Sawmills and dust.

[Dave Shepard]

I saw mostly pine at our mill, but have been sawing some white oak lately. I have noticed that I have a bad reaction to oak sawdust (red and white). I have not been bothered by any of the other hardwoods I have sawn, like cherry, beech, hickory, maple etc. I would like to get some opinions on which types of sawdust are the worst, and what is the best way to deal with it. I know that not inhaling any sawdust is best, but this isn't always possible. I wore a paper dust mask today, and didn't have any bad reactions to the oak dust. Thanks.


Dave

[Kevin]

Dave, I have the same problem with basswood and cedar.
I wear a good dust mask with the filters.

[Jeff]

I have major reactions to Ash and Very Dry Hard Maple.

[Dave Shepard]

I have been adding things up, and I only seem to be bothered during/right after a cold. I deceloped a cough last thanksgiving that lasted until march, and the dust was always a problem. Last week, I got another killer head/chest cold, and now the dust is bothering again. When I get these coughs going it is so bad that after a couple of days it hurts right down to my toenails when I even think about coughing. Ever since that bout with killer pnuemonia I haven't been so cold resistant. :(


Dave

[Don P]

I've been working alot of kd red oak in a garage and definitely feel it. Western redcedar is the worst for me, nosebleeds, hack, the whole nine yards. I built the sauna last week and was glad to get outta that little room. Homeowners always comment on the lovely smell, I just bite my tongue, every other critter knows that smell is poison, we love it, sumthin wrong here  :D

[Ron Wenrich]

Black locust is some of the worst we get into.  Its real fine, usually dry, and has an irritant in it.  Glad I have a booth.  Ash can make a fine dust, as well.

They say to watch out for spalted wood.  The fungus in the wood can get into your lungs. 

[Corley5]

Sugar maple with spalt plugs me up with cold like symptoms.  Dry white cedar isn't pleasant either

[OneWithWood]

A good mask with filters will do a lot for keeping the milling fun.

[DWM II]

An older sawyer friend turned me on to surgical face masks. They are not hot to wear in the summer and fit better than the molded type paper mask.
Any oak dust seems to bother me as well, it kinda gets caught right there in what feels like my lungs .

[thedeeredude]

Are there any masks that dont fog up glasses or safety glasses?  I have a filter type now which advertised not to fog up your lenses but it does anyway so I dont wear it.  Ive tried the paper masks with a valve and they still fog up.  Last night I was cutting some yellow pine ply on the tablesaw with no mask and my nose was running like a banshee.

[logwalker]

There are some that have a foam piece on the top of the mask to keep the air going down as you exhale. Or you could glue on an additional piece of foam. I use ski goggles when it gets windy. Joe