Respirator question?

J

jgconst

Joined
Feb 9, 2010
Messages
40
My shop is fairly well ventilated, do I need to wear the respirator when hand sanding micarta? Or steel?

John
 
Even if you have a power vac right at the grinding source it is not enough, respirators are must in any particle dust environment. Does not matter what kind of dust it is, it gets in your lungs and stays there forever.
 
Seems like overkill for hand sanding to me,but better safe than sorry i suppose.
 
Wear the Respirator! After making knives for 25+ years, last fall I had a portion of my right lung removed due to a tumor that the Doctors determine with 80-90% surety, was caused by all the things I exposed myself to in the shop!
 
Yes you do, I started sanding my micarta over a bucket of water and kept everything wet, i really like it better and it sands better as well. I have to wear gloves with micarta or I get a rash as well.

BTW if you really breath hard you can prevent all the micarta and metal dust from settling on your work bench!!
 
I am not maker (still a trying-to-be), I work for a chemical manufacturing company. Rule of thumb there, and I practice it everywhere, is if in doubt, wear the respirator.

Matt
 
I wear one if I'm in an area where I am grinding, was recently grinding, or am stirring dust in an area where I grind. Remember, the finest partials, that you can't actually see, are the most harmful. And they also generally stay airborne the longest.

I generally don't even use materials that generate dust that contains glass or beryllium. I cut up cocobolo outside, and shape it with endmills, not a grinder.

I don't wear one if I'm just finishing sanding something relatively begin such as steel or micarta. Though I certainly do while grinding them.

If I were a full time maker like Ed, or a welder, or someone who grinds stuff for a living, I'd probably put one on in the morning and leave it on all day.
 
gixxer said:
Any sort of overkill that helps your lungs is nice:thumbup:
Click to expand...

I agree, especially since you only get 1 pair. I bought a nice 3M half face respirator for a great price online. It has disposable filter media that screws on, I got it for what the price of 5 regular 3M N95 disposable(asbestos/fiberglass) masks cost.:thumbup:
 
Thanks for the input guys. I was hoping that hand sanding with the attic fan on would be ok, but I suspected it wasn't. So hand sanding the flats on a blade creates too much dust as well?

John
 
I saw a video a long time ago about respirators and it showed a man hand sanding on a piece of steel and a piece of wood. They had some special camera and the amount of stuff floating around from both was very disturbing, keep in mind one could not see this stuff with the naked eye. For hand sanding they said at the very least to wear a dust mask.
 
jgconst said:
Thanks for the input guys. I was hoping that hand sanding with the attic fan on would be ok, but I suspected it wasn't. So hand sanding the flats on a blade creates too much dust as well?

John
Click to expand...

I made my first knife without wearing a respirator when sanding the steel, and I had black boogers every time I was done. made no difference, hand or power sanding the steel. You can sum it up to any time you are removing material by sanding or grinding you need a respirator. No matter what the material is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top