Gunsmithing Cerakote setup

[DynamicAccuracy]

I'm going to setting my shop up to do cerakote. My question is, is it necessary to have a small (about 6ftx6ft) room to use as a spray booth or is it fine to paint it on a bench top? Keep in mind the spray booth I would build would have a downdraft system built into it. My thinking is the booth would keep potential contaminants out of the finished product.

 

[Wannashootit]

You're overthinking a spray booth for the purpose of "contaminants"...it ain't a pricey classic auto....
You do need to be concerned about exhausting overspray/fumes- and if a ventilated booth works for ya, go for it.

Me, I have a big ass rolling cabinet for a "paint booth", back wall is pre-filters/vent fan and ducted outside.

 

[TresMon]

Yeah what Wannashootit said.

Over spray &fume control" is for your own personal health and safety. The thing to be concerned with is keeping oil out of the process.

Buy a new air hose...I'ts never had air compressor oil/vapor in it. Get a good Oil remover to mount on your air compressor upstream of the hose and spray gun. And be diligent about its maintenance. Do the same for your line going to your sand blast cabinet and if you have already been blasting stuff, get new blast media that has never had oil/vapor introduced to it.

Granted I squirt Cerakote Elite if I can at all, but my guys are saying they "have never seen a tougher Cerakote job than what I do."

Well, the only thing I could be doing different from other responsible applicators that don't cut corners in the overall process*is that I'm anal about keeping all the oil and oil vapor out of the process that I possibly can. Including new hoses for the paint gun and sand blaster on occasion...

The only other pertinent piece of free advice I could offer...is most all of the Cerakote jobs I see that have been done are applied way to thick. This weakens the coating. During application...you want to spray just barely enough of a coating to change the color of the metal from bead blasted "white" to just barely the complete and consistent color of cerakote that you are applying. Absolutely no more.

There's not a lot to it and its profitable.
Be blessed.

 

[hino895]

Exactly what TresMon said.
I use a paasche deluxe spray booth.
I’ve built an enclosure for it so it sits back a foot or so.
It has twin exhaust fans which I built a manifold for then ducted it outside and finished it off with a dryer flap vent.
Works quite well but the filters get clogged quite easily.
I’ve given up on the filters but when you do you have to clean the fan blades often.
You can google it or go to eBay which is where I bought mine.
They are UL listed if you have your shop inspected (I do)
Word of mouth is your best advertisement so do it right the first time and you will stay busy.

 

[hino895]

Another thing is schedule your work.
Have them drop off their project one day and return it to them in 24-48 hours.
Nothing worse than waiting 4-6 weeks for your buddy to return.

 

[DynamicAccuracy]

Thanks guys I appreciate it.