How do you keep from breathing the dust?

[Odie]

Way back in the early 80's, I used a respirator, but breathed a lot of dust before I got one. Somewhere in the late 80's I bought an Airstream helmet, just like the one Richard Raffan is seen using on page 41 of his "turning wood" book. I used that for a decade, on and off. I no longer know of where to get replacement filters, or spare rechargeable batteries.....so, it's setting on the shelf these days!

Here recently, I've just gone back to the respirator. It's much more convenient than a helmet, but I'm right back to the sweat and condensation of your breath within the mask. Other than those drawbacks, the respirator works very well for filtering out the dust you'd otherwise breath into your lungs.

I see those two powered dust helmets, and visors that CSUSA sells, but I'm a little hesitant in making another purchase......it'll probably get used for a few years.....then I'll have to buy something else once more.

I don't think there is such a thing as a ducted dust collection system that makes auxiliary masks, powered or unpowered respirators unnecessary.....is there?

Anyway......tell me about what you are currently using to avoid breathing in the wood dust.

thanx

....odie

 

[n7bsn]

Might I suggest staying with the best system (I know of)
See here

Although they also sell other brands, I bought my Airshield there

 

[Odie]

Hey thanks N7bsn.....

I thought they were out of business. You're right, it is a very good system. Wow $200 for a battery! Well OK, I put that link into my saved places. I didn't look over that site very well....yet. I wonder if all the parts are the same as for mine......my Airstream is at least 20yrs old.

I still would like to hear about what others are doing about dust, though.

....odie

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

I use a trend airshield.

Ed

 

[Bob Boettcher]

Odie,

some years ago I found a floor model HEPA filter at a garage sale for $25. I mounted it on the ceiling of my shop and adapted to outlet to take a 1.5" hose, and taped a furnace filter over the inlet to catch the bulk of the large stuff.

I bought flexible head pieces from RACAL (now 3M) that had a hose inlet in the back. This worked quite well, but no real impact protection.

Recently I converted my Stihl hard had with face shield and ear muffs to accept the air hose in the top rear. I replaced the face screen with a plastic shield, and used some thick weather strip foam to direct the air a bit, and this works quite well. The problem for me is the weight, especially if I need to bend over to peer into a piece.

More recently I tightened up my DC and use a large collector on the lathe all the time, and that gets most of the turning dust, and ALL of the hand sanding dust, power sanding is another matter, and needs the helmet.

Good luck,

Bob

 

[Leo Frilot]

I probably need a powered respirator, especially since I turn a lot of spalted woods and exotics. I typically use a fan on one side and a dust collector(dual hose attachment) on the other side. Combined with a faceshield it does a pretty good job keeping the dust away.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I use the Airstream AS400 and find it to be very comfortable and lightweight. If yours is 20 years old, it may be closer to the AS200 and have less airflow than the new models. However, if you contact Airware America, they are very helpful and can tell you what can be done to your old system. Possibly, it may only need a battery and filter or at most maybe a new blower assembly in addition. I live in a humid area, so I know what you mean about things fogging up. Besides, the disposable masks, unless rated at least N95 or N100, are of not much use in filtering out the worst dust. The stuff that you can see is a nuisance, but the stuff that is invisible is the stuff that doesn't get trapped by ineffective masks (comfort masks, Dust-Bee-Gone, etc.). If the very fine stuff gets down into your respiratory system your body has a much greater difficulty in getting rid of it.

Bill

 

[woodwish]

When turning dr wood I wear my Trend Airshield all the time. If I am rough turning green wood (no sanding) I just wear a face shield because it is lighter. Always wear the Trend when sanding. Also have a 4" DC hose running when sanding, sometimes a fan blowing nearby, am air cleaner runs all the time, etc.

I love my Trend but the battery life is not as long as my turning day sometimes, and they are proud of those batteries. One on my to-do things is find another power supply and just plug it in with some sort of quick disconnect to avoid the batteries all together.

I think if is the Triton that has a belt mounted fan and power pack, all that runs to the helment is an air hose. Understand due to location of air intake you should not eat burritos or other gassy foods before turning However, I think it is a good design. I wish someone would make a big filtered air supply that attachs to a helment like the Triton that just sits on the counter somewhere, the hose would run from the air supply to a disconnect on a belt clip and then to helment. Then you don't have the weight or noise of the fan, small filters that always need cleaning, and the batteries that are heavy and short life. Drawback is you are tethered to the air supply, that is why it needs a quick disconnect or just take it off. Also wish I could find a way to drink my coffee without taking the helment off but I guess that is just picky

Between the helment and my wireless headphones I listen to I really am in my own little world while turning. I can still hear the lathe but the music blocks out other noise like the DC, neighbor's lawnmower, jets flying over, telemarketers on the phone, wife calling for me. etc.

