dust collector or filter masks, really needed????

[Texatdurango]

Dont misunderstand me, but this harmless hobby is starting to cost more money and trouble than I can afford.
I am seriously considering just using the 20 or so pen kits I have left and getting rid of all my pen making stuff. :-(

Geeze, just get a dust mask and use it! If you turn a pen or two now and then and you generate a little pile of shavings and a little dust in the air, buy and use a good dust mask while turning and enjoy yourself. You can buy some pretty decent masks for $10 or less! If after working in your shop for an hour, you look up and can't see the opposite wall for all the dust in the air......... then of course do something more than a face mask.

In my opinion, recommending to go out and spend thousands of dollars on dust collection systems, whole shop air filters, etc is just overkill if all you are going to do is a little light turning on the lathe now and then! Let's keep things in perspective guys!

I guess if someone asked how to cut a 2x4 in half, one might answer "get a hand saw and a few saw horses or use a C-clamp to hold it to a table", while another might answer "you need to be in a well light area with skid resistant floor covering using an industrial grade 220v, 12" table saw
ducted to a dust collection system. The area must have an adequate overhead whole shop air filter and of course you need to wear safety glasses, ear protection and a resporator that includes a full face shield, and let's not forget the steel toe safety shoes in case the cutoff falls on your foot!

I'm sure a case can be built around each example or anything in-between and that's where common sense comes in to play!

I'm off my soapbox now, gotta go walk the dog. I't a little breezy so I'd better get my resporator and face shield on, GOD only know what's blowing around in the front yard today!

 

[Padre]

If all you are doing is pens you definetly don't need an elaborate dust collection system. It is when you get into the big dust producing tools that you need to start doing your homework and if you do it for long periods of time. Safety has no price tag.

Trucker, listen to JT! A good box fan with a furnace filter on it can make do as a dust filter. Plenty of good and detailed plans on line. Also, have you check out Craig's List in your area? An inexpensive cyclone top on a wet/dry vac can be your dust collector. You can find good values on dust masks on sale online and at your local big box stores all the time.

 

[Padre]

Also, I got my issue of "American Woodturner" in the mail yesterday. Great article on dust collection! Very timely as per this discussion.

 

[workinforwood]

Start with some cheap masks Dave and over time you can slowly upgrade to something better. A cheap mask will keep you safer than you are when you are driving that truck around in the public. Although all of this is serious business and I wouldn't want to belittle it..Death by woodworking is probably hundreds of jobs down the list from driving a truck. If I had to choose between sniffing spalted wood dust and driving a semi into Detroit...I think I might go for the wood. :biggrin:

 

[truckerdave]

thanks everyone

I really appreciate the positive responses, I needed to hear that!
I guess when I can sell enough pens to quit driving this dumb truck, I'll have to worry about the whole dust problem. I probably only make 200 or so pens a year right now. I'm really kinda limited by cheap tools and low funds. I want to be able to do more, but until the kids move out, I still have to feed and clothe those parasites.
I really want to start turning bowls and platters but with a mini-lathe and no chuck or whatever I need to attach the wood to the lathe makes it pretty hard to do. I wish there was a woodturner that lived near me that could mentor me and let me use real tools.
Oh well, thanks for letting me rant.

 

[witz1976]

+1 on the $15 box fan with a furnace filter. I have been using this for the past 6 months and it made a huge difference. I am also in the boat of not having much cash on hand to buy the things I want to buy. I would love to spend $$$ on a great dust collector, but I don't so I make what I can. Couple of large rubber bands (I actually used a large needle and thread and sewed on the furnance filter to the box fan. I currently use the cheap disposable masks and I use a shop vac. That is my dust collection.

I am saving for a Dust deputy and then add a HEPA filter to the shop vac...this will cost anywhere from 50 - 100 for the DD and $30 for the filter. Now I have relatively inexpensive dust collection system for about $200 (If you add the cost of the shop vac too)that will be as clean as Curtis's Clearvue. Obviously it does not have the same capacity, but I don't have a full sized shop, just my 10x10 room.

Don't give up on this fun hobby. Spend a little here a little there. Baby steps!

 

[jttheclockman]

Wow this topic has taken on some interesting turns. There still is some misinformation in here. One is that a cheap dust mask will be sufficient and that is not true at all. If you are talking about those nuisance masks. Remember it is not the dust that we see that is harmful, it is the microscopic particles that are what attack us. Our body can fight off the 9 micron particle but the 1 micron particle we can not. If you are not going to use a dust helmet then the next options are a particle mask with canisters on the side rated for dust. These are not expensive at all. The next would be a Dust Be Gone filter fitted to your face. A bit more expensive but in the same range as the canister. A shop vac, in order to be effective in any other capacity other than a water picker upper needs a better filter than what comes with the unit unless it is a Fein or a Festool vac. They come with Hepa filters. All this dust protection is useless if it is not used when walking into the shop.

