Suggest a mask?

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E

esears

Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
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56
Location
Redstone Arsenal, AL
I know I'll probably get differing opinions here, but I'm looking for a decently priced (under $100) respirator. I can move a little each way on the price, but I'm looking to upgrade from the cheap white face masks, especially after seeing everyone have issues with various woods, etc.

I do NOT have the money for a dust collector system. I typically turn outside, so dust is usually kept at a minimum as it is. On a rainy day, I'm probably in my garage with the main door and cross-ventilation doors open. I know its not perfect, but the Army doesn't pay me nearly well enough to buy everything I want.

So..anyone have any ideas? I'd be even happier with something that had eye protection built in.

Eric
 
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wdcav1952 said:
Eric, no input on the respirator, but I would consider a cheap box fan blowing the dust away from you.
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I should have had that added in there. I usually have a fan and a shop-vac with an large mouth situated at the turned item. Today and yesterday though, while turning some Flat Crown, my nose/throat/eyes were really getting irritating. It is one of the first woods to really start affecting me.
 
esears said:
So..anyone have any ideas? I'd be even happier with something that had eye protection built in.
Click to expand...

Eric,

This is a topic near to my heart. Unfortunately, at the moment I don't have the time to write up a big response, but I wanted to let you know I've flagged this and will come back to it. A quick note - you're unlikely to find a good full face respirator on your budget, and it's likely not nearly as comfortable as a good face shield over a half-face respirator.

I'll be back when I can with some more info, but this has come up often and I'm getting together some info to help folks (part of my day job is safety manager for my company). In the meantime, the box fan is a great idea, and consider a simple dust mask until you find something better - anything is an improvement over nothing.



daniel
 
Eric: I bought a respirator from HF for about $20. I wouldn't say it was great; but it is probably a lot better than those cheap little paper dust masks and would certainly fit your budget. Onliest thing I don't like about it is it is a minor pain to wear with glasses.......but that is probably true of most respirators.

I'll see if I can post a link to it or something similar.

This is the one I have:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44113

It is good for paint solvents and maybe CA glue if you have a problem with that.

If you are worried only about dust, they have two less expensive ones that would probably do quite well for you.

Just do a search for "respirator."

P.S. Those little box fans from Wal-Mart are nice; but I wanted a little more power. My neighbor was getting a new A/C system so I salvaged the fan and motor from his condensing unit and built a little frame for it. Now, that puppy moves some air!!

Right now, I just have it pointed out the garage door; but my intent is the add a couple of brackets to accept standard furnace air filters so that when the garage door is closed, I will have filtering capability as well as exhaust.
 
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A turner from Nashville gave me a great idea mount a 20 inch box fan on the back of your lathe, take the side off that blows the air and put a blue universal filter(you can cut them with scissors, they look like horsehair) on the grille, use longer screws and place the fan so it sucks from your side and blows out away from the lathe, it will pull all or most of the sanding dust particles away from you and trap them in the filter. The filter comes in 24x36 in pads, and are only a few bucks.
 
Anything that will move the dust away from you is better than nothing. The dust from woods is not exactly what you want to be breathing at all. If you are beginning to have symptoms of irritation and such ... be very careful as becoming "sensitized" is far, far worse than being allergic in the first place. It only gets worse as you expose yourself again and again. Eventually you will be unable to use the wood at all.

Providing adequate dust collection or removal of the dust from being inhaled is extremely important to your future health - or lack thereof. Dust is not to be ignored at all ... ever.

Do whatever you have to to do NOW and ensure that you will still able able to enjoy your hobby later on down the road. Do not spare the expense of preventing exposure now as future medical bills will be far, far more than you could ever imagine if you develop some of the problems that breathing these dusts will cause.

A full face mask that seals around your face completely and under the chin are about the best thing to be worn. In the mean time see if you can scrounge a tank drivers set of goggles and wear them in addition to a sealing respirator. Heck don't you have access to a gas mask that completely covers your face and eyes? Talk to one of your CBR warfare dudes and see what they may have up their sleeves that you could procure when no one is looking!
 
bitshird said:
A turner from Nashville gave me a great idea mount a 20 inch box fan on the back of your lathe, take the side off that blows the air and put a blue universal filter(you can cut them with scissors, they look like horsehair) on the grille, use longer screws and place the fan so it sucks from your side and blows out away from the lathe, it will pull all or most of the sanding dust particles away from you and trap them in the filter. The filter comes in 24x36 in pads, and are only a few bucks.
Click to expand...

A better configuration for the the box fan with a filter is to put it on the intake side of the fan. If you put the filter on the exhaust side of the fan, the motor will be exposed to the dust-laden air and will be much more likely to get contaminated with dust and burn out sooner.
 
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