Heads Up on Dust

[Bob Eustace]

One of our local chippies started having trouble with sinus so sort treatment via acupuncture. Things got worse and one side of his face started swelling up needing urgent medical attention. Turns out he has cancer in the sinuses caused by timber dust. Has had parts of nose removed and lost all sense of smell. So the moral here, without being a preacher is for all new Shopbotters please oh please put a proper dust collector on your machine from day one. The big suspect timber here is blackwood. It makes those very, very sharp dust particles.

[GeneMpls]

Gotta wonder what a chippie translates to? Gene

[cr2]

I assume you are talking about African Blackwood, also called Grenadilla, botanical name Dalbergia Melanoxylon. How much of it did he use and for how long? Unless it has been using huge quantities of it for many years, it seems premature to assume this one species is the cause of his condition.

[cowboy1296]

I worked a lot without a dust collector and developed daily headaches. Put in a dust collector and the headaches went away.

[adrianm]

Gotta wonder what a chippie translates to? Gene

Chippie is what we call a carpenter in the UK and Australia.

An electrician is a sparks.

[bleeth]

In the US a chippie is an old fashioned word for a girl with loose morals!!

I've been a carpenter for 40 plus years, of which many of them were spent in boat work using mostly Teak and Mahogany. Most places I worked in the early years would, at most, distribute the cheapest of the cheap dust masks. Every day after work I would be picking sawdust globs out of my nose and periodically have to have a nurse flush sawdust encrusted wax out of my ears. Of course, the lung affect is also there, and likely permanent.
It wasn't until I was in the shipwrights union that I worked in a yard that distributed decent respirators, and of course, no-one wanted to wear them.
There is a reason that wood particulates have been branded carcinogens. Some species are worse than others but none of it is good for you.

[Bob Eustace]

Charlie we had really bad fires here five years ago decimating our blackwood forests. This chap was one of a hundred or so volunteers that cleaned up the mess and salvaged as much of the wood as possible. On our property we used the army so weren't exposed. He went on to use the wood on a daily basis after it dried as it was a cheap source and we had 3000 houses to rebuild. I did run the bot for the first 6 months without an industrial dust extractor and I too got headaches and the bot is in its own room. Have dust collection on all equipment now and always wear a mask when cleaning the dust collector enclosure and emptying.

[Brian Harnett]

I use dust collection and also a respirator especially when sanding.

The filter I use is called a RES PO RATOR info at link
http://www.duxterity.com/

[Ajcoholic]

Bob is speaking of Australian blackwood - not African. Of that I am certain..

As for dust - having worked in several shops over my life from a young teen to my 43rd year (next week) I have to say, if you do this for a living, there is nothing more worthwhile spending your $$ on than decent dust collection, modern tools with dust pickups and a decent vac to go with it.

My shop is a working shop, ie, 8 or more hours a day we are working on various saws, several sanders (widebelt, edge, stroke, disk/belt) and of course hand tools.

The most dust produced in my shop is from hand sanding (like with a pc of sandpaper folded up) believe it or not!

I have worked in shops where the dust was always in the air and a mask was necessary. Much nicer working in an almost dust free work environment, but of course you have to work to get there (time and $$).

AJC

[knight_toolworks]

I have good dc as I worked with nasty tropicals making my hand planes. ipe and padouk and cocobolo bloodwood and such. Ipe isone of the worst for fine dust even drilling it I see sawdust floating up out of the hole. thats pretty bad with maybe 400 rpms.
the problem o nthe shopbot is say I could a sheet of mdf with a 1/4" downcut bit. the sawdust wedges in the cuts and knocking the parts loose makes mdf fly. same with Russian birch getting the parts out gets dust in the air.

[myxpykalix]

An interesting question.....you hear talk all the time about "nasty exotics" wood from Africa and other places which we here in the US would have more of a a problem with. But those "exotics" are native to africans, so do they build up a tolerance and would they consider pine, our native, an exotic and have issues with it?:confused::eek:

[scottp55]

Jack, while building the house lead carpenter went into anaphylatic shock when we started the AHVG(all heart vert. grain I miss it) redwood clapboards. He'd (Alan Bartlett) used it for years but apparently that was the day his body said ENOUGH. After the ambulance left we talked about it and Doug couldn't work black walnut and "too tall Paul" Had developed a "THING" when working chestnut in the Bahamas doing a barn for a rich guy. One day your body apparently goes "BAM" on certain woods. Best to avoid the "BAM". Routing hard maple gives my eyes fits for 4-6 hours now and it never used to. Blowing off machinery at the end of the day will keep me awake past midnight. Heads up.

[curtiss]

I use a DC and have an 32" attic fan which is located right above the bot... takes a few amps but blows the heat out of the attic at the same time.

Not sure how to heat and ventilate at 10 below zero.....

[Bob Eustace]

Sadly things have got much worse for young Matt. Despite surgery it has now affected his brain so badly he cant remember who his wife and daughter are and why he is in hospital. The family are getting fantastic support from our little local community.

I think Brians suggestion of using a mask when hand sanding is a good one and we are now religiously doing this.

http://www.ubeaut.com.au/badwood.htm

[denmanmarine]

That is a sad story Bob. Blackwood dust ([I]acacia melanoxylon [I] is a known carcinogen. Dust extraction and personal protection is essential.

MDF would also be a killer.

We also use western red cedar and use precautions as well.

Exposure to any wood dust over the long term can't be good for you.

What a horrible thing to happen to a young man.

AD

[rb99]

I am sorry to hear this.

What are cost effective dust collection units and air filtration units that you guys could recommend to someone on a budget?

[Bob Eustace]

Anything better than 1200 CFM and must be outside. On Matt - he is much worse and picked up another bug from the hospital and has yet another hole drilled into his head to relieve pressure.

[TJ Cornish]

I am sorry to hear this.

What are cost effective dust collection units and air filtration units that you guys could recommend to someone on a budget?

Lots of information here, focused on health issues:

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

I built a Clear Vue Cyclone kit, which was based off of Bill Pentz's research. The basics are that you can tune a cyclone for throughput or for particle capture; most commercial units are more tuned for particle capture.

I've had great success with the one I built - it's 5HP with 6" ducting.

[rb99]

Lots of information here, focused on health issues:

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

I built a Clear Vue Cyclone kit, which was based off of Bill Pentz's research. The basics are that you can tune a cyclone for throughput or for particle capture; most commercial units are more tuned for particle capture.

I've had great success with the one I built - it's 5HP with 6" ducting.

Would you have any more info and pics on the one you built?

[bcondon]

I use good ole American woods. The dust may not kill you but the taxes surely will, which is when they will tax your estate again!

:)

I guess I feel better now...