Tools USA Blog

Manufactured vs. Homemade Paint Booths

We all love a handyman, a professional who can fix anything. And not just any handyman, we want the best handyman. When our pipes burst, we call the plumber. When our cars break down, we call the mechanic. So why would you try to make a homemade paint booth?

Whenever you are dealing with highly volatile products such as paint and chemicals there is the possibility of fire or the risk of an explosion. This is why homemade paint booths are not quite the route to take. Of course they are cheaper, and that is exactly the quality you will get. Dealing with something as serious as mixing harmful chemicals, a topnotch manufactured paint booth is required to keep you safe. Homemade Booths rarely, if ever, meet NFPA 33 and OSHA codes.

Many homemade paint booths have no ventilation system. A paint booth is essentially a sealed area with a powerful fan or air circulation unit installed in it. Your circulation unit should be powerful enough to circulate all the air in the room every five minutes to prevent the buildup of fumes. Both the inflow and the outflow vents should be equipped with air filters. A non-ventilated paint booth may be decent for painting small objects such as a dice; however, when painting big projects like car parts, your breathing is in trouble.

Manufactured paint booth systems are more pleasant, less likely to cause painting problems and a whole lot less likely to blow you to Kingdom Come! The technology is available to keep you alive. At Standard Tools, your safety is number one on our list. Our booths are quality to keep you safe and will not damage your pockets. Everyone wants to have quality and save money at the same time. Let Standard Tools do that for you.

A Paint Mixing Room is a Dangerous Place to Be

There are always “do’s and don’ts”, whether it’s fashion, workplace etiquette, or paint mixing rooms. That’s right! There are “do’s and don’ts” to using paint mixing rooms. Paint mixing rooms can be very dangerous work areas because of the toxic, flammable and hazardous materials stored in it. Use safe precautions to ensure your health & safety.

Keep away from. Extreme care shall be taken by individuals mixing solvent-based paints to remove from all possible sources of ignition, such as matches, cigarette lighters, and steel buckles.

Avoid contact and wash your hands! Persons handling painting materials shall avoid contact of material with skin and eyes, and inhalation of mists or vapors. When painting materials are handled, care shall be exercised to wash hands before eating, drinking, smoking, or using toilets. No food or drink shall be allowed in the paint area.

Proper attire.Personnel shall wear nonskid, rubber-soled shoes or canvas boots over their shoes when working. It is also a good idea to wear a Paint Suit to protect your clothes, skin and hair.

Illness. Workers with a history of chronic skin diseases, allergies, or asthma shall not be permitted to work with paint compounds and thinners.

Always remember skin contact, eye contact, ingestion, and breathing mists or vapors in excess of the threshold limit value, (TLV) a level of chemical substance to which it is believed a worker can be exposed day after day for a working lifetime without adverse health effects, shall be avoided. Follow these guidelines when working in a paint mixing room, and your well-being will be protected.

Ventilation and Exhaust Systems: A Guide to Protecting Your Breathing

Today we are all more aware of pollutants and what they do to our environment and our health. We know that pollution is not good for our breathing, so we have been taught how to take precautions, such as buying electric hybrid cars and going green. You should also be taught how to take precautions to protect your breathing in your paint booth.

Paint booths are extremely important in providing an optimal environment in which to spray paint. Solvent based spray paints are the main source of isocyanate (a harmful compound) and are damaging to human health. If you don’t take special precautions, you may end up with Asthma, persistent coughs or something more threatening.

Paint booths protect the health of your shop employees by filtering the paint overspray and fumes through the booth’s ventilation system. Three popular styles of booth include the down draft, cross draft and open front.

Open face paint booths have three walls while the front end is left open, and this is where the air is pulled in from. It is extracted by the paint booth exhaust fans which are located at the back.

A cross draft paint booth pulls filtered air in through filtered doors, and paint booth exhaust fans at the other end extract the contaminated air. These paint booths will have filters on both the intake and outtake side, so the incoming air is clean and free of contaminants to the work, while the outgoing air sends the toxic paint fumes our and away from the shop area.

A downdraft paint booth ventilation works by having multiple fans bringing fresh air in from top of the booth and exhaust fans at the bottom taking air out.

