dust protection for hardwoods

[mac1012]

hi i am making some clocks out of hardwood like wenge, iroko, oak, ash etc so i decided to sort my dust protection out i have been looking at the head gear and visors and looking (again at workshop vacs) i will be doing some sanding and drilling/routering for the clock recess , i know there is health hazards related to these woods , i was just wondering if anyone got one of those air flow head helmet devices like 3ms and if any good or if anyone working with these kind of woods what would they reccommend ? i wont be doing much cutting as the blocks come ready sized just need finish sanding and the movement recess doing ( as far as the woodwork is concerned)

any advice be great thanks

Mark

 

[Noggsy]

I've got the Trend Airshield Pro. It's not cheap (around £180 I think) but gives excellent protection. I can really tell the difference in my nose and lungs when I wear it (compared to when I do not) for turning and sanding. Some people say they find it heavy, but personally I don't, but then I am used to wearing helmets at work. Also, it gives impact protection and can have ear defenders fitted if required, both of which are very useful safety features and it lasts for the 8 hours it says it will. I don't have any experience of other units, but I can highly recommend this one based on my 12 months of use.

 

[mac1012]

ok thanks noggsy i will have a look , always good to get a reecomendation from someone who has used something !

thanks for taking time to reply

mark

Btw do you use workhop vacs etc aswell or does it suffice on its own ??

 

[Racers]

Hi, Mark

Try using hand tools, a nice sharp blade will leave a surface that doesn't need sanding.
I hate sanding and will do any thing to avoid it.

Pete

 

[mac1012]

ok pete having not done a lot with hand tools can you expand on how you go about it and what tools are best to use

mark

 

[Racers]

Hi, Mark

You will need a good plane or two for finishing the blanks and mallet and chisels for cutting the recess.

Obviously there are more than one way to skin a cat, I would try to reduce the number of dust producing stages of the task. The less the better.

You can run your router slower and make bigger chips that won't float around as much.

Pete

 

[mac1012]

wwell now you mention it pete i have been thinking iwould like to do them in a more traditinal way i guess i will have to trawl the internet and pick people brains on here !

no offence but saying to me a pair of good hand planes is no good to me lol

what type ? i presume a smoothing plane ??

have you had experience getting a finish with a plane ? if so what plane do you use ?

also the recess ah well i been thinking about that the colck movement is 55mm x 55 mm and i need to go maximum 34 mm deep

i guess i thought about marking the outline with a chisel then making a series of drill holes and then chiseling out ? could i get that deep with chisels ? and which to use ? the bottom of the recess is not critical as long as i get flush with the wood

i like the thought of learning hand tool techniques and kepping power tools to a minimum as long as it not going to take me a day to chisel the recess lol

mark

 

[mac1012]

i guess my thinking was with it being 34mm deep and only 55mm x 55mm i wondered if the steep angle would resrict me geeting a reasonably flat bottom to the recess

mark

 

[Jelly]

The powered respirators are pretty good, and 3M produce some excellent gear (I used their cartridge full-face respirators when cleaning out a large pressure treatment tank prior to dis-assembly)... If money was no object sundstorm are even better (in terms of user comfort, the protection is controlled by the relevant standards I hasten to add), but they don't represent the same level of value for money.

However, if you have a suitable oil free compressor available (producing between 2.5 and 8 bar continuously) then an airline fed system would be cheaper and give an unlimited working time...
Looking at the 3M offerings on Arco's website, the cost of a Lightweight Headtop (~£40), Breathing Hose (~£30), and Regulator (just shy of £200) comes to about £270... A powered one is going to be: Lightweight Headtop (~£40), Breathing Hose (~£30), Battery and Charger (just over £110), Powered Filter Unit (~£230) and Filters (~£10 a time) for a grand total of £420... by which time you might as well plump for the complete system pack at £490 and get an extra battery and a nicer headtop.

If you use air-tools, you can also connect them to the auxilliary port on the regulator unit, eliminating the need for more than one airline.

This said, if you want to explore using mainly hand-tool methods, and have effective extraction on any larger tools you'd use for dimensioning, then little more than a good dust mask and scrupulous clean up of any fine dust produced would be adequate. You may just find handwork revolutionises the way you work with wood to boot!

 

[Racers]

Hi, Mark

A block plane will do for small work this one is nice and a choice of blades!
http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/Qua ... Plane.html
May be a No3 or No4 as well.
To get a flat boutom you will need a router plane, a second-hand one from Ebay will do
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksi ... &_from=R40
Even a small Record 722 or Stanley 271 would work.
A chisel or two make a mallet (its only two bits of wood) and off you go.

Pete

A few hours watching these videos will help.

http://video.unctv.org/program/woodwrights-shop/

 

[mac1012]

now im no good at maths pete but i dont think them router planes are going to fit in a 55mm x 55mm square !

also my finish surface is 200mm x 115 mm so do i need something bigger than the block plane ? i have put a thread on hand tool section too

mark

 

[Racers]

Hi, Mark

The blade extends below the base leveling the botton of the hole, while the sole rides on the surface of the wood.

A No4 will be a good choice but get the block plane for the end grain.

Get the to Roys videos ;-)

Pete

 

[mac1012]

doh (hammer) i see what you mean now !! ok thanks for all advice so one last question what make would you reccomend ? i was going to spend 300 pounds on a router and table for christmas but thinking of getting hand tools instead ( gulp ) hope i can use them i seen some really expensive planes out of my budget but middle of the road ?

mark