One of the most annoying things about spray painting is overspray. It gets on everything. When I paint an airplane, everything in my garage/workshop gets covered with nasty overspray. Yuck!
Using a high-volume, low-pressure (HVLP) spray gun goes a long way toward reducing overspray; however, some type of spray booth is still needed to filter overspray.
Overspray solution criteria:
• Portability: Can be stored out of sight between projects.
• Safety: Fresh (filtered) air supply and dirty (filtered) air exhaust.
• Parking: Must be able to park the car in the garage between painting sessions.
• Setup time: Less than 15 minutes.
• Cost: Less than $100.
After reading countless website forums and discussing ideas with my wife and friends, the idea of a simple spray tent was born. It could be easily folded up against the ceiling between painting sessions or completely taken down for long-term storage.
The spray tent is not air tight; its purpose is to contain overspray, filter air, and keep bugs/dust out of wet paint. Conceptually, it’s merely a shower curtain hung from the ceiling. After each painting session, the curtains are rolled up to the ceiling and held in place with several loops of rope. After a painting project is completed; the curtains are taken down and stored.
Its location was determined to allow the garage door to open and close with the curtains down. The width was determined by the ceiling rafter spacing to facilitate painting 2-meter Aerobatics fuselages. It’s length is 8 feet.
After determining outline and position, four 2 x 2s were screwed into the ceiling, forming a rectangular inner border. Partially sunk outward-facing nails are used to hang the curtains. On each side, two additional inward-facing nails are used as storage hooks. Inner hooks are used to hold the curtains against the ceiling during temporary storage.
Hanging holes in the 4-mil plastic curtains are reinforced with duct tape. Grommets can also be used at an additional cost.
Vertical curtain seams are sealed with duct tape. With the curtains hanging in position, my wife held a 2 x 4 up as a backing to push the tape against. Giving credit where credit is due, it was her idea. Scrap lumber is laid on the excess curtain length, holding the curtains vertically taut against the floor.
Twenty-inch box fans were used for supply and exhaust duties. Warning: household box fans do not have sealed motors; they are not rated to move solvent-contaminated air. That noted, the tent is allowed to completely clear every few minutes. A square cutout is made in the curtains slightly smaller than the fans. Holes in the fan casings allow the curtains to be bungee-chorded around the fans. It’s nearly airtight.
On both fans, I use 20-inch x 20-inch furnace filters. For each painting session, a new filter is used on the supply fan and the previous supply filter is rotated to exhaust duties. Used exhaust filters quickly become cruddy and are discarded after every session. I originally duct taped the filters to the fans, but I discovered that fan suction alone adequately holds the filters in place.
Positive fan pressure prevents the plastic walls from sucking inward. Supply air needs to exceed the exhaust air without creating gale-force winds inside the tent. I found that running the supply fan on medium speed and the exhaust fan on low speed worked best.
Positive air pressure pushes dirt and bugs out through air gaps instead of sucking them into the tent. Fan speed settings will vary depending on the brand.
The spray tent has been a great success. It keeps overspray to a minimum, with the added benefit of circulating dirt-free, bug-free air during tack time. A space heater can be used inside the tent to help paint cure after spraying.
Shameless Boise Promotion
The Boise Area Radio Kontrol Society (BARKS) will hold its fifth Treasure Valley Pattern Contest on June 7-8, 2014. If you’re in southwest Idaho, stop by. We’d love to have you.
Shameless Idaho Promotion
For the first time in many years, an RC Aerobatics contest, the Silverhills R/C Flyers Pattern contest, is scheduled for the Northern Idaho Panhandle region the weekend of August 22-24, 2014.
This contest will have something for everybody. For the family, Silverwood Theme Park is across the street. For new and old Pattern fliers, both Turnaround and Classic events will be flown. New to RC Aerobatics? Attend the Pattern primer on Friday, August 22.
Hope to see you there!
Flight complete!
