Show your home paint booth
 

Painting can be a messy task so I guess there are many home made solutions. What’s yours?

Here is mine! 😃👍

I was thinking about getting a tent style booth.

like a party tent/pavilion?

Party tents/pavilions don't typically have floors. There are "spray shelter" tents that aren't too expensive. People who finish guitars buy Ikea portable wardrobes, but I think that might not be big enough for a bike frame.

Right now, absent the availability of scrap wood, making it myself would be more expensive.

Here is my booth...

https://live.staticflickr.com/7851/3...c845d0bf_k.jpg20190331_153412[1] by nessism, on Flickr

This is what I did when painting some motorcycle parts. Open on end and partly open on another. Wet down the patio and plants before shooting the paint.

I use urethane clear and don't want to breathe any more of that crap than possible. In So. Calif where I'm at we are lucky because there are minimal bugs and the humidity is low (most of the time.)

https://live.staticflickr.com/4292/3...0880a7ea_k.jpgP1010808 by nessism, on Flickr

Yes, Calif provides a great weather. Here in sweden the temp is low, lots of bugs and lots of rain. I use a good respirator to avoid getting the stuff in me, and after the each paint session i vent out the fumes properly.

With urethane a common respirator is not good enough. That's why I like to have some air flowing. When the fumes start to fog up the area I stop and back off, or hold my breath and then back off.

Back in the day we painted our frames on the shop roof. We tried to stay up wind for both spray ending up on the tubes and to minimize our breathing the fumes (Imron). We had a mask with charcoal filters that still let the smells get though. Only one reason why I let others paint my stuff these days. Andy

Here's mine:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...29e2864d6b.jpg

OK not really. But not all that far off either.

I painted one tandem at Santana, early days before they'd sold their first bike. Before they had gotten around to building their real spray booth. The frame was just a testing prototype, not for a customer. All I had was 4 thin plastic drpopcloths hung from the ceiling to make a square space. Was there any air exchange at all? I don't remember, but probably not. It was an extremely dusty old warehouse — condemned in fact, not fit to have humans in it (I'm not joking, I mean legally). Any fan we might have jury-rigged would have put even more dust into the air inside the "booth", so I think the plan was to hold your breath and paint the frame really fast, then run out of there.

That evening I blew my nose and found metallic blue snot on the kleenex. Imron — very toxic. Something about isocyanates? I'm no expert, but I know (now) you should never breathe even a whiff of that stuff. Full suit and air-supply respirator to even be in the room when the lid is off the can. From what I hear, almost no one uses it anymore outside of heavy industry, big trucks maybe?

Mark B.

No, but like in my case, you can easily put some other floor, like protective cardboard or a tarpuline!?

That's true, I have thought of painting under our deck with tarps strategically placed. Not sure the snake that lives under the steps would appreciate it too much though.
OTOH, it's a nice snake, eats the rodents.

Please forgive this thread drift but here is a couple photos of two motorcycles I restored. Nasty urethane paint used throughout. Carbon respirator worn and shot outside with as much air flowing as possible.

And speaking of paint, the new "low voc" junk is a cheap facsimile of the "good $hit" previously available. It takes three coats of clear to build the film of the old stuff which took two coats. Does that reduce VOC's released? Hum...

https://live.staticflickr.com/4836/4...6cf7fe1d_k.jpgP1030216 by nessism, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/1486/2...f1c92e3e_k.jpgP1030024 by nessism, on Flickr

Further thread drift...here is a photo of my drying rack after painting. Paint shot outside of course, then brought in for the night. Painted in February. Did I mention the weather is good for painting here? Anyway, finally found a good use for that funny pointed end table thingy. Oh, in case anyone is wondering, YES, I'm single these days. Not because of this sort of thing though.

https://live.staticflickr.com/4303/3...7e0e7646_k.jpgP1010414 by nessism, on Flickr

drying is always a challenge. When you paint several objects and you don’t want over spray places to hang from are always needed. The laundry room is a bittoo much of dust for my satisfaction though 😉.

My wife stays with me just yet, but the portable/flexible construction of the booth is partly for here sake. 😎👍

The reason I'm not painting right now is the lack of a suitable compressor. It's an interesting question where I would spray if it's not warm enough. I probably could use the garage.

More like in spite of this sort of thing! Someone that good with his hands doesn't usually stay single for long.

Painting is one rabbit hole I have successfully avoided although I'm rethinking it after dropping the latest frameset off for powder coat. The prices seem to have jumped up over the past 4-8 months!

As one who don’t actually build the frames itself, my build begins with the paintjob, or the preparation for it. The process is time consuming and risky (in terms of making mistakes and the need to start over). But I must say that is highly satisfying to finish of a paint job with a unique and personal scheme. 😃

I always loved painting frames. But then I found out about isocyanates. If our local powdercoaters weren't such jerks, I probably wouldn't want to paint at all. They are bad enough they have been banned from facebook, I'm not sure what happened.
We used to have a great guy that was cheap, but he disappeared.

how do you paint now then?

Build a paint booth using pvc pipes and connectors, cover it tightly with tarps, garbage bags or clear wraps. integrate a fan on one side for ventilation and flow. You can build a front cover for added dust protection or leave it open.

did it in the attic, while I did wear a propper mask. However after the 2k clearcoat the skin did feel like a sun burn for 1 day. Next time I would protect the skin and eyes better.

yes, well ventilated and long sleeves are a good idea.

love the video!

fwiw - when I want to paint stuff, I go way out on our side lawn, put down a big tarp & hold it in place w/ rocks, then spray with the wind if there is any. I try to remember 3 pieces of PPE, gloves, mask & goggles

As part of another project ( rehab on a '71 F-250 pickup) I have been hanging out at the auto paint store. We are doing the rehab in phases and the first phase is getting the rat carcasses (3) out of the cab and getting rid of the urine smell and rust. Luckily very little metal has needed replacement. My 14yo son rebuilt the carb and did a basic tune up. We cleaned out the cab, sanded and the local Wesco mixed up some paint and pointed me to some 2k clear in aerosol cans. I had a little left over and it doesn't last more than a day or two after mixing. I masked off a stem I had just had powder coated. I painted the lug with the cab color and then cleared with the 2k clear. I'm fairly impressed with the outcome. It actually looks pretty good despite my lack of painting skill and relatively cavalier approach to test! My masking skills definitely need developing.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b43edefb_c.jpgUntitled by Duane Draper, on Flickr

I'm inching closer to the next rabbit hole.