Building a paint booth

[simso]

So I have a small paint booth 1200 by 1000 by 1500 high. However it doesnt allow you to work around the instrument, always been an issue with me, but space can be difficult at times.

Ive got a new area of floor put in,(3.4 by 3.4metres) so time to get a good paint booth, however, talk about not cheap...Riduclous to the point of offensive, ive made numerous enquiries including importing a booth, but the cheapest so far is still over 10k most around 20 plus.. Cough cough splutter

So I thought I would share, as im building one...I only have weekends to be able to build it, as weekdays are just stupid. You can learn the pits and downfalls from my mistakes if your interested

[Clancy]

I looked at this once upon a time....
Two ideas that attracted me from guys here on the forum, and which I never got around to persuing further
1/ Dom uses a fan to over-pressurise the booth, which then forces the aerosoled particles through the filters.
2/ Taffy uses a old swampy fan (sealed against moisture) as an exhaust fan, drawing the aerosoled particles through the filters.

[Kim]

Bring it on Steve,

It will be interesting to watch it come together. I believe a lot of the expense is related to the cost of an explosion proof exhaust fan...not cheap. But once you have one, the booth itself is not much more than a sealed room with a ducted inlet and out let arrangement.

Cheers

Kim

[simso]

Good to see some interest, I actually started a couple of weekends ago, be a few more before its finished, I also have taken some photos and will upload a couple later

I like the idea of the pressurised booth, do you have some more info or links regarding this.

I did a bit of research and so far the the best option for achieving a high quality finish,requires a cross down draft, that is air comes in from upper level of booth on one side and leaves the opposite side on the lower levels, so it creates a cross down draft to remove airborne particles. The drawing of clean air from the upper half of the booth also stops the booth from scavenging dust from floor levels.

Big learning curve, I got taught to paint many years ago by my old man he was a spray painter by trade so Ive painted many a car but never really undertaken the construction of something like this before,

[simso]

Original layout boxed into a frame, no roof / doors / filter boxes or anything yet.

[Kim]

Steve,

I believe from your previous posts on this forum that you own a pro shop that does repair and setup and that you have employees who work for you....If that is the case and I was you I would look very carefully at your 'duty of care' obligations under OH&S legislation before deciding upon a design for a spray booth, particularly if there are any sort of lacquers used in your operation.

I do not 'know' this to be true, but would 'imagine' there are design considerations that must, or should be included or excluded if you are to avoid exposure to litigation or even imprisonment in the case of the unthinkable happening. For instance I could not see how having any form of electrical switching device within the spray area itself would be allowable and I have my doubts whether 'any' from of electrical motor other than one manufactured to meet the requirements that allow it to be rated "explosion proof", could be allowed to operate in a particulate rich environment, even if it where only to be drawing clean air into the booth to apply positive pressure.

I am sure there are lots of set ups without such fans in operation in sheds all over AU which have had no issues after years of occasional use, and I do not doubt for a second that even some commercial operators have these sort of systems in operation as they are cheap and easy to set up. But think for a moment why a small pro booth is priced at 10K> and consider that just because a problem is unlikely, it does not mean that it cannot happen.

What I am saying is that with OH&S legislation being what they are, and you should also understand that they continue, and will continue to evolve to bring even more onus upon the business owner to provide safety in the work place, it would be a horrible thing to discover the full impact of what failing to provide a safe working environment really means "in the eyes of the law"...and your insurer..Serious injury would not only leave you bankrupt, but the guilt factor would be unbearable, a death....wow..

I am not trying to tell you how to run your business here, and I am not suggesting that what I have written above was based upon anything more than my own speculation..but it is worth your while looking into it to get clarification of your obligations before you proceed. Allen may be able to help clarify what is required of auto finishing shops and that would probably apply to any commercial enterprise that sprays volatiles and such. If it comes down to you needing an explosion proof rated fan, I believe that poultry farms must have them for extraction of methane, probably pig farms for the same reason and any grain handling operation would also require them, so there are options for second hand available.

EDIT: It also may pay to investigate the requirements on explosion proof lighting within the booth..these cost a lot but there are work arounds that may be acceptable such as placing the lighting outside the booth and having perspex panels to allow the light through. In that you would be adhering to any requirement that may prevent the use of anything but explosion proof rated lighting "inside" the booth...again, this is just speculation.

Cheers

Kim

[simso]

Spot on kim, I actually ran everything past the EPA when deciding to go ahead, It has to be fully compliant and certified by them before it can be commisioned, its the details that will stop you. Funny things like the filter housing edges have to have rubber that will prevent unfiltered particles from passing through the filters, lights that are not inside the spray booth, explosion proof fans and so forth, really an overkill, especially when some of the panel and paint guys here in perth do 2 packs under an awning out the back..

The most expensive outlay so far, is the obligatory breathing gear that must be supplied for spraying 2 packs. Basically its a hood with a specially designed carbon filter which filters compressor air into clean fresh air for breathing

As I said, I thought becuase it is such a big undertaking and Im doing it myself personally not paying someone to do it, it might be interesting for others to actually see whats the good or the bad that goes with building one.

[simso]

Next photo, the roof.

