Handle materials

Comanche14 · Sep 20, 2005

Is G10, mircarta and dymondwood easier to work than normal wood for handles? Because wood is a little annoying when it chips while filing. Thanx for the help!

howiesatwork · Sep 20, 2005

Pretty much every one of those also chips when filing. Sanding is usually the way to go...

blgoode · Sep 20, 2005

plan on sanding with the roughest grit you have to avoid chipping. You can get really dense/oily woods that will file nicely

Comanche14 · Sep 21, 2005

ok so it looks like i'll stick to the wood for a while cos of the $$ factor Thanks for the help! By the way is the dust that comes of the man made handle materials harmful?

blgoode · Sep 21, 2005

even the dust from some woods is dangerous. Wear a mask with all of it!
Good luck

Comanche14 · Sep 21, 2005

I tried masks and they don't seem to work i just use a fan to blow the dust out the shed.

rebeltf · Sep 21, 2005

While it's your call Comanche , I would definatly wear at least a nose cozy mask in addition to a fan or whatever. Some of those dusts are not only toxic but carcinogens as well , you breathe in some G10 or CF dust , you just might be replying from the hospital.

ANGRYMOB · Sep 21, 2005

rebeltf said:
While it's your call Comanche , I would definatly wear at least a nose cozy mask in addition to a fan or whatever. Some of those dusts are not only toxic but carcinogens as well , you breathe in some G10 or CF dust , you just might be replying from the hospital.

yeah, what he said.......they work....I ground on some rosewood for a bit w/o one...just for a minute, and got all sneezy.

edit...I use a respirator, not a mask.

shane justice · Sep 21, 2005

What them guys said....

THe synthetics.....work pretty good...but most are not as purty as naturals...

It's tha old compromise they always talk about...

Shane

Comanche14 · Sep 23, 2005

Ok so if just the handles can be toxic and carcinogenic then what about sanding belts, cut off discs , polishing compounds etc?

howiesatwork · Sep 23, 2005

Dust of any kind isn't good to breathe. Some are worse than others. A canister type respirator is a must, and they're not too expensive. Much nicer than not being able to breathe...

Comanche14 · Sep 24, 2005

It sounds pretty darn important to have a respirator i think i'll go and get one after the long weekend actually i think i'll get 2 so i got one for work aswell. I didn't think dust was that bad but its better safe than sorry!

miden · Sep 25, 2005

I guess this is a stupid question but....as you know, Canadian winters are not very suited to working in an un-heated garage.
My shop is in the basement, a seperate room with a door. I made a device that goes just underneath the rest on my grinder and my shop vac is connected to that. When I grind, I close the door,turn on the shop vac and it sucks the vast majority of filings and dust up. So a respirator as well as the shop vac should keep me pretty safe I guess? Are the rest of the people in the other part of the basement okay?