Painting anything in a small shop is always a challenge, fumes and overspray present a myriad of concerns. In the best scenario a commercial spay booth or spray wall is the way to go, just mask up and begin to paint with either one of these solutions (okay, that was a tad oversimplified). Sans any large shop equipment advanced DIYrs oft resort to some crazy but creative alternatives, e.g., Cardboard boxes duct taped together to form a bench top spray booth, that utilizes a shop vac piped into its back wall to evacuate overspray and fumes. Shower curtains hung from the ceiling to form a booth that attempts to keep overspray at bay. My personal favorite (only because I’ve done it myself multiple times) is the use of multiple box fans inserted into an open window, hopefully pulling out the overspray and fumes. Any DIY method using household vacuums or fans is incredibly dangerous though, due the explosive nature of many types of paint and solvent fumes. Professional booths utilize explosion proof motor and fan assemblies.
So, confronted with a lot of parts (small and large) to paint and a very small garage space to work in, I decided to go semi-pro. Lacking the room for even the smallest of spray walls installed inside, I thought of cutting and framing an opening in the side wall of the garage. Then leaving the bulk of the assembly outside of the building and partially obstructing the driveway, not a good solution. The next thought would be the foundation of my solution, what about something that I could position in front an open garage door when needed and move out of sight when not in use?
Enter the birth of the mobile spray wall. Do make this fantasy project happen I would need my donor parts to create my own Frankenstein’s monster. No actual graveyards here, just Craigslist. So after a patient wait my posting arrived and I was able to acquire a used booth that had been fabricated for a small cabinet shop in the early 2000s. My find included Grainger explosion proof motor and blower, boxes of filter media (almost as valuable as the entire rest of the purchase) and all the fabricated galvanized wall panels. Constrained by the parts in hand, I drew up some plans to stitch my “Frankenstein” together, with some pack-ratted left-overs, some 3D printing and a couple of Amazon buys, I was set to sew. Watch the video to see my results… Oh, and enjoy your ride.
