Hello,
I will be shaping epoxy blanks and glassing with epoxy. I tend to buy a 3m respirator for safety, but there are too many different models for me to figure out which is the best one. The filters are easy to figure out, it’s which model mask is driving me crazy. What do you all recommend/use?
Also, ho important is it that my shaping racks are perfectly level? Do I need to be super accurate, or is ‘mostly’ accurate okay?
And yes, I do tend to overthink everything. haha
Hey,
I’m a fan of 3M myself, I tend to agree with you on that. Have the 6800 full face model and like it. Between dust and droplets and skin irritants, I think it’s the way to go. They make a great variety of filters to fit it, as I’m sure you know already. They also make disposable clear film covers/faceplate protectors for the things, so you don’t get resin drops or paint drops or dust scratches nearly as much, kinda like the tearoffs racing helmets have.
However, I also have a third party clone of said mask and that works fine too. The price, obviously, is less and if you pick the right one the 3M filters will fit. Check the fine print.
Best of all are probably the rigs that fan feed filtered air, you might look like something from Star Wars but ….
Hope that’s of use. Breathing is kinda important.
doc….
I would want to level the stands and the sidelights to match/suit. I uses non-permanent spaces for shaping and that’s just part of the setup for the space at hand. Since I have buckets of concrete as stand bases, I usually get by with carpenters’ door and window shims for leveling. If it’s really off I use pieces of plywood or lumber.
I personally prefer the dräger x plore modell over the standard 3M half mask. For me it’s way more comfortable, but I’m not sure if it’s available regionally for you. They have the same categories of filters available .
Regarding the racks being level ,theres a video of Bruce Jones in the shaping bay on YouTube. If you understand why and how he uses the sticks set perpendicular to the stringer you will find that the racks being level isn’t that important. Especially if your cutting your EPS from blocks.
If you don’t understand why he does that it’s better to have them level, so you have some point of constant reference .
hello i used to have 3M mask then one day i gave a try at sundstorm masks and it was for me much more confortable better rubber on the mouthpiece and better system to put arround the head.
I also use little pieces of mdf to make shims for the stand cause the wood tends to shift with temperature and lose level.
they dont need to be 100 percent straight level because you can check the concaves with your eyes and a level mesuring tool ( dont know the name in english). but it helps a lot if they are.
Side lights (lots about it on the archives)
a few inches above the stand so that it lights the sides of the blank /rails.
if shaping thick blanks more high goes the lamp.
cheers and good waves
The type of mask you use depends on what you are doing. For EPS shaping I use a particle mask. Or; if using a vacuum system, I might not use a mask at all. When glassing with Epoxy in a well ventilated room, I usually don’t use a mask or respirator. When working with Polyurethane and Polyester; I use a particle mask or Vac system when shaping. When glassing I use a Binks Charcoal Cartridge Respirator . At 77 years old, I am comfortable with that. But I don’t “Vape” or smoke those Marlboros.
I work in well high flow ventilate room. P2/P3 particle for shape and small sanding. P3 ventilate head protection for big sanding. No mask or particle one’s for no voc epoxy lam, charcoal A2 for polyester.
