Car painting is one of the main activities of a tuning studio or even ordinary repair shops. However, for the correct application of paint, special equipment and an appropriate room are required, which would ensure high-quality adhesion of the paint to the metal. But is it possible to equip a garage for painting a car with your own hands? We will now try to answer this question.
Paint box, why is it needed?
Regardless of the make and model of your car, it periodically needs repair work, and this applies not only to minor repairs, but also to larger events. So, for example, paintwork vehicle fades over time, wears off and loses its former attractiveness, which is why the car owner begins to think about the issue of re-painting his iron horse.
Taking into account the fact that the cost of performing this task by specialists of specialized workshops is by no means small, one has to look for alternative solutions. The most attractive option is to equip a do-it-yourself spray booth in your own garage, which, although it will require certain financial investments, will fully pay for itself. Moreover, such a paint box can be useful to your friends, and there it is not far before starting your own business.
Arrangement requirements
Where to start? First of all, it is necessary to clearly understand that any dirt and dust are the enemies of painting. Therefore, the garage, which is often a warehouse for all unnecessary things in the house, should be thoroughly cleaned. However, this is not all the requirements for the selected premises.
Room size
If you need a camera for one-time use, then the dimensions of the garage should fit only the dimensions of your car, but this value should not be less than 4 by 6 m. At the same time, the drawings of a more or less professional spray booth should include a utility room and underground, so the total size of the room will be slightly larger: length - 9 meters, width - 7.5 meters, and height - 3.5 meters (or at least not less than 2.8 meters).
What should be the material
One desire and the availability of a suitable room is not enough to make a full-fledged spray booth with your own hands. At a minimum, it is still necessary to choose the right material for its creation. Often, in order to save money, motorists use lining, but given the high probability of its ignition, it is better to immediately discard this option. As a good alternative, experts advise using metal elements and non-combustible insulating material.
Ceiling
On the technical side, a standard rectangular ceiling will be convenient only if corner lights are installed around the perimeter of the chamber, which, as a result of installation, will cut it off at an angle of 45 °. If the design of the paint box does not provide for the installation of such lighting elements, then, in order to avoid the formation of turbulence and dust collection, the corners of the camera must be rounded.
The entire surface of the ceiling should be occupied by a filter through which it can enter the room fresh air. In the event that the height of the garage is not enough to comply with the specified requirement and the design of the exhaust pipe, you will have to come up with a conclusion to the roof.
The floor in the spray booth also requires special attention. Therefore, if there is an inspection hole in the garage, it must be covered with homemade metal gratings, and boards should be laid under the crate, and so that the acute angle is directed towards the doors of the room. An air duct pipe is brought out of the pit, which is the basis of the lower ventilation. In cases where the floor is solid, you will either have to dig a rectangular hole, or lay two trenches (a depth of one meter will be enough), or equip another floor in the form of a flooring 15-20 centimeters high. The ventilation outlet to the street is also laid underground, not forgetting about the wedges.
by the most important point this stage of work is the competent design of holes that will bring out the exhaust air. If this requirement is ignored, then “dead zones” may appear in the spray booth, contributing to the appearance of paint suspensions and the creation of swirls in the air space of the booth. Such situations have a bad effect on the fresh paint of the machine, therefore, for the full operation of the output system, the trenches are supplemented with engines that draw air from the chamber.
Walls
The spray booth, equipped in the garage, also has certain characteristics of the walls. First of all, they must be airtight, fireproof and easy to clean.
If your garage has a metal frame, then it must be primed and installed inside the sandwich panel. Outside, the room is also sheathed with metal, treating the joints with silicone sealant.
In the case of the main walls of the room (brick, cinder block), the actions performed will be slightly different. First of all, the room must be insulated with mineral material and finished with moisture-resistant plasterboard, and after that it will be possible to apply white powder paint or install a special refractory (up to 500 ° C) white plastic lining. The white color of the walls ensures the correct color reproduction and greatly facilitates the process of painting cars.
Often the walls are covered with a matte film with a magnetization effect (enough for painting 10 cars). It is easy to clean and has excellent qualities in terms of attracting and holding dust.
