As if I haven't done enough side missions already, it's time to build a spray booth.
When I laid out my workshop, I put in (mostly 3D printed) 150mm ducting with an inline brushless fan (as if I wasn't on enough watch lists already...). This sucks fumes from my printer and laser cutter, and does a great job just getting the grossness out of my work area. I plumbed in a drop in the middle of the main workbench, so I could add a portable spray booth.
Because I like being difficult, I don't want a standard spray booth. I want a Nero-style spray booth. But I don't want to pay $1000 for it.
This is where we're at:
Why does it look weird, and where's the filter? This "Nero" style of booth seems really popular in gunpla circles, for painting in small spaces like apartments. It has way more in common with a fume hood than a spray booth, and you can find a bunch of DIY versions in Japanese.
Side view:
The theory is that the gaps at the top and bottom of the slanted board accelerate the air flow, which sucks the overspray into a bigger chamber with lower pressure and slower air speed. That gives you a cross-draft (which OSHA says is better for paint booths), exhaust for gases that are lighter than air, and allows the paint to dry before getting sucked up through the duct.
This is great for me because I don't have a lot of depth on the bench, and the exhaust is at the top.
I calculated the surface area of the gaps to match the surface area of the 150mm pipe. Theoretically, that maximizes the air volume I can move. I've done a few tests with rattle cans, and I can't smell the solvent at all.
Next steps are to protect the plywood somehow, work out a closable vent cover for the top gap for the times when I want to increase the velocity at the bottom gap, and get some lights installed.
When I laid out my workshop, I put in (mostly 3D printed) 150mm ducting with an inline brushless fan (as if I wasn't on enough watch lists already...). This sucks fumes from my printer and laser cutter, and does a great job just getting the grossness out of my work area. I plumbed in a drop in the middle of the main workbench, so I could add a portable spray booth.
Because I like being difficult, I don't want a standard spray booth. I want a Nero-style spray booth. But I don't want to pay $1000 for it.
This is where we're at:
Why does it look weird, and where's the filter? This "Nero" style of booth seems really popular in gunpla circles, for painting in small spaces like apartments. It has way more in common with a fume hood than a spray booth, and you can find a bunch of DIY versions in Japanese.
Side view:
The theory is that the gaps at the top and bottom of the slanted board accelerate the air flow, which sucks the overspray into a bigger chamber with lower pressure and slower air speed. That gives you a cross-draft (which OSHA says is better for paint booths), exhaust for gases that are lighter than air, and allows the paint to dry before getting sucked up through the duct.
This is great for me because I don't have a lot of depth on the bench, and the exhaust is at the top.
I calculated the surface area of the gaps to match the surface area of the 150mm pipe. Theoretically, that maximizes the air volume I can move. I've done a few tests with rattle cans, and I can't smell the solvent at all.
Next steps are to protect the plywood somehow, work out a closable vent cover for the top gap for the times when I want to increase the velocity at the bottom gap, and get some lights installed.
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