Yep. Bondo is cheap, easy, affordable, and better than most of the alternatives. Makes it hard to resist. MDF is pretty much everywhere these days. Most of my furniture is MDF with a vinyl skin. I am, however, pretty sure I won't have to worry about cancer. In my family we depend on heart attacks to save us fromn that!
I know I'm not getting out of life alive, and I've finally grown up enough to not be in any hurry to get there, but I really don't sweat it too much. I do have kids in the house, and my workshop is in the house, too, so I'm careful not to make things any worse for them than they already are. My wife and I joke that if we were horses, they'd have shot us instead of breeding us. Lost of hereditary illnesses on both sides.
A couple of things I do that might help, I put a filter element for a furnace over the side of a 20" box fan to catch as much of the particulates as I can, and buy HEPA filters for the shop vacs. My table saw has the bottom closed off, and a kitty-litter bucket installed in the board that closes it, with a fitting to take the 2" hose off my small shop vac to catch as much of the sawdust as I can. The big one gets used on top, and on the floor and such to get what the little one misses. (Quite a bit, but not as bad as it would be without it at all.)
Bill in OKC
--- In gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com, David Patterson <odd_kins@...> wrote:
>
> Bill what you say is right. bit the late 70's the patternmakers union did a study to find out why pattermaker had a colon cancer rate of 10 times the national average. Most if not all pattern shops I've worked in were not concerned about personal protection, you do what you had to do to get the job done. The results were pine dust can be absorbed and passed by the bodies system. Cedar, mahogany, oak, etc. were not. with the advent of bondo, mdf and manmade material, I think the rate went up and the patternshops started to take a more active stance of personal protection,better dust masks etc. I don't know if the rate has gone down, but I have lost several fellow patternmakers to cancer, It is also one reason I got out of the trade. The little bit of pattern work I do at home I do with the door open, summer or winter, and I use pine almost exclucively. I dont use mdf for a reason, and I don't recommend it for that reason. My garage is my shop and any
> dust in the shop will enter the house, I try to use the lesser of the evils when it come to building patterns. But I still use bondo for fillets, it's a hard habit to break.
>
> Dave Patterson
> odd_kins@...
> http://home.comcast.net/~oddkins/foundry_home.html
>
> --- On Sun, 12/5/10, oldstudentmsgt <wmrmeyers@...> wrote:
>
>
> From: oldstudentmsgt <wmrmeyers@...>
> Subject: [gingery_machines] Re: I'm off to a good start, but I'd prefer to be off to a better one
> To: gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Sunday, December 5, 2010, 10:20 AM
>
>
> Â
>
>
>
> Dave, and all, EVERYTHING involved in DIY machine tools is dangerous. You just need to take proper safety precautions. Filter masks are a good idea, and a box fan blowing across the work area to carry dust or fumes away from you is another good idea. Working outdoors, when the weather permits, likewise. Formaldehyde is a normal hazard in modern houses, among other things. It is in many materials, adhesives, insulation, and many other things. Ventilation is the key to dealing with it, and every other gaseous or vaporous or fine particulate hazard. Filtration is something else that can help. Masks, filters, Electrostatic preciptators, whatever...
>
> If you have a good source of cheap pine, or poplar, or whatever, its great material. MDF is also cheap and readily available, and it is, when sealed, more dimensionally stable than whole wood. With adequate precautions, any of them will work. You shouldn't be cutting any wood without some protection, and some are outright poisonous. Dust in the lungs is bad for you no matter what kind it is. As for gases, even too much oxygen is bad for you under some circumstances. Learn the hazards, and do read the MSDS's as suggested, but don't refuse to use a material or technique because it MIGHT be hazardous. If you do, you'll wind up doihg nothing at all, because EVERYTHING is hazardous.
>
> Bill in OKC
>
> --- In gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com, David Patterson <odd_kins@> wrote:
> >
> > please read the msds before using mdf material. I won't use it.
> > ÂÂ
> > Most MDF is made with resins that contain formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen, according to the ebuild website. When sawing MDF boards with power tools, a fine dust is generated. You should always wear a respirator to avoid inhaling the dust, as well as side-shield safety glasses.
> >
> > Dave Patterson
> > odd_kins@
> > http://home.comcast.net/~oddkins/foundry_home.html
> >
> > --- On Sat, 12/4/10, Rick Sparber <rgsparber@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > From: Rick Sparber <rgsparber@>
> > Subject: RE: [gingery_machines] I'm off to a good start, but I'd prefer to be off to a better one
> > To: gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com
> > Date: Saturday, December 4, 2010, 2:20 PM
> >
> >
> > ÂÂ
> >
> >
> >
> > I have had good luck with various thicknesses of MDF.
> >
> > As for mods, I only have info on the Gingery Shaper:
> >
> > http://rick.sparber.org/Articles/CD/CDM/CD.htm
> >
> > Rick
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com
> > [mailto:gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of primepowerpro
> > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2010 2:22 PM
> > To: gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [gingery_machines] I'm off to a good start, but I'd prefer to be
> > off to a better one
> >
> > So far, I've built a charcoal foundry, done my first melt, make some nice Al
> > muffins from old pistons, and built a flask for the lathe bed.
> >
> > I'm about to start making patterns for the lathe, starting with the bed
> > pattern. What generally agreed upon mods should I make at this point? If
> > there's a FAQ on just this topic, feel free to flame me, as long as you
> > provide a link to it. If not, then should it be longer, wider, heavier, or
> > is it just right as it is?
> >
> > Pine was recommended, but I have a full wood shop and plenty of other woods,
> > so I was going to use my favorite, quarter sawn white oak, since it
> > generally likes to stay straight and flat. Any hints on anything else?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
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> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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