[placitassteam]

I got tired of waiting for warm weather so I could paint outside and don't like breathing all that nasty stuff whe I paint indoors so today I built myself a paint booth. here is what it looks like.

I used a big cardboard box and added a floor and a turntable both of 1/4 inch plywood.

For the exhaust I used a leaf blower/vacuum with a speed controller and vent for a clothes drier.

The floor sits on wood strips which raise it above the bottom of the cardboard box. There is a 2 inch gap a the back of the box for the air to flow under to the exhaust.

This picture is the exhaust connection on the bottom of the box.

I made a baffle to go under the garage door so the vent can go outside without letting in too much outside air. The leaf blower sits outside the door and is controlled by the speed controller.

If you allready have a leaf blower this can be a very cheap prodject. I didn't but the one I used was only $60 at Home Depot. The speed controler was $20 at Harbor Freight and the drier vent $20 also at Home Depot. The wood was scraps I had laying around. I used it to do some painting and it works very well.

 

[Bob Rich]

Winn,
I like your idea, although I have one question. Have you considered a possible fire hazard with this design? I have seen several different discussions on paint booths that made reference to spark-less blowers or something to that effect. I have a leaf blower/vacuum that is an earlier model of the one you used. I think it has a plastic impeller. Is that enough to qualify as spark-less? If so I would build a similar setup myself.

Thanks for posting this idea. Hopefully you or someone else will be able to answer this question.
Regards,
Bob Rich

 

[Jerry Barnes]

I had the same thought as Bob.

 

[altterrain]

I would think about installing some kind of filter at the inlet to keep your leaf blower getting gunked up with paint. Cheap furnace filters work well.

-Brian

 

[placitassteam]

Hi Bob, Jerry and Brian, I don't know if the blower would qualify as sparkless. The motor is not sealed but it is not in the flow of the fumes going through the impeller. The flow is such a high volume that I would doubt that it would ever get a high enough consentration of combustables to be explosive. I have the blower outside the closed garage so I am confident enough that it is safe that I will continue to use it. However if you are concerned about the safety I would recomend you try some other system. I don't want to be responsible for anyone blowing themselves up!!!

 

[chuckger]

Hi Guys,
Last year "Dagnabit" built a fold up spray booth, he used a squirlcage blower that he bought through ebay. Do a serch it should come up.

Chuck

 

[Torby]

Dad built me one with an squirrel cage cooling fan from an old computer, a dryer vent and a plywood box on an old desk. He put in lots of lights.

I air-brushed an airplane with yellow K&B epoxy, and the dryer vent was stuck shut. Was sick for months. Be sure to check air is blowing out the vent before you paint!

 

[Spule 4]

Shudder.......

 

[placitassteam]

I removed the vent flap and only used the body of the vent to attach the hose to the bottom of the box.

 

[Bob Pero]

Still think you had a great idea. It is cheap and functional.