Stopping invisible dust fogging your glasses.

[JDarvall]

Worked this out this morning. My dustbegone's cactus. So was stuck with the cheapo dust masks. But the cheapo dust masks fog up your glasses.

So Gaffa tapped the bugger to my head ! Who ever invented gaffa taps a friggin genius.

pro's….
- feel good about coming up with the idea myself (even though probably 400 other blokes around the world worked it before me are doing it too)
- no fogging, which can be the most annoying thing for me.
- can still breathe freely for long periods, thanks to the poor seal at the bottom of the mask.
- nothing moves on my head. Nothing needs to be adjusted constantly because its biting into my head…or slips or whatever. Went all morning with the thing on my head forgetting it was there.
- doesn't cost a fortune. 50 dust masks for 10 bucks. 3 bucks for gaff tape.
- don't have feel like a di#khead dressed like I'm about to land on the moon with those expensive filtration systems. Or feel castraphobic wearing that stuff. Don't have to worry about batteries, or breaking some part. Or cleaning filters. Or them not really working properly, because there hard to clean practically. Won't have to stubbornly use something I'm not comfortable with because I forked out hundreds for it.
- won't end up with chest pain at the end of the day, because its stopping a fair bit getting into my lungs.
- Won't need weekly facials at the beauty clinic….cause all those blackheads in my face are pulled out whenever I rip the mask off.

cons
- ?
- nil chance of ever receiving a kickback from dust inhalation product manufacturers for drumming up business.
- long term I may die from some kind of invisible dust cancer. But thats ok because like most humans, as long as everything looks rosy in the short term every things A OK.

[NCArcher]

What can I say.. you're a genius Jake. :U

[jefferson]

Worked this out this morning. My dustbegone's cactus. So was stuck with the cheapo dust masks. But the cheapo dust masks fog up your glasses.

So Gaffa tapped the bugger to my head ! Who ever invented gaffa taps a friggin genius.

pro's….
- feel good about coming up with the idea myself (even though probably 400 other blokes around the world worked it before me are doing it too)
- no fogging, which can be the most annoying thing for me.
- can still breathe freely for long periods, thanks to the poor seal at the bottom of the mask.
- nothing moves on my head. Nothing needs to be adjusted constantly because its biting into my head…or slips or whatever. Went all morning with the thing on my head forgetting it was there.
- doesn't cost a fortune. 50 dust masks for 10 bucks. 3 bucks for gaff tape.
- don't have feel like a di#khead dressed like I'm about to land on the moon with those expensive filtration systems. Or feel castraphobic wearing that stuff. Don't have to worry about batteries, or breaking some part. Or cleaning filters. Or them not really working properly, because there hard to clean practically. Won't have to stubbornly use something I'm not comfortable with because I forked out hundreds for it.
- won't end up with chest pain at the end of the day, because its stopping a fair bit getting into my lungs.
- Won't need weekly facials at the beauty clinic….cause all those blackheads in my face are pulled out whenever I rip the mask off.

cons
- ?
- nil chance of ever receiving a kickback from dust inhalation product manufacturers for drumming up business.
- long term I may die from some kind of invisible dust cancer. But thats ok because like most humans, as long as everything looks rosy in the short term every things A OK.
Sorry to say but the mask is next to useless.

[dai sensei]

Sorry to say but the mask is next to useless.

Yep


....can still breathe freely for long periods, thanks to the poor seal at the bottom of the mask....


So you are not breathing through the mask :-. So why not tape the whole thing?

[Dengue]

Go into SuperCheapAuto and buy the similar looking mask but with the breater valve on the front. Stii use your duct tape to seal it if necessary.

To be effective, the mask must be airtight on your face. That's why guys with beards have great difficulty in getting a mask that will work properly.

[JDarvall]

Yep



So you are not breathing through the mask :-. So why not tape the whole thing?

must be breathing a little bit through it. Must be doing something for me at least because I've got a strong pattern over many days that…..

when I don't wear the cheapo mask -> chest pain….irritation in the throat….coughing, spitting in the shower.
when I do -> nothing. Feel fine.

100% shore its not …..'wanting to believe'.

The gap at the bottom of the mask important, because if it was an expensive unit, with a tight fit, I'd feel like I'm not getting a full breathe, and would cease wearing it after a couple of hours. Thats what always happens every year when a loved one or expert tells me to drop money on an expensive piece. And do, to avoid the argument, having forgotten my past experiences with attempting to do 'whats best'.

