Now that this rain storm has passed, I am finally preparing to paint Mitchell Standard #46. As part of this endeavor, I have designed myself a paint fume extraction system, crude though it may be. I don’t have a paint booth, so to apply spray paint in my shop, I have previously utilized a large cardboard box with some old fluorescent lights wired to the inside, an Ikea wooden turntable, a small furnace filter, some dryer hose, and a squirrel cage fan that dates back to my days on “Buck Rogers”. The dryer hose was taped to a hole in the back of the box, the furnace filter was taped over the hole, and the dryer hose was taped to the fan and routed out of the building under the rollup door to my shop. This worked “ok”, but with a project as big as Mitchell 46, and a weather delay in my painting schedule, I took some time to improve this a little bit. I picked up a fan on special from Harbor Freight which seemed more than powerful enough to replace my antique squirrel cage fan. The output port on this fan fits perfectly under the rollup door so I can close the door and only have a gap of 2.5in. I designed and 3D printed a series of connectors to assemble my improved fume extractor. One connector attaches to the fan itself. Another attaches to the box I’m using to paint, and allows a 3in diameter dust collection hose to more securely attach between the box and the fan. While I am still waiting on the dust collection hose to arrive (curse you Amazon!), I tested this setup on my lathe using the antique squirrel cage fan and some dryer hose. On the prototype for the lathe, I 3D printed a duct that is the same height as the Harbor Freight fan and fits under the rollup door much like the fan does. This worked just fine to disburse the cutting oil fumes to the outside. So now, if the hose actually arrives today as promised, I can finally begin the painting process.
