Cog

first of all, is a single or dual filter respirator best, a single one might work out cheaper but does a dual filter give more protection or is easier to breath through etc.? secondly, what grade of filter is required, A1, A2 or A3. and P1, P2 or P3? and would that change depending on whether youre using a compressor or propellent can

they do thin quite well with water, but I think that a mix of thinner and water should work best

I have no opinions, only facts. coincidently most of them are wrong

that filter is over the top I think. I think that for most paints you only need A and P protection for organic vapours and particles. but I'm not sure whether or not inorganic vapour protection is needed for any sorts of paint

vodka is about 98-99% ethanol and water, the rest is sugars and starches and other things in small amounts. industrial alcohol comes in many different forms, a common form is isopropyl alcohol, which has similar properties but it is a different thing, ethanol has the molecular formula C2H5OH, isopropyl alcohol, which should be called propan-2-ol has the formula C3H7OH. otherwise industrial alcohol will be methylated spirits (also known as denatured alcohol) this is a mix of about 90% ethanol and 10% methanol (forumla CH3OH). the only purpose of adding the methanol is to make it poisonous to drink, ie. denature it. otherwise the methanol makes practically no difference to its properties. all 3 of these, methanol, ethanol and propanol should all make equally good paint thinners because the only active part of the molecule is the alcohol (OH) group. the rest of it wont affect the paint until theres quite a few carbons that can get in the way. although ethanol is the only one of these that isnt poisonous. it can be surprising how much difference water can make to the taste. pure ethanol will taste very different to a 50:50 mix of alcohol and water I think I got a bit carried away there, anyway: ... ... ...

if you wanted to fit a light onto the booth you could try one of these halogen lamps for £4 from ikea instead of wires it uses the two telescopic arms to conduct the electricity, so you could just unscrew the 2 arms from the base then attach them to the top of the booth, then solder a cable from the arms and back to the base

oooohhh shiny.

I'm hoping to go to university to study chemical engineering, so in the future I could have a job making paint or brewing beer

I havent tried it myself but I'm sure that theres enough methanol in it to make you go blind but I'm planning to set up my own mini distillery so that I can make my own, I've just got to find out what vodkas made from [edit] it turns out I have all the raw ingredients I need, sugar yeast and water. I've also noticed that tamiya sell a 20ml pot of it for about £2, and a 250ml bottle for about £4. so if you buy the small pot its half the price for a tenth as much

its just water and alcohol so in theory it should be perfect tamiyas own thinner is practically just 60% proof vodka with a drop of methanol added to avoid taxes and licensing laws

its a 'g' actually, the underscore 'coqs' it up, so to speak (thats the closest thing I could find to a bad pun smiley)

I bought it from hobbycraft this morning, but I didnt think it was much of a range, they've got the basic things like needles and different spray head things, and a few other bits like hoses and jars for suction feeds. but nothing like valve parts or anything that might be specific to certain models. and everythings cheaper on shesto anyway

I've built my own improvised spray booth out of one sheet of wood, the metal case of an old VCR and some pieces of cardboard, I need some more cardboard to make it bigger. then I'm going to try and set up some ducting and a fan for fume extraction, but I'm not sure how well thats going to work. I'll probably try using 2 12V computer style fans at the back of the booth, the 12v fans should be a lot safer than a mains powered fan for using propellent cans

I bought some awhile ago and its the best glue I've ever used the only bad point about it is that except for thin layers it dries rubbery, and not hard, so its useless as a filler and works best if the parts being glued are in direct contact

I've fixed it, it was the O-ring the old one looked like it was in good condition, but comparing it to the new one its bigger and softer than it should be