Reminder For Wood Turners

[triplefreak]

Please remember to wear a mask when turning ANY wood. I'm just getting over a major upper respiratory infection (URI) from turning some spalted wood. I didn't use a dust mask & breathed in the spores.
I was sick as a dog for a week.

[Ruffnek]

Trip,

I'm not making light of your advice...it's good advice, but when I have to start dressing up in a bunch of safety gear to woodwork, that's the day I find another hobby.

I know some people are more susceptible to wood dust than others but so far, I've not experienced any reactions from any wood. I know that can change but unless or until it does, I'll keep on keepin' on.

I do run my DC while sanding. ;D

[TDHofstetter]

Dickens came down with it really bad - got sensitized to the fungus responsible for spalting. That's why he's got a KILLER respirator now...

[dicklaxt]

And it wasn't fun and it still isn't,,,,,,,,,,,,,I suffer with it everyday and associated COPD.I preached alot about the hazards of dust and lungs,,,,,the very very fine dust ,no larger than what the wind can carry when cooking fluor is thrown into the air can be absorbed into you blood stream thru the walls of you lungs themsleves.There was and is a very ,very high % of people who don't care to listen to this and don't care what happens to their respiratory systems so I quit trying and hope it never invades them like it has me.

nuff said

dick

[RiverWalker]

after(from this making me get to actually looking it up) knowing what the spalting thing is, I will certainly make a point to do dust mask type precautions if/when I ever get to a point where I deal with spalted material, or for things where especially caustic material (such as sanding some of the superglue-soaked wood some people mention here) or other especially fumes-y stuff is being messed with...

but for regular wood... I mean I get that some people have and do have problems from even regular dust....

but maybe I have some "tolerance of damaging myself" credit saved up from not smoking or substantially drinking, and manage ok.

I don't expect to do much that would involve superfine dust I don't think anyway.


edit: oh yeah this is targeted to turning specifically. well if I get to doing that turning stuff with fine sandpapers and such, I'll try to remember this too.

[TDHofstetter]

You'll get there, RW. You'll sand some stuff with high-grit (above 320) papers. Even sawing turns out some amount of superfine dust 'cause not every fiber gets chopped off at the same length.

Then there are all the known "toxic woods" (also Goog), some of which trigger reactions in some folks & some few of which trigger reactions in nearly everybody eventually. Case in point: Cocobolo. It's said that there are two kinds of people: Those who're allergic to cocobolo and those who aren't... yet.

So far I've lucked out. So far I've suffered no untoward reactions to any wood (cocobolo included). I don't expect that luck to hold out forever, though.

Aside & far outside the point: curiously... for some reason... tonight I can smell bocote. How ODD. It's been more than a week since I turned some. I SHOULD be smelling GL-4 gear oil; that's what I've been doing today...

[admin]

Red Cedar is the only thing I have to have 'help' with. I use the little cheap dust masks and they keep it from making me sneeze like a housecat with a headcold.

[sdb777]

This is some advise I'm going to have to follow!

While cutting up those blanks the other day, I was outside and had a slight breeze. But the breeze was swirling the dust back in my face....

The result was a stuffed nose. But the thought of the pulpy(sp?) stuff travelling down inside me got me to thinking...if nothing more then one of those white masks is used that would be a HUGE help.


Scott (anything is better then nothing) B

[Beezlebub]

Sounds like a bunch of wusses except for Cody ;D

I wear a face shield when turning and sometimes a glove on my left hand, shavings come off HOT!

Oh ya I also use my DC.

[Ruffnek]

Beez,

Glad to see you active in the turning forums. I knew you were a turner and had a lot to contribute.

[admin]

May 20, 2010 13:46:38 GMT -6 Ruffnek said:

Beez,

Glad to see you active in the turning forums. I knew you were a turner and had a lot to contribute.

I wasn't aware of it, but I'm glad to see it!

[TDHofstetter]

May 20, 2010 12:24:25 GMT -6 Beezlebub said:

Sounds like a bunch of wusses except for Cody ;D

I wear a face shield when turning and sometimes a glove on my left hand, shavings come off HOT!

Oh ya I also use my DC.

GLOVE??? Talk about WUSS!

[sachbvn]

Actually - I never knew how hot those chips could get until I started rounding my first big piece of wood last week.... a small chunk of dried Birch for a bowl I hope to make..... yeah - some heat builds up for sure!!


Zac

[admin]

I've noticed it's a little worse with greenish wood more than dry. It might be because the chips will stick to the side of your hand instead of just rolling off.

[Doug B]

I guess I'm a wuss too. I use a fingerless glove on my left hand when turning a bowl. And I have DC behind the lathe to suck up all the dust. The chips fall where they will, but the dust and CA fumes get sucked into the vac hose pretty well.

[triplefreak]

The only DC I have is a battery hooked up to my backup sump pump.
Other than that....