Dealing with dust

[LittleBen]

Hate to be that guy but,

1. Cut beard
2. Get respirator
3. Get shop vac

That's definately the easiest way, but I do understand wanting to keep the beard.

[osage outlaw]

Hate to be that guy but,

1. Cut beard
2. Get respirator
3. Get shop vac

That's definately the easiest way, but I do understand wanting to keep the beard.

Ha!  I'm going to bet #1 won't be happening. 

[Pat B]

I've had my beard for almost 48 years and have been building bows for almost 30 so you can forget #1 and #2. I have a shop vac.
 You get a lot of fine dust from scraping dry wood too.

[High-Desert]

I work with a lot of yew and I've had the same issue. I don't have a beard, but I should have been wearing a respirator much sooner than when I started. I bought a box fan and put a air filter on the intake side and put that near where I work, it does a pretty decent job of pulling the fine particles away and catching them in the filter. Not nearly as effective as a real filtration system, but helps substantially, and its cheap.

Eric

[Bryce]

I work out of a little shed, small, dusty and not ideal but it's what I've got.
The last while I've really been feeling the effects of dust, probably the yew.
I always do my sanding and real messy stuff outside in front of a fan, but in this craft, dust is a reality.
I don't have the option of a big fancy dust filtration system, and my beard prevents
a tight fit with most respirators.
Any advice from bearded bowyers out there?
Is there any respirator out there that's still effective with a beard?

Sometimes I just have the fan blowing out the window or the door to suck the dust out. Well that's what I did when I was working in a small shed

[shofu]

I have one of the furnace squirrel fans running on 110v with high cfm if you want you can have it.
G

[chamookman]

Use anything You can Gang. I sucked down a lot of bow dust (mostly Osage) over the years - now I have to deal with COPD. Yeah I smoked for many years, but I knew (felt) that Osage dust wasn't doing Me any favors. Doctors told Me it likely was a contributor along with the Smoking. So use even those cheap paper masks - gotta help ! My .02 - Bob.

[wizardgoat]

Thanks guys, lots of good suggestions I need to look into

[txdm]

Beards and respirators don't mix.

One could make their beard/mustache work as the respirator, though 

[PEARL DRUMS]

I put a $250 air filtration box on my ceiling, it made a massive difference. I still wear a mask full time.

[bubby]

[loefflerchuck]

I really got you thinking Ryan. Good post to bring to peoples attention. I work with mostly non toxic woods. I barley started to notice the effect of fine dust. We moved into a new house a few months ago and the garage is connected to the house. When the sun is shining through a window upstairs I can see the fine wood dust in the house. There is also a film on the window since last fall. That plus having a 3 and 4 year old in the house got me to spend whatever it costs to end the dust. I read all the revues and got a real dust sucker for the bandsaw for $150(My shop vac was not doing the job). I also got a powerful $380 air filtration system to end my worries. They should be arriving in the next couple days. I have always done most of my sanding outside and vacumed up as best I could, but I still have lots of dust from tillering with razor blades and 80 grit.

[mullet]

I've drilled Haz-mat for years and even the facemask bubby showed you need to be clean shaven. I have the fan blowing in my face for dust and keeping mosquitoes at bay, windows open and wear a good paper mask. It's too hot here for face masks except when i cut and grind bamboo. The micro fibres is like breathing fibre glass and it plays hell on your eyes.

[LittleBen]

I bought a hanging air filter from grizzly a few months back when they were on sale for $100. Makes a HUGE difference. I imagine that in a shed (my shop is in a 1200sqft basement) it would handle a lot of dust really fast.

[Hamish]

Trend Airshield Pro is what you are after my friend, it can be used with a beard. The only problem is they cost $350. But how much is your health worth? A lot more than $350  I would suggest.
 All wood dust is harmful, add the toxicity of yew and you are getting into dangerous territory.
I had serious dust issues, and wouldn't wish it on the worst person in the world, went on for months without a break. I had no beard and was only using a simple paper, nuisance level dust mask. If you would have handed me a gun I would have shot myself in the head, it was that bad.  Non stop sinus pain, headaches, post nasal drip that built up in my lungs, restricting my ability to breath, with pneumonia like symptoms. Dr said I was a hairs breath away from being hospitalised.

Better dust masks, and Nasal sinus rinse, and asthma puffer cleared up the problem. Alway careful now. You have to be careful with yew osage or tropical woods because you can build up a sensitivity to the toxins.