I'm looking to either build or buy (I don't mind which) a spray booth suitable for a hobbyist.

I need it to extract overspray and fumes, routed to outside, for the following types of paint:
-Airbrushed acrylics thinned with Tamiya X20A
-brushed-on white spirit
-Klear
-Ideally also spray cans of paint/varnish


I came across this kind of thing: http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush%C2%AE-Portable-Airbrush-Extension/dp/B00NLQ019A/ref=sr_1_2?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1433853101&sr=1-2&keywords=spray+booth

People seem down on them, for example saying they use a computer fan and can't exract fumes, but they do have advantages: Cheap, extract to outdoors as standard and built in lights. They pull 105 cfm which seems reasonable, or do I need more?

Obviously there's also the DIY spray booth at the top of this forum; that pulls 150 cfm and the cost for both of these looks similar.

I have seen other types of spray booth, but as I'm not sure what spec I need am unsure how to select between them.

Can anyone advise on the following in particular:
a. Do I need a unit with a brushless motor? I have looked for these on Amazon but just see computer fans
b. What cfm do I need in order to extract fumes as well as overspray?
c. Is it practical to expect a spray booth to extract fumes when using spray cans? I don't really want to risk spraying varnish outdoors, in the cold.

Thanks for the advice.

I have a Pace Spraybooth that meets & exceeds my needs. Pace booths address all your questions. They offer different sizes and styles. All I needed to add was a dryer vent kit to vent out a basement window.

I spray enamels,laquers,etc,etc with no issues. I change the filters as needed.

I have a wife with a nose like a Beagal (not looks ,but oalfactory senses) and get no complaints...since it arrived 5 years ago.
Good Luck,

Jake

Thanks - I can't see Pace booths for sale in the UK, but I agree they look well designed and made.

I see the Pace mini-plus uses a 150cfm fan as well.

I've been looking for DIY components:
All components are easy except the fan: Bathroom fans/quiet computer fans aren't powerful enough and cooker hoods are expensive; I can't find a quiet brushless or IP44 rated fan for less than the cost of a cheap booth. Bear in mind I'm in the UK.

Overall the cheap booth above is looking good. I've looked at equivalents but this one has the most powerful fan.

I use a spray booth similar to the master booth. For me it works well and I also use mainly acrylics. I guess one of the reasons that it was adequate for my usage is that the room is not enclosed.

Be sure to still wear a respirator when working (although I'm guilty of being lazy and skip it when airbrushing). I just have a fan behind me ensuring the overspray is kept in the booth.

Also, this one has LED lights which is very convenient. Mine doesnt come with it.

Hello James,

If you can get away with going outdoors and painting here's a little rig I made. It's simple and doesn't take up much space. The frame is from an old cat "fort" with cardboard box sides, butcher's string, and clothes pins to hold the pieces in place. Cost: Free, since I had the parts already. Now if you build it by getting the parts, maybe $30.00 or less. Bets spending $500.00 or more.



HTH.

See ya in the funnies..................

I've bought the above cheapie booth.

I couldn't find a quiet brushless fan cheaper with greater airflow.

In particular I found bathroom fans in the UK don't seem to shift much air - either we have small bathrooms over here, or we must smell nicer!

Hi James.
I got my Booth from Airbrush heaven in the uk.It has a hose to vent from window plus turntable and a light inside the booth.Around the £70.Give them a look up .
Cheers from Richard.

Got one of these and they are great

Excellent instructions from a Pro company /Vent-works/ for a DIY Spray booth
http://vent-works.com/blogs/the-ventilation-blog/15945741-diy-hobby-spray-booth

GraphicAir A300S is a perfect booth, though a bit expensive
http://www.graphicair.co.uk/categories/Spray-Booths/Spray-Booth-Extraction/

I have an Italian made booth now http://www.createx.de/index.php/aspirators.html, which has a kind of high performance computer fan inside. Working fine, but would not buy it again. There is a good reason why all pro booths having blower/centrifugal fan installed. This type having different characteristics than normal PC/kitchen fan, and the motor is not exposed directly into the airflow.
The concentration of flammable vapor close to the motor should be avoided. Blower fan is the solution.
Obviously you might go with an explosion proof fan /and components/, but its is a different price range /well above 1000 USD/
Both the DIY option above, and the A300S having blower fan installed.

