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Author Topic: Is that the taste of rock dust?  (Read 11497 times)

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R.U. Sirius

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Is that the taste of rock dust?
« on: May 14, 2023, 09:06:11 AM »

As I pointed out in another post in this section of the forum, my local club shop often reads over 100 ug/m^3 of respirable dust.

I wear a N95 mask rated for water mist exposure, and make sure the wheels are sufficiently wet while grinding.

There is also visible oil mist whenever slab saw lids are opened (despite always waiting a few minutes - we really should have small recirculating coalescing filters attached to slab saws, and operated briefly before opening the lid - but that's a different topic).

I noticed that every time I consistently end up with this distinct feeling as if I burnt my tongue and mouth with a big sip of hot coffee. It lasts for a few hours after leaving the shop. Has anyone experienced the same sensation while cutting and grinding?
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55fossil

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Re: Is that the taste of rock dust?
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2023, 06:26:09 PM »

    While I have never had any taste or such like that, it is good you mention these shop dangers. What I key in on is my counter tops. I use only wet belts and grinders in my shop. My equipment is always getting covered with dust which comes from the mist off my machines. So that means it is in the air and I am breathing this dust in the moist air off the grinding wheels and belts. These are all freshwater systems that do not recirculate water or use bubblers. So, even with freshwater supplies there is still some dust from the rocks getting in my air so I still use a mask.
   Just trying to live long enough to spend some of my retirement savings before the Feds try and get what little is left.
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lithicbeads

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Re: Is that the taste of rock dust?
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2023, 01:49:49 PM »

A friend has a room with dozens of 24 inch saws and he has a mist evacuation system that draws the mist out of the saw and expels it from the building. His vibe tumble room has dozens of tumblers and he never uses water so the dust is beyond comprehension. When he built his factory he used hi tec fire prevention systems but he did not puimb it , he has no water connection despite hundreds of dust creating  machines. One visit was enough for me. I would say the oil mist may well be your problem as people often have varied strong reactions to saw mist.
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R.U. Sirius

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Re: Is that the taste of rock dust?
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2023, 11:06:22 AM »

Interesting! Are the oil mist ventilation conduits connected directly to the saw housings, or do air intakes just sit close by to harvest whatever is in the air around the saws?
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lithicbeads

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Re: Is that the taste of rock dust?
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2023, 12:43:13 PM »

They are on the top of the hood and are only used after the mist has had some time to settle. He has saws up to 9 foot blades and has had explosions with those so he is careful with the normal sized saws and has very hi tec fire suppression systems for the enormous saws.
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irockhound

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Re: Is that the taste of rock dust?
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2023, 09:57:29 PM »

Not for the grinding dust as that is a known problem even with water and I don't have a setup other than a fan blowing across my work area and wear a mask when grinding but I had mentioned in an old post about the oil mists.  I put curtain rods in a U shape around my oil saws and then hung shower curtains to the floor that I can pull open when needing to get to the saws and closed when running.  I then put an exhaust fan in the wall behind the saws that has a gravity door on it so critters can't get into the garage thru it but it opens when the fan is running.  Has drastically cut down on the mists in the enclosed space.
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