re-purposed my DC over the weekend

[kooshball]

I am in the finishing stage of my dresser (shellac) and decided to go HVLP due to its size. I don't have a spray booth officially, so I attempted to turn my garage into one.

I thought about fans in the windows but I didn't like the idea of the over spray going through the motor area so I tried to use fans to create a positive pressure and vent through the partially open garage door. This idea failed and only succeeded in creating a strong breeze and lots of turbulence.

Then I had an idea; why not disconnect the DC from the filer, move it out side, run the intake under the garage door, seal off any openings by stuffing rags and lumber in them , open the window at the far side of the garage and move 880 CFM of air across my spray area? And so that is what I did...

Looks crude, but I placed the drawers one at a time on a 5-gal pail in front of the inlet and sprayed away with NO over spray anywhere, and no smell of denatured alcohol.

 

[Glennbear]

Pretty cool idea David. :icon_thum The other advantage to your solution is that unlike the usual box fan in the window ventilation system the TEFC motor on your DC is not operating in an alcohol fume filled environment. The only thing I would do differently would be to place a furnace filter across the window opening to catch stray pine pollen and bugs before they hit your fresh finish. :wsmile:

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Great innovation David. In addition to what Glenn said about filtering the inlet air, you may also want to check the impeller on your DC when you are finished spraying. Shellac has a tendency to build up on surfaces and may reduce the efficiency of your DC. It can be easily cleaned off w/ DNA.

Bill

 

[CarvedTones]

But the inside of the tube will be nice and shiny.

 

[MarkE]

But the inside of the tube will be nice and shiny.

And probably slippery too. That sounds like a good thing. :gar-Bi

 

[junquecol]

But the inside of the tube will be nice and shiny.

True, true! Last year wife and I did a job of refinishing some cubbies at local Y. I originally built these in 1998, so they were due. We used HVLP sprayer and a 1.0 HP dust collector connected to a "Big Gulp". Exhaust was piped in 4"PVC to outside. Floor covered with drop cloths. Wife held Big Gulp to catch over spray. Worked wonderfully, except when I missed and sprayed wife.

 

[Bas]

Worked wonderfully, except when I missed and sprayed wife.

Still sounds like it worked wonderfully :gar-La; (*looks over left shoulder to ensure my wife isn't reading this*) (*looks over right shoulder to make sure _your_ wife isn't reading this*)