I don't have the luxury of a spray booth, so I paint inside my all purpose shop. There is always tons of dust flying around and I've tried putting fans in the window, but that probably just brings new dust in. When painting small parts, would it help to put a low speed fan pointing up next to the part to attempt to get the dust at least flowing away from the part? Any suggestions will be much appreciated. thanks
I mounted a furnace filter in the one overhead door and have a fan blowing out a window. I also wet the place down if I'm going to do a lot of painting.
I paint early in morning, before the wind, dust and bugs get going. I think fans are gonna be sel-defeating, unless you wash everything, cover up stuff with plastic-nothing with lint-and the filter the incoming air.
always hang a ground strap off what ever your painting , this also keeps the dust off your shiny car while its parked especially the black ones
when I paint in my garage I cover the rafters, and floor with cardboard, staple painters plastic around the perimiter, put a fan with A/C filters behind it blowing out the back door, and an intake on the other end of the "booth" also equipped with A/C filters.d**** the plastic to the floor, tape up all the seems, and walla... budget booth. When your done you can roll it up to the ceiling and tape or staple it for future use. they last 3 or four years, then you gotta re-do it. it looks like ****, but it works great.
The room has to be CLEAN, the car has to be CLEAN, YOU have to be clean, the air coming and going has to be CLEAN and the air coming from the hose has to be clean. WEtting the floor all around the car helps too. There really are no great shortcuts, it just has to be clean.
How small is small parts? Are you talking about small parts exclusively, or painting a whole car too? For small parts, why not build a box/cabinet like a sandblast cabinet? Cut a hole in the bottom of the box big enough for your shop vac hose. Run the vac for a few minutes before and during. When I worked at a cabinet shop, my coworker and I talked about building a booth that could be dis***embled. We never priced it out, but the idea was to make it out of 2x4 bolted together and skinned with the Tyvek home wrap stuff.
That is the million dollar question in all body shops. One thing to remember is the most common place for dirt to come from is for the painter. Even in the latest Downdraft booths you still get dirt. Nothing a little compound wont get rid of
...and after you've cleaned the floor, wet it down again, enough water so that it stays wet the whole time you're painting. You'd be surprised how much dust it traps. I even did this in the very expensive downdraft booth I used to shot cars in.
Attach a ground wire to the object being painted, static charges attract dust particles from the air, it also helps to get an air hose with a ground wire in it.
Blow out every crack and crevase, even though you think the car is clean.. Its probably still dirty.. and a key to washing a car.. try 20% vinagar , 80% water.. mixed and use in a spray bottle. Lightly spray and wash. and wipe.. You wont create static where dust cannot be attracted too. also.. it will not smear the dirt around.. use lint free cottom cloth..to wipe.. also,, (an old tip).. Ground you car to the floor.. with jumper cables.. or a chain.. it works well..
Small parts should be off the floor, high enough that the blast from the spray doesn't bounce anything back up. Lightly wipe with tack cloth just before spraying too. And what the others have already said. Keep in mind it is the detailing process that makes a paint job look great. As for the fans, remember negative pressure vs. positive pressure.
I painted my car in my garage, and here's what I feel kept dirt out of my paint: first off, use a paint suit. I used the disposable Tyvek suits and used a new one every time. I also wet the floor, but rather than a hose (which would require me to open the door) I got a 5-gallon bucket, filled with warm water and SLOWLY poured it on the floor right before I mixed the paint. Be careful not to splash the water on the car. I used nothing more than a box fan in the window (blowing out) and kept it running the whole time, start to finish. If you want to guarantee dirt in the paint, just use another fan blowing in, I promise your paint will have more dirt than you ever thought possible. The last thing I did was remember to move very slowly when spraying, so as not to stir any dust, or splash in the water. This goes for everything, when you disconnect your hose, don't let it drop to the floor, gently set it down. Don't slam the door on the way out. Don't open and shut cabinets and boxes putting things away. I tunr the heaters back on, clean the gun, and leave, I don't even take off my paint suit until I'm outside, and I don't go back inside to check out my work 5 minutes later. Leave and stay out for at least a couple hours, more if you can help it. I also lock the door when I leave to keep my wife or son or one of my buddies from accidently slinging the door open. I feel you simply cannot be too careful about dirt when you're painting.
I was kinda hoping he meant he had nothing but his BVD's on underr his paint suit. I never though anyone would paint in skivvies only. Besides, nothing worse than trying to explain a pube in your clear!
Ive painted lots of cars out in the street, at high noon when everyone is at school or work. There is suprisingly very little dust or bugs, you just have to move real fast, the uv rays from the sun really speed up the flash times.
I was told that when you do a final blow down do it with the paint gun [no paint] it sounds weird but he told me the low pressure sometimes gets the dust that high pressure wont and a dry run cant hurt
An air nozzle works best.. better control.. A paint gun is ***bersome when getting into tight areas.. even hvlps.. Only time I use the air in the gun is to check the air pressure and to make sure there are no leaks.. either at the lid, or at the tip.. If using a hvlp gravity feed gun.. .. they do make filters for inside, between the pot and gun.. its good practice to use those.. there cheap.. it just catches what the filter didnt..
NEVER blow out or sweep your area right before u paint, all the dust just floats in the air. do it the night before, then water the floor a little the day not to kick up the dust. but face it u WILL get dust, even in a 100k downdraft booth u will get dust. deal with it. a good paint job should be cut and buffed anyway and a show job should get every inch done. just imo.
And I wet the floor around the car when painting so walking around doesn't kick up fresh dust...keep the hose dribbling too. Careful about too much water cause you'll splash it up...ask me how I know
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