Dust Control

[brinyar]

What do you guys do to control leather dust? I'm slowly getting over a sinus infection that leather dust may have caused. I usually use a shop vac to collect the dust as I sand the edges of a holster, and have taken to lightly wetting the edges as I sand. I'm not sure there is much more I can do, but I have been looking at dust collection systems that woodworkers use. Does anybody use anything like that? I would like to do more than I am doing now because sinus infections really, really suck.

[Denise]

If you really want to learn more about dust control than you ever thought was possible, here is a site to start with. http://www.billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/DCBasics.cfm That is his "Basics" page and it goes from there, but there is some good information on the type of dust that is most dangerous and why most of the hobby type dust connection systems don't really work that well. Most of it applies to larger machines and more dust than sanding a holster would make, but the principles are the same.

[gtwister09]

Ditto to what Denise said about Bill's site. I have a few books on the subject and Bill's information is top notch and generally better researched and better covered than what is in the books. As a side note, Bill's designs are being snatched up by the cyclone makers to make their systems SUBSTANTIALLY better.

I bought a 0.5 micron system dust collection system and added a small cyclone attachment to it to keep the chips out of the bags. I also bought an air filtration system that takes it down to 1 micron and will make 30 air changes an hour in a 20X30 room. After reading Bill's information I would have done things differently 7 years ago.

As for your shop vac....sorry once you read this information you will see their inadequcy for maintaining air quality. They are decent at removing material. However, they are better than nothing.

On another note you could also look at one of the airshield/respirators for your face like Trend, Triton or others have.

Regards,

Ben

[BOOMSTICKHolsters]

Hey Brinyar. I'm not gonna pretend to know half as much as these guys about dust collection. I plan to use one of the collection systems from Grizzly (which is here in MO) when/if I ever get a shop built. My priority is to keep my products clean and dust free to avoid any issues with scratching or imprinting, and to keep dust out of the finish. I will most definitely look into the information above, and I might possibly change my priorities accordingly. Sinus infections most definitely suck! Hope you're doing better.

[TXKev]

What do you guys do to control leather dust? I'm slowly getting over a sinus infection that leather dust may have caused. I usually use a shop vac to collect the dust as I sand the edges of a holster, and have taken to lightly wetting the edges as I sand. I'm not sure there is much more I can do, but I have been looking at dust collection systems that woodworkers use. Does anybody use anything like that? I would like to do more than I am doing now because sinus infections really, really suck.

Just joined the forum and getting into leatherwork. But I used to do a lot of wood working. When I would use my lathe or sander, I would always wear a dust mask. You can get them cheap at lowes or home Depot and it worked well for me. I haven't done much with leather yet, but it could not be much worse than some of the exotic hardwoods I used to work with. It won't keep the shop clean, but it will keep the dust out of your nose.

Kev

[brinyar]

Thanks for the info everyone, and thanks for that link, Denise. It is very helpful. I think my shop vac would be considered a dust pump, according to that information. The $165-$300 dust collection systems at Grizzly were what I was looking at, but after reading a bit I think I'll have to save more money for a better system. I need to get busy and form a business to pay for all this stuff....

[Denise]

You're welcome. We bit the bullet, expanded the shop and put in a Clear Vue Cyclone set up 1 1/2 years ago and have been very happy with the results. But then we do wood work full time. After 10 years of living in dust, this is such a relief. And the house is cleaner too because it doesn't come in on our clothes in the same way.

[barra]

From OCC health and safety lectures. No dust is good dust.

Barra

[Lobo]

You are on the right track by wetting the items prior to sanding. I saturate everything thoroughly and when on the sander there is no dust, just a pile of damp muck that is easy to clean up. This also raises a ridged edge that, when dried, can be easily cut off cleanly using the edge beveler.

Another benefit is that wet-sanding imparts a burnishing effect to the edges, so final burnishing is easily done.

Avoid that dust! It will ruin your lungs.

[Shorts]

I also dampen the edges I am sanding out. After months of dusty conditions I finally stumbled upon that great idea but the dusting damage was done lol

Aside from the Dremel sander, I go through a series of finer grits to finishing smoothing the edge for burnishing. I wear a dust mask when I do this and it's helped keep things out of the sinuses. Mine get agitated in those conditions as well.