Note!If the walls in the selected room “shine” (stainless steel or tiles give a similar effect), then they should be made matte so that they do not reflect anything and do not blind the master at work. For example, the surface of the walls can be coated with powder paint, which has a protective fire-resistant layer.
Be mindful of lighting
Proper lighting in the spray booth largely affects the final result of the work performed, which means that it is necessary to choose only high-quality lamps. Based on the stated technological rules, the illumination of the room must correspond to 600-2000 lumens, and the light is scattered in such a way as to ensure its uniformity. For spray booths, it is recommended to use one of three types of lamps:
luminescent;
Incandescent lamps;
LED.
Daylight (fluorescent) lamps are good for maximum visibility and completely eliminate unnecessary shadows. Often the most effective option their placement is installation under the ceiling and on the side walls, although during the painting of the car the master will not be able to get a good look at the bottom of the vehicle. Such lamps boast a fairly long service life (up to 20,000 hours), economy and high efficiency. However, they also have their drawbacks, which include a start delay, the need to dispose of damaged lamps, a low level of environmental safety, and a weakening of the light flux as they are used.
Incandescent lamps, more familiar to us, can also be used to illuminate the paint box, but only those types that have a vacuum flask. Flasks filled with gas are not suitable for use in venues. painting work for security reasons. The most convenient to use are lamps with a tinted surface and a mirror reflector.
The advantages of incandescent lamps include affordable cost and ease of maintenance, but there are several more disadvantages. In particular, they include: low reliability, significant thermal radiation, low light output and efficiency.
LED lighting elements are the most preferred option when building a do-it-yourself paint booth. They have a high color rendering index and efficiency, low power consumption, durability and vibration resistance, high level environmental safety, long service life (up to 50 thousand hours), resistance to high temperatures and the absence of flicker of the luminous flux produced by them. The only, but significant drawback of such lamps is the rather high cost.
Heating and drying
When re-equipping the garage, it is worth thinking about the heating system. If you plan to use the spray booth often, then you will have to spend money and install a heat generator, but for the sake of a couple of paint jobs, this solution will not be practical. For quick drying of a painted car, it is better to use an infrared heater for domestic use, especially since it is much more economical than conventional heating elements.
If your choice is still settled on air heating, then you can also assemble a heat generator on the basis of an old cast-iron boiler intended for liquid fuel. Whatever your spray booth, it should also include drying.
To date, heat generators can operate both on fuel and on gas or waste oil. Depending on the needs of the chamber, you can choose heat generators of various capacities, with an automatic timer and other functions. In addition, infrared lamps are often used as drying for painted cars. They are quite simple and understandable in operation, and can also provide the desired effect at low physical and financial costs.
When creating a spray booth, it is also necessary to take into account the uniformity of the supply of thermal air flows.
Ventilation
No spray booth can do without good ventilation. Together with the filter, it cleans the air inside the box and contributes to the deposition and removal of paint mist. Depending on which ventilation system is installed, there are two main types of chambers: single-engine and twin-engine. In the first case, air is injected from above, and the mist of paint under pressure falls down, being removed from the room through a special hole. In the second option, two motors are already used: one is a pressure motor, and the second is a suction motor, which ensures the air is vented to the outside.
Pros and cons of a homemade paint box
If you have the desire and financial capabilities, building a spray booth with your own hands is not very difficult, but is it worth it? The advantages of this box include the following:
- the possibility of independent selection of drawings and schemes for creating each working camera system;
Saving money at the initial stage of construction;
The ability to combine high-quality and expensive finished devices with cheap or home-made elements of the system;
The possibility of simplifying the operation of individual systems or replacing them with more efficient ones;
Relatively cheap maintenance of homemade spray booths (no need to purchase expensive and original consumables or parts).
Flaws such creation is expressed in:
- no guarantee of high-quality work of the spray booth as a whole;
The presence of the probability of manifestation of design errors and various imperfections, which will be accompanied by additional material costs;
The need to spend effort and money to debug the operation of various modes;
The impossibility of installing a fully automated control system and security system (of course, this is only if all the equipment is not purchased as a set).
