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

[Andy Vida]

Bruce Freeman wrote:
> 
> 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.

	Correct.
> 
> 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. 

	But it is still a sillicate, which can cause silicosis,
	the symptoms of which I believe are very similar to that
	of emphysema.

> (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).

	I would not be so fast to blindly trust amanufacturer's
	findings in such matters.  They also said that Thalidomide
	was safe and look where it got several thousands of new borns?
	And to boot, I recall just a few months ago that the drug
	companies have been lobbying to bring thalidomide back!
	My seemingly unrelated point here is that where profit is
	concerned, one must take the "trust me, it's safe" claims
	made by those who make those profits with at least a grain
	of salt.  Corporate veils generally protect execs from
	any personal accountability.  Chapter 11 protects the
	corporate entity from even the most eggregious acts (to wit,
	ENRON which is still operating, and Ken Lay has yet to be charged
	with any crime.)

	Caveat blacksmith!
> 
> 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.
> 
> I do not want anyone to get sloppy around refractory wool.  
>I just want some balance in reporting its hazards.

	Point well taken.