Wood/dust allergies questions and how to prevent/lessen them....

[Doug W Swanson]

Thanks for the input. The DC I have is a PSI 2hp model with 1 micron bags. I have a port behind my lathe but I may have to make some adjustments to it.

I've also go a separate air filter but I figured most of the dust was being sucked into the DC. I will have to move the air filter and give it a shot....

Thanks again for the great suggestions!

[Christopher Stahl]

Doug, I'm very sensitive to wood dust amongst other things. I get flu like symptoms, can't breathe and my throat feels like I ate a spoonful of sand. Gets bad quick. I've worked hard to catch every ounce of wood dust I can. I use a 3M Clearvisor Adflo PAPR, an Oneida Dust Gorilla, Jet AFS-1000 Air Filtration System, and dust collection to everything that creates dust including the lathe. Most of my power tools are Festool with a CT22 Dust Extractor. I have a lot of cool equipment now, but I have most of it because of my health.

For the lathe, I use a PVC pipe that is horizontal to the the work. I stole this idea from Larry Steele at AWFS. Sure it wasn't his idea, but the first time I've seen it. The pipe is about 3 feet long that is has a tee to the dust hose. Then the top has two doors on hinges that lift up. Just open the section that you need open or you could open them both. Very simple and very effective.

The best thing you can do is buy yourself a good respirator. People mentioned the Trend Airshield and 3M Airstream. I use the Clearvisor Adflo, but I own the 3M Airstream and used to own a Trend Airshield. If you look in some older posts, you'll find my review of all 3. The Trend was just not comfortable for me which is why I jumped to the Airstream. The Airstream is a very good unit and what I would recommend. If you have the money, then the Clearvisor Adflo is the way to go. It's very expensive but I have not ever felt I wasted money, especially when it comes to my health and comfort.

Believe me, get a respirator. Then get some dust collection for that lathe.