dust masks and respirators

[rich murray]

Can anyone give me personal info on the Duxterity Resp-O-Rator and its effectiveness, comfort, and practicality in the fight against dust. I wear a beard, and have read that a hooded powered air-purifying respirator might offer the best protection, but they sure look uncomfortable.

[Dan Bertenthal]

Rich,

I got the junior model and it works okay for short periods of time. But it's not that comfortable for longer periods (unless you're a scuba diver and used to biting onto a mouthpiece).

Pros:
-inexpensive for the junior model
-compact (could be good for bringing to club demonstrations)
Cons:
-need to wash the mouthpiece to keep it hygienic
-not OSHA certified for effectiveness (though the filter mechanism
is probably high quality--certification is too expensive for a niche
product)

For what it is, it's a decent product, but probably not a substitute for a powered respirator.

d

[Christopher Stahl]

Personally, that does not look like something that would be comfortable in a woodshop. :)

[gerald torres]

I have one but don't use it too often. I do scuba, so I don't find it uncomfortable at all. It's easier to breathe with than most masks I've tried, but you may get the dry throat thing (as in scuba). The biggest thing for me is that it makes me drool, and once you start dripping on things, it can get pretty messy.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Rich, you might also consider the 3M full face respirator. Its about twice the price, but it has a full polycarbonate faceshield as well. I also have a beard, and find no trouble with it getting an adequate seal. It has cinch straps on the top and sides of the mask. I don't know how long your beard is--mine is relatively well trimmed, but hasn't ever been a problem even if I let it get to the 1.5-2" length.

In addition to dust, you can put organic vapor cartridges, which are a must for finishing--don't huff the solvents!!! I really like it because it gives an unobstructed view, and a very good protection against spalted wood, flying bowl blanks, etc. Important: it didn't come with cartridges--you have to buy them seperately. Also, you MUST buy the lens overlays--if you're like me, then sometimes a bit of CA mist comes up and hits your shield because you didn't wait long enough after spraying accelerator for it to harden all the way down in that crack........(its a PITA to pick out of curly hair that's half way down your back, too).

I bought mine on Ebay, and I can't remember exactly how much it was, but you can find them here: It is about $160 for the mask, 2 sets of organic vapor cartridges, (a spare), 2 packs of 5N11 prefilters, and the prefilter retainer covers. You have to pick each thing.--there are lots of spare parts under accessories--all you need are the cartridges, prefilters, and prefilter retaining pieces. And, if you do work with other chemicals, you can get other cartridges that fit this to take out just about anything!


http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/product/3M-6000-Series-Full-Facepiece-Respirator.html#


Its not a Trend Pro, but it doesn't require any batteries, and has a heck of a lot cheaper filters. Also, you can't get faceshield overlay covers for the trend or triton powered air systems, at least that I've seen, anyway.