Can someone explain to me the dust.

[powertools]

I have a small workshop like many and my machines create both chippings and fine dust. I have a chip collector that saves me from sweeping the floor but it does not collect the fine dust that will harm you.
I have seen on the forum pictures of members workshops with fine dust filters hung from the ceiling as the ultimate solution to the problem but the problem as I see it is that my machines are below my air intake and the filters are above.
What is the point on spending several £100 pounds for something that will filter the dust after it has passed you're nose?

 

[MrYorke]

Because unless you have nostrils the size of canons you won't be breathing in all that fine dust.

Better to get rid of as much as possible which health wise is always a good thing!

 

[riclepp]

There will always be dust, you will never, ever get rid of it and the amount will depend on what you are doing and for how long. But filtration units and some fine filter bags will get rid of some. Hovovers/extractors fitted to hand held power tools will also help. You can also go as far as wearing powered/filter face masks,, the list is really endless. But the main point is to collect as much as possible at source.

 

[wallace]

The perfect solution would be to collect the fine dust as its created at source. Which needs the ability to move a huge amount of air and then filter the air to a safe micron size. Like you wrote having air cleaners dose absolutely nothing to protect you when your in a dusty environment. I use mine to clean the workshop after I leave, I put it on timer for a couple of hours, so the next time I visit its a lot cleaner. To protect myself while working I have my dust extractors housed outside my workshop going through a thein baffle and then venting outside so their are no filters to impede the flow. I also use masks and respirators.
mark

 

[powertools]

But surely it is better to force the dust below your face than above.

 

[riclepp]

if it goes below you face then not only to you inhale through your nose, but also at time's through your mouth, If it settles on surfaces and floors as you more you make air movement which kicks up the fine dust. Hence the need to remove at source in an ideal world.

 

[powertools]

if it goes below you face then not only to you inhale through your nose, but also at time's through your mouth, If it settles on surfaces and floors as you more you make air movement which kicks up the fine dust. Hence the need to remove at source in an ideal world.

If you have an extractor fan below the level of your machines it removes the dust while it is still airborne.

 

[riclepp]

surley that would depend on it's location to the dust and how much air volume it can move.

 

[custard]

There was some research conducted into nasal cancer that should make any woodworker pause and think. I forget the exact numbers but I think the figures showed that the majority of nasal cancer sufferers worked with wood, implying any woodworker has a massively increased risk of nasal cancer. And what makes this really scary is that the research was conducted before the widespread use of MDF, so it was solid timber that was causing the harm.

 

[longinthetooth]

I think that study related to industry, ie people who were exposed to it all day every day. Hotspots round High Wycombe / East End of London, probably. There would be hardboard, ply, blockboard in there but yes before chipboard or mdf.

 

[Reggie]

Either way it's something to be wary of, especially given the amount of other stuff there is around wood, much better to be safe than sorry with dust.