Don't forget about safety
In a separate order, it is worth remembering the safety precautions when painting a vehicle in a spray booth. Of course this species activity cannot have a positive effect on human health, especially since inhalation of paint harms the lungs, and its contact with the skin and mucous membranes of the eyes often causes irritation. Therefore, you should not save on protective equipment, and before you start painting, put on a special suit, gloves and a respirator. Also, before work, it will be useful to check the health of the ventilation system and the insulation of the electrical wiring, and all sources of open fire must be removed.
Interesting fact! Domestic motorists prefer discreet tones of cars. So, black and white cars are in the greatest demand, and silver models are in third place.
Greetings to all. Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!!!
I don't know if this topic is needed, if it's not needed, delete it.
Since painting my first model, I used the usual box from the parcel. The option is cheap and angry, but ... the problem is that the suspension did not go anywhere and settled all over the glazed balcony. I worked in a respirator mask with Jeta Safety 5000 filters.
The mask is awesome. There are no smells, but ... even with the balcony door closed, everything eventually leaked into the apartment, which caused righteous anger from my wife and caused me a lot of problems myself. And even then, thoughts about a full-fledged paint box began to visit me, but the price tag and the workmanship of them could not overcome my toad and I climbed to look for options for home-made boxes on the net.
As a result, I found drawings that suited me and based on these drawings I sculpted my own version. The original drawings are attached. I can't say exactly where I found them, as it's been quite a while. I can only say a big thank you to the author.
Save to AlbumSave to AlbumSave to Album The concept remains the same, but I changed the dimensions a bit. To be more precise, I increased the width to 60 cm. I did this for the simple reason that trucks in the 24th scale are quite long.
Used a sheet of white plastic, 5 mm thick. Dimensions, in fact, are designed for the same thickness.
Fan installed Awenta WGB 125, with the help of a flexible air duct, brought out the ejection of kaki out of the window through a sandwich panel.
In addition, added LED lamp LLT SPO-108 18W 160-260V 4000K 1440Lm 600mm IP40. It turned out pretty good. Lighting and ventilation are turned on at the same time using an old switch from some kind of lamp.
I hope my experience will be useful to someone to save a normal amount of money.
What happened, look at the slides.
Surely everyone knows that after an accident, a car is first straightened and then painted. The car painting process takes place in a special paint box. One such box costs from $ 15,000, and not every car service can afford it.
And the principle of operation of the box is quite simple - supply and exhaust ventilation. Moreover, the same fan that pumps air drives it through the heating elements to heat it.
There are three main working cycles in the spray booth.
- To clean the air from dust, air is taken from the box itself and after filtering it enters the box.
- The painting of the car itself. At this time, the air is taken from the street and heated to 30-35 degrees.
- Drying the car after painting. The air is taken from the box itself, and after filtering, heated to 60 degrees, it enters the box.
- Rent a garage with dimensions from 4 x 6 meters - about $ 40 / month.
- To sheathe the walls with plastic clapboard, and preferably with a metal profiled sheet - about $ 500.
- Install fluorescent lamps (at least 10) - from $60.
- A heat gun and heating elements are installed on top. Air from the heat gun through the duct goes to six points under the ceiling. Gun - about $ 450, air duct - $ 15 / running meter.
- Raise the floor by about 10-15 cm. It is advisable to weld a grate of reinforcement, under which there will be a fan that draws air from the box. Fittings - about $ 300 + work.
Total: if you buy equipment and materials from the manufacturer, as well as do everything yourself, or with the help of smart friends, you can invest $ 2,000.
But there is also a more expensive option. You can put infrared lamps instead of air drying. In this case, drying will be much faster, but you will have to invest a little more.
How to find clients?
Various car services and service stations that are not able to purchase a paint box can become your customers. Also solo masters. And also car painters from various car services who take on additional work (it goes without saying that the authorities will not allow them to work in a car service). Thus, you will simply rent out a paint box to everyone in need. Believe me, there are not many of them. You can go around car services yourself and offer your services to painters personally, you can advertise in the newspaper, or you can write about your service on various automotive forums.
How much can you earn from this?
