Should have posted here rather than getting started from…my bad
Tool Grinding dust. Is this still a real health concern if I just wear a n90 mask when grinding/sharpening lathe tools? Black dust still gets all over the workbench and nearby. I’m using a Sorby ProEdge. (linisher -belt sander type sharpener)
I hook magnets all around my grinder, picks up a lot of dust but still get lots of dust all over. If you're grinding a tool wearing a mask great. If you shut off the grinder and then take off the mask, realistically you're breathing in the finer metal particles....
I'm not familiar with the ProEdge but if the dust is black and the belt isn't, it's prob fine steel. I get a lot from CBN wheels and with a strong light and a dark background I can see it floating the air around the room. I even found fine black dust on magnets stuck on the backside of my bandsaw cabinet, the side away from the grinder, over 10' away - proof the dust floats well, maybe like pollen, and probably all around the room. I am primarily using 600grit CBN so maybe the dust from mine is finer than some.
Last time I checked I still wasn't a pulmonary doctor or researcher but my guess is it might not be beneficial for the lungs. (Unless maybe it rusted quickly and the iron entered the bloodstream and enriched the blood! Somebody quick, do a study...)
I like the 3M half-mask industrial respirators, also available from Home Depot (or used to be). The 7000 series are softer and more comfortable. Price was $10 cheaper for the last one I got, a year ago - oh well.)
I use the pink P100 particle filters which are better than the N95 masks, and the respirator fits and seals far better than a typical mask. But I suspect the dust mask would be better than nothing.
One
huge FIRE caution about magnets: my experience: A lot of people use magnets near or below their grinders. Some put them in plastic bags to make them easier to clean off the black steel particles. I mounted a strong super magnet just below a CBN wheel and it immediately started picking up black dust and eventually accumulated enough to make a fuzzy ball around the magnet. We all know, if watching closely, a CBN does throw an occasional tiny spark. Well, one of those tiny sparks must have found it's way
just right (or wrong) into the fuzzy ball of steel dust. I happened to look down and saw an orange glow deep inside the fuzz. Any kid who's ever played with taking a match or torch to fine steel wool knows how well it burns.
The steel dust on the magnet had ignited and was forming a ball of molten steel inside. I scooped up the magnet and took it outside.
I still use the magnet but keep it cleaned off better. The grinder was on a stainless steel table but I have it and a Oneway Wolverine mounted to a piece of plywood on top the table. Hate to burn the shop down by sharpening lathe tools!
JKJ
