Wood dust precautions for hand tools?

[Matthew Wright]

I've been reading all the scary threads about wood dust toxicity. Perhaps unfairly, I have assumed that these concerns arise primarily when using power tools. It seems obvious that scraping or planing a surface will produce less dust than using a powered (or even a hand-powered) sander, but I honestly do not know whether hand-sawing and hand-planing produces less dust than the electric versions of those same operations (in the latter case using a jointer/planer. As stated above, it's got to be better than sanding.)

I sort of assumed the galoot tasks make less scary dust, but I'm not sure why. Because there is less overall cutting and planing? Because they aren't moving as quickly so fewer fibers are pulverized?

As I stated in a previous post, I'm new at this. I work in an attached garage. I haven't installed any dust-control measures other than a broom. I recently ripped a nominal 1" x 12" board to a nominal 1x4" width on the TS and I was surprised at how "smoky" the garage seemed to be. I smelled in all the right places and decided that it was probably just suspended wood dust.

(1) Would the same operation with a rip saw or frame saw/bow saw create the same amount of suspended dust?

(2) For this or other hand-tool operations, do you take any precautions against breathing wood dust?

I have an amusing mental picture of someone affixing a cyclone machine to a dust hood suspended over their planing or sawing bench. Despite the great potential for chindogu, I'd seriously like to know (a) whether more hand tools mean less lung damage, and (b) whether the same respiratory protections should be taken with a hand saw or hand plane.

Thanks in advance.

[Preston Baxter]

I sort of assumed the galoot tasks make less scary dust, but I'm not sure why. Because there is less overall cutting and planing? Because they aren't moving as quickly so fewer fibers are pulverized?

With cutting tools, the chip size is determined by the feed rate per tooth. Suppose one stroke of a handsaw cuts (or feeds in machinery terms) 1" deep. The same block of wood fed 1" through a powered circular saw may be cut thousands of more times over the same distance, so the same volume of resulting dust is much finer with the power tool.

The only stationary woodworking power tool I have is a bandsaw. I have a bag type dust collector connected to it, but this does not filter out the microscopic dust that is harmful. I start sneezing real bad when sawing hardwoods, so I know the collector is not adequate. It always leaves a thin film of dust on everything in the room as well. The dust collector may just be making things worse by blowing the dust all around that would otherwise stay near the saw.

I've started to just open the garage door and vent the dust outside whenever I use it. I'm seriously considering selling the bandsaw and building a big framesaw to do ripping and re-sawing by hand. The dust from hand sawing doesn't seem to bother me since it is coarser, at least I don't sneeze like I do with the bandsaw..

[Richard Magbanua]

Hey Matthew,
I'll take a stab at it since woodworking hasn't been on my list of activities lately.

I think it more a matter of particle size. Power tools operate at a much higher RPM than hand tools. This creates more cuts in material per square inch, depending on how fast something is fed into a blade. The smaller the particles, the easier it is to be suspended in air which eventually will be inhaled into our lungs. Also, power tool tend to create a lot of air flow in the process.
Hand tools create larger particles such as shavings and chips which are more likely to end up on the garage floor, needing a strong breeze to get air borne. I would imagine inhaling a shaving would take some effort to get past you nostrils. Hand tools do create fine dust especially if you sand here and there, or when you're sawing with a fine saw like a dovetail saw. This dust usually falls to the work bench or floor and stays there waiting for the shop vac or dust pan. A hand saw usually doesn't create any air flow like a spinning table saw blade does. If it does then you're a stud. You do have to be careful when you use a vac or broom because you can kick up some dust that way.
Unfortunately, my hand tool dust problems stem from not being used in a few weeks.
If you're having problems with dust in the garage you should try to saw outside or wear a mask until it clears out.
BTW, I check the Deals and Discounts post on the Harbor Freight dust collector coupon. I hear they're offering a really good deal. You may need a finer set of collection bags for the garage though but it's a good start.

Take care!

[Tom Henderson2]

Most hand tools produce chips, not dust. They are large and heavy, falling to the floor and aren't suspended in the air like the fine dust created by many power tools.

Or to put it another way, you can't inhale chips the way you can fine dust.

Even when dust is created (scraping, in some circumstances) it just lays on the board or bench and isn't propelled into the air like you see with power tools.

BUT -- sanding is the worst offender for creating fine dust, and while you will usually do much, much less sanding on a handtool project than a power tool project, often you will do some sanding and so you'll get some dust.

As an hobbiest who only works with wood a few hours a month (if that) I'm not too worried about the health issues associated with woodworking dust. If I worked with wood all day, every day, I might be more concerned, but for the low levels of exposure I see it just I don't percieve the risks to be very significant compared to the risks I take driving my car, being a bit overweight, etc.

My $0.02.

-TH

[Sam Takeuchi]

There are some wood species that produce quite a bit of dust even if you use hand tools. Ebony is pretty dusty even when planing. If you blow your nose afterward, you'll see quite a bit of black gunk that were stuck up your nose. Probably a lot of it go into lungs as well.

I use a mask (not that cheap 3M paper kind, but a cartridge filter kind) when planing. It's a precaution. I feel ok without a mask now, but the last thing I need is developing some sort of ailment from what I love to do. Once you get used to using a mask, it's not really that annoying. It becomes a second nature.

While it's not essential, I use gloves as well. Mostly to keep my hands clean and not get materials to have dirty stains from my fingers. While I may not be allergic to the materials I work on (so far), ebony and rosewood dust make my hands feel a bit dry for some reason.

You don't lose anything by using a mask aside from a few seconds to put it on, but I think the gain is heaps more.

