[TheForge] beards and masks

[rsmuck]

Jerry you always seem to come up with a good common sense answer to most 
questions!!
Rowland Smuck/Schmuck of Roseburg, OR 97470 USA
www.Schmuckname.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerry Frost" <akfrosty at mtaonline.net>
To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 1:44 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] beards and masks


> There is a certain amount of common sense to apply to this question too. 
> As Dave and a few others say, a mask works well enough in spite of their 
> beards. I have the 3M Whitecap II supplied air helmet because I was 
> welding some pretty toxic stuff and painting with epoxy paint at the time. 
> The helmet solved any fume, vapor, dust, anything else problem for me.
>
> For general shop work however, I hardly ever broke out the supplied air 
> system. In my new shop it'll be even less necessary with it's downdraft 
> exhaust system, purpose designed cutting and welding tables and such. The 
> biggest concern is going to be CO from the propane forge and a filter mask 
> isn't going to do much good against CO. For that there are meters.
>
> So a person needs to determine a few things to decide on appropriate 
> protection:
>
> First I think is personal susceptibility. This is an arbitrary starting 
> point, I just picked it I don't think it's necessarily more important than 
> other factors.
>
> Second would be toxicity.
>
> Third would be pervasiveness.
>
> I'm not sure what to call it but this is the tendency of a particular 
> material to defeat protection. For instance steel grinding dust isn't 
> particularly invasive, a little distance and it settles right out of the 
> air so a simple dust filter will stop it. At the far end of the spectrum 
> would be something like flourene vapor. (to pick something REALLY nasty) 
> This will absorb through your skin is persistantly toxic and requires 
> something on the level of a class 3 or 4 MOP suit or greater. (just 
> guessing about the MOP suit)
>
> I picked up my supplied air helmet because the xylene in the epoxy paint 
> really effects me and the hard facing wire I was using has all kinds of 
> nasty metals in it, from arsenic to vanadium. I could've gotten away with 
> one of the fabric hood type supplied air systems for the welding but it 
> wasn't very adaptable to the painting. The helmet on the other hand works 
> wonderfully when used in conjunction with my one piece rain suit. It's 
> kind of like a dry suit but not quite.
>
> Lastly is wearability. In some cases the desire to protect onself from a 
> danger actually puts in at greater risk. As you increase your armor you 
> decrease your mobility, visibility, sensitivity to your surroundings and 
> so on. How many times has the question of gloves or no gloves been 
> discussed?
>
> On one side you're more protected from burns but on the other your risk of 
> putting yourself in a position to be burned goes up due to insensitivity 
> and relaxed awareness.
>
> Believe me, when I was suited up to hardface auger you could've snuck up 
> on me in a Harrier. I had to take special precautions to make the area 
> clear of trip hazards, keep the augers racked so I could load and unload 
> them. There were all kinds of special precautions I had to take, 
> especially if anyone else was in the shop. Others there was such a pain I 
> made a point of not hardfacing if anyone else was around.
>
> Anyway, it's a judgement call. You probably won't need a space suit but 
> keeping as much crud out of your system as you safely can is really good.
>
> Frosty
> -------------------------------
> If it ain't forged
> it ain't real.
> Wrought iron is.
> The FrostWorks
>
> Meadow Lakes, AK.
>
>
> From: "Hufford, David" <David.Hufford at EKU.EDU>
>
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
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