# PITA silica dust safety options- Atomized mister?



## TPS BOCO (Jan 30, 2018)

My business is angling more into flagstone masonry.(all outdoors residential at this point) My lead guy is stupid good with stone but also has the 'don't be pussy- it's just dust' attitude. The market here is great for high end stonework, but also VERY health conscious. I could sell based not only on high quality but also 'ultra safety'; also don't want to deal with the sh*t of neighbors, walkers, etc.... doing any serious complaining. 

Here's our current basic set-up:

-None of the 3 of us can handle respirators or masks- impossible to communicate, harder to cut accurately, etc....

-Demo saw is always cutting wet.

-Grinder dry with no shroud, you can't see what you're doing with one on the grinder.

-Had a rubi 250 tile/stone saw briefly- great for dust but just built ****ty so it got returned.

Here are the options I'm considering:

-'Nose filters'(cheap to try out at least

-14" blade bridge saw similar to the rubi- only issue is many are 220v not 110v

-Wet grinder? 7"? Hard to find...... Dust collection with no shroud?

-Atomized mist system, Bosstek, Brokk, etc...

So after that BS- how rtarded am I?


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

Whatever you do take silica dust seriously. It gets in your lungs and can't get out and has destroyed many lives.


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## Windycity (Oct 3, 2015)

Always use water, dust pisses off the homeowners and neighbors 

And, 

Get the 3m quick release respirator 

You flip a latch and the mouthpiece drops down so you can talk and it flips back in place when you need it

No need to take you hat or hard hat off it an easy flip on/off


David


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## TPS BOCO (Jan 30, 2018)

Rio said:


> Whatever you do take silica dust seriously. It gets in your lungs and can't get out and has destroyed many lives.


Yep, I'm angling to over-engineer my solutions- thus the atomized mister perhaps. My lead guy,(and good friend) has been doing it too long without proper PPE, tools, etc.... His argument against some measures is how much time it takes from 'real work'.


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## TPS BOCO (Jan 30, 2018)

Windycity said:


> Always use water, dust pisses off the homeowners and neighbors
> 
> And,
> 
> ...


Agree, I dread jobs in tight neighborhoods for that reason. The grinder is the biggest culprit; and the fact I hate using a shroud. I'm really wondering if intelligent use of the atomized mister would be the magic bullet.

Good call, don't think any of my old ones had that feature. I'm also thinking of clothing contamination options and maybe up the game on best practices for cleanup.


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## Windycity (Oct 3, 2015)

TPS BOCO said:


> Yep, I'm angling to over-engineer my solutions- thus the atomized mister perhaps. My lead guy,(and good friend) has been doing it too long without proper PPE, tools, etc.... His argument against some measures is how much time it takes from 'real work'.


With cutting stone You need a lot more water than an atomized mister 

All concrete saws even the electric ones have a water port 

I don’t know how using water or putting a mask on takes so much time 

Personally I hate dry cutting, it’s bad for me, it’s bad for my workers and it’s bad for my saw, and it’s bad for moral with the neighbors 


David


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## Mordekyle (May 20, 2014)

TPS BOCO said:


> Yep, I'm angling to over-engineer my solutions- thus the atomized mister perhaps. My lead guy,(and good friend) has been doing it too long without proper PPE, tools, etc.... His argument against some measures is how much time it takes from 'real work'.


Who finds the jobs and writes the checks?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## TPS BOCO (Jan 30, 2018)

Windycity said:


> With cutting stone You need a lot more water than an atomized mister
> 
> All concrete saws even the electric ones have a water port
> 
> ...


















We're wet cutting with the demo saw, grinder is the biggest culprit leveling out pieces that taper.

Good point, I think it comes down to establishing habits. 

Concur, I'm about to order a 14" Raimondi Zipper saw which will help even more; 9 1/4" max cut depth if you flip the piece- too bad we're almost done with this project.


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## TPS BOCO (Jan 30, 2018)

Mordekyle said:


> Who finds the jobs and writes the checks?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Good F&*king point! I needed that.


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## Mordekyle (May 20, 2014)

Blame it on OSHA, blame it on homeowners, or just say this is how we do it now. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## NYCB (Sep 20, 2010)

I cut everything I can wet, it's not worth any possible long term health issues to avoid making a small mess now.

I even wet cut my floors and we wash them down afterwards. It's worth the extra hour of labor to know we can safely cut without masks on, and not send a cloud of dust down the road.


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## Windycity (Oct 3, 2015)

NYCB said:


> I cut everything I can wet, it's not worth any possible long term health issues to avoid making a small mess now.
> 
> I even wet cut my floors and we wash them down afterwards. It's worth the extra hour of labor to know we can safely cut without masks on, and not send a cloud of dust down the road.


Me too, I hate saw dust 

Life has been a lot easier since I purchased the Milwaukee battery powered water supply tank

That thing is awesome! I never have to worry about using a garden hose again


David


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## NYCB (Sep 20, 2010)

Windycity said:


> Me too, I hate saw dust
> 
> Life has been a lot easier since I purchased the Milwaukee battery powered water supply tank
> 
> ...


I saw that thing and wondered how much of a hassle it would be to get it mounted to my saw.

It would be nice not to have to drag the hose around while cutting.


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## Windycity (Oct 3, 2015)

NYCB said:


> I saw that thing and wondered how much of a hassle it would be to get it mounted to my saw.
> 
> It would be nice not to have to drag the hose around while cutting.


What kind of water attachment does your saw have?

The unit has a quick connect fitting that fits all of my saws


David


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