There must be a Newton's Law somewhere about this...

[thesound]

We spend countless hours transforming rough, ugly pieces of metal into shiny, smooth, and beautiful pieces of metal. Yet, as the parts continue to get cleaner and brighter, we gradually get blacker and dirtier. Funny how that works huh? I'm curious to know what some of you guys are using for personal protective equipment when you do your polishing. I'm long overdue for an upgrade in this area. PPE can get expensive really quick if you're looking at certain items, so before I jump off the deep end and make any purchases, I'd like to get feedback on what has worked for the rest of you in terms of good fit, comfort, and ease of use. Are there any pieces of PPE that you tried and didn't like?

Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by thesound

We spend countless hours transforming rough, ugly pieces of metal into shiny, smooth, and beautiful pieces of metal. Yet, as the parts continue to get cleaner and brighter, we gradually get blacker and dirtier. Funny how that works huh? I'm curious to know what some of you guys are using for personal protective equipment when you do your polishing. I'm long overdue for an upgrade in this area. PPE can get expensive really quick if you're looking at certain items, so before I jump off the deep end and make any purchases, I'd like to get feedback on what has worked for the rest of you in terms of good fit, comfort, and ease of use. Are there any pieces of PPE that you tried and didn't like?

Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Good topic.

Respirator is first - I use a $25 cartridge type from Home Depot (dust masks ain't enough). It seals fine even tho I have a full beard. But I still get the black snots because I can't stand to wear it and rip it off whenever I'm not actually working - but the dust hangs in the air. I have a box fan with furnace filters near the buffer, but when I use the die grinder the stuff just flies about the room. A hooded exhaust over the work stations would be perfect if I had the money. Or a full-head respirator with fresh air supply would be great too.

I have a full face shield I only wear for rough stuff - it got scratched up easily and makes it hard to see well enough to do color buffing. I just got cheap safety glasses to go over my new eyeglasses - not good for the $300 lenses when greaseless compound is flying about and sticking to everything. I do use the blowgun to get the dust off the glasses before I go into the house and clean them with lens cleaners.

I use a variety of gloves - right now it's those cheap blue disposables - I can get a day or so out of a pair if I'm careful. Sure makes cleanup easier. I have welding-style gloves for those small items that get too hot to handle.

And to complete my ensemble, I usually wear a pair of $5 Tyvek coveralls with hood. Without a good exhaust system, my 12' x 15' shop is covered in dust so I can't take a break without sitting on something dirty, lol. Plus I can go straight into the shop when I get home from work without wasting time changing clothes. The hood gets hot inside but it saves me from picking greaseless compound and lint out of my hair.