Building an Airbrushing Booth.

[Lester Perry]

I guess this is wrong place to ask about paint. I have an Idea I want to bounce off of you guys. I think I will change my plans , use a bath room exhaust fan and go out a window. This will use a 4 inch vent hose about 18 inches long. the fan moves 50 cfm . I think I have hit a grand slam here. Oh yeah using a heater filter.
Les

[tetters]

I guess this is wrong place to ask about paint. I have an Idea I want to bounce off of you guys. I think I will change my plans , use a bath room exhaust fan and go out a window. This will use a 4 inch vent hose about 18 inches long. the fan moves 50 cfm . I think I have hit a grand slam here. Oh yeah using a heater filter.
Les

Les,

Check this web page. It convinced me to not use a bathroom exhaust fan. Also depending on how far away your window is, 50 cfm my not be sufficient. If you are using elbows or worse flex tubing which is highly restrictive the fan may not do much good at all.

Researching for this little project has really opened my eyes to the work involved in building a reliable and safe set up.


http://modelpaint.tripod.com/booth2.htm

[tetters]

I finally got started on this project.

Here is a list of materials so far.

1/4 plywood which was formerly a 3'x3' 3'x4' crate that housed some lab equipment. So it was free!
1 Dayton Axial Fan (shaded pole, impedance protected) Specs on the unit are AMPS 0.23/0.22, WATTS 27/25, 115 Volts. 60/50Hz. Can be had at Acklands Grainger here...https://www.acklandsgrainger.com/AGIPort...e=GGS4WT42
1 Dayton cordset for the Fan found here. https://www.acklandsgrainger.com/AGIPort...e=GGS4YD79
A 5 pack of 3/8 x 3" Machine bolts and screws (for mounting the fan and exhaust) also used misc. washers and small lock washers in mounting the fan and duct work
1 5" -> 4" Aluminum Ductwork Reducer
1 "Husky" 8ft long, 16 gauge "Light Duty Tool Replacement Cord". (It comes as a cord that you can wire up to whatever you want).
1 Levitron Lighted Switch (it didn't cost more and it lights up...how cool is that!!! )
1 Device Box - for the switch.
Carpenter's Glue. Not the white craft glue.
1 Tube of silicone sealant.
Package of 1/8" Medium Length pop rivets.

Tools,
Jigsaw to cut the plywood.
Drill and various sized bits I mostly used 3/8 or 1/8 bits for the holes except I used a larger bit if I needed to get the jig saw inside a panel piece to cut an interior hole.
Sandpaper and Sanding Block
Various Clamps. 24" clamps are needed for holding the panels together while the glue sets during final assembly.
Long Metal Ruler, Square & pencil.


So where to begin. The airbrush station will measure 13" high x 21" wide x 20" deep.

I started by measuring and marking the dimensions on the ply. Once I had everything plotted I cut the individual pieces. I notched the pieces to add some strength. I'm also trying to build and assemble it with carpenter's glue so that I don't have use nails or screws and risk splitting the wood. We'll see how that goes...I haven't crossed that bridge yet.



The markings on the side panels are incorrect in this picture. I extended the side panels further back nine inches in order to have a place to mount a switch...as you'll see further in.



Once the pieces are cut I test fitted them a few times.







I cut a 5 1/2" diameter hole in the back panel for the fan/blower. The last pic shows a test fit underneath the bench work...snug as a bug in rug!



The motor prior to wiring and mounting.



In this picture the motor has been mounted to the back panel. I've wired up the tool replacement cord, the lighted switch, and the motor. The Dayton fan cord only has two wires. However, the blower needs to be grounded. On the side of the motor frame there is a grounding screw to which a ground wire can be affixed to. The ground wire then just follows the fan cord into the device box and is grounded to same with all the other ground wires inside the box. I plan on cutting a hole in the side panel and mounting the switch on the side. Should look pretty slick once its done.



The business end of the fan while off.



Now on! We are in business so far. I was kind skeptical about the air movement that this 5 1/2" diameter fan would provide. The spec sheet says it moves 239 CFM's.

