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G-man, are you handy with a jig saw, wood glue and drywall screws?  maybe you can try your hand and do like I did, where I made my own.  It was a fun little protect, DIY'ing allowed me to put in a more powerful fan.  I did use MDF, so it is pretty heavy.  I paper napkin'ed the dimensions for the air filter I wanted to use.  I did have to hire a plumber to drill thru the foundation to mount a new dryer vent......  It isn't the most "beautiful" piece, but it works great, and IIRC, it was less than $100.00US for all of the materials.

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9 hours ago, ytsejam87 said:

G-man, are you handy with a jig saw, wood glue and drywall screws?  maybe you can try your hand and do like I did, where I made my own.  It was a fun little protect, DIY'ing allowed me to put in a more powerful fan.  I did use MDF, so it is pretty heavy.  I paper napkin'ed the dimensions for the air filter I wanted to use.  I did have to hire a plumber to drill thru the foundation to mount a new dryer vent......  It isn't the most "beautiful" piece, but it works great, and IIRC, it was less than $100.00US for all of the materials.

Nope, not handy like that at all :-/. Even if I was, I don't think the boss; AKA, the wife would sign the building permit 😉

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I didn't want to go through the hassle of building a spray booth, so about 8 - 10 years ago I bought one from Pace Industries. It is the 36" "Peace Keeper". Although it was a bit pricey, it was one of the best modeling investments that I have made. I vented it to the outside and have had no problems. It uses a standard furnace filter inside the box and there are two lights hidden behind the metal nameplate in the front. I would replace this with the same spray booth with no questions asked if ever needed.

Have fun modeling!

Mike

IMG_8452 (Small).jpg

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I built mine out of a Rubbermaid container, a cardboard box, some white foam board, a dimmer switch, an LED light, a $10 filter from Walmart and a $39 bathroom fan (239cfm) from Amazon. I’m using a 4” hose that I had from a portable A/C unit. It moves more air than most of the consumer spray booths than I’ve seen. Too much, actually - it draws dust onto the model. So I installed a dimmer switch to turn down fan speed somewhat during spraying, then I can turn it on full blast after I’ve removed the model to clear out the room. 
 

I trimmed it back in the second pic as it was just taking up too much desk space. I’m thinking about building a cover that I can place over the front with an incandescent light bulb attached to it, for the purpose of turning the whole thing into a drying booth (the lightbulb would give off enough heat) 
 

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Thanks Greg, I live in a townhouse apartment so no basement for me unfortunately. I’ve taken measures like air extraction and spraying water based acrylics exclusively in order to stay on my family’s good side! 
 

- Colin

Edited by CFster
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2 hours ago, Mike J. Idacavage said:

I didn't want to go through the hassle of building a spray booth, so about 8 - 10 years ago I bought one from Pace Industries. It is the 36" "Peace Keeper". Although it was a bit pricey, it was one of the best modeling investments that I have made. I vented it to the outside and have had no problems. It uses a standard furnace filter inside the box and there are two lights hidden behind the metal nameplate in the front. I would replace this with the same spray booth with no questions asked if ever needed.

Have fun modeling!

Mike

IMG_8452 (Small).jpg

 

I love my Pace Booth,  this and a good quality compressor have been my best investments in the hobby. 

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On 2/3/2023 at 11:48 AM, CFster said:

I built mine out of a Rubbermaid container, a cardboard box, some white foam board, a dimmer switch, an LED light, a $10 filter from Walmart and a $39 bathroom fan (239cfm) from Amazon. I’m using a 4” hose that I had from a portable A/C unit. It moves more air than most of the consumer spray booths than I’ve seen. Too much, actually - it draws dust onto the model. So I installed a dimmer switch to turn down fan speed somewhat during spraying, then I can turn it on full blast after I’ve removed the model to clear out the room. 
 

 

Looks to be a nice setup. Would you be willing to share the details of the fan you mentioned? I am looking for one. I am not sure if yours is squirrel cage or inline type. Any detail like brand, model, or a link would help. Also, how is the noise level? I have a bedroom right above my workbench. TIA.  

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Sure. Here is the fan on Amazon. It’s an in-line type as I’m only spraying water acrylics, but if that changes I’ll be getting a squirrel cage type (which are more expensive). You have to wire in a plug, which you can get at any hardware store. If you’re uncomfortable doing that then have an electrician to do it. I also have it plugged into this dimmer switch. If you have the the fan ducted to the outside then it isn’t loud at all. About as loud as an A/C unit. Not intrusive - I leave the room forgetting I left it on. 
 

Some more pics…

 

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On 1/30/2023 at 5:18 AM, goondman said:

Nope, not handy like that at all :-/. Even if I was, I don't think the boss; AKA, the wife would sign the building permit 😉

See, this could be a blessing in disguise. Because if you had the tools, she would find all kinds of projects she wants done around the home. Trust me, act dumb, don’t buy any construction tools and your life will be much simpler.  
since we bought our new home I’ve had to build picture shelves for the walls, lower the countertop riser in the kitchen, build my daughters bed footboard and a bunch of other small projects. 
My advise, buy the biggest booth you can find.  I built mine using and modifying plans out on the internet. It vents out the window to the left. I’m also using a dryer vent mounted on a board I can put in the window. 
w69lnU.jpg

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40 minutes ago, Scott Smith said:

See, this could be a blessing in disguise. Because if you had the tools, she would find all kinds of projects she wants done around the home. Trust me, act dumb, don’t buy any construction tools and your life will be much simpler.  
since we bought our new home I’ve had to build picture shelves for the walls, lower the countertop riser in the kitchen, build my daughters bed footboard and a bunch of other small projects. 
My advise, buy the biggest booth you can find.  I built mine using and modifying plans out on the internet. It vents out the window to the left. I’m also using a dryer vent mounted on a board I can put in the window. 
w69lnU.jpg

Excellent! We're going to have a handyman/contractor make a new hole in the wall... 

