DUST MASK!!!!!!!
WEAR YOUR $?/@#¥€ DUST MASK!!!
UGH! Sometimes you just have to learn the hard way. Felt like I was gonna die.
So 2 weeks ago I just got plum stupid. First I took my new control cavity and cover patterns and made copies, then used the cavity pattern copy to do the initial routing on the back then did the initial routing of the pickup cavities. MDF, Cherry, and mahogany and forgot (yeah my mind left me that day) to put on my dust mask. I just got back to work today in the shop. I’ve never been allergic to anything in my life (no, not even poison ivy) but with all that dust up my snoot??? Oh man, oh man, ugh! Yeah, when it’s that much yer gonna have a bad reaction no matter what. I smoke, well smoked I should say, a pack of cigarettes a day, and couldn’t so I went into nicotine withdrawal too. One of the worst weekends of my life. Got about 5 hours of sleep in 72 hours. I still smoke but it took 12 days to smoke 3 packs. Now I’m considering patches and just quitting altogether. Needed to for a while anyway and now is an excellent opportunity. Plus I only have a half a pack left. It will save lots of money which I can use on guitar stuff instead. In the end my mistake taught me a huge lesson and is pushing me to quit smoking. Plus I’m gonna live. Maybe it’ll turn out to be a good thing. 😁
@rathius Oh man, that sounds really bad. Yep, health and safety should always come first, you got to wear a mask for almost everything when guitar building or any woodworking. I leave mine on all day, not just when I’m routing, sawing or sanding. After doing these activities, the dust is still in the air so I leave my mask on. I step out of the workshop from time to time to get some fresh air and I can take my mask off for that. I have a good quality rubber dust mask with filters that seals around my face and I have a separate mask with different types of filters for when I’m spraying paint. A lot of woods and paints are carcinogenic when you breathe in the dust/fumes so it’s a must to protect yourself.
It’s also insane to smoke tobacco in any form. I used to smoke but I quit about 10 years ago now and I’ve never felt better. I know it’s hard to cut down and quit but it is worth it and like you said, the amount of money you save is amazing. We could all do with a little more money, especially at the moment so I say go for it, just quit.
Show us some pictures of your guitar building and let’s help you stay safe and take your mind off smoking. The first couple of weeks are the worst but after that it get easier and easier until you don’t even think about it any more.
Good luck. ✊
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
Glad that you are ok!
Good with a reminder. I had no idea that dust from woodworking could be dangerous until last year when I started doing some stuff myself and started watching videos about woodworking. So, I got a halfmask (the rubber kind) with replaceable filters of different types. No problem breathing when using it, but the combination of mask, glasses and earprotection is not very comfortable due to the straps around the ears, so I hate using it.
But I recently found a soft mask called RZ (M2) which uses just one velcroed strap around the neck and just take a few seconds to put on. Made a huge difference for me. No more "just a few cuts - why bother".
I find masks a real pita - usually make my glasses steam up - so I don't typically bother with them unless I'm doing something either *really* messy, or using some of then nastier timbers.
But I do try to hold my breath for the few hours that I'm out there in the workshop.
Not breathing *in* definitely helps ...
Stay well @rathius!
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