As mentioned If you are talking small turnings and a pen or two you are worrying way too much. You will die from something other than dust.

Also someone mentioned they can not turn bowls without some elaborate chuck and again that is false. Your lathe came with a faceplate. That is your chuck. Now if you want to get fancy then you need to be able to reverse chuck and there again there is things you can make to do this and the web is your friend. Utube is full of good videos.

 

[truckerdave]

the furnace filter/fan idea

I was looking for this item online and came up with nothing. Does anyone have a link or pics I can see??
Given that I don't do that much turning YET, this maybe what I do for now, but I am having trouble believing that attaching a good filter to a cheap box fan is effective at all

 

[Texatdurango]

Wow this topic has taken on some interesting turns. There still is some misinformation in here. One is that a cheap dust mask will be sufficient and that is not true at all. If you are talking about those nuisance masks. Remember it is not the dust that we see that is harmful, it is the microscopic particles that are what attack us. .

Oh please.....Give me a break! I think some of you guys don't even need to be in a wood shop to begin with with all the fears and fobias you have! Is inhaling dust good for you... of course not but let's try just a smidgen of common sense here.

Geeze, John, do you wear a resporator when you drive to work? you would probably never leave the house if you knew what you sucked into your lungs just walking down the street or driving down the street! What about standing in line at the office coffee machine and someone cuts one in front of you... do you think "Oh my gosh, sub-microbiological fecal germ warfare" and run for cover (losing your place in line) or just think to yourself "what a jerk, I hope it's not too bad" and go on about your day?

Spend $18,436.99 in dust collection, air scrubbing, air sanitizing equipment because the elastic band on the dust mask is a nuisance! :biggrin:

 

[JimB]

You also do not need to spend a fortune on a dust collector. I went from nothing to a disposable face mask to using my shop vac. When I started turning bowls it created a lot more dust when sanding so I bought a Delta 1 HP, 1 micron DC. It's on wheels so i move it from tool to tool. I believe you can get this for less than $300 and it works great.

John is right about the bowls. If you have a faceplate you are all set except for getting a bowl gouge. Use the faceplate and waste blocks (made from scrapwood. I made them from 2x4's).

 

[MesquiteMan]

George, you can spew all you want about common sense but for me, when I see my dad suffering the way he is, I think I will take the $1,500 or so that I spent on my complete DC system over what he has gone through. His cancer WAS DIRECTLY LINKED to wood dust according to MD Anderson, the World's authority on head and neck cancer. You can not effectively do anything about the common air pollutants but you certainly can reduce the unnaturally high level of wood dust exposure in a shop. Doing anything less is not common sense!

Now that does not mean I am saying the only way to protect yourself is to use a Clearvue cyclone system. Quite the contrary. Buy a really good mask and use it anytime you are stirring up stuff in the shop if you do not appreciate the convenience of a more expensive system. Pretty common sense if you ask me. Doing nothing when there is a known extraordinary risk is quite the opposite of common sense.

And BTW, I am not one of the folks that walk around with a mask when there is a swine flu outbreak but I do wear a face shield and hearing protection when working in my shop as the situation dictates. Then again, I work with power tools for a living and have a much higher exposure than the average hobby woodworker.

 

[jttheclockman]

Oh please.....Give me a break! I think some of you guys don't even need to be in a wood shop to begin with with all the fears and fobias you have! Is inhaling dust good for you... of course not but let's try just a smidgen of common sense here.

Geeze, John, do you wear a resporator when you drive to work? you would probably never leave the house if you knew what you sucked into your lungs just walking down the street or driving down the street! What about standing in line at the office coffee machine and someone cuts one in front of you... do you think "Oh my gosh, sub-microbiological fecal germ warfare" and run for cover (losing your place in line) or just think to yourself "what a jerk, I hope it's not too bad" and go on about your day?

