild is better , as it will protect your eyes too. I build my booth with a portable car port that you can buy from most hardware stores. They are the type that consist of galvanized pipe frame with tarp roof. I use tarps of appropriate size to make walls and then seal it all with visquine and duct tape. A portable box fan is used to push air through the scrubber box and pull air through my filtered intake opening. This is a recent 18 foot checkmate ski boat interior I just finished. It came out 99 % dust free. It is chartreuse lime flake over camaro synergy green base coat and all the clear work was house of color 2-k clear. photo-331.JPG
photo-329.JPGphoto-330.JPG
The fan on low speed creates the perfect down draft effect for clear coat work as you can see.
 

Bart, that's a gorgeous finish!! Well-done, sir! :notworthy:
 

Limitool said:
But the recirculated scrubbed air is blown outside... right? I'm assuming the scrubbed air by the filters wouldn't eliminate the fumes... right?
Click to expand...

No.

The air is pulled from the booth or room, passed through a series of pre-filters, filters, and activated carbon then dumped into the room containing the booth.

You still wear a respirator working inside any booth, but you can exit the booth and remove your respirator while maintaing ambient temps.

Fumes can be removed. I'm not an expert, so consult your product MSDS, but I do know activated carbon or charcoal will remove many types of fumes and odors. It's used in almost every industrial air scrubber.

Edit: And protect your fan by pulling the air through the filters first.
 

Last edited:
Skippy SH13 said:
That's the way I've seen them done. More like temporary shelters erected inside garages. LOL
Click to expand...

LOL Yep. I've see them constructed with duct tape and cardboard.
 

Thank you all... I appreciate it... Brad
 

Limitool said:
About how much a gallon (close) or a five gallon pail?
Click to expand...


I've only bought quarts. About $10 but I usually don't pay close attention. I know Home Depot has it.

For your room I'd check on the site HVAC-talk and do a search. They answer a lot of questions like yours.
 

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