[TheForge] beards and masks

[Hufford, David]

I have a full beard, and I use one of those battery-powered filter face shields.  It has disposable filters and works great with a beard.  It's probably not 100% efficient, but is excellent for dust and particulates.  Actually, I've used a fume respirator and, in my experience, does a good job despite the beard.  Granted, you don't get an airtight seal, but 90% protection is better than none.
David Hufford
Richmond KY


-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of lee robbins
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 2:30 PM
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [TheForge] beards and masks


I need to ask this question before I shave. I wear a
respirator when
I'm grinding, so as to minimize the amount of metal
dust I inhale,
but I have a beard that interferes with the
effectiveness of the
mask. The guy at my local Safety Store told me in no
uncertain terms,
"If you don't shave the beard off, the mask will never
work
properly," which is what I was noticing while wearing
it. He told me
that there is no respirator that works on guys with
beards... they
all need skin contact.

Does anyone out there have a beard and wear a
respirator effectively?
And if so, how did you do it? Did you fill your beard
with vaseline?
Did you shave a silly looking thin line wear the mask
can rest on
your skin?

Mark Novak

Mark,
my first consciousness of self contained breathing
apparatus came when they insisted on wearing TB masks
in hospital. THose with a beard were not permitted to
use the masks since there was no way they could get
the desired seal and they had to either shave or get a
self contained breathing apparatus. If you have a
small goatee you might be able to get a seal but a
full beard cannot get a good seal for small
particulates.

Lee


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