[TheForge] Chip forge

[Mike Porter]

Any form of carbon in the lungs is semi-serious; it does a great job of 
coating. Fortunately, it is one of the things the body can get rid of.

Wygers gives a recirculator plan for cold coal forges in his book. The are 
probably practical, and I have wondered more than once, why a blacksmith who 
wanted to go on using coal wouldn't at least try a recirculation scheme 
before giving up and going to ceramic chips/gas or straight gas.

I have never even seen the idea discussed by coal forge enthusiasts, yet it 
is the only one that could ever give gas forges serious competition. Has 
anyone here ever built a recirculator?
Mike P.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce Freeman" <FREEMAB at pt.fdah.com>
To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2006 5:59 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Chip forge


Okay, here's the fact:  ANY dust or fibre, sufficiently small (e.g., <=~5 
micron = 5 micrometers =~ 0.2 thousanths of an inch) will get into your 
lungs and stay there.  A few things, like sugar, will dissolve and be no 
problem (unless they suffocate you - drown you in fluids, actually - first). 
Even things like glass fibers are reputed to dissove eventually in the 
lungs, but I wouldnt' bet my health on it.

So, the best advice is to keep stuff OUT of your lungs.

Fortunately, most of us have excellent natural defences to the ordinary 
sorts of dusts that occur in nature (and these can be considerable).  These 
defences consist of the cilia in the bronchae and the mucus that constantly 
comes up from the lungs, carrying particles that stick to it.  Pretty 
sophistocated stuff, really, is snot.  So, for the MOST part, you don't have 
anything to worry about.

(Of course, those of you who smoke tobacco have killed off most of those 
cilia.  STOP SMOKING and the cilia will grow back!)

Apparently, certain kinds of asbestos are different in that they cause 
cancer, not just dust-related problems (e.g., silicosis).  These are 
particularly bad actors, but are not typical of all dusts.

Bottom line:  If you're working with dusty stuff, keep it out of your lungs. 
I would consider a chip forge fire, even with potential dust, to be much 
less hazardous than a coal fire.  Coal also gives off dust, and coal-fire 
byproduces (e.g., smoke) are known to cause cancer.  If you can avoid those, 
it should be easy to avoid problems from a chip forge, which burns much more 
cleanly.

Don't take safety for granted, but misplaced safety concerns can be more 
harmful than helpful.

And, BTW, alumina is one of the hardest stuffs around.  I can't say an 
alumina sphere would NOT be friable (dusty), but I see no reason to assume 
it would be.

Bruce
NJ

>>> sos at alum.mit.edu 3/7/2006 7:25:29 PM >>>

So a different question. Fibrous insulation can give off particulates
which aren't good for the lungs. How about ceramic balls, particularly
(I had to put it that way) home made ones? They're going to get a lot of
abrasion, being shovelled around all the time.

Steve
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