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14 hours ago, CFster said:

Sure. Here is the fan on Amazon. It’s an in-line type as I’m only spraying water acrylics, but if that changes I’ll be getting a squirrel cage type (which are more expensive). You have to wire in a plug, which you can get at any hardware store. If you’re uncomfortable doing that then have an electrician to do it. I also have it plugged into this dimmer switch. If you have the the fan ducted to the outside then it isn’t loud at all. About as loud as an A/C unit. Not intrusive - I leave the room forgetting I left it on. 

Thank you the pics help a lot and so do the links. The fan and the dimmer look nice and simple, which is what I want. I can attach a plug no problem. I wonder if the inline fan is truly a hazard with lacquers. I plan to use an air filter like yours. All would be airbruhed (as opposed to hosing a spray can). What are the dangers of an inline fan that a squirrel cage fan (which tends to be bulkier) eliminates? 

 

Also, you mentioned in your original post that the 239 CFM is more than enough and at times too much. I like that a lot, but have read elsewhere that a single 300CFM is barely enough and some are suggesting two parallel fans of 300 CFM each (for similar airbrushing tasks). I get that it is hard to compare things like this, but are there additional observations you have about your fan that is further reassuring? For example, you mentioned it tends to pull dust onto the model (which positively speaks to its power). I guess I am just trying to be absolutely sure that anything above ~200 CFM is basically sufficient for my purposes. My duct would be 4ft long tops.

 

I apologize for rambling this much but have found your system to be extremely close to what I have been envisioning thus the questions 🙂

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello all - I too have a 36" Pace Peace Keeper and can vouch for it - it's great. However, because I tend to spray a lot of acrylic lacquers and enamels, I keep it in the garage as the fumes would still be too bad for spraying in the house. The biggest problem for me is my garage is not air conditioned or heated, so certain times of the year, it's pretty brutal in there.

 

Best Regards,

John

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On 2/7/2023 at 2:00 PM, Janissary said:

Thank you the pics help a lot and so do the links. The fan and the dimmer look nice and simple, which is what I want. I can attach a plug no problem. I wonder if the inline fan is truly a hazard with lacquers. I plan to use an air filter like yours. All would be airbruhed (as opposed to hosing a spray can). What are the dangers of an inline fan that a squirrel cage fan (which tends to be bulkier) eliminates? 

 

Also, you mentioned in your original post that the 239 CFM is more than enough and at times too much. I like that a lot, but have read elsewhere that a single 300CFM is barely enough and some are suggesting two parallel fans of 300 CFM each (for similar airbrushing tasks). I get that it is hard to compare things like this, but are there additional observations you have about your fan that is further reassuring? For example, you mentioned it tends to pull dust onto the model (which positively speaks to its power). I guess I am just trying to be absolutely sure that anything above ~200 CFM is basically sufficient for my purposes. My duct would be 4ft long tops.

 

I apologize for rambling this much but have found your system to be extremely close to what I have been envisioning thus the questions 🙂


Terribly sorry about this! I missed the notification that you had replied. 
 

When sizing my fan I went by what most of the consumer booths are, and this has more CFM than most that don’t cost $600. Of course it’s up to you. I’m sure more airflow the better, though I wonder at what point it starts interfering with your spray pattern. 
 

The benefit of a squirrel cage design is the actual electric motor isn’t mounted in the path of airflow. It’s external and turns a fan that looks like a wheel a mouse runs on via a shaft that’s sealed. So, the possibility of the electric fan causing a spark in the path of potentially flammable gasses is eliminated. THAT BEING SAID, I believe the risk with a conventional fan motor is low considering the concentrations we generate. As a matter of fact, there are dozens of consumer booths with regular inline fans. I’m including a screenshot from a Reddit post that makes sense to me. 
 

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Edited by CFster
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My first career was an auto paint and bodyman.  I cannot tell you how many times I painted a car in a garage with a standard, non-explosion proof fan without any consequences.  Yea, I was young and stupid and didn’t know better.  But here I am sitting here 34 years after my last day as a bodyman    .   Take it as you will, but there is no way fumes from airbrushing a model across a fan will ignite.  Just too much outside air mixing with it.  

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I kind of liken this to my view on seat belts. I'm absolutely religious about wearing my seat belt, it's such an automatic habit I catch myself buckling up just moving the car in/out of the garage.  But in my 50+ years of driving I've only been in one accident that the belts might have made a difference, and that was 40 years ago. Does that mean all those decades of wearing a seat belt were in waste?  I don't think so.

 

IMHO accident prevention/protection of any kind is better than dealing with the consequences. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/2/2023 at 10:50 AM, Scott Smith said:

My first career was an auto paint and bodyman.  I cannot tell you how many times I painted a car in a garage with a standard, non-explosion proof fan without any consequences.  Yea, I was young and stupid and didn’t know better.  But here I am sitting here 34 years after my last day as a bodyman    .   Take it as you will, but there is no way fumes from airbrushing a model across a fan will ignite.  Just too much outside air mixing with it.  

Absolutely 100% percent correct. The small quantities we spray would never be a problem.

Steve

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