 

[underdog]

Batteries? Try a battery store....

For replacement batteries I'd try a battery store like Batteries Plus, to see if they can match some up. They are usually cheaper on price, and the batteries last longer. (I should take my own advice - I just bought 10 replacement UPS units at work, and could have bought replacement batteries for the old ones for about 25-30% less! :mad: )

As far as replacement filters, I believe you can find those as well. Usually the manufacturer doesn't just discontinue making parts for an old unit... Usually a Google search on the internet will turn up the company in question, and you can either order online, or find contact numbers and call them.

If you do a search here on the forum about facemasks, respirators, and faceshields, (Triton, Airtrend etc.) you'll see quite a few of the same responses you see on this thread.

One of my personal favorite solutions I've only read about, is the fellow who made his with an old hairdryer and some hepa filters and piped it down to his headset...

 

[MichaelMouse]

Avoid it, collect it, deflect it.

Don't stoop and peer on the near side to sand, stand upright and drive the dust downward from your sander. Put your collector below the area being sanded so that momentum and gravity accelerate it into the hose. What gets caught in the eddies and accidentals will be less than a percent or two of the total, it's disperse according to the inverse square rule, and if you're wearing a nuisance mask, you won't pick up enough on the hairs and sticky mucus in your nose to soil a Kleenex when sanding a single bowl.

Vanishingly small dosage of questionably dangerous compounds may still cause a reaction at the cellular level, allergic reactions might progress to the systemic, but I'd question why you'd want to use woods loaded with stuff you're sensitve to anyway. The dermatitis on your sweaty hands should warn you before anything really bad can happen.

 

[n7bsn]

As I noted earlier, I use the Trend, but when I am sanding, I add a Delta DC with a hood on the lathe stand and an over-head air-filter (with light)

 

[John King]

Trend Airshield Battery Pack

I have plans/instructions for building an improved, less expensive battery pack for the Trend Airshield. I tried to upload the file, but failed. It's an Adobie pdf file. It's too large to upload. If you send me your e-mail address, I will gladly send you the plans/instructions.

Several club members have built this battery pack and report great performance at a lower cost than the Trend Airshield replacement/spare battery pack.

Club member experience is that the specified DC power plug will work, but is about twice as long as needed. Preferred DC power plug follows:
1710-2131 Kobiconn DC Power Plug .87 cents each
This power plug is available from Mouser Electronics at www.mouser.com.

J King
jjkingjr@consolidated.net

Disclosure: I am not the originator of the the Trend Airshield battery pack plans/instructions. "Build Your Own Trend Airshield Battery Pack," Packet Number 100, is copyright @2006 by Adirondack Craftworks. The document may be freely distributed provided it is done so in its entirety.

 

[dkulze]

Being the smarta$$ of the group, I'd recommend the tried and true method of holding your breath for extended periods. I'm up to 8 minutes with no problems other than mild brain damage.

Dietrich

P.S.(I use a 3M respirator and have minimal problems with condensation)

 

[Rob Wallace]

Link for online source of Instructions

I have plans/instructions for building an improved, less expensive battery pack for the Trend Airshield. I tried to upload the file, but failed. It's an Adobie pdf file. It's too large to upload. If you send me your e-mail address, I will gladly send you the plans/instructions.

Several club members have built this battery pack and report great performance at a lower cost than the Trend Airshield replacement/spare battery pack.

J King:

A link to these instructions on-line already is:

http://www.azwoodturners.org/pages/tips/100_-_Airshield_Battery_Pack.pdf

I can see why the file is so large - it has a few photos in the pdf...

I really like my Trend Airshield but agree with Ray/Woodwish that the battery packs have something to be desired.... I was going to rig a coiled-cord DC power-supply drop from the ceiling above the lathe to plug into the unit, but may just opt for building a few more battery packs (?).

Rob

 

[Wilford Bickel]

Takes a system!

To really control dust and protect your lungs you need to take several steps. My system starts with a small dust collector with custom made bag from American Fabric Filters that catches down to 1 micron (throw the 30 micron bag that comes with the collector away!) - this unit hooks up to a dust hood from Highland Hardware that "rides" a 2x4 frame behind my hood so it can be placed where the dust is being made. I also have a Delta air cleaner (gift from the wife) in the ceiling to try to catch the fines that the dust collector misses. I then wear a 3M 7500 half face respirator when sanding and producing lots of dust. We had a close call with the wife's lungs due to some chemicals she was exposed to while working in the OR at a hospital - we learned to not take any chances with our lungs and both of us now are very careful about what we inhale. I also believe any respirator needs to be the final protection and should meet all OSHA and NIOSH rules - specifically at least a P95 collection rating.

http://www.americanfabricfilter.com/

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=5685