Usually renting a paint box for one car costs from $30 to $50. Using air drying, you can paint 2 cars per day, and using infrared lamps, 3-4 cars. Electricity is usually paid separately. You will also need to buy a compressor with a receiver of 250 liters, which is desirable to give for free. And, for example, an airbrush can be rented out for $25. The cost of a good airbrush is from $600. You will also need a person who will clean the box, wash the spray gun and work with the client. Of course, you can do this yourself, but you can hire some responsible pensioner who lives nearby.
So, if the box is not fully loaded, for example, 1 car per day, you will get:
- + 30 aut. x 30$ = 900$
- + spray gun rental 15 x $30 = $450 (assuming not everyone will rent one)
- – rent of premises $40;
- - staff salary $150.
Total net profit 1160$. Even with such a load, the payback will be 3 months. You can calculate yourself if the box will be more loaded.
And finally, a few tips from us.
- Before renting a garage, be sure to talk to the head of the cooperative and explain for what purpose you will use it (you may have to pull yourself a separate cable);
- You should not rent a garage in a cooperative where there are a lot of people. You do not need extra eyes, moreover, you will get more electricity.
- When you can afford it, buy out the garage in which you organized the box and the adjacent one. Between them you will need to put a door and a window. So that during the drying of the car there is a place where to relax. Yes, and your worker does not stand on his feet all day, it is also possible that the painter will come with the client. A window is needed to monitor the drying process.
Good luck with this business!
I have been eyeing the purchased paint boxes for painting models for a long time. In terms of functionality, if you can somehow put up with it and pick up something. The prices completely, beat off all desire.
Therefore, I also looked through homemade boxes. But here's what's interesting, and I think it's right, everyone does boxing for themselves. Someone has one aspect, well done. Someone else. Well, there is no such thing as for the soul to say so. Here I thought - yes, what, I can not do for myself. What I need.
I began to proceed from my tasks.
1. Boxing should not be very big and not small. Such that it would be possible to paint the hulls of ships in the 200-hundredth scale.
2. It should fit freely in the size of my workshop (pantry).
3. Well lit.
4. Have a turntable for painting small parts.
5. Have a number of clips to hold parts while painting.
6. Have an intense suction from the paint spray area.
7. So that, if necessary, it would be possible to remove the purified air into the atmosphere.
8. Easily replaceable filter.
Thought it was underlined. Thinking about what materials I have to build. It turned out quite an interesting design, and most importantly compact and easy to assemble. Maybe not pretty, but functional.
I sat down at the table, already showed off more thoroughly, the assembly radii (so as not to hurt anything) of the paint box.
The result was a painting box having, assembled, the following dimensions:
Length - 500 mm, width - 400 mm, height (thickness) - 100 mm.
I needed the following materials:
1. The first piano hinges are almost 500 mm long, and two short ones are 200 mm each.
2. Corner aluminum 10x10 mm about 2 meters.
3. Double switch, for light and engines - 1 pc,
4. Two Tidar 120x20x25 electric motors for 220 volts - 2 pieces
5. Two connectors for connecting a cord, and connecting a compressor.
6. Fluorescent lamp, I used NavigatorNEL - A2, 220 v, W 8 .. But, you can optionally use LED.
7. Narrow pieces of 4 mm plywood.
8. And several different sheets of Plexiglas.
9. Handle for carrying the box.
10. Revision hatches for plumbing 2 pcs.
11. Various fasteners. I used M3 screws and nuts of the same rating.
Step 1: Assembling the case.
The case should look like this when assembled.
I made the base of the painting box from 5 mm thick plexiglass, well, I had one. Size 500 x 400 mm. On the opposite side of the base from me, I fixed an aluminum corner, taking into account the fact that the back wall of plywood will still rise. I did the same on the sides of the base, only the side walls had a bevel and did not reach the end of the base. But, the width was the same with the back wall. To the back and side walls, I attached piano loops on the screws.
I screwed a transparent plexiglass (box lid) of the same size as the base to a long loop. Through an aluminum corner, I attached a frontal plane of 4 mm plywood to it. Equal in width to the side and rear planes attached to the base.
And, from the front surface on the sides, two oblique planes, made of plywood. Which, when closed, complement the sidewalls of the base. I screwed trapezoidal side walls made of transparent plexiglass to the side piano hinges. IN open form The body of the painting box is as follows.
The side trapezoidal walls when folded have the following positions.
