The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop How do you eliminate dust in garage paintbooth

I just painted my 55 frame with Acrylic Enamel in the garage booth (blue tarp all around)with a 20" filtered fan blowing in and one blowing out.

After spraying and letting it dry I observed some dust particles on the frame.

I want to paint my cab and fenders soon using a 2 stage paint.

Is there a way to eliminate these particles?
I was thinking of buying one of those dust filters from Harbor Frieght if that will help.

Yep, Joe's right. We've painted five or six trucks in our garage. Under the guidance of my uncle, a former body shop owner, we always **CAREFULLY** wet down the garage floor with a garden hose and fine mist spayhead. You have to work slow, close to the floor, and make darn sure you don't get your truck wet.

Part of the trouble might be the fan blowing in. You'd be better off with just a filtered air inlet (no fan) and an exhaust fan. Air blowing in will just stir everything up.

are you using a 20" box fan by chance? if so, i don't believe it will pull enough air... pakrat is right about only having an exhaust, but having some way for air to get in, like a partially opened man door. a better fan would be a grain bin fan.... but that's a lot more work. and wet the floor and walls- well everything really. A buddy of mine is an EXCELLENT painter, and you'd never think that kind of work would come out of his garage. He has a big exhaust fan, wets down everything.... i mean everything- if it's in the area, it's going to get a little moist. and keep other people out to keep the dust down

Hello Bolters,
I have done many grage paint jobs and it seems to be impossible to get away with no dust.My routine usually goes like this:After body work meets my satisfaction I will spend about 2 days cleaning the grage blow it out,vacume corners and cracks and any where dust can hide,and wash out with soap and water,this is about the only time my grage gets a good cleaning.I have 2 windows 1 gets furnace filters for air intake the other a exaust fan and the floor is allways wet down before and during painting.Still I will get some dust,but since I have started using basecoat clearcoat systems it is not been that big of deal-it always seems to buff out nicely.I am currently thinking about building some kind of a paintbooth out of lightweight materials that can be set up and taken down when finished.I have got a real paintbooth fan and floresent lights I just need to figure out some way to make it pull air from the bottom of the booth so it will work like a downdraft paint booth.If anyone has knowledge of such a setup please chime in with your ideas Aaron

How about those cheap carports make out of conduit and blue tarp? you could close in the sides with 3ml plastic from the hardware store.

Pakrat, I'm sorry but I disagree about the fan blowing in. When the fan is blowing out, it tends to suck air in through all kinds of cracks and crevices - loaded with dirt. If you have a fan blowing in with several filters on it, the dirt from those cracks will be flowing towards the outside, away from the paint - because you are literally pressurizing the paint booth. You have to be sure that the fan that is blowing in is pointed away from whatever you have to paint, so that it won't tend to stir up dust. The filters also need to be wetted down to trap the incoming dust. Professional paint booths are set up this way, to keep airborn dust to a minimum.

you may have better luck painting outside on a still day if theres no bugs out

So I'm hearing that I can use a box fan with filters blowing in but away from the items that's being painted, wet down everything before I start. I've primed my front end (fenders, hood and radiator support without too much dust but then it does not matter because the primer was sanded in preperation for paint and that's where it is now, waiting to be painted.
A.Richeson; You said you've used base/clear coat and buff out the dust particles, how well do they come out and do you buff before or after shooting the clear?

Tri5,
after the clear,let paint cure about 2 days and wet sand area with 1200 or higher grit sandpaper use some liquid dish soap in water for sanding-this gives a little lubrication,be very very very very gental.Then you need a varable speed buffer -it needs to run slow so you dont burn the clear.You will also need a woll type buffing head and a foam type buffing head some buffing compound and polishing compound. Use the woll and the buffing compound together first then change to foam head and pollish.If you havent done this before I would suggest you find a old pannel and paint it right along with the truck then use it to get the feel of buffing be very careful a buffer can tear up paint in a second also visit your auto body supply they will help you with the right compounds,polishes,and heads some people buff the entire car,I just fix runs,dust and orange peel, Best of luck
Aaron

Don't forget to ground the vehicle with a floorjack to prevent a static magnatism that attracts the dust,
Scott

those spun fiberglass furnace filters do not filter very fine particulate so move up to the hi-eff. filters that measure "catch" in microns. also if you do not have enough filter square ft. the velocity of the air moving across the filter will be to "fast" for it to catch on the filter. i dont know how many cfm a 20" box moves so i cant quess how much is needed