Which mask?

[cjensen]

when trimming the fiberglass tips, the dremel creates A LOT of dust. what kind of mask should be used? obviously a respirator would suffice, but is it necessary? is the regular doctor's style mask ok to use?

[mustang]

Chad,

Yes a respirator is probably better. Most people just use a paper filter mask over the nose and mouth for sanding. I used the bandsaw for most of my trimming, then used a bench sander and finally sanding blocks. I did not use a mask for any of it. (Which is not very good) It is difficult to blow the sanding dust off the job with a mask on. But then, right after you blow the dust, you need the mask the most?? Go figure.

Cheers, Pete

[bmurrish]

You may as well buy one that is good for chemicals since you have been shooting rattle can primer. I wear my respirator even when I am cleaning shop. You can never be too safe when it comes to your health. I think Home Depot has some for around $20-$30.

[tshort]

Like Bill said, a good organic vapor mask from HD or Lowes is 20-30$. I use this for all priming, MEK use, etc.

I should wear a mask while grinding / sanding / polishing ... but I usually don't. After finshing all the aileron stiffeners the other night I blew my nose and it was black with dust. I've been doing a lot of sanding of hardwood floors recently, and those white soft masks that look like doctor masks don't do much - I've started wearing the heavy duty mask for this, as the dust seems to get thru the other ones.

I always wear eye protection. I've seen way too many people with metal chunks deposited into the cornea at high speed courtesy of a grinder or drill. Not fun.

Thomas
-8 ailerons

[aparchment]

Hey Chad:

I think the biggest issue with a mask is fit. The paper/fiber masks you referred to typically don't fit that well and allow dust in anyway. I bought a nice comfortable respirator from my local auto body shop and wear it whenever I think there will something in the air hazardous to my health. Honestly I should probably wear it more. Even the grinder with a polishing wheel creates a fair amount of aluminum dust that I am sure is hazardous to your health. You could even have one set of cartridges for the shop and another for painting.

I think when the time comes to sling some serious paint I will invest in one of the Hobbyair type masks.

Antony

[Spike]

I also ended up pickung up a 3M respirator from my local auto body supply shop. They should have some good stuff for ya. It really wanst that expensive, at least not as expensive as O2 therapy for the rest of your life.

-- John