When looking to buy your paint booth, make sure that you understand the style of booth you will need for your given application. It is also important to buy from a reputable company that understands that ventilation and exhaust systems should meet the applicable requirements of NFPA 33. Some of the requirements are to make sure each booth has its own dedicated exhaust stack. Each exhaust plenum on a paint booth should have its own pressure gauge called a manometer. Manufacturers’ should supply the manometer with the purchased paint booth package. Keeping the fan clean also helps to extend its life.

“When Should I Replace My Filters?”

Proper spray booth filter maintenance is crucial to obtaining a great paint job. Without the proper air balance, your booth will perform poorly and your operating costs will be higher than necessary.

To achieve proper balance, filters must remove and hold contaminants but still allow for proper air flow in the booth. Delaying a filter change will result in poor quality jobs. We all know what that means…unnecessary added costs from buffing, sanding, booth cleaning, etc. I always say… “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right the first time”

Cross draft booth intake filters should be changed every one to three months and down draft ceiling filters should be changed every four to six months. This is on average because each operating environment is different and paint hours can fluctuate greatly. Exhaust paint arrestor pads/filters should be changed every one to two weeks or more often if the manometer/draft gage on your booth measures high.

We will be glad to assist you in determining which filters are needed for your booth. We even offer kits for our Standard Tools booths. Buying these in kit form can save you tons of money.

Kelly Goudy
Sales Manager
Paint Booths by Standard Tools and Equipment Co.

Proudly MADE IN THE TRIAD!

WFMY News 2 featured Standard Tools and Equipment on their Made in the Triad feature. We are proud to be manufacturing paint booths from our plant in Greensboro, NC.

Watch the video now!

Standard Tools and Equipment Co. to be Featured on the “World’s Greatest…” Television Production

NEWS RELEASE

<May 18, 2011><Greensboro, N.C.>
Standard Tools and Equipment Co, a trusted manufacturer in the automotive aftermarket industry, announced today that they have been selected by How 2 Media to be a part of the popular television series, “World’s Greatest …”, featuring their paint booths. The show airs on the ION Network.

The company goes to market as Tools USA and paint-booths.com, to sell hundreds of products through their mail-order catalog and their various Web sites. Products include auto lifts, frame machines, pulling posts and clamps, tire equipment, powder coating equipment and, or course, their paint booths.

One of the first online sellers of Paint Booths, their Tools USA internet store opened in 1999. Recognized by Google Inc. (1,000,000 Leads Generated), and Internet Retailer (America’s Top 500 Largest Retail Web Sites), they have a history as a successful online retailer.

“We started selling to Body Shops and in the early 80’s, the company developed the very first national catalog for the body shop professional,” says Michael Kestler, President of Standard Tools and Equipment Company. “Our many years of experience in the collision repair industry helped us to develop the superior paint booth products that we offer today. The value, quality and efficiency of our paint booths have been major factors in our expansion into other industries and our overall success.”

With over half of their paint booths being sold outside of the body shop industry, Standard Tools has supplied paint booths to such industries as NASCAR teams, Woodworking shops, military, schools, government and many varied manufacturing industries.

After a careful interview process, the show determined that Standard Tools’ experience, technology and customer-service made for not only a great paint booth, but a great story too.

“We think they have an interesting story to tell and we will help tell that story in a meaningful way to our viewers,” said Gordon Freeman, Executive Producer of the show. “Standard Tools is a major company operating in the somewhat fragmented Spray Booth manufacturing industry. The difference is that they sell direct, which affords and enables them to offer products at the lowest possible prices without sacrificing quality.”

“World’s Greatest…” is a 30-minute television show from the producers at How 2 Media. The show features the world’s greatest companies, products, places and people. Past businesses featured include Anheuser-Busch, Lenox China, Land’s End, Samsung, and Xtreme Motorsports.

A film crew will be visiting Standard Tools’ facilities in late June to get the story behind the story on why Standard Tools makes the World’s Greatest Paint Booths. They will begin shooting the segment, scheduled to air later this year.

“We are thrilled to be a part of ‘World’s Greatest…’ and honored for the selection,” Kestler continued. “We are excited to highlight the company’s history, manufacturing process and the story of who we are and why we do what we do.”

About Standard Tools and Equipment Co.
Tool USA, founded in 1979 is an operating company of Standard Tools Holding Corp. (Standard Tools and Equipment Co.), a privately-owned holding company. Standard Tools and Equipment Co. is a leading manufacturer and distributor of automotive body shop equipment. Manufacturing and corporate offices are located in Greensboro, NC.

