On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 04:50:35 GMT, Dwight
wrote:

Check out Dustfoe 88 from MSA - a simple and very good mask designed in
Pittsburgh for coal miners years ago - about $25 with five filters - I
think I used one filter for five years!

Have used one for thirty years. I use them for every cut in the shop and
I often forget to take mine off, since they are so comfortable.

I buy them and pass on to all my friends. Every family should have a
good dust mask - even if only for sweeping out a garage.

Sadly, the public is so inured to crumby masks that they dont even want
good ones, but if you find a distributor, you can get one in a week.

Best

Second the Dustfoe. I've got one for use when power carving,
especially nasties like Tauga nuts.

It's a good design, inexpensive (relatively) and effective. It isn't
for mists or vapors, but that's not a problem for me.

--RC



Lars Stole wrote:
I am an allergy and asthma sufferer who has been woodworking for about a
year now. Poor choice of hobbies I know, but now that I am hooked
there is little that I can do about it.

I have spent considerable effort putting in dust collection and I
usually wear a high-quality dust mask when doing any work that kicks up
sawdust. That said, inevitably some amount of material ends up
getting through and causing some irritation for me. I find that red oak
is somewhat worse than mahogany or cherry, but nothing I have
experienced to date is as bad as MDF. I plan to eventually build some
wine racking and I understand that redwood generates even worse (i.e.,
more toxic) forms of dust than MDF, so I will probably go with mahogany.

Here's the general question: what are your experiences with different
wood species and the amount of irritation their dust cause? Is their a
web site that has this sort of information? (I seem to recall a few
months ago that someone was having problems with an exotic wood and was
directed to a website to check on its degree of toxicity.)

Lars


"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.