To mask or not to mask

Discussion in 'General Woodworking' started by remodelme, Apr 15, 2012.

  1. remodelme

    remodelme New Member

    Do you wear a mask when you are working with a sander or stain? I have started to use a mask so I don't breath in the particles pushed into the air. The only reason I did this was because about a month ago I kept hacking up brown stuff. I believe it was dust and wood particles.
     
  2. Matty

    Matty New Member

    Well most of the time I wear a mask (just the cheap ones). I don't like breathing anything in (I have asthma). I know some people who wear the expensive masks - they fit over their whole head.
     
  3. Bzern

    Bzern New Member

    Hi, I am 12 and do a good amount of woodworking. Recently I was belt sanding without a mask and throughout the next day I hacked up small saw dust balls. Now I wear a cloth mask when scroll sawing or hand sanding, and a large mask when using the belt sander.
     
  4. remodelme

    remodelme New Member

    That is exactly what I was doing too, Bzern. I have bought some cloth masks and so far they are working well. I'm not sure what I will use when I start using stain - something to keep the chemicals out of my nose. I notice I get a headache quickly when doing this.
     
  5. busterswoodshop

    busterswoodshop Super Moderator Staff Member

    When sanding I use dust collectors and wear a mask. When I use a hand held sander I hook the shop vac to it.
    When I use the drum sander I have the dust collector hooked up to it.
     
  6. Matty

    Matty New Member

    Dust collector? I was interested in buying an air cleaner. I wonder if they are kind of the same thing. Air cleaners are supposed to suck anything out of the air - even fumes.
     
  7. busterswoodshop

    busterswoodshop Super Moderator Staff Member

    The dust collector hooks up to the machine ( saw , sander, planer ) and sucks the sawdust and chips into a bag or barrel.
    The air cleaner usually hangs from the ceiling and sucks in the fine dust floating around the shop and catches it in a filter. With these you need to keep your filters clean.
    I have both.
     
  8. Matty

    Matty New Member

    I don't have a dust collector but it sounds like I could use one. The air cleaner I want is actually a floor model. I was checking into the prices of the filters and they are pretty expensive. I'm not sure I will go that route.
     
  9. remodelme

    remodelme New Member

    I am looking into getting a new dust collector too. It seems the one I have is not working properly. It's not pulling everything out of the air. I've cleaned it a few times too. I don't know about an air cleaner.
     
  10. woadwunner

    woadwunner Member

    I have a dust collector with a 1 micron filter that cleans up almost all of the sawdust that I generate