Grinding without a mask???

S

Sherman96

Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
1
I just finished grinding my first knife outside with an angle grinder and bench grinder. I noticed a huge pile of steel dust and thought oh crap my lungs. I now know to always wear a mask, but what I wat to know is will about 2 hours of grinding really mess up my lungs, or am I just panicking and over-reacting, thanks. Btw it was 01 tool steel which I think has no vanadium in it but I'm not sure.
 
You should be all right. I ground quite a lot of O-1 without ill effects.
 
Short term exposure is fine, just make sure to wear a good quality, good fitting respirator. No matter how fine of dust the filters can handle, no matter how comfortable, or durable it looks, If it doesn't perfectly fit your face, It's not going to work.
Keep that in mind. :)
 
... I'm sorry to inform you ....

:eek:You're DOOMED!!!:eek:

... Doomed, like the rest of us, to a lifetime of knifemaking. ;)




[You can't be around a shop without encountering a certain amount of nuisance dust.
Wear a mask, ensure good ventilation, clean up after exposure. That' about the best you can do.]
 
The steel dust is not so much a concern as is the dust from the grinders.
 
Yes, you are doomed... as are we all. Some day something will kill you. Count on it.

But in the meantime, no need to panic. Enjoy life while you still can. Smile for the wife and let her know everything is all right, just as if you still believed you'll live forever. She'll never notice that you're doomed unless you point it out. And if you do make the mistake of pointing it out you'll die twice as fast to get away from the nagging.

Doomed, I tell you... but it ain't so bad being doomed. It's all just part of being human.
 
Go to your room and write - "I will not grind without a dust mask" - 100 times. Then fill out your profile.


Oh, and don't forget to blow your nose.
 
I used to grind for hours at a time with no mask and I'm not dead yet. It is certainly a bad idea but you're going to be fine.

Obviously a similar experience with asbestos dust would have been a bit more serious. While we don't mess with asbestos in knifemaking some of us do work with abalone which supposedly can cause permanent lung damage with a single exposure. Other more common materials you'll want to be very careful with include carbon fiber and G10.
 
Please wear a respirator when grinding anything. One session won't kill you, but it won't help anything either. This is the sort of thing that doesn't seem like a big deal today or next week, but if you do it regularly it can come back to haunt you 30 years later.

Bill DeShivs said:
The steel dust is not so much a concern as is the dust from the grinders.
Click to expand...

That's so true, and we often overlook it. When grinding stuff, we're not just wearing down the workpiece, but also the belts/wheels/discs etc. The grit/dust from those is at least as bad, and probably worse for you than the steel itself.
 
There are certain things in life you can't replace at least not like original equipment among them eyes, ears, and lungs. Seriously it is not a good idea at all! Some particles that get into your lungs never go away. But I ain't yur Mama and lectures don't do any good when you don't listen!

Now days, I put my eyeballs on to do fine work and I can't hear a damn thing about what you just said about why am I breathing so hard. :p
 
Most of the stuff that gets into your lungs will never come back out. Even the stuff that the body does get rid of usually impairs lung function. The stuff that the body can get rid of usually don't make it past the Upper Respiratory Tract. There are many varieties of toxic woods out there and most of them make very nice knife handles. The steel dust is probably the least of your worries. Please get yourself a proper fitting mask with the correct filtration or better still a powered respirator (no face fit required for these). Welding fumes are nanoparticles and most welders have a nice metal coating on their brains. No one knows if this causes long term health problems because welders usually die of other causes (lung diseases) well before any adverse health effects manifest.
 
parbajtor said:
Welding fumes are nanoparticles and most welders have a nice metal coating on their brains. No one knows if this causes long term health problems because welders usually die of other causes (lung diseases) well before any adverse health effects manifest.
Click to expand...

My old man welded some galvanized fencing for a neighbor a few weeks ago and complained about being sick for a few days from the fumes. Come on old man! Respirator!! Hes 60 years old now and has been arc welding regularly (iron worker) since he was 17, its one of those rolling the dice things. So far hes completely healthy and in better shape than me, but some of the other guys have neurological damage.

Lucky for me my workstation is outdoors (I still wear a respirator 99% of the time). Its probably bad for my tools but the fresh air is nice. I visited another shop that was indoors. My nose could feel a physical texture to the air and it smelled sorta like chalk from the belt dust. Felt like I needed a respirator just standing in the doorway.
 
Yeah, I would go ahead and pony up for a good mask and ALWAYS use it... Any material that gets into the lungs usually (almost never) makes it's way back up. What stays down there forms scar tissue which is bulky, get enough scar tissue and you permanently diminish your lung capacity. Google COPD, it's some nasty stuff.
This one time probably won't hurt you but then again, that depends on how old you are and how often you are exposed to airborne metal particles or airborne inorganic particles. The times exposed to metal dust, G-10 dust etc etc add up so try to keep the inhaling of these few and far between.

Be safe ;)
 
Know the chemistry of the steels you are grinding as well as the abrasives. The belts I use most are Aluminum Oxide and I don't use a respirator, I also use the filter nature gave me and do not try to get rid of nose hairs.

The same rules apply to the nature of the handle materials you choose.

Keep the particle size as large as you can for as long as you can by grinding with fresh belts. You can spend an hour using 36 grit belts and have all the scratches polished to 220 grit in about 5 minutes.

Every night after grinding or sanding I flush out my nose with salt water, have not had a headache or sinus infection since I started this practice.

Still ear and eye protection are a must and a respirator is never a bad choice.
 
Know the chemistry of the steels you are grinding as well as the abrasives. The belts I use most are Aluminum Oxide and I don't use a respirator, I also use the filter nature gave me and do not try to get rid of nose hairs.

The same rules apply to the nature of the handle materials you choose.

Keep the particle size as large as you can for as long as you can by grinding with fresh belts. You can spend an hour using 36 grit belts and have all the scratches polished to 220 grit in about 5 minutes.

Every night after grinding or sanding I flush out my nose with salt water, have not had a headache or sinus infection since I started this practice.

Still ear and eye protection are a must and a respirator is never a bad choice.
 
My neighbors have seen me more with a respirator then without ;) I wear it grinding and powder coating. I actually like wearing it because it is much better then pulling black chunks out of your nose hairs. I also wear a hat while grinding to keep the junk out of the hair and give protection when a belt breaks.
 
was it Ed Caffery who lost half a lung to grinding dust?

yes, I used to grind without a mask, I also used to smoke 2 1/2 packs a day and drive over 120 MPH without a seatbelt. Respirators are like condoms, kind of a nuisance, but they protect your long term quality of life.

-Page
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top