Spend $18,436.99 in dust collection, air scrubbing, air sanitizing equipment because the elastic band on the dust mask is a nuisance! :biggrin:

Calm down George you are over reading my last post. I never told anyone to spend rediculous money on something they need. If you want to pick apart my responses then you need to start at the beginning. If you would back up to one of my posts where I mentioned I work in construction and I am in all kinds of dust everyday. I had said this topic has taken some twist and turns. But my friend, facts are facts, these $1.95 throw away masks which are referred to as nusiance masks ( in the trades) are exactly that useless and you would be better to not wear one at all. When someone says a cheap mask is better than nothing is making a false statement. These are another thing that brings on a false sense of security as is the Sawstop thing which I mentioned in one of my posts. There are better cheap masks if that is the route you want to go. Now if you want to work in your shop without any protection and defy logic go right ahead no one is standing over the top of you with a hammer. You do what you feel is necessary to suit your needs. I myself do a whole lot more than some pens on a small lathe in my shop. Yes common sense has to be invoked for sure as with everything in life.

Now I have to go out now so I must look for my resporator. It is a dirty world out there. Thank God i don't have allergies.

 

[jeffnreno]

What about standing in line at the office coffee machine and someone cuts one in front of you... do you think "Oh my gosh, sub-microbiological fecal germ warfare" and run for cover (losing your place in line) or just think to yourself "what a jerk, I hope it's not too bad" and go on about your day?


Ha Ha Ha - I agree that we often go overboard on this stuff.
But it is wise to take precautions. When I started woodworking a dusk mask was what I could afford and use. As my shop and income expanded so did my dust collection. Just use some common sense.

 

[witz1976]

Hey Dave, here is a pic of my box fan with filter. As you can see I have it placed right in front of the lathe mostly when I do my sanding. Otherwise it is up high blowing around for about an hour or two when I am done.

The filter is a reusable electrostatic filter designed to remove "microscopic dust particles" here is the link http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

The box fax is an el-cheapo fan. All I did was cut to fit the filter and sewed it on the back of the fan. Nothing great, but it seems to work for now.

 

[Chief Hill]

I wall mounted my HF DC and its vented through a dryer vent right out of my shop onto the back lawn. So I will never have issues with dust floating around the shop.

 

[chrisk]

OK for the dust, but how can one protect himself from CA? I think I'm allergic. YES you finally convinced me about the CA finish, but each time I use CA glue I sneeze and cough for several hours. Some drugs are appeasing but what about prevention?

Hope I'm not off topic...

 

[Padre]

OK for the dust, but how can one protect himself from CA? I think I'm allergic. YES you finally convinced me about the CA finish, but each time I use CA glue I sneeze and cough for several hours. Some drugs are appeasing but what about prevention?

Hope I'm not off topic...

No, you are not off topic. CA does a number on me too. Terrible burning in my eyes and nose and throat, coughing, etc. I tried my Airtrend Pro, nope. I tried 1/2 3M vapor mask. Nope. I tried them in conjunction with my DC. Nope. Couldn't stand it.

Finally, out of desperation, I went on to Ebay and found these, and I have had no problem sense. REALLY! You may laugh, but now when I use CA I have no smell, no reaction, nothing. It was worth a try for me's worth a try.

 

[witz1976]

Finally, out of desperation, I went on to Ebay and found these, and I have had no problem sense. REALLY! You may laugh, but now when I use CA I have no smell, no reaction, nothing. It was worth a try for me's worth a try.

:biggrin::biggrin: I would hope a gas mask would do it... & this reminds me of a great story, when I was in Basic training, the latrines that were places in the rifle ranges were so bad we actually had to use our gas masks to use them, so yes I am 100% confident that they would block CA odors as well.

Sorry to steer that in the wrong path :biggrin:

 

[chrisk]

@padre
While you're certainly wright as the gas mask seems really appropriate to the kind of product we're using, psychologically it's difficult for me... But you're giving me an idea. As a scuba diver, I'll try a CA finish with my scuba equipment. And afterward I'll relate the experience at the same place.
Meanwhile the ebay shop you're referring to do not ship overseas.

 

[jttheclockman]

@padre
While you're certainly wright as the gas mask seems really appropriate to the kind of product we're using, psychologically it's difficult for me... But you're giving me an idea. As a scuba diver, I'll try a CA finish with my scuba equipment. And afterward I'll relate the experience at the same place.
Meanwhile the ebay shop you're referring to do not ship overseas.

You can get a charchol filter mask at home depot or other home centers. You can also get yourself some oderless CA. A bit more expensive but could be worth it. I just noticed the eyes are effected also then I suggest the odorless CA or as noted a gas mask.

 

[chrisk]

Thanks for the advice John. I didn't know about the odorless CA. Does it eliminate the harming mentioned above? And where can one find this kind of product?

 

[jttheclockman]

Thanks for the advice John. I didn't know about the odorless CA. Does it eliminate the harming mentioned above? And where can one find this kind of product?

http://woodenwonderstx.com/WWBlue/NewGlueWS.html

 

[chrisk]

Thank you for the link.