For more information, visit www.toolsusa.com or www.paint-booths.com or contact Kat at Katm@standardtool.com.

INDUSTRY HAZARD: COMBUSTIBLE DUST

Tracy Beach, Plant Manager
Standard Tools and Equipment Co.

Combustible dust was to blame for 348 explosions, 793 injuries, and 133 deaths from 1980 to 2008. It is a terrifying hazard that goes overlooked in many facilities because it is not fully understood. Are you taking all the precautions necessary to ensure that your shop, and your employees, are safe?

“Dust becomes fuel for fires and explosions when it builds to hazardous levels,” noted Standard Tools and Equipment’s plant manager, Tracy Beach. “Sources such as sugar, flour, feed, plastics, wood, rubber, furniture, textiles, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, coal, and metals can form combustible dust.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) show some of the materials that may become explosive when divided into small enough particles here (PDF).

There is a directive intended to reduce the occurrence of explosions and fire due to combustible dust. OSHA has launched the Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (or Combustible Dust NEP) to administer safety requirements and fines where there currently is no code. Immediate action is to identify findings and impose fines on companies that have combustible dust that is not being managed or not managed adequately. The long-term action is to develop a suitable requirement. Click here to read more information about Dust NEP.

Standard Tools and Equipment provides cyclone dust collectors, cartridge filter systems and spray booths designed specifically for powder coating. These items are designed to meet, or exceed, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and OSHA requirements.

Our suggestion is for your safety team to review the processes for handling or creating combustible dust and to call us at 1-800-451-2425 if you find that combustible dust is a concern for you.

If you have combustible dust, you will need processes and equipment to handle it. Please do not wait until after a catastrophe or visit from your OSHA inspector. Dust is an item that is much less expensive to handle before any such event occurs.

UP, UP AND AWAY

Pop group The 5th Dimension had a hit song in late 1960’s called Up, Up and Away. It was an upbeat, feel-good song that was about riding in a hot-air balloon. It was played over and over on AM radio stations around the country and won a Grammy in 1968.

Today, the idea of “up, up and away” defines the costs of materials. We have all been shocked by recent increases in fuel prices, but steel prices have risen more dramatically in the same timeframe. In 18 months, gas prices rose from $2.50 to $3.50 per gallon… a 40% increase. In the same timeframe, steel prices increased by 65%. This increase can be attributed to the rising fuel costs, increasing global demand and negative influences in supplies. One such negative factor was the torrential rains and flooding in Australia that filled coke mines. This coke is deemed the best in the world for smelting the high-tech steel ores used today. Continue reading UP, UP AND AWAY

COMPUTERIZED MEASURING SYSTEMS

Vehicles are fighting to become the best in their feature offerings. Technology is bringing more and more “hands-free” this and “touch-screen” that…. It seems that we will soon have cars that can even think on their own! With all of these techy gadgets and time-saving devices comes a higher chance of damaging something in just a minor collision. Gone are the days where it was just a “fender bender” … a little bump affects the car’s core and all of these modern devices.

Many times, the extent of the damages is not discovered until the repairs have begun…. dragging out the repair time, raising the repair costs and causing frustration in customers.

In a world full of technology, customers and insurance companies expect more than repairs based on strings, tape measures or basic old fashioned measuring systems. So, what is the solution? Computerized electronic measuring systems offer tremendous accuracy and will detect damage that visual inspections miss. With this technology, shops are able to compare each measurement to the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications and display any difference, enabling the technician to make needed adjustments. As an added bonus, they provide the proper repair documentation required by most insurance companies.

Until recently, these systems were out of reach for the small and mid-size shops due to the high price tag ($25,000 to $40,000). Not only where they pricey, but so complicated that it required extensive training, limiting the number of technicians that could actually use the system. With this added training and the regular software updates, thousands of dollars were added to the lifetime cost of these system.
Continue reading COMPUTERIZED MEASURING SYSTEMS

Do you like to sit and watch paint dry?

We didn’t think so…. that’s why Standard Tools offers items to make the paint drying easier and faster. We suggest adding a heated air makeup unit like this one to your semi-down and/or side-downdraft spray booth. You can also invest in a UV light system to be added to an existing spray booth. If you work with waterborne finishes, look into our Air Accelerators and Air Dryers to expedite the curing time by up to 70%.

Contact our Sales Team online or at 800-451-2425 for more information on how you can do more painting and less watching it dry!

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