When I first turned it on it was face down and I didn't feel any air movement. So I'm standing there like, "Oh, great..."
Then I picked up the assembly and it was sucking up my cutting mat off my work bench! It really moves some air and its not as loud as I thought it would be either.

Next step is final assembly and gluing of the airbrush station panels. This step will also involve installing some strip wood to create a backing for a furnace filter, which will add some structural rigidity and create a three inch cavity for a plenum behind the filter.

Once that is done, I'll begin to assemble the first few inches of the exhaust duct work.

[tetters]

A little bit more done this morning.

I cut a rectangular opening on one side panel for the device box, and drilled a 3/8 hole on the panel for the other side to accommodate the tool cord.




I then installed the device box and switch on the one side and threaded the cord through the other side.




I then put the sides on and re-tested my wiring.






Tonight, I'll begin to glue and assemble the pieces permanently. One obstacle I need to figure out is how to connect the exhaust vent to the station. I have a couple of ideas, I'm just trying to figure out what will be the best solution.

[jim currie]

I guess this is wrong place to ask about paint. I have an Idea I want to bounce off of you guys. I think I will change my plans , use a bath room exhaust fan and go out a window. This will use a 4 inch vent hose about 18 inches long. the fan moves 50 cfm . I think I have hit a grand slam here. Oh yeah using a heater filter.
Les

Les some bathroom fan's are not explosion proof if you plan on using anything but acrylic use a closed motor type .
Jim

[tetters]

This evening I finished the assembly of the panels. Glued and screwed everything together. I'm surprised how solid it is actually. Still trying to figure out what to do with the exhaust end of things... :|

Ahh the joys of building something from scratch...

[doctorwayne]

You could always form a flange on that piece of ductwork shown in the last picture. On the large end, mark a line around the outer circumference, about 1" in from the end. Using tin snips, make cuts from the end to the line, spaced 1" or 1/2" apart, whatever you think would work best. Use pliers to bend them out 90 degrees to the circumference. Select a few spaced evenly around, then drill them to accept pop rivets - use this as a pattern to also drill the plywood around the fan outlet. Spread a bead of caulking on the flange, then press the duct into place and install the pop rivets. If you think that you'll need to disassemble this at some time, you could substitute screws for the rivets.

Wayne

[tetters]

Hi Wayne. That is a good idea. Some of the fine gents in the chat room suggested a roof jack. Take some tin snips to it and customize it to fit. Hmm...decisions...

[tetters]

Pretty much finished today. Just small details, otherwise the booth is finished!

To took the good Doctor's advice and used pretty much what I had on hand. I have pretty much followed Wayne's idea too! The particular piece in question is a 5" --> 4" reducer.

First I marked an inch inward and then marked cut lines every inch around the 5" end. I also drew and marked a 1/4" plywood "collar" on a piece of scrap wood. Then using a pair of tin snips I cut the tabs and used pliers to bend them outward. I was already enjoying where this was heading.




Then I cut the plywood collar. I cut out the center opening first, as it makes it easier to work with. If you cut out the large diameter first, then you have less wood to hold on to, while you attempt deftly try to maneuver a jigsaw around in a circle. I also removed the motor from the back of the booth in order to plot the holes for the mounting screws.



Once those were drilled, I then used 1/8" aluminum medium length pop rivets to secure each flange to the plywood collar. Before you can insert the rivets you need to pre-drill 1/8" holes in the metal flanges and collar. I marked one spot on the collar and drew an arrow on one of the flanges to mark this spot. It made matching up the pieces easier a bit later on. I didn't place a rivet in the flanges where the mounting bolts would go as they would hold down their respective flanges when mounted. Actually going back and looking at the pics I guess I did in a couple of places...oops!

Here is a test fit with just a few rivets and the mounting bolts in place. I put down a bead of silicone before I attached the duct to the collar.



I then finished drilling holes and installing the rest of the rivets. I also applied a bead of silcone around the gaps on the inside. This should seal this area nicely.



