“pieces with mold on them but the boards all cleaned off beautifully with a single pass through the planner”
This was from Frenchy in another thread but it got me to thinking over coffee, as opposed to thinking somewhere else, about such little spore monsters in our shops. I’m sure that most of us have done this on our various sharp thingy set-ups with air dried wood and like most, MOST of the air goes into a DC System. Some remains airborne before it settles on machines, clothes, hair and air and into mouths — or is transferred there by virtue of touching the masks when removing them. I’m wondering how much of those with breathing problems are the result of sawdust and wood carcinogens and how many are the result of mold reactions. Has anyone ever seen any “woody” studies that would reflect this?
Maybe we now need a sterile cycle on our clean air returns. 🙂
A whole new industry!
Idle thoughts with the first cup of coffee. Two gray cells actually touched each other.
Boiler
Replies
A second cup of coffee may be beneficial. ;-)
"Two gray cells actually touched each other." Scary stuff, that. ;-)
Up here in the Great Northwest, I figure the mold spore concentration in ambient outside air is pretty darned high. However, that doesn't stop me from wearing a respirator when working spalted wood. Wicked dust from that.
Scraping a layer off some moldy non-spalted boards with a DC-connected planer doesn't worry me too much, though.
I'm up to 4 brain cells, half-way through the first cuppa.
Boiler,
Does this mean we'll need Dust collection for sanding blocks and hand tools too?
I'd be happy to get rid of the slugs that are eating my potato plants! We haven't had two consecutive sunny days all summer long. I'd work outside in a good wind but would prolly get all wet.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 8/6/2009 9:44 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
I found a good control for the slugs. They are pretty sensitive and won't slither over rough surfaces. On individual plants, I cut a small hole and slit in old sanding discs and place them like a collar around the stalk. A mulch of coarse sand should work for larger areas. We've had the same weather, looking close on my lawn, I see a slug almost every square foot. Voracious little slime balls!Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
"I found a good control for the slugs." So have I -- called "scissors." ROFL!!
Nice thing is, the live ones feast on the divided one, rather than on the plants. Yuck factor's pretty big, but still......forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
The buggers come out at night and eat half the plant before you know it. Seems the baby ones eat as much as the adults. I guess conditions here in the Northeast have been perfect for them this year. Once I put down the sandpaper, they left my stuff alone. I like a nonviolent, no work solution, other remedies were only partially successful.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I love the sandpaper idea, and will definitely try it next year when plants are emerging. Poor Nick, he planted his veggie garden this year with high hopes, but there's a deer (or two) in the neighborhood. Last year, they only ate the beans, this year, added tomatoes, squash and zucchinin to their menu. I think next year, it'll be tall-fence time.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Bob,Sanding block collection....now there is another great idea. Have to call Ron Popeil. Maybe battery powered with a wrist attachment.
If you have pets, try Sluggo. works great and pet safe but so does a copper strip around your planters, or some cheap (right!) copper foil with a hole in in it around the potato plant. Galvanic...slugs won't cross it. Fries their little slimers. Made a mistake with the tomatoes-didn't add bone meal in ground. Added later on top. Slimers love it. The base of the tomatoes are all wiggling now. Jar lid with beer works great too, gets the little buggers drunk and then they go into turbo shock.
We've had two consecutive days of sun here. Every time it hits mid 90s in the Willamette Valley, the big pond gives us fog here on the coast. A Stephen King thing I think.
Busy trying to unbend a potato chip. It was three glued up big leaf maple planks for drawer bottoms before a new door went onto the shop. Five hours of open coast weather was all it took on the thin stock.
Maybe I'll just add salt.later
Boiler
Boilerbay,
Dust is a minimization game. Dust collection w/ 1 micron filter, air cleaner, N95 dust mask and cleaning up settled dust is about the best you can do, short of giving up woodworking.
I sold my big tools several years ago, I do smaller projects, and use more hand tools. My buddy has a garage full of Powermatics, and premium beer / tool sharpening is the payment required to use a stocked shop. Crafty me - I pay to make dust in someone else's garage! (Does "problem redirected" count the same as "problem resolved?")
Cheers,
Seth
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