:?

[silentC]

I used to have to wear one of those things every day because I worked in a joinery that had bugger all dust extraction. They do cut out a lot of the dust but not all of it. If I didn't wear it I would be hawking up big black gollies every night. Some days it was just too hot in Sydney to wear it, so you didn't and those days were the worst. I was walking down the footpath one day and stumbled a bit on a crack. I slammed down on one foot and felt something come loose in my sinuses just above the bridge of my nose. You don't want me to describe what came out, but I quit that job a week later.

But you've only got to wear one of those paper masks while sanding gyprock to see how good they are at stopping dust. After a day of that, take it off and have a look in the mirror. You will see big white tracks of plaster dust stuck to your face just either side of your nose and around your chin or anywhere else that there's not a good seal. That's where you were sucking in dust and some of it stuck to your skin on the way in.

I reckon they are better than nothing but far from perfect. The tape might stop your glasses fogging up but I doubt it does anything for the dust, because it sounds like you're sucking it in from underneath anyway.

[JDarvall]

I used to have to wear one of those things every day because I worked in a joinery that had bugger all dust extraction. They do cut out a lot of the dust but not all of it. If I didn't wear it I would be hawking up big black gollies every night. Some days it was just too hot in Sydney to wear it, so you didn't and those days were the worst. I was walking down the footpath one day and stumbled a bit on a crack. I slammed down on one foot and felt something come loose in my sinuses just above the bridge of my nose. You don't want me to describe what came out, but I quit that job a week later.
.

I had trouble like that at a place I worked too, but I couldn't wear the paper mask provided because, ironically, I'm more concerned about wearing safety glasses. And because I couldn't wear both, because of fogging up glasses, I chose my eyes. Wish I thought about the tape idea back then.

I remember an episode about coal miners who had a similar problem. Think the show was called 'worlds dirtiest jobs'. An interviewer went into the workplaces to live their lives for a day to get a feel for what it was really like. The doctors would give the miners black lung tests and tell them wisely ' wear your dust mask '. But the interviewer when he experienced first hand soon picked up why the miners forgot the masks. They couldn't breathe freely through them.

[silentC]

Yeah there was a story on ABC radio about the coal miners this morning. They were talking to a bloke about it and he remembers how just about every miner you met had lung problems. It was just accepted as something that went with the job, a bit like getting shot at when you're in the army.

I really hate wearing dust masks of any kind. Especially if you're doing something strenuous or on a hot day. I've got one of those full on things with the filters either side so you look like some sort of insect when wearing it. I only use it when I'm spray painting. A mate of mine came to do some spraying one day and I gave it to him to wear. He wouldn't and so he suffered for the rest of the day. Made him feel sick.

It's not good so I try to limit activities that produce fine dust.

[JDarvall]

It's not good so I try to limit activities that produce fine dust.

agree entirely…. thats where its a shame that woodwork has become so tied to the use of grit. makes you use it more than you want, else there's no headway at all.

[smiife]

Hi apricotripper,
Do yourself a favour......just buy a new" dust be gone"
Your health and lungs are far more important

[JDarvall]

Hi apricotripper,
Do yourself a favour......just buy a new" dust be gone"
Your health and lungs are far more important

hi smife,

maybe your right. I don't know.

Wonder what the difference would be between a taped up cheapo and a 'dust be gone' in terms of performance. (other than the 50 bucks)

Its becoming hard for me to justify a dust be gone now, because I have got down force fans coming straight down on my head (uno those bunnings ceiling extractor fans) .
When they are running the dust goes straight to the floor. Probably circulates the workplace a bit, but at least doesn't concentrate on my face initially.

