# Airbrush booth

I started building a simple airbrush booth in November 2024, here is the progress I made on it. It was completed in February 2025. Note, an airbrush booth can be made far simpler and cheaper. A purchased one is probably even better. I even used a simple cardboard box the first time, which serves the purpose well. This booth was just a fun project for me to make.

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First I needed space, the bike shed below our appartment would suit well. I cleaned up everything and moved an old school desk to where I wanted my booth.

2024-11-03

![mess in bike shed](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-03-cleanup)

### Woodwork

I started with some planks I wanted to use as foundation and to raise the entire booth a bit. These planks were left over from a old plant container I had on our balcony and tore down. I drilled holes, sanded the sides and glued some wooden dowels in.

2024-11-06

![dowels and drill](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-06-duvels-boormachine)

![glueing foundation](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-07-fundering-lijmen)

Then saw the side panels and the back panel.

2024-11-16

![sawing panels](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-16-wanden-zagen)

Saw the bars that would go in the corners, I thought these 45 degree bars looked nice from the inside. Later I would regret using these bars though.

![sawing 45 bar](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-16-mastieklat-zagen)

I sawed off some of the top, so that cables for the lights could go behind these bars later.

2024-11-19

![45 bar cutouts](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-19-mastieklat-uitsparing)

There is no need for this many dowels, just a few is enough. I was unable to fit them together because at some point, some dowels did not exactly match up with the opposite holes, so it did not fit. I had to saw off some of the dowels until it would fit.

![too many dowels](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-19-veel-te-veel-duvels)

The 45 degree cut bars would have looked nice as corners, but these bars proved difficult when I had to glue them together. I could not clamp it together, not even with another 45 degree bar on the opposite side. The opposite bar just kept sliding out of place. I considered this a failure and tore it apart before the glue could cure. I sanded the glue off and decided to just take a regular bar instead for these corners.

2024-11-20

![glueing 45 bar](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-20-mastieklat-lijmen)

![45 bar not flat](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-20-mastieklat-niet-egaal)

This went much easier, I cut 2 bars to length, and again removed some of the tops for the cables.

2024-11-23

![sawing bar](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-23-balken-zagen)

![bar cutouts](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-23-balken-uitsparing)

I tried to glue a bar to panel, but it did not line up perfectly, some of the dowels were a bit too long I think, which I underestimated when dry-fitting.

2024-11-24

![bar glueing 1](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-23-balk-lijmen-1)

![bar glueing 2](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-24-balk-lijmen-2)

![bar glueing 3](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-24-balk-lijmen-3)

When dry-fitting, it works better to mark the dowel with a pencil. That way, you know exactly how deep it goes in the opposite hole.

2024-11-25

![dowel marking 1](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-25-duvel-aftekenen-1)

![dowel marking 2](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-25-duvel-aftekenen-2)

For the next corner, I decided to do it more simple. Just 3 dowels and glue it to the edge, nothing more. Once dried, sand it to make the sides even. This worked rather well. Again, add just a few dowels for the back panel, and glue together.

![bar glueing 4](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-25-balk-lijmen-4)

![bar glueing 5](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-25-balk-lijmen-5)

### Planing

Next I decided to work on the planks that would form the base and carry the whole cabine. These were not the most even pieces of wood to work with and required a lot of planing to get them (a little bit) even. I wanted to do this myself and reuse these planks, but going to a workshop to have these planed would have saved a lot of time and effort. But, I think planing by hand is very rewarding effort.

2024-11-27

![planing 1](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-27-planing-1)

![planing 3](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-27-planing-3)

All panels glued together on top of the foundation planks and the glass plate. This glass plate I found near the trash, it was a nice thick plate without any damage. Propably was part of a coffee table.

2024-11-28

![all panels](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-11-28-alle-wanden)

### The lid

I then moved on to make the lid. I cut four blocks from the bar I used for the corner to put on the lid and glued it together. I was not confident I could line up the dowels on the opposite side, so I just drilled through the blocks and hammered the dowels through them. Sadly I hit one dowel a little too hard, which almost went through the front. But it will be an easy fix later. The lid will not be glued to the other panels, so it can be taken off and moved later.

2024-12-07

![lid blocks 1](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-07-deksel-blokjes-1)

![lid blocks 2](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-07-deksel-blokjes-2)

![glueing the lid](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-07-deksel-lijmen)

2024-12-08

![airbrush booth with the lid](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-08-cabine-met-deksel)

Next come two holes in the lid for the ventilation. I drew a circle, drilled holes and then cut out the rest with a mortise chisel (schietbeitel). I made another mistake here, because I drew the inner diameter to be cut out. 

2024-12-08

![cutting holes in lid 1](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-08-deskel-gaten-1)

![cutting holes in lid 2](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-08-deskel-gaten-2)

Since the ventilation part is a few millimeters thick, it would not fit. To fix this, I used a rasping file to get rit of a few more millimeters of wood. 

