Air Filters & Smokers ?

Air Filters & Smokers ? · 02-18-2008, 11:02 AM

With all the talk lately about Dust collectors, air quality, .00001 micron air filters, etc.

I was wondering how many woodworkers have super dust collection and air filtering and then take a break from the shop and go out and smoke a cigarette???????

pete

Bas · 02-18-2008, 11:26 AM

I smoked for a long time. Finally quit last year (nine months, 10 hours and 5 minutes ago to be exact...but who's counting?

). It's one of the reasons I decided to go with a simple dust collection system - HF unit + 4" pipe. Yes, I read all of Bill Pentz' stuff. I know I'm not catching the fine dust. And I know I should have bought the air filter before the Work Sharp (stealth gloat again

). And I really should be more diligent about wearing the respirator. But, I didn't want to spend the money, and I figured that in the grand scheme of things, the dust I breathe in can't be nearly as bad as all the smoking. That may be just as self-delusional as telling yourself smoking isn't going to kill you either.

Of course, it's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. Becoming allergic to wood dust is not the same as getting lung cancer due to smoking. But you do make an excellent point that it's stupid to build the best DC in the world, and then go have a smoke. That would be like buying a SawStop but not wear eye protection. Buy a ranch so you can't fall down the stairs, then go mountain climbing. Take up woodworking so you can save money by building your own furniture. It's all about balance.

Unfortunately, stupidity is by far the most common disease in the world. I suffer from it daily!

Glennbear · 02-18-2008, 11:39 AM

"Take up woodworking so you can save money by building your own furniture. It's all about balance."

I haven't kicked my tobacco addiction yet and is not getting any easier since I moved to VA and now I am surrounded by tobacco fields.

Anyway, have you priced "store bought" furniture lately ? According to my figuring I will recoup my latest machine purchase costs with just the building of my bed, desk and EC. If I was starting from scratch in WW of course it would be a different story

SteveColes · 02-18-2008, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by PeteM

With all the talk lately about Dust collectors, air quality, .00001 micron air filters, etc.

I was wondering how many woodworkers have super dust collection and air filtering and then take a break from the shop and go out and smoke a cigarette???????

pete

I don't even go out. I smoke in the shop all day, unless I'm doing some finishing. I have been smoking since I was 11 years old. Started out with "rabbit tobacco" rolled in brown paper bags when I lived Augusta, GA. Quickly moved to cigarettes.

I'm not proud that I still smoke, just not ashamed. It is part of who I am. I enjoy it. There is a sign in my shop that's says:

"Harassing me about my smoking may be hazardous to YOUR health"

sapwood · 02-18-2008, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by PeteM

. . . . I was wondering how many woodworkers have super dust collection and air filtering and then take a break from the shop and go out and smoke a cigarette???????

pete

Quit picking on Travis!

I smoked for 7 or eight years and quit, but have other bad habits. Who's to say which ones will have the most impact on an individual??? I love the beach, water, and the sun. However, I have a strong genetic disposition for melanoma. My choice to enjoy the sun is no worse than if I smoked

Roger

lwhughes149 · 02-18-2008, 01:40 PM

Lot of honesty here. We are who we are and we all have our habits. I don't smoke, never have, but I plan to rid my shop of as much dust as I can. Don't want to borrow trouble. BTW, some of my best friends are smokers, can't drop them because of a bad habit, in fact I plan to be there if and when they become ill from their habit. Lorraine

newtonc · 02-18-2008, 02:00 PM

I used to when I was younger.
Than I watched my best friend get diagnosed with lung cancer and pass on a year later.
One of the worst things I have witnessed.
Never touched it again.

Douglas Robinson · 02-18-2008, 02:11 PM

I know some of you smoke and thats your right. I have never had a cigarette (or even a sip of coffee) in my life. I have been known to enjoy a frosty one now and again, but those habits hold no interest for me.

My mother smoked Kents for years. She also was heavy on the gas and the brake when she drove. The radio was always on playing opera. So between the smoke going out her window and being thrown back and forth in my seat getting car sick, I never thought this was something I wanted to try.

BTW I still get car sick when I here opera.