Hi James,

I just received my Master airbrush booth w/lights from Amazon$98.00 and have found it to be of good quality,it assembles and breaks down in about 5 min. I just got it so I haven't sprayed into it yet but the fan seams strong enough, I held a piece of heavy printing paper about 12" away and let it go and it sucked it right against the filter in a flash. Not the best test I admit but the amount of flow out of the back of the unit is quite strong. I think it will work just fine for airbrushing, spray painting lacquer ie. the fumes I don't know, I'm only going to use acrylic so not to much a worry there. For the money and the compact size I couldn't beat it, as I to was looking into building one myself but I couldn't come close with the fans suggested and then adding a lighting.

There are posts on this site about the Master Airbrush booth that you can peruse as I did and others gave it a lot of thumbs up so I went for it.

Craig..

James I also did a Internet search for Indoor Spray Booth Filter and came up with a interesting diy plan using a 5 gallon bucket a 3" piece of stove pipe some charcoal filter and regular furnace filter and I'm going to give that a try because I don't have access to doors or windows in my basement so I needed to find a cheap solution. I don't have a url for it as it's not on the sheet I printed out but you could just do a search and look for the set up I described. Don't know If you have that problem but maybe others who are looking at this post do, I thought it was worth mentioning.

Craig..

Just a friendly reminder ... wear a respirator with replaceable filters even when spraying acrylics. Example

After awhile, it becomes second nature before turning on the compressor switch.

—mike

+1 on this. Even if you have a spray booth.

My unboxing review of the Hseng portable spray booth with lights:

My first reaction was that I'm disappointed in the specs:
I bought this unit based on the power rating: 25W, assuming this was a 25W motor. Actually it's 12W for the LED lights and 15.6W for the Motor.

I realise these don't add up to 25W...


Fan/motor:
A sticker on the case also says it's a 1.6A motor, but you can see the back of the motor and the manufacturers sticker on it says 1.3A. This sticker also has the wrong "CE" mark - this one stands for "China Export".
Importantly the power supply does have the correct "CE" mark.

Based on the motor's specs, the fan is probably rated for around 100cfm at no load but I would be very surprised if it managed this through a filter and the friction caused by the hose.
I think the draw is more likely to be 60 - 70 cfm.

Case:
Overall the case looks well designed, rigid and sturdy.
The front of the case does have gaps which will need to be covered (not a big issue for me as I intend to cover the inside of the front with cellaphane as the lights need protecting anyway.

Lights:
The lights are very blue, but light up a model well. I'm interested to see if the colour is useful or a hindrance.

James

NB: My comments regarding the motor are from my experience as an engineer and designer for a manufacturer of small electric motors.
They are just my opinion but appear to be borne out by a quick comparions with Computer case fans of similar size/power/noise and fan design.

If you go with the Master Airbrush Booth check out ebay. I found this one for 10.00 cheaper than Amazon with free shipping. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-Hobby-Airbrush-Paint-Spray-Booth-Kit-Exhaust-Filter-LED-Light-Set-Model-/381205118365?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58c1987d9d And I would also tell you that at that price if the fan does not "suck" enough you could always get a another fan. A quick google lead me to this: http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g36/c435/s1109/list/p1/Fans-12_Volt_Fans_by_CFM-200_CFM_Fans-Page1.html

Actually I did mean to mention that an advantage of this booth is that if the motor bearings fail you can easily replace the motor.

Before going with a higher power though you should check all electrics in the booth and power supply can handle it, and don't forget the noise will increase as well.

Hi
The spraybooth you showed in your first post, which I believe you purchased, is widely available in the UK on various sites, including Ebay and is used by many modellers.

Please be aware however that it shouldn't be use with solvent based paints.

See here
http://www.automotiveforums.com/t1071297-model_expo_spray_booth__annoying_doubt_.html

I to read about and can now see for myself that indeed the lights with the Master Airbrush booth are blueish in hue, so my solution to this is to establish the right color I want to use outside the booth and completely ignore the blueish hue while working in the booth.

There is probably little risk of fire: http://toolguyd.com/power-tool-brushless-motors/

The point to take away is that brushed motors spark whereas brushless one's don't.

Actually I'm not sure how a brushless motor would cause an ignition although I'm sure it's possible; anyone know?

The lights on this do look good: I think you'd have to pick colours outside of the unit, but they do seem to show contrast so I'm interested to try them out tonight.