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Question for Bill Grumbine

Bill Boehme

Bill Boehme

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Bill,

I am interested in getting a Positive Air Pressure Respirator to help reduce the amount of dust that I am breathing. My experience with using dust masks while turning is that they fog my glasses and leak just enough that I get very significant sinus problems afterwards. The respirator that you use in your video looks like the 3M Airstream which I have considered. It is rather expensive, but unless I get something that is very good, it won't be worth the money spent. Can you give me your impressions about the respirator that you use?

Bill Boehme
 
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Hi Bill

I have the Airstream model, although I cannot tell you which one it is. I bought mine when it was still being made by Racal, and have been using it for about eight years now. I suspect that it is the equivalent of the AS200, which has an airflow of 8 cfm as opposed to the AS400, which has a 10 cfm airflow. I love it, and would not be without it. Not only has it saved my entire respiratory system, it has saved my face a few times from large chunks departing the lathe as speed. It is very well balanced, and I have worn it for hours at a time. Even in our very hot and humid summers, I do not have a problem with my glasses fogging (if I am wearing glasses) because of the air flow over my face. I do not use the Tyvek paper seal, but rather installed the optional PVC face shields that came with it. There are a few places that are not covered, but the positive pressure takes care of that.

I use it constantly in the shop, and have even used it on site outside when cutting heavily spalted wood. Once, I was grabbing some logs on a construction site, and was told that I had to have a hard hat for entry. I stood there thinking I did not have a hard hat and did not want to go buy one just for this, when the light came on and I remembered my air helmet. I reappeared with that on and was allowed on the site. I also had to stop to explain it to several construction workers who saw me wearing it and had to stop and see what it was all about.

As a final bonus, I started spraying finishes recently, and with my beard, most face masks are useless. I forked out for a Breatheasy respiratory system made for vapors, and was able to save a bit of money because the charger and battery are the same for both. Like I said in the video, it ain't cheap, but it is cheaper than an iron lung, and it is also a whole lot more portable.

If you have any more questions I will be glad to try and answer them. I bought mine from Airware America. They have a website at www.airwareamerica.com and are pretty good to deal with.

Bill
 
So Bill, I have the Airstream, and a beard. When you say you bought the Breatheasy from 3M, I am understanding you to say that the battery pack from the Airstream works with the BE. Right?
To get the BE, you need the helmet and the filter? Which filter did you choose?
I like my Airstream but have been concerned about my finishing.
Thanks for the help.
David
 
Hi David

Yes, the battery pack is the same. Mine is even a home built rebuild. A new battery was going to set me back close to $200. I cut the case apart, and bought some NiCad D cells from a local electronics supply store. They came wired up and wrapped in PVC for $43.00. All I had to do was solder the leads to the switch in my battery case, and wrap the bottom with the universal repair kit, aka duck tape!

I bought the Type A filters for organic vapors only. I am not using it for dust control. Of course, if you eat a lot of Mexican food, you might want to consider one of the filters which takes care of sulphurous fumes! 😱

I was able to get a deal on some used equipment. The motor housing has a broken tab, and it is a little shop worn, but a piece of duck tape fixed the tab problem, and it would have gotten shop worn in any event. I also bought the BE 12 headpiece, but it is a pain in the rump, so when I get a few more bucks and it is worn out, I will be upgrading to the BE 6 or the BE1.

Bill (sitting at the computer while finish dries)
 
Thanks Bill. That's exactly what I wanted to know. Hope to get up to your shop sometime. Still loving your DVD.
David
 
Respirator concern

This is NOT a suggestion that turners should not wear respirators. Rather, it is a strong suggestion that you remove them when applying CA glue. I was wearing my Racal respirator when I did use CA glue and probably some accelerator and the respirator pulled in the vapors so that I got a concentrated dose of fumes, far stronger than open air would have given me. 😱 😱

Now, I even remove a dust mask if wearing one when I use CA glue. I really did not like that concentrated dose of fumes.

I have a fan that I turn on that is behind me and to my right. I first saw this in Bob Rosand's shop and liked the idea. Used with an overhead JDS going full force on the other side, I get a decent air flow away from the lathe and me.

I just thought I would mention a situation that I think should be avoided.
 
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CA Fumes

Ed,

I don't know whether wearing a respirator makes any difference in getting overcome by CA fumes since I don't have a respirator yet. I think that maybe I have put my face too close sometimes when applying lots of CA glue and have found that the stuff can generate a lot of fumes very quickly especially if the wood is wet. In the future, I will try to have the overhead door open or apply the CA glue outdoors.

Bill
 
Bill,

My point was that the fan of the respirator pulled the fumes into the chamber in what seemed to be a concentrated dose. It wasn't like they immediately cycled through, they acted like they were waiting around for lunch. 😀

On other occasions I was directly over the gluing process for a brief moment and got a strong whiff, but since I had no breathing protection on I was able to immediately move away and access better air. But when wearing the respirator it pulled the fumes in and kept them there.

Obviously, you are better off with good cross ventilation.
 
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Ed (and everybody else),

Interesting that I came across this thread today because today I RElearned how true it is how nasty CA, especially thin, can be when sucked into the intake of a positive pressure respirator. My Airmaster 30 seemed to think it was really neat for about 10 minutes or so. When I took the mask and helmet off, not a problem. The only other problem I've had (and had today, as a matter of fact) is my "World Famous" 15 Bean Soup. But that's another story.

Whit
 
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