Ultimate equipment set up
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I am just wondering, what if you could pick any and all equipment for an ultimate paint shop. For instance you have somehow won the lottery or something and have unlimited funds to outfit a shop. What would be the absolute best way to go. Lets start off with the hypothetical shop would be located where there is no epa issues and with lots of room for parking and storage (I know this dreaming!)
I guess starting with the booth I would get a full downdraft booth with basement and heated cure cycle. The kind that have the 1.5 inch insulation would be nice. For a compressor I would go with at least a 15 HP rotary screww with the integrated refrigerated air cooler/moisture remover. Then for air lines why not stainless steel 3/4 inch (this is a fantasy you know…) running into a Sata or Sharpe dessicant/membrane filter.
Now that we are in the booth how about a Sata full hood setup and gun cleaner. Now here is where i get a little overwhelmed, I feel if cost is no object than you should have 4 or 5 guns for specific purposes. For example- 1-Acid etch sealer/primer, 1-regular primer, 1-Featherfill/polyester primers, 1-Basecoats, 1-Clearcoats/low solids, 1-Clearcoats/high solids, 1-Waterborne basecoats. Have I missed anything besides masking machines, waterborne air drying systems or scissors lifts? The point of this thread is to ask the experts what their dream gun set-up would be without the worry of costs. I feel at a minimum you really should have at least 3 guns, primer,base and clear.for a booth I would have a downdraft but I would want it with a hepa air filter system and a desicant wheel on the incoming air side so I could control the humidity. the booth would be made of 8 inch metal clad foam panels and as many lights as I could fit. I would prolly use steam for heat as the shop this dream booth would be in would have infloor heating everywhere. the booth would have a heat exchanger in the duct with the incoming air.
the compressor would be a 2 stage screw and a refrigrant dryer and the best filter I could get then the whole shop would have filtered air not just the booth I would run 2″ line prolly coated aluminum with 1″ Dropsso basically it would be an FDA approved booth meaning you could eat off the floor and walls, dust and climate and lighting would never be an issue. Im sure I could design a booth and some rich SOB would buy it just because it would be the most expensive booth made. I would even automate most of it with Allen bradley processors and touch screens. So who wants to invest in this with me? I say we can sell the first one for 1 million.
then by the next year some overseas company will have them out for 10k
haha what a dream………..
You are right about the booth upgrades, 8″ would be some effective insulation. I am currently on assignment in China and they seem to cut to the chase pretty quickly. In researching getting a booth for my company almost everyone is a downdraft insulated type with about 2″inches of insulation and with a propane or natural gas heater. And they go for about 10-15K. Anyways, the 2” lines sound good but a buddy of mine who installs fire sprinklers in commercial tried something unique. Sing he had access to a whole lote of 4″ black pipe he did a whole 50′ deep shop in that. The extra volume provided by the 4″ pipe acted like an extra tank and kept the pulsing down to a minimum.
ya but black pipe rusts and you don’t want to take a chance with black pipe if money is no object! if I had everything I had at work in a shop for painting that would be the best.
To run our machines at work we have a main 6″ black pipe air line loop probrably 10000 gallons of air supply tanks throughout the plant and the are dryer is amoinia cooled. not your typical body shop setup..
Well of course black pipe wpould be about 3rd choice after stainless and fully galvinized. That 4″ reference was what my friend actually did in a smaller industrial shop. But, having time to think and refine a little bit, has anybody used one of those track systems that keep the airline off the floor? Seems like a good idea, but I think you would need one on each side of the booth. Also, what is the consensus on using 2 people to paint a complete car? I have heard it aids in getting proper “wet out” provided both painters are competent.
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