grinder woes...

I've given up on controlling dust. I just grind with 36 as the maximum grit and usually go down to 24 for grinding any glass. Also, I grind on slower speeds. This keeps larger "dust" coming off in "snowflake" type consistency, instead of putting micro dust all in the air.

It's just too cumbersome to use a dust skirt, as Michael points out. I can't stand dragging a vacuum hose around with the grinder. Cramps my style when trying to make a perfect shape.

If anything, Hoyt's idea is the way to go when you are really working full time.

You just vacuum up the shop or the hull from time to time if to get rid of the dust. You have to vacuum the surface when you are done sanding anyway, so really no big deal.

 

This sander is the standard in the industry:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...yQxxT72sGqLW0QGxqJXqBg&sqi=2&ved=0CJ8BEPMCMAU

It will without question control the dust your grinder is producing.

 

Random orbit sanders?

We're taking about grinders, I think, right?



11 Amps
7" Wheel Diameter
2,560 Max Watts Out - Almost 7 TIMES more powerful than that Fein in the link!!
0-600/3,400 rpm No-Load Speed
5/8-11" Spindle Thread
Spindle Lock
Electronic Speed Control - constant speed control, soft start, and two-way variable speed controls located on the trigger and dial for flexibility and control
10-19/32" Tool Length
Heat resistant bearing chamber and iron ball bearings to extend tool life and durability
6.2 lbs Tool Weight

These are what you use to do grinding on a boat, not a random orbit sander. These are industry standard. That Fein is just a little toy... like one of these.... ha ha ha



---- Just having some fun bntii. No personal insult intended.

 

Free grinding green epoxy eh cat?- hope you don't get sensitized before you finish that build of yours.
I do it for a living cat- you won't ever find me free grinding glass and I work to limit the need in any case and yes that Fein is a industry standard for its type.

If you keep finding yourself sculpting your glass work with that grinder of yours- you are doing it wrong.

Just kidding..

 

Who grinds green epoxy? That would be dumb and wouldn't work anyway.

I sculpt core with it or use it to nip off glass overhangs at the end - to make a flat edge on a panel, or to take out a random void.

Good luck with your girly little pink Fien. You must get paid by the hour to want to use that underpowered thing.

Just kidding...

 

Ha- good on ya Cat.

This made me think green glass:

Snowflake is what you see coming off green epoxy-tough way to go for those few who will get sensitized. ('green': cured to rigid only. Out to a day or so in cool temps for common boat yard resins)
Edge work as you say above is tough- the dust just flies..

I actually just picked up yet another sander.
I got one of the Mirka's:

http://mirka-online.com/mirka-tools...h-compact-electric-random-orbital-sander.html

Form factor of the Dynabrades, so very handy for smaller work & yes a EXCELLENT dust collection ability.

Years back I did need to do a repair job and pulled out the bad old Bosch right angle with 8"- 16 grit disks, free grinding till I couldn't see my hand in front of my face and had to scoop up the dust with a snow shovel.
I don't advice it I can tell ya.

 

As far as sanding epoxy goes (and I'm looking for confirmation here) a few days after it's placed/cured, I assume the dust is inert and largely more of an inconvenience rather than a health threat?

What about cabosil prior to encapsulation in epoxy? I've read the manufacturers spec, but thought I would ask others their thoughts?

 

Just don't breathe it. Use a mask.

 

I'm very inexperienced, compared to most of you, but I DO have very good system for controlling dust.

I'm a contractor by trade, and a few years ago, I bought a ShopVac on sale. It came with a FREE DEMO dust filter bag. I tried it and couldn't believe how well it worked!

Use the yellow bags made for drywall dust/ash. WOW, do they work! You can collect pounds and pounds of fine dust, and NOTHING will come out of the exhaust! We use this system exclusively in the high-end remodeling jobs that are our mainstay. Keeping major jobs dust-free is part of the reason we are so highly referred. (Our business is 100% referral)

Anyway, in the boats, what I do is turn on the vac and lay the hose down next to where I'm grinding, and then grind toward the vac. All of the light, airborne stuff gets sucked in immediately. Some of the heavy stuff will be laying on the bottom, but that's easy to vacuum before moving on.

This system has changed my life! You go through so many fewer dust masks and you barely even get itchy! It works great with tools that have dust shrouds, but I never use those anymore. I just bring the hose with me wherever I grind.

I use a good-quality 6.5 HP ShopVac brand machine, and am SUPER happy with the system. Probably not enough for some major project, but works great for floor replacements and general repairs.

-TH

 

Perhaps I'm overcautious, but I use the drywall bags and an HEPA filter in the shop vac these days. On occasion, I find a hole in the bag and a clogged HEPA filter that provided backup.

 

But, you still get itchy. I built one fiberglass boat when I was in high school, I went to bed itchy for 2 weeks. I have not built a fiberglass boat since, but have built over 14 small boats (all wood), and will avoid fiberglass as much as I can.

 

Tom,
Good point! I also like the hepa filters.

Yes, the bags can tear, especially if you throw the vacuum around, and you have 20# of debris in it.

I very rarely tear a bag anymore with boat work. When the vacuum starts getting heavy, I just change bags. And I have a dedicated 16-gallon vacuum that only works in the shop. I have a little 10-gallon that I take on my truck. That's the one that occasionally tears bags.

-TH

 

You guys use bags?

I set my shop vacs up like the used to be set up. I wrap the filter with a piece cut from the bag that came with the shop vac originally, then empty the big plastic bin when it gets too full.


Bags are kind of a scam.

 

Dust... what dust?

 

"I get paid by the hour so i use a sander instead of a grinder."

"I waste company money buying vacuum bags instead of thinking up smarter ways to do.things that provide the exact same number of barriers to dust in the shop vac."

You ought to be fired.