Inhaling metal dust when sharpening

thebestnoobcake said:
I am feeling paranoid too.
Last night I was sharpening my knives ... mmm sharp knives
and when I started honing with the green compound, I noticed that after every swipe, a little green cloud appeared around my strop, and then a couple of seconds later, the smell of green compound would grow a tiny bit stronger.
Also, when a bit of the cloud got to my desk lamp, it started floating up. The particles are small enough to rise with warm air!!

I hope I am not breathing 0.5 um SiC and metal particles!!! ARGH FREAKING OUT
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I've occasionally noticed a certain, metallic 'smell' produced when stropping with compound (green or red, in particular) on leather. And, oddly enough, I've noticed that certain pesky little flying bugs (like gnats) seem to be attracted to the strop when I'm using it. They buzz around in tight little circles, in between my face and the strop. It's a real annoyance sometimes, it's hard not to swat at them when I've got that very sharp blade in my hand.

I'm less concerned about the steel particles than about the dust from the green compound (chromium oxide). I tend to pay closer attention to ventilation and/or dust issues when I'm using the green stuff. That being said, I still don't think I'm exposed to sufficient quantity of it to be a real danger over the long run.
 
David Martin said:
Chromium metal and chromium(III) compounds are not usually considered health hazards .
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Chromium Lower on the page . DM
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In general, I'm inclined to agree. But, after reading about Chromium compounds a short while back, there seems to be a lack of sufficient data (so far as government agencies are concerned) to prove conclusively whether there are or aren't any health hazards associated with some Chromium compounds, specifically when they are inhaled. Chromium, as an element by itself, is actually essential to human nutrition, and is marketed as a dietary supplement.

The only one that's been definitively determined to be truly hazardous is the 'hexavalent' chromium. I realize this isn't the type used in green compound, but there still seems to be some question about the long term effects of respiratory exposure to chromium in general. That's the only reason I tend to be a little more careful when using it.
 
Good OWE, Something else I found while reading on this subject is that chromium oxide is only 8.5 hardness on the Mohs chart . Which is hard enough to cut most any steel that doesn't have vanadium in the blade . For those diamond paste must be used inorder to notice a improvement . DM :)
 
David Martin said:
Good OWE, Something else I found while reading on this subject is that chromium oxide is only 8.5 hardness on the Mohs chart . Which is hard enough to cut most any steel that doesn't have vanadium in the blade . For those diamond paste must be used inorder to notice a improvement . DM :)
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I haven't yet made the 'leap' to diamond compound for stropping, but I'm very curious to see, when the time comes, how much difference it'll make. So far, I've been pretty pleased with what I can do with the green compound. With some steels (S30V in particular), the result seems to be a little more subtle. I have seen improvement, but that's come a little bit at a time. I don't mind that, either. I find stropping my knives to be quite relaxing so, if it does happen to take a little longer, that's OK by me. ;)
 
OWE, I know what your saying . I've not procured any diamond paste either for stropping and probably won't . Even though I have several steels with vanadium I just use the green chromium rouge on my leather strop or my Spyderco ceramic stone for the final touch and this achieves the level I want . I do have a X-fine diamond stone and this does well too . Besides I don't like sharpening those steels and prefer to use CPM-154 or 440C and on these the green rouge does make a difference . DM
 
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