[TheForge] Johnson Forge-Anvil-tongs for $65?

[Bruce Freeman]

I'd bet his emphysema had NOTHING to do with Kaowool.  Cigarette smoking, =
more like it, or possibly coal smoke, if he wasn't careful around that. =
=20
=20
Some time ago I posted the MSDS for one of these refractory wool products. =
 The manufacturer had watched his workers for years and years and found no =
lung diseases.  This stuff is NOT asbestos.  (Not all asbestos, even, is =
carcinogenic, BTW.)  What the manufacturer DID find was some slight =
evidence of scarring of the lungs that was so slight that it was not =
outside the range of the normal population (which is not to say that the =
refractory didn't cause it). =20
=20
Weigh against that that it is a mistake to breath in ANY fibers or =
particles smaller than, say, 8 microns.  (I don't know the exact figure.  =
10 microns apparently is not too much of a problem - you cough those up =
and spit them out - but 4 microns is "respirable" * i.e., a problem.)  =
Now, remember that MOST of the fibers you kick off a forge are going to be =
much bigger than 10 microns. =20
=20
I do not want anyone to get sloppy around refractory wool.  I just want =
some balance in reporting its hazards.
=20
Bruce
NJ

>>> osan@netlabs.net 11/17/2003 1:28:38 PM >>>



debmiller@fuse.net wrote:
>=20
> Andy,
> In preparing to try my hand at one of the open forges, I was planning
> to actually build a kaowool "lid" to make it more like an NC or other
> smaller enclosed forge. <snip>

<snip>

    Also, I would be very wary of using kaowool for such an
    application.  The dust will be flying about and short of
    wearing a space suit, you will breathe in the particles.
    Nothing is worth the horror of the diseases these materials
    cause.  There is (was??) an old smith in Tennant NJ on 522
    by Monmouth Battlefield SP.  I met him perhaps six years
    ago when I pulled up to his shop after about ten years of
    driving by.  He carried an O2 tank with him and could
    hardly talk due to emphysema.  You need hear the soft, soft
    voice of a man in that condition but once to know you don't
    ever want to end up that way.  My recommendation would be
    to make a door from a refractory cement.  Not as efficient,
    but far less likely to cause you problems you don't want.
=20
<snip>



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