Advice on a respirator to stop carbon fiber dust?

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#1

I need a little help choosing a respirator I can wear when cutting and sanding carbon fiber parts…

I have been using one of those 3m half face masks with the replaceable pink filter disks but I don’t have much confidence in it as a long term solution. Small cf particles are getting through. It’s better than those cheap disposable dust masks but not good enough.

I don’t want to be one of those guys who gets a severe respiratory problem because I was too cheap to buy a decent respirator. Can anyone here recommend one that is suitable for daily use?

#2

Depends how much you want to spend ?
Your concerns are well founded my lung capacity is shot an that’s probably down to me being cavalier/naive the first 10/5 years in this game
Use a 3m versaflo battery powered with a 605/655 hood
Nothing gets through that,its very light an quiet
About £5/600 new but careful shopping on ebay a you can be all set up for £250/300
Still a fair bit of money but a quality lifetime investment

#3

I use a 3m half mask like this one. I just buy new every time instead of replacing the filters. It blocks fumes that I come across anyways other then maybe when sanding super glue for some rare occasion?

I use it for auto paint, Ester based resins and epoxy.

I’m not sure if it’s the best solution but now I wonder since I don’t want issues down the line with my health. I won’t sand carbon without it.

#4

The filters aren’t really the issue with the 3m half face masks. It’s the lack of an air tight seal around the edges. Cf dust gets in through the top just above my nose.

It stops a lot more than those disposable dust masks and would probably be ok for an occasional project but not for continuous daily use.

If you are going to use the half face mask for an occasional project, I highly recommend wetting the cf part before cutting. I keep a water spray next to me so I can keep re-wetting it to stop a lot of the dust going airborne but it’s not even close to 100% reliable.

I am going to check out F1Robs recommendation. It sounds expensive but you only get one set of lungs…

For once I am not going to be a cheapskate as lung diseases scare me almost as much as blindness and chemical castration.

#5

Ouch those 3m Versaflo systems are $1000 over here.

I know I said I wasn’t going to be a cheapskate but… are there any other reliable options that are less than $500?

Does anyone know if a firefighter’s respirator with air tank would work? I assume these have to be air tight and they don’t rely on filtering the air around you (as you breathe from a tank).

The firefighter’s gear would Normally cost a lot more but I already have three 4500 psi scba tanks (I use them to fill my air rifles) so I would just need the mask, hose and regulator.

#6

What about an air bench? Someone mentioned it to me a while ago but not sure if it’ll work.

Yeah the 3m masks work good for me. Maybe it’s the way my face is so the mask sits flush and I never have dust marks anywhere inside where the mask is.

I guess for a precautionary we could get checked out by a doctor to run some tests but I don’t even know what specialist to contact haha. Any idea since now I’m worried.

I typically work on weekend projects. I wear long sleeves with two shirts and jeans with gloves and a mask. I get carbon dust that soaks through my cloths and blow everything off. I was my cloths separately and take them off outside in the backyard before even going into the house to not track dust in. Afterwards I shower right away. It seems to be the best system for what I’m doing and what I have. Again like you my main concern are my lungs.

#7

Full hood coverage is realistically the only way to guarantee good filtration (well as close to guarantee as you can get). Have you tried having a face fitted mask?

#8

The only things I have tried so far are the half face masks with the replaceable pink filters and some disposable dust masks early on.

My next purchase is going to be either a full face mask or full hood.

Infused, I haven’t heard of the air bench but I will check it out.

With the 3m half face I started noticing black cf particles when went to blow my nose. That means the seal isn’t good enough for daily cf cutting or sanding etc.

It could just be the shape of my face and it not being a good fit but I doubt it.

The risk of an occasional failure is probably no big deal if you do an occasional project once or twice a year. I not a good risk go take every day though.

My understanding is that the problem is that any cf dust that you inhale does not come out and that there is nothing any doctor can do about it. It is a similar problem to asbestos. I.e. The shape of the particles causes them to get embedded in you lung tissue like fish hooks and nothing good happens after that.

Reading about the potential (and likely) health problems of cf dust gave me nightmares. I’m not one to raise panic unnecessarily but I feel that this issue warrants a degree overkill on the safety gear.

