On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 22:07:36 -0500, Bradford Chaucer
wrote:

Am catching up on this NG and saw your post. I recently bought a Trend
Airshield, and while I agree with one of your points, i disagree with your
conclusion.

First I wear glasses, at least when I want to see anything more then 3 in
from my nose clearly!! Goggles etc fog up on me, I cant wear them. As a
result, i was getting a lot of dust/chips in my eyes while turning. - Not
Fun. Goggles didn't work. The Airshield solves this problem nicely, keeps
dust/chips out of my face, and my glasses don't fog. Score a big point
here!!

I agree that the head band is a bit tight, particularly for those of us who
have large crania to hold all that grey matter!! :-) They could make it
bigger.

I also agree on the Battery issue. They are expensive and the recharge is a
pain in the ass!! However problem easily solved with a dive into my
copious parts bin and (I hate to admit it), a quick trip to radio Shack.

Results, one 3 volt DC, 400 ma wall wart tupe power supply with the correct
power connector on the end replacing the (wrong) one that originally came
with the wall wart. I now have a batteryless Airshield that supplies me
steady air long after I have otherwise worn out on my turning session. As
I am standing in front of the lathe, and not roaming about the shop, the
lack of portability in eliminatig the battery is not a problem.

So while it is not cheap, I am happy with my purchase.

BTW I also looked at the Triton, and concluded thast there was no way I
could get it on or off while wearing glasses. It was far too cumbersom.

Did you try it? I don't have any trouble getting it on or off over
glasses, not that it's all that burdensome to take the glasses off,
put it on, and put the glasses back on.

On Fri, 03 Nov 2006 01:03:35 -0700, Steve wrote:

I just thought that I would try to jot down some perceptions of the
Trend Air Shield which I purchased a couple of weeks ago.

The unit works okay, not super but just okay.

I believe that after purchasing this unit and using it, If I could
roll back time I would do so, and would have not wasted money on it
for the following reasons.

1. The Air Shield comes with one battery that lasts for 4 hours. You
can plug another battery into the unit with the first battery and
increase your run time to 8 hours. At first glance this arrangement
might seem okay.

2. The battery charger is a wimpy little plug in charger similar to an
entry level cell phone. This charger takes 14 hours to charge one
battery to full capacity. It would take 28 hours to charge both
batteries to full capacity so I could use them for 8 hours. I've now
used up the better part of two days to get one short day of use out of
this thing. So I thought that I would purchase another charger. The
price range for this charger is 75 to 120 dollars for a charger that
probably cost $1.50 to make. I am not about to spend that kind of
money on a cheap charger.

3. The replacement filters are also very expensive with the main
filter costing as much as $40.00 and the prefilters as much as $8.00 a
piece. At this time, I'm not sure exactly how long each filter will
last.

4. The seal around your face is awkward to use and is a bit like
peeking out from behind a curtain. Pulling the cloth material under
your chin and to the sides of your face.

5. The headgear is a little uncomfortable and tight, even after
adjusting the headband out all the way it is just to tight. I think
that they designed this headband for people with small heads. If your
head is average size or larger, you will have problems getting it to
fit right.

All in all, I see this unit not being designed for efficiency of use
or cost, with the best interest of woodworkers in mind. It was
designed to see just how much money they could milk from people buying
their overpriced accessories.

If I can help but just one person to avoid the same $300.00 mistake I
made. Then this mini review is well worth taking the time to write.

Now, can anyone tell me about the Triton powered respirator?

Steve