Putting Primer on Test Parts

 We decided to go all out and get a good fresh air system for our painting.  We bought a dual air system from Turbine Products (https://www.turbineproducts.com/) and went with the hood setup due to Michael's glasses and full protection.

All protected, Covid-19 Safe too!

We were able to spray our first practice parts with primer.

Hours: 10

First coat of Primer

Paint Booth cont.

A little more progress on the paint room.  The front of the room is built out of two large panels (each about 7' tall and 5' wide) that will serve as removable doors that will allow us to move large plane parts into the booth.  We found that they were a bit leaky around the edges, so we added some cheap window gasket around the periphery, and also added some clamping blocks which allow us to pull the pieces together better with some inexpensive Harbor Freight clamps.  Removing the panels will be simple, we just have to remove a few hand clamps and 2 bolts to free them. We added a few door handles to make it easier to move the panels around, and also added some small wood blocks to help retain the filters in place.  

Front Door panels with clamps

We sealed off some AC ductwork in one corner of the room with plastic and duct tape, and also installed a block that is used as a pass-thru for the fresh air hoses.  You can see the paint hoods hanging from hooks and the white hoses that will bring in fresh breathing air from outside.  The paint has some nasty chemicals (isocynates) which are not healthy to breath, so we are playing it safe and bringing in outside air so that we don't risk breathing in anything bad.    Hours: 5.0

 Back corner of room with sealed ductwork and fresh air inlets

Paint booth work

We continue to make progress on the paint booth.  We installed plastic on the ceiling.  This took a few pieces because we wanted clear plastic so that the lights would shine through, and both Home Depot and Lowes only had smaller sheets of plastic that were marginally clear.  Word of caution, just because the label on a box of plastic sheeting says "clear" doesn't mean it's really clear.  It could be gray, and they still call it "clear".  Apparently, the level of transparency can vary wildly depending on the percentage of recycled content in the plastic, which is not listed on the packaging.

Front of paint booth. Outlet vents along bottom. Zipper door in side.

We sealed the sheeting on the walls to the floor and ceiling with duct tape.  We also installed a blue zipper door in the far wall that will allow us to access items from the far wall of the garage.  If we didn't add this zipper, we would always have to open the garage door to access anything on the shelves against the far walls

Back of Paint booth. Inlet vents are at the top right of picture

The inlet vents are 20"x20" which allows us to sue standard home furnace filters.  On the backside of these vents, we installed an bottom board plus three eye hooks.  Bungee cords attach to these hooks to hold the circulation fans in place.  We tested the fans out and they work just fine. 

Two box fans added to the inlets

We installed a couple of hinges and hung a simple hollow core door on the near wall that will give us easy entry and exit to the paint booth, and we added some gasketing to improve the seal.  Didn't have enough gasket, so need to make another run to Home Depot to finish the job.   Hours: 10.0

Side view; Entry door hung on left wall near the front