Good respirator for sharpening on belt sanders + working micarta/carbon?

[Acadian]

Hi,

For small sharpening/mod jobs on the belt sander - possibly sanding micarta and/or carbon, what respirator would you suggest?

I currently have a 3M 6000 Half Facepiece respirator - is that adequate?

Thanks in advance!
- Luc

 

[Jason B.]

Yes.

Use P100 HEPA filters (big round pink ones) unless dealing with toxic fumes in which case you would want to switch to organic vapor filters (plastic filters with a yellow or black stripe).

 

[Acadian]

Yes.

Use P100 HEPA filters (big round pink ones) unless dealing with toxic fumes in which case you would want to switch to organic vapor filters (plastic filters with a yellow or black stripe).

Sweet - that's what I have on my respirator (eg. P100 filters). Stoked that I'm all set on that front.

Thanks Jason!

 

[NJBillK]

I have noticed that if you burn the micarta from your belt speed being too high, you can still smell/taste it through new p100 filters.

I have a resp-o-rator with new filters on it and I was able to pick up on it while using the nose plug.

 

[Jason B.]

I have noticed that if you burn the micarta from your belt speed being too high, you can still smell/taste it through new p100 filters.

I have a resp-o-rator with new filters on it and I was able to pick up on it while using the nose plug.

The organic vapor cartridges would be recommended in that situation.

 

[NJBillK]

Cool, thanks.

 

[Bob6794]

And a heads up if your rocking a beard you may not get a full seal. Something I was taught in school about masks but didn't fully grasp how big of a problem it was till I started working in dusty environments occasionally on some job site and my disposable p100 doesn't have a full seal with any amount of beard and it's noticeable after some period of time. A reusable mask would probably provide a better seal but will run into the same problem but probably not as pronounce.

 

[NJBillK]

Hence my reason for purchasing a Resp-O-Rator.
Full beard and lack of coin to get a forced air unit resulted in a safe but economical option.

 

[REK Knives]

I used these until I upgraded recently to the Breathe Easy Turbo system (PAPR) which is expensive but totally worth it for me - and now I can grow a beard =)