What do you guys use for dust protection? I just got out of the hospital a fter a four-day stay from presumptive pneumonia (one day in the ICU). This after a couple of maskless hours with my ROS on an oak filch for a coffee table. I dislike the paper masks, but I know I need to better protect my l ungs.
Larry
I use a dust collector on the big equipment.
I use the Festool CT 22 w/Hepa for the hand power tools.
If I can't use either of these, like when hand sanding, I have the fan wind at my back to blow the dust away from me.
Paper mask - the right grade with the metal strip that seals plus dust coll ection as close to where it is generated as possible. I don't like the dus t mask or listening to a Shop Vac but I am 67 and a lot of stupid things I did earlier have caught up with me so I know I am not bulletproof.
Good luck with the pneumonia.
after a four-day stay from presumptive pneumonia (one day in the ICU). Th is after a couple of maskless hours with my ROS on an oak filch for a coffe e table. I dislike the paper masks, but I know I need to better protect my lungs.
Just a reality check, how much more will another 4 day hospital stay cost you vs, a Festool Hepa Vac, Rotex Sander, and Finish Sander.
Then consider what it is worth to not visit the hospital with a life threatening situation again. You now know that this is a real possibility and probably likely to happen again.
Seriously Festool is expensive but so is being seriously ill.
The big difference is that using Festool products is much more fun than the path you ended going down.
If you have any questions about these products feel free to ask. After sanding for a few hours in the shop I no longer have to think about walking inside the house and wondering If I am going to leave any dust in my path.
Are you sure you need dust collector. I use a Jet with a 1 micron filter o n the saw, sander, and planer. But your problem may need an air cleaner to get the fine dust from the saw out of your lungs. I still get a lot of fi nes off the top of the saw even though the saw is hooked to the Jet
after a four-day stay from presumptive pneumonia (one day in the ICU). Th is after a couple of maskless hours with my ROS on an oak filch for a coffe e table. I dislike the paper masks, but I know I need to better protect my lungs.
I have many options.
One a scott pack type respirator with a remote compressor and carbon filter... I used to use it when painting IMRON and then started using it for other paint sessions.
I regularly where a MSA Niosh respirator with 2 filters for dust.
But it starts with my sanding table and sanders connected to a vac system with a Thien separator and a HEPA filter.
The combo of table and sanding vac get most of the stuff. I also have a portable air filter (home made).
Dust is toxic.. especially the fines.. I don't worry about the big stuff it doesn't float.. but it does make my floor slippery, so I have a floor sweep that I push the dust to.
I have a feeling that the Fein trumps the festool in vacs.
BTW any rigid or craftsman vac and I assume shop vac can have a hepa filter added. I haven't checked lately but they are somewhere between 30 and 50 bucks.
BTW I made a sound enclosure for my shop vac. I picked up some carpet for free.
If I hadn't I would have done it using homosote.. a great sound deadening material.
Then you would also need hearing protection. ;~(
I don't. My shop vac is in a sound enclosure. It cools through the hose, and exhausts through a series of baffles.
"Gramps' shop" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
I've tried a few things... The least annoying (and probably least effective) is a Dust-Be-Gone mask. It's a little hot at times, but it usually keeps my glasses from fogging.
I've also used a Trend Airshield Pro. It's the most annoying and probably most effective. There's a fan constantly whining in my ear and the helmet design could use quite a bit of work. (I've wondered if it would be possible to cross the Cascade M11 hockey helmet with a powered air-filtering respirator.)
If you're ready to spend the money on something like a Trend, it might be worth looking at some of the other PAPR designs. They do things like put the battery and fan on your belt so there's less weight and noise. They also cost about twice as much.
There's also a large air filter in the shop, but I don't consider that protective equipment. What it does is keep the dust from settling, so things are cleaner.
Puckdropper
I don't have the dedicated dust collection set up on all my tools, nor for the main work bench, where I do lots of hand & power sanding and other simi lar rough stuff. I have an attic fan, framed within the double doors, near the work area, there, blowing outside.
Plus, I always use double-tie surgical masks, not the rubber band wrap cup masks (those are worthless).
*The attic fan setup became a fixture when doing the initial demolition and remodel of the shop. It worked out great, back then, for pulling the demo lition dust out. It'll stay there until I'm ready to install the double doo rs. I've yet to remodel the backside of the shop (hopefully this summer) a nd plan to permanently install the attic fan back there.Sonny
If you've been reading this group, you know I just had a similar experience :-).
I've always used a Dust-Bee-Gone mask. Expensive, but lasts forever. I've had mine for 15-20 years. Much more comfortable than the paper masks.
But after the pneumonia I got to checking and found out it only claimed to be effective down to 3 microns. Like most masks, that may improve after the pores get dusty, but who knows.
I'll probably still use it for short period stuff, but for more than an hour or so, I went out and bought a half mask. Here's a link to the one I got:
You can get a dust only add on (3M 502 and 2291) for sanding only with a P100 rating (99.7% of all particles). I haven't got one yet but I will shortly. That way I can save the cartridge it comes with for finishing.
The problem I see with a mask and dust is that you still get dust all over you and when the mask comes off...... IMHO better to capture the dust before it gets everywhere waiting to be breathed in when the mask comes off.
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