Welding and Grinder Safety Qs

admin

After my first couple times welding I have a couple questions.1. Is the smoke produced while mig welding harmful ( not galvanized)2. How bad is it to use a grinder without a mask?While welding today I randomly almost threw up...not sure why and was wondering if I was doing something with the welding I wasn't aware of or if it was unrelated.
Reply:Black snots are part of being a weldor, if you don't like it wear a respirator. MIG fumes won't kill you, and grinding dust is just an annoyance.Disclaimer; "I am just an a$$hole welder, don't take it personally ."
Reply:Only time I ever had an issue with fumes while welding in a new floor panel on a vehicle, about 5 years ago, was due to welding through POR15 paint in a few spots. At the time, I either couldn't clean it off before hand, or I forgot to clean paint off material before welding. Spent a few hours in ER cause I was struggling to breathe. Haven't had a problem since. Live and learn. I hardly ever use a respirator while welding. I don't even use one while grinding. Unless I'm sanding off paint or cleaning lots of rust off old metal. Black snot is a way of life. Especially when you're like me working in an iron foundryScooterLincoln Weld-pak 155 - .030 Solid wire & 75/25 gas mixMiller Thunderbolt 225Hypertherm PM 85Thermal Dynamics cutmaster 38Gas ax with rose bud attachment
Reply:I usually wear a facesheild and dust mask when cleaning rust or paint, sometimes with a flap wheel. As far as the smoke try to keep your head out of the plume or rig up a fan to blow the smoke but not your gas away.TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:If you are not sure read the warnings on the box of wire or on the wheels. You can also look at MSDS sheets on their web sites. If I can see the air in the shop I will mask up. Never do outdoors. Dan
Reply:If I'm grinding on rust, doing a lot of welding, plasma or oxy/fuel cutting, I wear a mask. If it's just a very quick weld, then black snot takes it. But the more I use my mask, the more it doesn't bother me."Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"
Reply:You asked "what should I do?"  Folks respond by giving examples of what they do.  The most conservative advice, health wise, is to educate yourself about the risks and then make your decision on what level of protection you feel is "safe" for you, personally.  You have to make an informed choice about what you are working with, and the levels of protection you might need to keep yourself safe.Let's agree on the obvious -- breathing any particulate is not good for your lungs, and particularly those fumes created by heating things, like metals and chemicals.  Some can kill you quickly, others can kill you eventually.  Some particulates are less dangerous than others, but very few of them are "harmless", and they all have risks and the potential to affect your breathing to a greater or lesser degree.Inhaling very small particles of sand or grit causes silicosis, which used to kill a lot of people before government began regulating the workplace.  Obviously, grinding with a hand grinder will not give you a dose of particulates nearly as high as a sandblaster could, but that simply means your dose is lower, and your development of disease can take longer.  How much longer?  Individual variation makes that hard to predict.   Inhaling any kind of metal ground into fine particles is not good for you either.  The thing about lung disease is that it takes a long time to feel the results in many diseases, so people mistakenly think they're dealing with a nuisance, rather than a health risk. There are a LOT of constituents in welding fumes that are noxious and toxic.It all comes down to what you're likely to breathe in.  That depends on the material you are working with, the welding, cutting or fabricating gas and rod you're using, the concentration of the fumes (indoors, outdoors, ventilation or very confined spaces, etc.)  If you're working in the great outdoors where the air currents take away some of the fumes and don't have your head directly in the fume plume, you may have less concentration and less overall exposure, and so you may not notice it as quickly, or be affected by it as much, if at all.  Everyone's physical response is different, but the risks are real and can be avoided.In general, if you can see particulates in the air, the levels are generally way over the permissible exposure levels (PELs) for people.The important thing to know is that all of those illnesses can be avoided by learning what is harmful, what to avoid, paying attention to the risk, and then protecting yourself by using a dust mask, a respirator or fume ventilation to avoid breathing fumes.  Half mask respirators are not expensive, and are now made to fit under a helmet.  Using a respirator or dust mask initially requires you to change your practice with a conscious effort, but if you're concerned about protecting your health, it's available, and you can't get another set of lungs so take care of the ones you have...
Reply:Just add a fan in area to help with smoke, fumes, dust, etc.