exploding MDF

[fredfighter]

*too*, not

Yes and the face shield can often be dropped down to protect the throat too.

[Doug Miller]

Yep - that's where mine *always* is.

Another benefit that I've found to the face shield is that it's so easy to put on, and so comfortable, that there's simply no excuse for not wearing it. Five seconds, max, to slip that over my head. Then it stays there as long as I'm running equipment. Or using chisels. What's five seconds?

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[Larry Kraus]

[mac davis]

dunno.. ask Steve Knight..

mac

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[mac davis]

for sure... I bought 4 and leave them near the usual suspects... grinder, lathe, dp/router, etc... I'd rather wear it and not need it than need it and not be wearing one... I've found that if you get in the habit of wearing one, you will... but if you only wear it when you THINK you need it, it's bothersome and uncomfortable..

mac

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[Doug Miller]

Yep... and sometimes it turns out you *do* need it, even when you think you don't. Last year, I was notching out the corner (3/8" sq) of a piece of red oak on the bandsaw, when PING! that little offcut bounced off the shield right in front of my nose. Still not sure how that happened... but I'm glad I had the shield on.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[chipGeek]

Speaking of face shields...

After a few minutes of sawdust generation, static electricity causes mine to get covered in a thick layer of dust. All attempts to wipe it away are temporary at best.

Has anyone solved this dilemma, or am I the only one with this problem.

Thanks,

Tim

[Doug Miller]

You obviously haven't grounded it properly.

Seriously, though... I've never had any problem with this. I can think of a few things to look at, though:

- Do you have a good dust collection system in your shop? Obviously reducing the amount of dust in the air reduces the amount of dust available to collect on your faceshield. If you don't have good dust collection and air filtration, that's your next tool purchase. Remember that if you don't have an air filter, your lungs *are* the filter.

- Raise the humidity level in your shop. Dry air promotes the buildup of static charges.

- You may be insulating yourself from the ground. Wear shoes with *leather* soles, or go barefoot. See if that makes a difference. If so, experiment with different types of shoes to see which make the problem better or worse.

- Your clothing may be building up static. Wear only clothing made of cotton: no synthetics, no wool. See if that makes a difference.

- See if the same problem happens to a different person, using the same faceshield and the same tools, in the same shop. If it doesn't, look for differences between you and that person, particularly clothing, shoes, and hair. Is one of you bearded and the other clean-shaven? Long hair vs. short?

Good luck...

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[LRod]

Damn! I thought that was my job...

[Andy Dingley]

Use an old face shield. A dirty one is less insulating, so stores less charge.

You can also try "anti-dim" (anti-condensation) pastes wiped onto them

- these have a similar effect. I sometimes use the stuff supplied for Soviet gasmasks, because it's cheap in the surplus shop.

[Unquestionably Confused]

How about fabric softener spray or tissues?

Seems to me that back in the "golden old days" of computerdom (you know, mid'-80's) there was more fear of static in the office than, say, acetone, static discharge in DC's, or stain on cherry, than anything else. I recall that folks were spraying fabric softener around the computer to defeat static. Since it supposedly softens and prevents that dreaded "static cling" it's probably worth a try.

[WillR]

I had forgotten the tricks you mentioned. :-)

We use computer monitor cleaner with an anti static component in the mix to clean face masks..

There was a lot of build up of fine sawdust on the mask (better there than in the lungs I suppose) - -- now the spray/cleaner gives us longer between cleanings.

[No Spam]

Shiver. I went barefoot ONCE into a store area in the house where I had some wheel rims stored. It was a 10 sec job to place a 2 ounce bag of parts on a shelf. I must have just caught the wheel rims and they over balanced, a 40 pound rim came down about 4 feet and landed edge on to my feet. It smashed one of my toes, split another causing blood to spurt all over and seriously bruised the third.

Overdosed on painkillers straight away, rushed off to hospital and it still hurt like hell.

Workshops are no place to even contemplate bare feet - even for a few seconds.

[Charlie Self]

Just don't use fabric softener around your microfiber cleaning cloths. They work by using static cling.

[J. Clarke]

FWIW, fabric softener does not have much effect on the static cling of microfiber. I made the mistake of buying a microfiber jacket a while back. It has been fabric-softened several times and will still pull the fur off a pushstick at 20 paces.

[Doug Miller]

I quite understand the hazards, but I think that thirty seconds with a sander would be sufficient time to make the proper experiments, without posing any significant risk.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[Stuart Johnson]

Wipe the inside and outside with a USED fabric softner dryer sheet.

Stuart Johnson Red Oak, Texas

[Larry Jaques]

On 14 Apr 2005 03:35:21 -0700, the inscrutable "Charlie Self" spake:

Y'mean you guys don't have monitor squeegees? I love mine, and it works on the TV, too. Mine came from giveaways at COMDEX.

use a damp cloth on my face shield (which seems to work fine) but wonder if something like Rain-X or Fog-X would help not only the static but the smaller scratches. I'll have to try it.

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[Unquestionably Confused]

I don't think that Rain-X will do anything for the scratches and might react with the plastic. I'll have to check - for some reason I thought that there might be a warning against using it on plastics or getting the solution on the car's finish.

What might work better - asssuming one can find it is a product called "Slipstream" an aircraft polish that was made to polish the plexiglass windscreens, etc. on aircraft. That I HAVE used on plastic and it does a great job. Also a great job on painted metal. I think I still have some left and I know I have a face shield that needs to be thrown away. If I can find both I'll introduce them to each other

[mac davis]

larry.. I used rain-ex anti fog on the inside of a face shield..

good news: It worked great and never fogged...

bad news: the smell of the stuff never went away and I couldn't stand wearing the sucker..

mac

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