dust. the gift that keeps giving!
No Escape
As you might expect the activity of chainsaw carving can be very dusty and no matter what I do, it just can’t be escaped. The Health and Safety Executive are obviously low on funds just now as they’ve been targeting wood working establishments quite hard over the last few years (a bit like when a speed camera appears and they say it’s a speed reducing measure and nothing at all to do with generating money! In my humble opinion I might add.) Obviously I have to consider the impact of dust on my health as I get older and given both my dad, an electronic engineer and my uncle, a carpenter, both suffered with lung conditions which can be associated with dust, it’s probably not looking good for me.
Sook it up!
Now if you work in a machine shop it’s actually quite easy to remove almost all exposure to dust simply through extraction. Most dust producing machines and power tools now have facilities for attaching vacuums either as a portable type like you might vacuum your carpet or by a much bigger network spread around your workshop. These options just are not practical when using most of the tools I work with. Chainsaws will violently throw larger chips in any direction depending on exactly which part of the guidebar is in contact with the wood. There’s such a volume of turbulent air around the tool that the fine dust which is also being created, fills the atmosphere, and that’s before you consider the natural breeze. The rotary tools I have work in a similar nature and when carving ice, you can actually work the tools to spray the audience or to catch that stylish photo opportunity. I have in a box somewhere, a brush attachment for an angle grinder that engulfs the head in bristles and allows for a vacuum to be attached. It actually works quite well if you’re sanding a flat surface but anything else is a waste of time. The only tools where this does work on are my belt and palm sanders which are also only used for sanding flat surfaces.
So what are the other options? If I can’t extract dust at the tool directly, can I extract it in the vicinity? For example, a wood turner night have a larger vacuum placed near to the area they are working and any dust that is produced will hopefully be within the vacuums line of suction, and it will be carried away. Now given the sizes of the pieces I work on, the directional variations and the sheer volume of dust being created, this is not really practical and any mad professor style creation would be so expensive it’s not going to be economical.
Last line of defence
The last option is defence of my lungs, in other words wearing a dust mask. That in itself is a problem when the task itself is so physical and sweaty. In case you hadn’t noticed, I have more hair on my face than on my head so this means that a decent quality face fitted mask will not seal round my skin and perform the job as intended. The other option is for an air fed mask which instead blows pre filtered air in what’s know as an “air wash “ I’ve had one of these style masks for 10 years and more and although it offers some protection against dust, there’s still a few draw backs. It can be very warm and sweaty which can then lead to a smelly mask which is difficult to clean. It is a bit bulky and I often bump my head off things when I’m working simply because the pump motor and filters stick out beyond my sight line. It’s also quite easy to spray the visor with dust which then means you can’t see out. There’s also some compatibility issues with wearing ear protection.
I also argue that this is a short term solution to a long term problem. Yes it dramatically reduces the dust I breath in when I’m working but it only works when I’m wearing it. Dust follows me everywhere! My body and cloths get covered. Which then gets transported on. It covers my van interior. Then every surface in my house. Just combing out my beard in the bathroom leaves a reasonable layer of dust in the sink. It’s a never ending battle to chase the dust. Even my washed and dried work cloths tend to get a half hour in the tumble dryer just to remove more of the dust.
knowledge is power
I recently bought a dust monitoring device just out of interest after speaking with a couple of miller’s from the Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers were visited by HSE and had orders for improvements placed upon them. What I concluded is that chainsaws produce very directional material that tends to clear reasonably quickly. Sanding and grinding tools tend to fill the vicinity and takes a bit long to clear. What really shocked me is what happens when I spray stains and oils! These particles are so much finer and the readings go off the chart almost instantly and stay very high for a very long time after, even though it’s not visible.
This type of hazard jumps the protection factor up another level and with that, the cost of the protective equipment. Ideally I’d like some kind of gridded floor where dust can drop away combined with fans and vacuums above. And if I could get one of those biohazard walk in sterilising booths things like you see in films, I could walk away dust free and happy!