Hi,
I recently started me first glassing job and i realized that after 10 minutes into it, I could smell the resin through my respirator.
I purchased a respirator from Home Depot with air cartridges.
What kind of mask/respirator do you use for glassing and shaping?
Tom
Some one correct me if I’m wrong, but I just did some glassing w/no respirator, and I couldn’t smell a thing. I was using some sweet RR epoxy though!
Yeah - if you can smell it, you need a heavier duty one for sure. Play safe.
“I need all the friends I can get.” Charley Brown
respirators from HD / Lowe’s are just fine…they work well, but only if they fit you right. if you could smell the fumes through the respirator, then either the cartridges are no good, they weren’t installed properly, or (most likely) the respirator just doesn’t fit your face right. maybe it’s a little too big, or maybe the contours of your face just don’t agree with the respirator.
Hi,
I recently started me first glassing job and i realized that after 10 minutes into it, I could smell the resin through my respirator.
I purchased a respirator from Home Depot with air cartridges.
What kind of mask/respirator do you use for glassing and shaping?
Tom
Howzit!
I had the same problem.
The mask I had was no good, so I bought a M3 6000 and I’m glad I bought it. It was worth the money,
considering the health risks involved in dealing with polyester resin. They are comfortable to wear too and as far as I’m concerned they are industrial standard.
Hope this helps
The first glassing I did, I did with no respirator or any other mask…DUH!
My Missus caught me at it and gave me serious grief and insisted that I buy one. The one I bought I too could smell resin through it until I shaved off the beard which had appeared on my face over recent weeks.
I now make sure I shave before glassing, it’s safer and the missus likes it better.
It’s funny how scared we all get when we gain a little more knowledge…
Had resin soak hands catch on fire when I put way too much catalyst.
bathed in acetone to clean off the sticky goop
got catalyst and even abatch going off in the eye and on the face
never used a mask unless I was sanding a glass job
use to love the smell of resin, gasoline and acetone in those days when we didn’t know any better.
never thought twice about paddling out in the pitch black to my favorite heavily shark infested home break till I saw the movie jaws…
die early as a happy ignoramous
or live long in fear and daily apprehension…
Makes you wonder sometimes about knowledge…
never thought twice about paddling out in the pitch black to my favorite heavily shark infested home break till I saw the movie jaws…
nothin’ wrong with that…the sharks can’t see you at night!!! (learned that from a bruce brown film…maybe “Barefoot Adventures”??)
Oneula, Nothing personal, but this sounds like my grandmother.
She used real butter, whole milk, red meat, salt, drank a glass of wine now and then, lived with a smoker and occasionally cleaned spots out with carbon tetrachloride. Passed away in 2003 after living 102 yrs. A lot of it is genetic.
But me I sprayed some brakeclean on my cars brake regulator valve yesterday, to clean it, and had a nasty chemical hangover all last night and half today. Just from briefly getting a whiff of some fumes; 1.1.1. tricloroethane is real sickening to me.
Btw sharks may not see you, but they can smell you:-)
Agreed. Better to burn out than to rust out.
Regarding masks: I use new 3M or AO masks with whatever filter necessary for the application. Any filter with activated charcoal is only good for one exposure, because it keeps working once the sealed bag is opened, whether it’s on a face or not. (I always read the instructions and I’ve been in protective professional coatings for over 25 years.)
Or use Resin Research. They have done more than read the instructions. They are rewriting the book on material safety.
I’ve heard Disney World uses Resin Research resin, because it doesn’t stink up the whole place. And make no mistake about it, Cindarella’s Castle is fiberglass, so they know a thing or two about resin.
Two things:
I use a full-face respirator with two chambers (eyes and nose). You can see one of our glassers using one on our website. Cost is about US$110. What is one’s health worth, what? Fifty bucks, max?
Noooooooo! Tell me it ain’t so! Cinderella’s castle is a real place, a nice, happy place; not a place made of e-strand glass matting and clever airbrushing. Waaaaaaa haaaaa haaa…
…Walt lied to us all.
The first glassing I did, I did with no respirator or any other mask…DUH!
My Missus caught me at it and gave me serious grief and insisted that I buy one. The one I bought I too could smell resin through it until I shaved off the beard which had appeared on my face over recent weeks.