Theres also recess's in the frame work for 4 fluoro lights to sit external to the booth, you can see one of them sitting up in there at the moment,
Once the sheeting is up, just have to have glass fitted to the light openings and silastic them in place, then the lights simply sit on top of the glass, this complies with the safety requirement we mentioned in the earlier post

[Kim]

I actually ran everything past the EPA when deciding to go ahead, It has to be fully compliant and certified by them before it can be commisioned, its the details that will stop you. Funny things like the filter housing edges have to have rubber that will prevent unfiltered particles from passing through the filters, lights that are not inside the spray booth, explosion proof fans and so forth

Excellent Steve

I do hope that I did not come across as waggling the finger at you as that was never my intent. The fact that you are clear on EPA requirements demonstrates your professional approach and that makes this thread a very valuable one to watch and learn from for us all.

Thanks for sharing and I look forward to the progress.

Cheers

Kim

[simso]

Nothing wrong with pointing out the facts. Waggle away. You may mention something I had not considered yet.

Only a couple more to take me up to where I actually am.

This one is now the entrance side of the booth, the mesh area is for locking inlet filters into place, below that is simply going to be sheet steel. The filters being high allow fresh air to be drawn in, not air from the floor, I went and had a look at a few commercial paint booths and there filters are above the booth and come in the front through the roof, I didnt go this option becuase we do a fair bit of woodwork and I could just imagine within a month how much dust would realistically be sitting on the roof.

[simso]

Last one and we are caught up to where I am

The biggest issue I have, like probably everyone else is simple little touch ups, or a bit of air brush work, so within the booth Ive made a small area for just doing little jobs, if your doing some skull and cross bone graphics on a guitar you dont need a big booth to work in, in fact it would be a hinderance, so a booth within the booth, to be able to sit down at and air brush away, without the need for massive amounts of air being ripped away from you

[simso]

whoops, need a photo dont we

[simso]

Now Im working on the extraction area of the booth, making filter cartridge holders, ran out of steel, so its not going to be done this weekend, have to wait for next weekend to finish that one, at least I get a break from welding.
Man this is a bigger job than I thought to start with.

[seeaxe]

Man this is a bigger job than I thought to start with.

I know that feeling!

Cheers and good luck Steve
Richard

[kiwigeo]

I do hope that I did not come across as waggling the finger at you as that was never my intent.

Got the labels on those bottles in your shop yet???

[Kim]

As I said Marty, my shop, my tools, my rules...no employees, no EPA, no labels, no problems...now lets get back OT so we don't derail the guys thread anymore

[kiwigeo]

[kiwigeo]

Great thread Steve and thanks for sharing the build with us.

[charangohabsburg]

Cool little project!

If I would build such a spray booth I could build in a dividing accordion partition and use one half of the booth to put all my furniture in and keep on living there comfortably! Well, not really but nearly.

[liam_fnq]

What's EPA?

OH&S, Electrical safety and Environmental legislation is all state based so the laws in WA are different to here in QLD. Next year OH&S laws will be harmonised across the country. I can't remember the specifics of Spray booth laws. We do have one at work but I probably fell asleep during the part where they explained Spray Booth laws. I do remember that the laws surrounding the design, construction and registration of spray booths is pretty tight.

Here in QLD it doesn't matter whether you are employed, self-employed or working for free, if the premises is operating for monetary gain then it's a workplace and the WH&S act applies. That means it may well apply to your back shed if you're selling instruments or doing repairs for customers. I doubt it's ever been tested in court though and I've never heard of anyone being fined in their back shed. It's usually after an accident that WH&S officers come investigating.

That said, that spray booth looks bigger than my shed . I'm impressed, keep the updates coming.

[Lillian]

Up here the EPA is the Environmental Protection Agency. They are the Watch Dogs who try to keep companies from creating another Love Canal.

[Kim]

. That means it may well apply to your back shed if you're selling instruments or doing repairs for customers.

I gave up repairing and building instruments to pursue a career in ornamental jig making....The collection is coming along very nicely too. But as with collectors, I find there always seems to be just one more required to complete the set and I won't rest until I have them all.

[liam_fnq]

What's EPA?

OH&S, Electrical safety and Environmental legislation is all state based so the laws in WA are different to here in QLD. Next year OH&S laws will be harmonised across the country. I can't remember the specifics of Spray booth laws. We do have one at work but I probably fell asleep during the part where they explained Spray Booth laws. I do remember that the laws surrounding the design, construction and registration of spray booths is pretty tight.

Here in QLD it doesn't matter whether you are employed, self-employed or working for free, if the premises is operating for monetary gain then it's a workplace and the WH&S act applies. That means it may well apply to your back shed if you're selling instruments or doing repairs for customers. I doubt it's ever been tested in court though and I've never heard of anyone being fined in their back shed. It's usually after an accident that WH&S officers come investigating.

That said, that spray booth looks bigger than my shed . I'm impressed, keep the updates coming.

I've just had a look at the Qld WH&S act and it applies to any workplace, with workplace defined as "any place where work is, or is to be performed by: a worker or, a person conducting a business or undertaking".

[simso]

Yep, epa here in perth certify your booth to comply with current legislation, worksafe require epa to sign of on the booth for it to be commisioned.

For info those that were not aware, apparently any blasting unit be it at home at work, use garnet, ally, soda whatever needs to have a certification to be used by epa. This is a yearly license. Worksafe require it as well. The lefislation these days is just getting stupid. Youve got to have a license to use a chainsaw, WTF.

[liam_fnq]

Chainsaw licence is a new one we haven't got that one (yet).

Spray booths have their very own division in the WH&S Regs here. They must be:

regularly inspected by a competent person to ascertain
whether the booth can be used safely and without risk to
health

competent person means a person who has acquired, through
training, qualification, experience, or a combination of these,
the knowledge and skill enabling the person to inspect or
maintain a spray painting booth for its safe use and proper air
movement.

Clear as mud.