Final assembly. I applied a bead of silicone between the fan and the plywood collar as the rivet heads do not allow a flush fit and leave about a 1/16" gap. For the sake of it I also placed a bead around the area between the blower and the back of the airbrush station.



And that as they say is that...pretty much. I hope in the very least that this will give anyone else some ideas should they want to build their own air brush booth instead of buying a commercially available one. Perhaps and even better one then the one I built. That I would love to see.

The last step of course will be to install the rigid ductwork to vent it outside. That will not happen until March Break however I'm quite happy how this has all come together for me.

[doctorwayne]

Looks good, Shane, and very neatly done, too.

Wayne

[cnw1961]

Very well done, Shane, I admire your craftsmanship .

[tetters]

Thank you gents. Coming from you guys, it means a lot.

[tetters]

So yeah...I made a mistake when purchasing the type of fan for this project. I'm not afraid to admit I screwed up either. So I hope anyone who has been following this thread catches this note before they purchase their own fan and plows forward.

I was talking to a guy who works in HVAC. Installs much larger airflow systems for a living. We got talking about my little project and when I mentioned what type of fan I was using he was like, "So you are just going straight threw the wall right? Maybe 8 - 12" of ducting at most?" I'm standing there, " Um no,...more like in feet." He goes on to tell me that Axial type fans are good in free flow environments and that the CFM's decrease drastically when placed inside ductwork. He mentioned that if I was just going straight through the wall to the outside, I'd be golden. He said chances are I could go ahead and see how it works, however he highly doubted that the fan would be effective at venting any fumes outside of the house. Plus the back pressure in the duct work could cause the motor to burn out faster....

I did some checking on-line and there are a couple of other websites, that confirm this, should have bookmarked the links, however I was a little disheartened by this development.

So back to the drawing board. I been looking at squirrel cage type blowers. Two Dayton Blowers in particular have grabbed my attention in particular.

Dayton 1TDR3
http://www.drillspot.com/products/433894...PSC_Blower
or
Dayton 1TDR6
http://www.drillspot.com/products/433891...PSC_Blower

So there is a choice to deal with here. Either one will move the proper amount of air for the length of duct required. The 1TDR6 which I am leaning towards has a smaller outlet about 3", however if I run it into 4" duct, it will reduce the static pressure inside the duct work and allow better air movement.

I've also decided to do a design change as well and convert the current booth into a downdraft. Reason being is that either of these blowers if mounted on the back will require an extra 90 degree bend in the duct work adding 6 more feet to the overall run. (4" duct 90 degree bend = 6' straight duct). It will also add height which I do not have. Overall advice I've been given is to keep runs as direct and smooth as possible. The fewer the bends the better it will all work together.

The design change will also require me to cut a large opening in the bottom of the 20" by 20" bottom and install a 3" plenum underneath the booth. I've already figured out how I'm going to accomplish this. Another hurdle I'm trying to overcome here is that I cannot seem to find a dealer who sells these fans or a similar product in Canada! Even the local Acklands Grainger does not list it on their website. I've e-mailed them, just waiting for a reply. Shipping from the States on an item this "heavy" is going to cost me too.

Maybe I'm not looking in the right places... :?

I'm chalking this one up to experience but planning to move ahead and get it done right.

[MasonJar]

I am not sure about the fan, but you might try a local Princess Auto or Busy Bee to see if they have anything. Also, does your HVAC guy have any connections?

I also wonder how converting from a "backdraft" to downdraft type will eliminate one 90*? I'm a little on trying to visualize this...

Andrew

[tetters]

Hi Andrew. Checked out Princess Auto and Busy Bee...nope. :|

The simplest way I can explain it, is that the Axial Fan is in-line. Air goes in the front comes out the back. The squirrel cage blowers air goes in the front and comes out the side or top or up or down...depending on how you orient it. So to get the duct work to go where I want to by mounting it on the back, I'd have to place a 90 degree elbow on it to direct the airflow behind the station. By placing it on the bottom, I can have the air pulled in from the bottom, and still come out the back. Make sense? :?