I would like to find something reliable I can afford but if I can’t, I need to find a way to buy the versaflo that F1Rob recommend. I am trying to keep in mind that his suggestion came after he has damaged his lungs and it sounds like he wishes he could go back and advise himself to be more careful and buy the right respirator before losing his lung capacity…

#9

I have a HobbyAir and it works fine. It is a forced air respirator so nothing gets in. You just need to locate the air pump in a clean air location.

https://www.amazon.com/Hobbyair-Half-Facemask-40-Hose/dp/B00VGWQ48I

On Edit: HobbyAir does make a full mask version also. It is about 100 bucks more.

#10

Air fed hood is the only way to go. I have both compressed air and electric systems. Keeps the dust out of your eyes as well, and so much more comfortable. One thing no one told me. The air feed keeps your head cooler and that seems to make a huge difference in hot environments. No sweat and no condensation.
Firefighters use positive pressure, first breath activated, compressed air breathing apparatus. They can be quite uncomfortable as they need to fit your face well or be quite tight to stop leaks, because the pressure inside the mask is slighter higher than the ambient pressure. this means the air leaks out, not in, keeping contaminants out. I have a narrow face so my mask straps have to be quite tight. One of the guys on my crew has a round face and never gets leaks. They would be good but not as comfortable or practical as a hood.

#11

That is very useful info. One thing that bothers me a lot with some eye protection is the way they steam up so you can’t see what you are doing. That can’t be good for safety when operating power tools…

I love the idea of a product that will keep me cool and stop the lens steaming up while keeping the cf dust out.

I keep my air compressors in a separate room with air purifiers anyway, so maybe I already have the right set-up to run an air fed hood.

#12

Hi guys …i red the whole article and got a bit concerned. Then i made a 2 hours research trying to understand if the electrical enforced respirator despite the less effort of breathing provides better all in all filtering compared to a full mask of 3m lets say the one that i use which is the 6800 series - but without luck.
Can somebody help on this ?

#13

Also …i checked at the manuals of 3M and i didnt get any reading for carbon fiber dust . So for me that i use the mask when sanding and when spraying paint what is the right filter ? Right now i use a combination of 6006 multigas vapor cartridge with a p N11 N95 particulate …which i use for BOTH jobs.
Maybe i should use another combination for Carbon Fiber ?? All in all what is the right combination for Carbon Fiber dust and what is the right combination for paint spray ??

#14

In theory, a facemask with a HEPA rated filter should be enough as long as it fits correctly and does not leak through the sides. The key is getting a correct fitting mask. If it leaks, all bets are off.

Individual fibers of carbon are 5-10um in diameter, with the possibility they split to smaller sizes. A HEPA rated filter will stop 99.97% of all particles down to 0.3um.

A positive air mask is good as long as the air pump is in a dust free location.

I prefer cutting my composites outside and not contaminating my whole shop. I have used a wet saw for straight cuts and it has worked out well.

#15

Google “3m face mask fit test” that will get you some useful information
Someone mentioned down draft benches,well worth it an you can even make your own bench top version with a good industrial hoover,that little bit of negative pressure around the item your cutting will take a lot of dut away that would otherwise could be heading for you nose

#16

I ended up using the info I read here to make an improvised forced air set up.

The expensive part was the compressor to generate the air flow. The actual masks and hoods are relatively affordable. I bought a 3m full face mask with hood but instead of buying the 3m electronics, I am feeding the mask using my own oil-free compressor (which I already had) and a 50ft hose so it can be placed in another room where the air is clear.

So far I am happy with the set up and very greatful for the advice I got here. The level of protection and comfort is night and day compared to what I used before. Nothing gets through. I can’t even smell the sanded carbon fiber (which has a distinct smell to me).

#17

Thought i would comment about the safety aspect of the post.

Asbestos dust is different than carbon dust. What makes asbestos dust so toxic are a combination of factors. Some of them being it’s shape, size, and how it fratures or breaks/frays.

Its shape is much longer than it is wide with pointed barbs at the ends causing cells to become punctured at the fiber ends trapping the cells.

All harmful asbestos dust is small enough to stay suspended in air for long periods and it’s size allows it to travel through the body’s natural defense mechanisms in the nose, mouth, throat, and airway all the way to the lungs which has 100% humidity where it likes to settle down.

The fiber breaks or frays along the length of the piece not the width like glass fibers break or similarly carbon fibers.

A recent sd sheet I saw indicated an 8 hour twa of 5mg/m3 pel and 3 mg/m3 acgih tlv

For comparison asbestos pel is .1 fiber per cc for 8 hours.

The pels and tlvs are thought be maximum amount of exposure most people can sustain without adverse affects.