Thread: Allergies - personal protection

I have the Triton Helmet, not sure if it is still available in Australia.

I have a Trend Airshield Pro

Trend Airshield Pro [AIR/PRO/ANZ] - $484.00 : Macwood International

Hereward there is three things every woody needs.

A dustmask or powered respirator for personal protection, you get covered by the visor from airborne peices and the positve pressure mask means you are breathing clean air

A dust extractor to get rid of the bulk of the dust and help clean up afterwards

And lastly but by no means least a room air filter to get rid of the fine floating dust.

With all three set up you make for a more safer and cleaner workshop.

Hi!

I was just doing some research on silky oak and stumbled across this. Because
I'm looking to buy a piece of silky oak furniture, but from reading about all the allergic reactions, I was wondering if anyone knows if it is likely that if I put my clothes in a silky oak chest of drawers, will I get a nasty rash from wearing them? Or is silky oak safe after it has been through the process of being made into furnishings? (I suffer from eczema and hay fever already)

Jay

I guess this depends on how bad your allergic reaction is to it.

Some people react to the saw dust from it, some people can't even stand the smell of it.

I have several allergies but Silky Oak isn't one of them, I can cut it, sand it, & burn it without a problem but if it was a cat or a prawn, different story.

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

I guess this depends on how bad your allergic reaction is to it.

Some people react to the saw dust from it, some people can't even stand the smell of it.

I have several allergies but Silky Oak isn't one of them, I can cut it, sand it, & burn it without a problem but if it was a cat or a prawn, different story.

Me too! Other woods can make me sneeze and stuff but I am fine with Silky oak.

I think if you can stick your head in the draw and take a deep breath and not die it will probably be fine!

Also there are lots of different "silky oaks" Not all cause allergies. The allergy one smells like cut grass to me kinda. But I am not allergic to it!

If you're already sensitised to a species then leave it well alone.

Jim's right about triple protection but that setup will still let some particles into the schnoz.

The makers of various filtering devices will say if anything at all something like it will filter out 90% of particles of a given size. And the research shows that particles around 4 microns or smaller will go down the nose and stay in the lungs.

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

I have several allergies but Silky Oak isn't one of them, I can cut it, sand it, & burn it without a problem but if it was a cat or a prawn, different story.

you tried to do all that to a cat and a prawn Cliff? Have you tried turning them?

I turn cats into sky rockets & prawns into bait.

Very hard to get them to hold still for relief carving. The cat gets one prawn. I get 15 done up in a Hoisin - honey - garlic sauce. My D2 caught me running prawn races on her kitchen floor. Looked to me like they were getting lots of exercise. Never again, apparently.

Dust? You don't need any dust whether you claim to be allergic or not. Some allergies are driven by repeated exposure and sensitization. I can't work with 2-part epoxy mixes. Just a sniff of the odors and I get an insanely itchy rash. 40 years ago, I wasn't too tidy. Been paying for it ever since.

Here's my take on this:
a) a very good dust collection system
b) a mask as well
c) some way to get rid of the sub-micron dust that hangs in the shop air. Otherwise, taking the mask off is not a good thing to do.

I don't do any sanding of wood carvings indoors. The dust floats all over the house, I'm a lazy house keeper and I don't need that stuff up my snoot. Outside in the summer, piece after piece after piece.