My Fluid Bed Plans

[Johnsfishin]

For those of you asking how to make a fluid bed here is how i did mine.

Materials

Lowes
1- 2ft piece 1 1/2" pvc
1- 1 1/2" pvc coupler - i would recommend 2 of these for dipping multiple colors, 1 will work though for a single color dip
1- tube silicone- color doesnt matter (caulk)
1- 1 1/2" pvc end caps-used for lids on your powder paint cups.

Petsmart
Aquarium Air pump with 2 outputs at least rated for a 40 gallon. Some air pumps have air control valve on pump which is even better
Airline tubing 8ft for $1.99
Airflow adjuster valve to control amount of air flow. I had to buy a 11pc air connector kit.

Something to attach your Fluid bed to i used some scrap plywood from the garage.

Filter Materials
-Brown paper bag, Vacuum bag, Coffee filters.
So far the vacuum bags have worked for most of my powder paints; different powder paints will need different filter material. If you're not getting the paint to 'boil' try another filter.

I used 1 1/2" PVC most people would suggest using 2 or 3 inch if you are coating larger size jigs. For my 1/16 jigs it works fine & doesnt require a large amount of paint.

To get started you want to drill a 3/16" hole in the bottom half of the coupler, then run a bead of silicone on the bottom of the coupler and stick it to plywood. See pic below I used clear silicone make sure to run a bead around the inside and outside and smear it in with your finger.

Stop at this point and let silicone cure for 24 hours.

Now you can get your pvc pipe ready. I cut mine into 2 inch sections these will hold the powder paint. Take your filter material and cut it slightly larger than your pvc pipe then run super glue around the end of the pipe and stick it to your filter material. Let that dry a few minutes and trim off excess. Now you have your cup ready to go.


Fill your cup halfway with powder paint and insert down into the coupler. Hook up your air pump and stick adjuster valve into the coupler. Make sure the valve is closed before you plug in your pump. Once flowing with air your powder paint will double in size. Slowly turn on air flow till your powder paint rises up & looks like it's boiling. If it doesn't boil thats ok try a different filter.

That should get you on your way, any problems just ask!

[Crappiehappy]

thanks for sharing...

[becks]

Thanks for sharing, I'm going to build one of these soon.

[bAd1]

Great Post, I am gonna build a few.

[skiptomylu]

Shame it not easy to get a small amount of the membrane they use in the cups you buy. Wouldn't help me now as I have so darn many, but it sure would help all the guys that don't have a lot of paint cups.
your design looks good though and all that is missing is that darn membrane.