[jefferson]

I am currently working with Bob L and some others on the Dust Extraction forum to find a better way to collect dust "off the lathe tool". I have had the opportunity recently to sit back and observe super-fine dust coming off the chisel - no doubt there is more of the invisible and dangerous kind that I cannot see. As some of you will know, I have 3 big lathes in the turning end of my big shed (an area 9m by 6.5m). I have two large microclenes plus a Jet air scrubber going plus a 2hp pleated DC. None of it works, including the Dust be Gone masks that fog my glasses and don't collect the really fine stuff. The super-fine dust settles everywhere, in spite of the good work that the Microclenes do. Bob L is suggesting I "booth" each of the lathes - something I will get around to after this hospital visit - and connect my Clearvue Max (ducted externally) to each machine. I still have a long way to go but I think I am on the right track. Anyone who relies on dust masks of the paper kind or similar is kidding themselves. Even the super-expensive masks are a waste unless you somehow dust yourself down before removing the masks. And have swept the floor and lathe clean. All of this info I have gleaned from Bob L and others and believe it to be true. If you want to turn dried Oz hardwoods you face untold invisible dust at the lathe and no quick fix is available. I'm sorry if I've hijacked the thread but we do need to get back to basics and understand that sanding alone is not the sole enemy. My microclenes fill up straight off the tool when I am cutting not scraping the wood. Watch this space in say June.

[JDarvall]

I am currently working with Bob L and some others on the Dust Extraction forum to find a better way to collect dust "off the lathe tool". I have had the opportunity recently to sit back and observe super-fine dust coming off the chisel - no doubt there is more of the invisible and dangerous kind that I cannot see. As some of you will know, I have 3 big lathes in the turning end of my big shed (an area 9m by 6.5m). I have two large microclenes plus a Jet air scrubber going plus a 2hp pleated DC. None of it works, including the Dust be Gone masks that fog my glasses and don't collect the really fine stuff. The super-fine dust settles everywhere, in spite of the good work that the Microclenes do. Bob L is suggesting I "booth" each of the lathes - something I will get around to after this hospital visit - and connect my Clearvue Max (ducted externally) to each machine. I still have a long way to go but I think I am on the right track. Anyone who relies on dust masks of the paper kind or similar is kidding themselves. Even the super-expensive masks are a waste unless you somehow dust yourself down before removing the masks. And have swept the floor and lathe clean. All of this info I have gleaned from Bob L and others and believe it to be true. If you want to turn dried Oz hardwoods you face untold invisible dust at the lathe and no quick fix is available. I'm sorry if I've hijacked the thread but we do need to get back to basics and understand that sanding alone is not the sole enemy. My microclenes fill up straight off the tool when I am cutting not scraping the wood. Watch this space in say June.

no your fine. I've heard similar discussions before.

The problem I think, as you know, is making it all practical.

I'm personally not too bothered by those extremes of dust fears. Invisible stuff talk. Can't be. If people want sanded finishes, its really too difficult to work fast and efficiently whilst minimising it entirely. ie. somethings got to give,,,either the focus to your work or caution to dust inhalation. Especially when your doing one off work with a lot of hand work. Or forced to speed up stock removal with hand power tools.

I've got a clearvue max cyclone with a 5hp motor. I was told that I was the first to have this system in Australia (not that means anything as I'm not an expert on it). I purchased it because I just wanted to completely bypass bag dust extractors and I didn't want to stuff about with underpowered machines. I chose the clearvue max simply because of the incredible effort the designers put into collecting fine dust. But not because I was worried that much about my lungs.

figured simply -> the more it collects fine dust the more powerful the system(that was their focus). The more powerful the system the further it can pull, no jamming at the thicknesser etc. Actually wasn't really concerned about the really really really fine dust stuff thats invisible.

you can just see a clearvue outlet on the lathe in the above picture. Its just a wooden box suspended on a rail with a 150mm flex pipe behind it allowing it to slide anywhere along the lathe. And it works very well. Can see it grab stuff off the lathe. BUT I don't use it much, unless I've got a lot of repeative work to do, where I'm on the lathe constantly for hours. Thats not very often for me, because my work is more often just individual pieces. So, the cyclone port really isn't needed, even though it have to be up there as one of the most powerful systems on the market. When things are tight also the 5hp power consumption comes to mind . $1/hour (as I remember). And the noise. It consumes the most on power up, so feel reluctant to turn on and off every 5mins or whatever. uno .

Thankfully, for me, there's still a lot of shave/scraper work needed to detail to break away from the rest of the dust/noise sh*t.

just an opinion. 2cents worth.

[hughie]

If your going to use this sort of mask read the blurb and make sure its P2 class and make sure it fits you, anything less than that your wasting your money and your lungs.

http://solutions.3m.com.au/wps/portal/3M/en_AU/PPE_SafetySolutions_APAC/Safety/Products/One/One/

https://www.thesandpaperman.com.au/dust-masks/