I now make sure I shave before glassing, it’s safer and the missus likes it better.
and hopefully now your beard won’t catch on fire while you smoke your pipe and wear your sherlock holmes hat and slippers pottering around in your shed …that’s what all pommies do , right ? [same as all us aussies sing ‘waltzing matilda’ at our barbecues , while we drink vegemite soup , with meat pie and beer chasers …yeah… MMMAAAAATE !!!]
Oh right …respirators …
Tom , I think you can see from what I’ve just written what happens to your brain when you DON’T use one for thirty years or so …
… a fine spray of coffee floats gently to earth…
While I agree about Cinderella’s castle…
Ahmm, you guys don’t have any problems with the lenses fogging in those full face deals? I will say those have interested me for some time, what with the various fumes, vapors, dusts and sundry that will not only mess up your lungs but will also do a job on the delicate tissues of the eyeball.
As for masks in general - get one that is comfortable and easy to put on and take off. The easier it is to use and the more comfortable it is to wear, the more probable it is that you will in fact wear the thing every time, not just figure ‘naah, it’ll be okay this time’.
As The Old Man could have told us all, only takes once little cell going bad on ya to make it all go away. Did for him.
hope that’s of use
doc…
Hey Doc,
Haaa! the spray of coffee! I love it. Very visual. But I’m afraid it’s true…
To answer the fogging question, the full-faced masks have two chambers. Upon inhaling the air gets drawn through the filter cartridges into the eye chamber. This is the first chamber and it is valved so there is no back flow. The air then goes into the second chamber (which is the “traditional” nose/mouth mask inside the face shield) for inhalation. This chamber, of course, is also valved. Exhalation is out the lower front/center through a grilled valve.
Of all the mask/respirators that I’ve used, this one is the most comfortable!!! It is full face, but you don’t notice it as the overall balance is better. I also have one for sanding, as it protects the eyes from debris. (Remember, fumes can enter your body, albiet less, through your eyes). I’ve seen glassers get burning eyes from the catalyst and styrene which both fume out of the resin.
Visibility is great as long as you keep the mask clean. (Gets messiest when polishing). Be sure to ask for extra pull-away clear face films at the place you buy your mask. I bought my first one at the Home Depot for $100 way back when…
Yikes you blokes are making me nervous ! Most of the time I don’t bother with one of those fandangled things that you strap on the end of your chin unless I’m glassing a 12 footer ! I wondered why I keep getting headachess and visions of the the next acid splash resin job !
I still use North respirators and find them OK !
Stevo
I wear a half-face MSA respirator that I have for work (environmental consultant). Works pretty well, but sanding my first board and I keep getting too much dust in my eyes. Safety glasses don’t help as they don’t seal on the face. Tried some old ski goggles last night, but they didn’t work that well with the respirator. Need to try something else. Anyone know how dangerous polyurethane resin dust is for the eyes? My eyes don’t seem to be getting irritated any worse than they would from regular soil dust, but just doesn’t seem like a good thing.
thx
Jim
I’ve had the same problem for years ! The fumes I can handle but the dust in my eyes is a pain in the butt ! Any solutions out there ?
Stevo
Oh yeah- the coffee spray is a regular thing around here… explains the overall beige decor.
I kinda figured that’s how they made 'em. It makes sense, and sure would fog up less.
And having had my eyes burning, fumes or dust in 'em and so on from any number of things, yah, might be getting time to spring for the full-face version. Having just bitten the bullet and gone with reading glasses, and regular glasses, I am getting very protective about what eyesight I have left.
The peel-off films - ok, hadn’t thought of that, but with plexi or polycarbonate it’d be a Real Good Idea, wouldn’t it…I know my new and lightweight eyeglasses lenses ( polycarbonate) do tend to scratch. Dust cleaned off scratches lenses Very Nicely, while the peel-off films avoiud that problem altogether. Yep, really good idea…
Any particular ( bad pun) brands/models you like?
Thanks
doc…
…3m 6800 full face respirator is the best for sanding - spraying finish - and ´ultra quickly´ lamination work…
Same as Reverb,
3M full face. Lighter feeling when worn than “regular” respirators…
I use the full faced respirator/mask also. It never fogs and is for the most part pretty comfortable. I only use it for messing with resins though. I usually use a good dust mask for shaping, and I have a vacuum system (Clark foam setup) hooked up to my planer. -Carl