Next to the front board under right hand double switch crashes.
And, in the right oblique (small) sidewall, a connector for a plug for connecting a compressor, and a connector for a cord are installed. In this case, I used a connector and a cord from a fluorescent lamp. We put who has what.
The case turned out to be of decent volume and quite light.
Step 2. Installing the fans.
I selected fans so that they would have a minimum height (thickness), Well, this is understandable. And, just so that naturally the rest of the characteristics would satisfy me too. The choice fell on TUDOR fans. Got them.
I made markings on the box lid and started cutting holes for installing fans.
Step 3. Arrangement of boxing.
For the convenience of carrying the box, I installed a handle on the front panel.
On the side trapezoidal walls, I installed stops to hold them in a vertical position.
To the rear wall of the box, I installed a reflective box.
It has a dual purpose. The first beats the paint spray up to the exhaust filters. The second is a baffle body for storing the electric cord of the box.
Close to the plywood side walls of the box and the reflective box, I installed sanitary inspection hatches on the left and right, making small bases out of the volume to increase.
For the convenience of raising the manhole covers, I glued small bosses taken from used old gas lighters to their valves.
These hatches are designed to store parts holders when they are painted.
Holders with teeth are stored on the left, without teeth with flat jaws on the right. They (holders) are made of so-called "crocodiles". Which are fixed on an aluminum wire, allowing them to bend in the desired position. Holders are mounted on a turntable. The design, which I will give below.
Next, I cut off the cover of the box under the face with the front panel, as it protruded a lot. WITH inside On the front surface, where a fluorescent lamp is installed, the free areas were pasted over with silver foil for better reflection of light. Installed boxes for wires and made the wiring and connection of fans to the switch. One switch turns on the lights, the other turns on the fans. On the cover of the box at the top, against the lamp, I made a painting.
On the front side, from below, I made an insert of a strip of plexiglass. Maybe from plywood. It is designed to concentrate the light of the lamp on the painting table, and also so that the light does not hit the eyes.
On the right trapezoidal wall, I installed a holder for an airbrush.
With the advent of winter, the number of painting jobs I have drastically reduced. Before that, I used the airbrush exclusively on fresh air- on the loggia. I didn’t want to deal with paint in the room, and the line of models for painting grew. At some point, I decided to make a painting box with my own hands, which would allow me to work in the apartment.
The basic requirements for boxing were as follows:
- ease of manufacture from improvised materials;
- the possibility of extracting air from the working area;
- built-in interior lighting.
As a basis for the box, I used a ready-made corrugated cardboard box, which was purchased from the Leroy-Merlin store. In the same place, two cartridges were purchased along with light bulbs, an electrical wire with a plug, as well as a sewer corrugation, which I planned to use for air exhaust. To create air flow, I initially wanted to use a fan of the right size, but then I got the idea to use a vacuum cleaner for this. It already contains a set of filters, which theoretically should hold the suspension of paint. Most importantly, aerosol vapors of paint will be removed from the working area and will not enter the respiratory system. It remains only to come up with a pairing of the vacuum cleaner hose and the purchased corrugation. We still need tape, electrical tape and a clerical knife.
Let's start making a paint box. We collect the box.
We assemble the lower part of the box completely and fix it with tape.
Cut off the short flaps of the upper part and one long one. We shorten the second long sash - we need it to create an exhaust zone.
We glue all the corners with tape for strength.
We reinforce the ceiling of the box of one of the cut off doors and cut a hole for the corrugation in the center of the roof.
We install the corrugation and fix it by winding electrical tape.
We collect a garland of two parallel-connected light bulbs. The length of the wire between the lamps should be slightly less than the width of the box.
Paint box is ready.
We connect the hose of the vacuum cleaner and check the efficiency of the hood. To do this, you can use matches or burning candles. Tip: do not stretch the corrugation - it creates a nasty whistling sound when the vacuum cleaner is working.
We check boxing in work.
As I already wrote - I made a mistake with the original installation location of the light bulbs. I had to move them to the front of the box roof. I sealed the holes in the back of the box with tape.
Now everything is fine - you can paint.
In the future, you can paste over the inside of the box with white paper - this will improve the lighting.
