Milling and Allergies....

[MotorSeven]

A guest posted down in the "Guest requests" about a newly developed allergy to sawing pine. It reminded me(who has a long laundry list of known allergins/shots/pills/surgery under my belt) of a recent discovery that may help all of us when we are sawing that particular species that invades our sinus cavities like a horde of conquering Vikings :D.
During Wilma, the county park i live in lost a ton of cypress trees. My mill is in TN, but i hated to see them all get chunked into a chipper or hauled to the dump :'(,  so i went out and cut some cants for future carving. The only other stuff i had carved before was sycamore, with no prob. I carved on the cypress a month or so later, and let me tell you, i was a snot slinging mess before i was done. I thought it was a fluke, but sure enough the next time it hit me even harder, and put a whuping on me for 3 days*sniff*. Now when i cut the cants, my boss at the park saw the first Tiki, he made me promise to make him one. Well his retirement party was last week, and even though i bought a mask, i still put off touching that dang cypress until the last minute. Well, the day before his party, it rained all early am, so when i got out there to carve, everything was soaking wet. As i carved the stuff up, i noticed that nothing was flying around in the air, so i got the hose out and kept spritzing the stuff down when it even looked like it was thinking about drying out. I also sprayed all the shavings on the ground to keep 'em soggy. I ended up taking off the mask to test the "theory" and carved 5 Tiki's with no trouble at all.
So the next time you get that dreaded *sniff* "whatever" log ready to mill, hose that sucker down and keep it wet, and maybe it will help keep the you from not only snorting the dust, but kep it from flying and landing on your hair and clothing.
Now y'all probably think i was joking around with the *sniff* thing, but i swear i had to blow while typing this...........ahhh the power of suggestion on a feeble mind :D :D

RD

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[Percy]

 ;D I hear ya on the "snotts" thing. When I cut Western Red Cedar, I should change my name to that(Snotts). Actually, every once in a while, the nose just plugs up solid, and the breathing gets  a tad difficult. The water thing works in spades. If it is raining and all the logs/lumber is wet, its no prob lem , but as soon as the fine dust starts, its waterbooger time :D :D :D :D

[Steve]

Allergies are nothing to take lightly. You can defenitely develop serious ones to woods that originally didn't bother you. I have that with cedar right now and I'm not allergic to anything. The fine dust of dry old growth is real bad for me.
I also know a fellow that is in the Koa business in Hawaii that can't even touch it anymore. He has to wear gloves and long sleeved shirts when he is handling it now. Didn't bother him at all for years.

Steve

[pineywoods]

Red cedar gives me fits, especially if it's dry. I refuse to cut the stuff unless the wind is blowing in the right direction.  Walnut sawdust on my bare skin causes rash and itching. I have a fan rigged up on my mill that helps.

[urbanlumberinc]

I havent met anyone yet immune to the "cedar snots"  Walnut also gets my nose flowing bigtime.  On a more serious note:  I just met an arborist who spent 2 mos connected to an IV bag due to a lung infection he picked up on the job.  According to him there are several species of fungus and bacteria present in trees that will colonize in lung tissue.  He picked up one of the fungal variety, which I'm told is a real bear to kick.  Nearly killed him, and did permanent damage to his lungs.  I went out later that day and bought a nice respirator mask.

[submarinesailor]

Anymore when sawing or mowing, I always use a P95 rated dust mask or better.  On antibiotics right now trying to clear up some lung junk.  My alleges have gotten a LOT worst in the last couple of years.  Momma and I were just talking last night about having the ductwork in the house cleaned and a new HEPA filter system put in – any recommendation on types or bland names? ??? ??? ???

Bruce

[Tim]

My allergies to starvation and bill collectors are worse than my allergies to cedar...

I find that the wood is easier to cut when its wet as well. I would put in a pond, if it didn't come with its own set of problems, for soaking my blocks before I cut them. When I'm sawing lumber I find that red oak is a bugger for fine dust too.