Day 147 - 148

The past couple work days I haven't been painting but getting ready to do so.

First, I had to think and think and thinkkkkkkk about getting my paint booth set up again.  Last time it worked ok but suffered from two problems.  First, the garage door wasn't able to be opened when the booth was set up.  Kind of silly and made for loading the booth a real pain.  Also, I only had front and back walls with no structure for the sides.  This caused the sides of the booth to suck in under the exhaust fan's pressure.  It made maneuvering in the booth more difficult.

So I went to bed with it on my brain.  Woke up and thought about it for a while and then just went into the garage and sat in a chair and thought some more.  I finally had my "eureka!" moment and went to Home Depot for supplies!

I basically constructed the back half the same way I did previously.  However, the front half I lowered the ceiling of the booth so the garage door could go above it.  As always it's fun lifting 2x4x12's above your head, by yourself but made it work with ladders, clamps, and screws.  I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Today I finished up some small projects and then also started putting the booth together.

I was able to create the leather washers that are inside each door and the check rod which prevents the door from swinging open in a breeze.  The leather washer prevents moisture from getting inside the door.

I had to source some belt leather used to make machinery belts from an online source.  It is the right thickness and high quality.  Then I punched out a hole big enough for the check rod and ended up taking some black paint and dyed them.  I tried shoe polish and it wasn't the best.  I wanted them black like original and it's not a show piece inside there, so a little spray paint is fine!

Top one is the old one, hole widened out of 50+ years of use.

I also was able to clean my original 4 tab emblem.  I got this online, but it was tarnished and a red/brown color.  These are hard to find original and when you do, expensive.  I found this piece a yar ago and got it for $25.  Most are 75-100.  Reproductions are around $35 but have noticeable differences and are too shiny for original style.



I tried buffing it a few months ago and it was marginally better.  Well, I got my new hood trim and it was drastically shinier than this piece.  So I went back at it today shining it with my Dremel.  It still didn't work that well so I Googled how to brighten aluminum and found that if you soak the piece in some drain cleaner it will remove annodization and bring back luster.

I did that, polished it again, and am very happy with the results.  And it's an original German piece!

I also got some plastic up on the booth and hung 3 out of my 4 florescent lights.  I still have my 4 LED flood lights, one halogen flood, the overhead fan light, and one clip on light.  I shouldn't have any shadows while painting :)

I ran out of staples, so I will finish up the plastic and get ready to shoot some small parts soon.