We all protect our breathing with a respirator and our hands with gloves but how many of us protect our eyes from chemical fumes? I wear goggles with a complete seal. As many of us already know, eyes soak up chemical fumes almost as fast as our lungs.
That’s why I always take mine out before glassing. Plus then I can say with a straight face that I didn’t see the air or the stuff on the order card. That’s a tip from a pro.
Very good point Liki,
we’ve been using full-face respirators for over five years now. I also sand, polish and am thinking I should shape with one as well. You can see a picture of the 3M respirator on our web site in the facility section…
I knew a fin guy (glass-on type) about 15 years ago who always complained that his eyes burned while finning. He had a typical respirator but no eye filtration. He had nasty pterygiums so I have to think that the styrene boiling off the fin patches along with the MEKP was not soothing to his eyes. Don’t know where he is now…
I have always hated wearing eye protection with the resperator, dose not fit well, and the goggles always fog up, then I end up taking them off.
Do you have any problems with the sheld fogging up on the full face?
Cody
It never fogs. The air in the eye chamber is filtered from the outside, then it is drawn into the nose/mouth chamber for breathing. Exhaust is out the lower front.
…FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT THING: the cartridges DO NOT “filter” some chemicals…
even brands like 3M or Moldex
i´d been problems with laquers; i investigate the chem components and the cartridges do not filter 2 of them: MIK(108-10-1) and n-butylacetate(123-86-4) for example.
CAUTION! -the 3M 6001 ONLY filter most of the organic vapors and a 1000ppm MAX…AND ONLY 5 or 10ppm MAX for severals…
-THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY affects the cartridge service life. These factories use 65% of RH…
Howzit PlusOne, Where do you get those respirators? With my cataract operation coming up I've been told that I can't lift any thing over 50 lbs for 2 weeks after the op and when I asked them when I could sand boards again they couldn't give me a direct answer. Those masks look like the answer to getting back in the sanding room quicker especially since we were told last night that staying in our house and keeping the shop is a done deal and I'm back in business. Aloha,Kokua
Hey Kokua, I don’t know about those respirators, but I’m stoked you get to stay in your house & shop 
As nice as back-up plans can be, there’s no place like home.
Howzit Benny, Amazing after all the BS we get to stay, and the new owners say they don't plan on moving into the house for probably about 15 years and even then they said they would move into the downstairs unit. It's going to cost us a little in rent but not all that much. We pay only $1200 a month now and it might go up to $1800 or only $1600 and we can live with that. When you consider where we live it's a good deal and when I think of people on the mainland paying that much or more to live way inland,we are especially lucky. I knew we were in there when I took the owners out to the shop and they wentt GaGa over the boards. One of the owners is the cousin of Megan Abubo from the womens pro circuit and I 'v e known their family for over 30 some years. Aloha,Kokua
Kokua,
That’s really great news! Since it looks like you’ll be around for awhile, how about getting together in October? My wife and her two brothers and I will be in Kauai Sept 30- Oct 8th. We’ll be staying in Koloa but I can think of several good reasons to head up to Hanalei. Would also like to meet up with Ambrose and anyone else that’s available at that time.
Howzit SrPato,Good time of the year to visit since good chance of surf on all sides of the island. Should be here but I have a round trip ticket that I need to use but since it’s an airmiles ticket I can change the dates for up to 2 years so I’ll probably be around. Also my shoulder has been improving and am looking forward to getting back in the water after almost 2 years of pain and limited movement. Keep in touch and we will defintely hook up.Aloha,Kokua
hey kokua i sell the full face in my store in ventura 3m 6000 series for about a 100 buckets if you can’t find one in the island i can send you one later scott larese foam fins and fiberglass ventura ca
Sounds good Kokua,
I’ll post a thread around the end of August and see who’s up for a surf and a few stories.
P.S. Sorry to all for the hijacking. 
Hey Kokua,
they sell them here in SD at the Home Depot. Last check was $110. I also know that they are available at a place called Safety West which supplies us with some equipment, such as replacement parts on the masks. I’ve been using the full face mask for many years and would never sand a board with my eyes exposed even in our full-flow sanding room.
About 15 years ago, I had a doctor give me an eye exam where he put special dye in my eye and looked at it with a (UV?) light. First thing he asked was do you work with fiberglass? He saw the same thing in guys who work in the boat yards. The eyes get micro scratches which my guess is that it can’'t be good…
…on the up side the doctor said the eyes heal very quickly. Gee, thanks.
HTH
George