[Lon Crosby]

First, read the information on the dangers of wood dust on Bill Benz’s site http://billpentz.com//woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm. There are two issues for woodworkers – contact hazard and inhalation hazard. Woodworkers with contact sensitivity typically wear HEPA filtered air helmets. The inhalation hazard is all due to dust between 0.5 and 5.0 microns in size. This size of particle gets physically trapped in the lungs during respiration. Smaller particles blow in and out without getting trapped; and larger particles get trapped by the mucous membranes in the nose and throat before they ever get to the lungs. That "black stuff" in your nose isn't an inhalation risk but could be a sensitivity (allergy) risk. Particles in the hazardous size range are too small to be seen by the naked eye – which makes comments by people such as (my air looks cleaner) absolutely meaningless. Particles in the hazardous size range are considered to be permanent, additive trapping which is why they are a long-term health risk. .

There is a true Laser Particle Counter (developed for home use) to measure dust particles in 2 size ranges (0.5 to 2.5 microns and >2.5 microns) http://www.dylosproducts.com/ It was developed for use by individuals with asthma. If you buy this and use it, be ready for surprises. Your house may be dustier than your wood shop. A spotless house may be very dirty for respirable dust; and dirty house can be very clean for respirable dust. The only way to know is to physically measure particle concentration in the hazardous size range.

Common dust masks are worthless because they don't filter particles in the hazardous range size. A cartridge mask may or may not filter down to this level. In both cases, check the specifications.

[george wilson]

The 18th.C. cabinet makers usually died of lung cancer. I wonder how the Williamsburg cabinet makers will end up. Mack Headly is pretty obsessive about always working.I knew an old German musical instrument maker who worked for a large importer of instruments. He always had to true up cello ebony fingerboards brought in from overseas. They'ed warp. He looked like a coal miner by the end of the day. He was working by hand.

Now they've decided that ALL wood dust is carcinogenic,I heard somewhere. Just about everything I've used was carcinogenic years ago. Rosewood,ebony,mahogany,boxwood,etc..

[Julian Nicks]

Well I can now guess my ultimate fate short of being in a fatal accident. I might think about a better dust collection system than my old canvas bag delta system now......

[Matthew Wright]

Lon,

I'm not sure I follow you. You're saying that hand tools produce just as much dust in the danger range? Or you're saying everyone should go out and buy that laser particle counter, even if they aren't using power tools?

Sorry if I'm dense,

Matthew

[James Scheffler]

Common dust masks are worthless because they don't filter particles in the hazardous range size. A cartridge mask may or may not filter down to this level. In both cases, check the specifications.

A cartridge-type respirator with N100 particulate filters will reliably filter out particules down to a fraction of a micron (I think around 0.3 micron). The N in N100 stands for NIOSH. This will make a major reduction in risk from breathing particulates. Go with N100. The N95 filters aren't much help, IMHO.

Everyone should be aware that the respirator must fit well to achieve this level of filtration, because the contaminated air can be drawn through leaks where your skin contacts the mask. That's one reason why cheap dust masks are useless.

Pro safety equipment suppliers can do a "fit test" to ensure you have the right size. I did it a few years ago, and the fit test, good-quality respirator (half-face type), and cartidges together were something like $80. Not a bad investment to protect your lungs.

You can also buy organic vapor cartridges to protect you from finishing chemicals.

It's worth it....

Jim

[Jonathan McCullough]

I've become sensitive to the sawdust in my garage shop, and recall seeing a diy dust filter on instructables.com -- basically, a guy just took an old fan, enclosed it in a box (in his case a cardboard box, but I'm sure we could do better), and put common air filters in either end. He got these from the local big box store. Don't see why it wouldn't work, and those filters go down to pretty small particle levels.

[Lon Crosby]

Matthew,
I would guess that most hand tool operation (hand saws, planes, auger bits, chisels, scrapers, foot powered lathe, etc.) produce very little hazardous dust in the 0.5 to 5.0 micron range. (for the reasons others detailed.) But have never measured it. Sanding could be another story as might shops with dogs, cats or dirt floors. An open air neander shop along a gravel road has more to fear from the gravel road.

[george wilson]

Sanding,rasping,and scraping produce small dust. Actually,planing on some woods can also make some wood dust.

Any dust I make now,I have a shuttered exhaust fan at the back wall of my woodworking machine area. The fan is next to the filter of my dust collector. It gets anything that leaks out of the dust collector. I also have a drop with 4" flexible hose,and a sheet steel 4" X 8" collector with a grate in it to not pick up small tools,etc,mounted over my bench. I can put it wherever I need it.

Sometimes I take the throat plate out of my table saw,and sand next to it. Pretty effective.

[Hong Le]

I usually wear a mask when i use a japanese or dovetail saw, the fine dust it makes had me concerned.

[Will Brauneis]

I don't find dust to really be an issue when working with hand tools. Hand planes make large chips that just fall to the ground and the minuscule amount of dust they do make is still larger than sanding dust and it isn't getting blown around the shop because it doesn't have the large volume of air movement an electric tool has. Probably the finest dust is made by my dovetail saw but compared to sanding dust it is still quite large and granular and it just falls to the ground. I rarely ever sand now that Ive discovered the cabinet scraper and when i do i make sure to wear a mask. Not to say that hand tools cant make dangerous dust but it just cant be the same risk or at the same level as power tools, you probaly inhale much worse stuff sitting at a stop light (brake pad dust, rubber dust, car exhaust). My only concern is my dust collector. It has a 1 micron bag on it and I'm wondering whether it is catching enough dust since .5 is dangerous. The only two power tools i have in my shop are a band saw and a planer and they aren't used very much but I'm still concerned about the dust exposure. What can i do about this are there finer bags i can buy?

It seems to me that there is some risk while using hand tools but it isnt near the problem that using power tools creates.

but thats just my 2 cents