Doug

Canuck · 02-18-2008, 02:13 PM

Smoked for about 35 years. During my last year 'working for the man' I had a lung collapse on a trip to Dallas, TX. They 'pumped me back up and I tossed my old friends - the smokes. Son of gun collapsed two more times. After a quick (to me) surgery all is now well. My wakeup call. But, I must admit they were a good crutch for me!

Now retired, healthy lungs, breathing in sawdust and now make a trip about once a week to resupply my Commit lozenges!!!!

Still need some form of nicotine, I suppose!

(As a matter of fact, three years later and I still have that last pack of smokes sitting in a toolbox in the shop!

)

Wayne

Glennbear · 02-18-2008, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by Douglas Robinson

I know some of you smoke and thats your right. I have never had a cigarette (or even a sip of coffee) in my life. I have been known to enjoy a frosty one now and again, but those habits hold no interest for me.

My mother smoked Kents for years. She also was heavy on the gas and the brake when she drove. The radio was always on playing opera. So between the smoke going out her window and being thrown back and forth in my seat getting car sick, I never thought this was something I wanted to try.

BTW I still get car sick when I here opera.

Doug

It is amazing how our auditory memories are linked to our stomachs

, My daughter got married last Sept. and I heard a groan from my ex when the DJ played a Gordon Lightfoot tune. "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was on the top of the charts when she was carrying my younger daughter 26 years previous and had bad morning sickness.

Bas · 02-18-2008, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by SteveColes

"Harassing me about my smoking may be hazardous to YOUR health"

Now THAT is a great sign!

I couldn't stand the smoke police when I still smoked, and I still can't stand them now. People spend far too much time telling each other what to do, and what not to do.

Ken Massingale · 02-18-2008, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by SteveColes

I don't even go out. I smoke in the shop all day, unless I'm doing some finishing. I have been smoking since I was 11 years old. Started out with "rabbit tobacco" rolled in brown paper bags when I lived Augusta, GA. Quickly moved to cigarettes.

I'm not proud that I still smoke, just not ashamed. It is part of who I am. I enjoy it. There is a sign in my shop that's says:

"Harassing me about my smoking may be hazardous to YOUR health"

Well said, Steve, IMHO. If you don't mind I'll steal your signage and hang one in my shop also.
ken

JimmyC · 02-18-2008, 03:20 PM

Cigarette smoking is disgusting......

Thats why I smoke Cigars.

Heh, heh, heh, heh !

Jimmy

McRabbet · 02-18-2008, 03:37 PM

I have no bad dry habits... I quit smoking more than 35 years ago and I only drink in moderation. But, I strongly believe that prevention is worth the effort. If you have already damaged your respiratory system (even living with a smoker will do that), then you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to avoid unnecessary exposure to other respiratory hazards. When I lived in Durham, I met a master woodworker who built world class furniture in his basement shop from walnut and mahogany. He had severe emphysema and died within a year after I met him of lung cancer. His shop had a solid brown layer of sawdust everywhere and he had no DC system at all. I wear an OSHA-approved face mask when I sand and have a shop vac equipped with a HEPA filter on it to capture all that fine dust. I still have dust in my shop and that's why I bought a high performance cyclone. I couldn't afford it easily, but I couldn't afford to be without it either. I'll be happier when I get it fully assembled and operational.

McRabbet · 02-18-2008, 03:37 PM

I have no bad dry habits... I quit smoking more than 35 years ago and I only drink in moderation. But, I strongly believe that prevention is worth the effort. If you have already damaged your respiratory system (even living with a smoker will do that), then you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to avoid unnecessary exposure to other respiratory hazards. When I lived in Durham, I met a master woodworker who built world class furniture in his basement shop from walnut and mahogany. He had severe emphysema and died within a year after I met him of lung cancer. His shop had a solid brown layer of sawdust everywhere and he had no DC system at all. I wear an OSHA-approved face mask when I sand and have a shop vac equipped with a HEPA filter on it to capture all that fine dust. I still have dust in my shop and that's why I bought a high performance cyclone. I couldn't afford it easily, but I couldn't afford to be without it either. I'll be happier when I get it fully assembled and operational.