How to avoid dust when spraying ??

Hi guys.
I'm from Italy and I'm new on this forum.
This is my very first post and I'd like to thank You all for the precious advice i've found on this great forum.

I've done some search trough the forum but i cannot find an answer to my question.

When i spray my models with the airbrush i always get some dust on the paint. Not when the model is already painted and drying, but when I'm spraying.

I wonder if there's some way to avoid this, maybe building some spraying box.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

Mauro.

I use a box with a lid and only the front open, and also take care with the clothes being worn at the time of spraying..

Sweaters etc are bad for getting dust in the model, I just wear a normal T Shirt. Odd, but it doesn't reduce the dust.

I use a LARGE carboard box. Just cut one side out and you're ready. It works for me, though I'm sure other people here have other solutions!

There will always be dust unless you are in a clean-room environment. It's a fact of life.

I spray in a cardboard box in a basement, with a large fan/filters pulling the fumes out.

Regular T-shirts and clothing made from cotton will shed tiny fibers, and clothing and hair holds a lot of dust itself. When I'm painting something that I want to keep as dust-free as possible, I make sure I wear a nylon Tshirt that doesn't hold nor shed dust. I carefully remove all dust from the model before spraying, and I polish out the paintjobs because they will always get a few small dust nibs in the paint surface no matter how careful I am.

Thank Yuo all guys.
This problem is really making me crazy.
Some times ago my problem was to make a shiny paint.
Now my paint is level and shiny, but dust keeps getting on my poor model.
I'll try to follow some of your answers.

I use a fine mist water spray bottle and spritz the area just before painting.
Pulls a lot of airborne dust to the ground and keeps dust on the ground. Oh yeah, my paint room is carpeted... - Mark

Regular T-shirts and clothing made from cotton will shed tiny fibers, and clothing and hair holds a lot of dust itself. When I'm painting something that I want to keep as dust-free as possible, I make sure I wear a nylon Tshirt that doesn't hold nor shed dust.

I have an old T-shirt that is a 50/50 polyester cotton blend that I wear when I paint bodies. It really cuts down on the lint and dust that gets into the paint.

If you are really crazy you can do what I did...

I bought an old laminar flow tables from a laboratory equipment supplier for 10U$ and put it my cellar and use it as an "negative" paint booth - works great :))

If you don't know, a laminar flow booth is what lab technicians work under. It filters surrounding air to degrees of a micron and pumps it out through the chamber so that what's outside can't get in (sort of a paint booth in reverse). i.e the air preassure flowing out of the booth stops particles moving into the booth.

Does absolutely NOTHING about fumes etc in the short term but keeps dust (and bacteria :) ) off of the models beautifully. It's also doubles up as a great working area.

Well you can do this depending where you are spraying. I spray in a garage where there are wood shavings and all kinds of crap floating around....I just sprayed the floor with a hose and just painted a Skyline classic white and no dust or anything at all!

-Chris

Hey Klutz, I would really like to see a picture of your inverted paint booth.

When I was painting 1:1 cars at school, we always used to wet the floor to prevent dirt clouds. The overspray pressure from the paint gun would kick up any dirt on the ground and then the paint job would have a tussle with it, and usually lose:/

Me to mists water from a spray bottle against the ceiling and let that fall to the floor. I do this twice to knock down the free floating dust particles. Sure there still will be some dust speckles in the paint but not very much and I have seen some of my paint jobs without any dust at all. Btw, I use the kitchen as my paint boot. A big piece of plastic over the stove and turn on the forced air flow. Just has to clean the filter in the shroud more often. My mother in law got a bit puzzled why on earth the filter was bright red at one occasion.
With the balcony door open there is no fumes getting out of the kitchen at all. So I can paint without having to argue with the rest of the family about the smell.
Niclas

I use an old mircowave to let my models dry and its a great way to keep dust out.

welcome to AF! i just spray outside so i'm sure i get a lot of junk in my model, or maybe not?

ciao mauro, per la polvere io di solito butto un po' d'acqua per terra... ovviamente mi metto fuori a verniciare !

Hey Klutz, I would really like to see a picture of your inverted paint booth.

It's smthg like this (just older :icon16: )

http://www.cleanroomeng.com/pics/c2000-a_200x239.jpg

or

http://www.laminarflowinc.com/products/laminarcleanroom/images_laminarclean/HORIZONTAL%20CONSOLE.jpg

I'll take a photo of the home setup later if you want

HTH

:eek: Klutz - that's some seeeerious modelling hardware!!!

:eek: Klutz - that's some seeeerious modelling hardware!!!

Innit just ?!?!?!

I just wish my modeling skills were as serious :iceslolan :loser:

I was suffering form dust so badly in my work area though, I just had to do smthg about it. It weighs in at 250KG!!!!!!! But at 10$ it was worth the bother to transport it in the car and squeeze it into my modeling room. My sprue cutters cost more :screwy:

I empahasise again though, that this is not an extraction system - it DOES NOT remove fumes while painting. In fact it does the opposite, it blows 'em right at 'ya. It will remove them pretty quickly afterwards though as it recirculates the air in the room at a healthy rate.

You should install an extraction kit for sure. It's like having a good looking ferrari in your driveway but with no engine!

I have a spray booth with an extracting fan (cage type, about 100cfm under load) to outside, and what I do is let the fan run for 5 minutes before starting to airbrush. during these 5 minutes I blow air (with the airbrush set at 30PSI) in and all around the spray booth, to lift any dust that has settled there. it works very well, most of the time I do not have any dust particle in my paint jobs now (it used to be very different!!).

Of course the air outside must be relatively free of dust...

It seems that's not only a problem of mine.
Thanks everyone again.
On the next model I'll try some of your advice.
I hope it'll keep dust away (especially during clear cot....arrrghhhh ).

I usually spray outside Or in my ''cabanon''(french word, don't know in english, sorry). Only problem is temperature/wind. Of course there's not really dust outside but there is flying bugs!!! One of them was particularly attracted to my Soarer 2800gt...you know the end of the story...