Ok, so I'm thinking "how hard can it be to make a fresh air system" like this. I mean air really isn't that hard to transport through a hose, and there's an ample supply of really great air 25 ft or so from where I'm working. Turns out it's not as easy as I had hoped. Ok, here's what I've come up with so far: Use one or more 80mm tornado computer fans that I have laying around the house (you could even put some filter material in front of them to keep out dust and etc.) reduced into some type of hose. Hose connects to some type of face mask with semi-one-way-valve. Pretty simple and a whole lot less than $699. Now for the problems: 1. I need some type of hose that is big enough in diameter to not slow down the air too much, yet small enough to be flexible and manageable while painting or whatever I'm doing with it. 2. Ideas for mask. I was thinking of modifying either a regular respirator or something like this into the face mask but I'm just not sure. It would have to "seal" reasonably well to your face whatever it is. 3. Ideas for semi-one-way-valve. The main idea behind my design is similar to the positive pressure bunny suits worn by bio-hazard researchers. The idea being that if there is positive pressure inside the suit and they get a small hole in it, they will still be protected because of the air rushing out of the suit. This being said, if I have enough positive airflow so that even when I inhale, there is still positive pressure within the mask, It should work. In theory this "valve" could be something as simple as a piece from a regular dust mask just to provide resistance and maintain the positive pressure inside the mask. Well, this is the part where you get to astound everyone with your amazing intellect. I really do appreciate your help with this. As much lacquer thinner fumes and polyester resin and mek and acetone and etc, as I inhaled before I really understood how bad this stuff is for you (thankfully I never used any isocyanate containing product), I want to protect my lungs as much as possible from here on out, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Thanks, Daniel
You could just get a cheap gas mask and add a fan blowing outside air into it. say a 60mm fan on a smal tube.
Use a painters mask instead. Such as this one: http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1779&itemType=PRODUCT and then ventilate your work area. It's not your lungs you should worry about, but your brain and the possibility of ulcers or tumors in various organs as a result of prolonged exposure. You will not be able to build something identical to the $600 that will protect you completely from fumes. A painter's mask will help a great deal, but you should NOT be exposing yourself to those fumes without a heavily ventilated work area. That said an axial fan cannot produce the pressure required to control a one-way valve.
I've posted this on several forums, and one guy suggested a vacuum cleaner hose and maybe even using the vacuum cleaner itself for the pump. Any thoughts? hydro_electric_655, I like the gas mask idea, I'll have to look into that. Captain Slug, the reason I said lungs is that I currently have two older airbrush friends that are both suffering from lung problems that the doctors have attributed to the laquer paint they used all these years. I just don't want to end up being in my late 50's and unable to walk up a full flight of stairs without being completely winded. Daniel