2024-12-13

![cutting holes in lid 3](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-13-deksel-gaten-3)

![cutting holes in lid 4](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-17-deksel-gaten-4)

After both holes were made in the lid, I filled up some uneven and broken parts with wood plaster. Then I put on an undercoat of white paint on the wood.

### Painting

Here you can see the dowel I almost bashed through the front. But some sanding fixed that and the paint will hide all uneveness later.

2024-12-20

![fixing the front](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-20-frontje-fixen)

Then the whole assembly could be painted with an undercoat of primer.

2024-12-23

![undercoat painting](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-23-onderlaag-verf)

After sanding the undercoat and then re-applying it again, I painted some white lacquer on the entire assembly with a paint roller. It is not necessary, but it does give it a nicer finish than just the white undercoat of paint.

2025-01-03

![paints](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2024-12-26-verfpotten)

![fully painted booth](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-03-geverfde-cabine)


### Electronics

My shed had a few wires leading to the bike shed, which I will utilize to build the other electronics.

2025-01-11

![old electronics setup](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-11-oude-elektronica)

I was going to mount the T-section for the ventilation to the wall as well with some hose clamps.

![hose clamps on the wall](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-11-beugels)

The following electronics had to be mounted:
* A main switch for the ventilator.
* A switch to toggle between full speed and half speed for the ventilator.
* A switch for the LED inside the booth.
* A power converter to DC for the LEDs.
* A dimmer for the LEDs.

And while I was busy, I also decided to replace all the lights in the shed itself with LED strips, reusing the existing switch/outlet combination.

I attempted to be efficient with space first, by trying to cram as many wires as possible into the PVC tubes. But this was very hard to work with and turned out to be a big mess. I tore everything down again and tried a different approach.

2025-01-11

![plan A](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-11-plan-A)

The second plan was better, I made "modules" (labeled 1, 2 and 3) with incoming and outgoing wires. They would then come together into a box in the middle. This turned out well, it allowed me to work separately on each module. The box later turned out to be easily expandible as well, when I added one more line for the compressor.

2025-01-15

![plan B](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-15-plan-B)

All the wires were going to be guided through white 5/8 inch PVC pipes. In order to bend them, I clamped a heat gun to the table, shoved a special spring into the pipe in order to bend them with both hands. Worked rather well, but I can only guide the wires through a single bend. I bended the pipes twice, but it was impossiple to get the wires through for me. I then cut those pipes in half after bending, put the wires in and taped them back together again.

2025-01-18

![bending P V C pipes with heat gun](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-18-pvc-buigen-hittepistool)

The new electronics setup.

2025-01-19

![new electronics setup](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-19-nieuwe-elektronica)

And then the hoses could be attached for the ventilation.

![setup with hoses attached](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-19-nieuwe-setup-met-slangen)

Next work had to be done to make the LED strips. Soldering direcly to the strips proved a little difficult by hand only, so I decided to invest in some good extra hands from Weller. I used extra hands before, but these bendable clamps from Weller are perfect and made soldering a breeze.

2025-01-25

![soldering equipment](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-25-solderen)

On this picure the wires were still a little too short, so I extended them a bit later.

2025-01-31

![L E D strips](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-31-led-strips)

At one point I thought it would be nice to have an extra outlet near the floor for the compressor as well, along with a switch so I can easily reach it. The little box was just big enough to fit all the connections at this point.

![extra line for the compressor](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-31-compressor-lijn)

![connection box](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-01-31-lasdoosje)

### Completion

I attached 4 strips, on each side of the lid. The final result is a nice box that provides day coloured light from every angle.

2025-02-09

![final light setup](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-02-09-final-light-setup)

My friend told me it looks a bit like a hangar, here is a 1/144 Zaku II for scale.

![zaku hangar](/images/plamo/equipment/workplace/airbrush-cabine/2025-02-09-zaku-hangar)

Finally completed and inspired by the hangar remark, I decided to name my booth: ["White Base"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Base).

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### Ventilation specifications

Trade mark: S-vent
Model: SVTT150
Specific energy consumption (SEC), kWh/(m².a):
* cold: -53,9 A+
* average: -26,8 B
* warm: -11,3 E
Type of ventilation unit: Unidirectional
Type of drive installed: Variable speed
Type of heat recovery system: None
Thermal efficiency of heat recovery, %: None
Maximum flow rate, m³/h: 400
Electric power input, W: 60
Sound power level, dB(A): 64
Reference flow rate, m³/s: 0,086
Reference pressure difference, Pa: 50
Specific power input (SPI), W/(m³/h): 0,113
Control typology: Local demand control
Maximum internal leakage rates, %: N/A
Maximum external leakage rates, %: 2,7
Internet address: None
The annual electricity consumption (AEC), kWh electricity/a:
* cold: 60
* average: 60
* warm: 60
The annual heating saved (AHS), kWh primary energy/a:
* cold: 5536
* average: 2830
* warm: 1280
