So about a week ago I started tinkering with converting dufferins and messing with my shaft taper. I had been using a straight router bit and a builder suggested I use a wing bit. I got the wing bit in on Wednesday and took some small passes with it. That night I started to develop a small rash on my neck that itched like crazy. The only thing different that I've done is change bits. I am wondering if the wing bit is creating finer chips which is irritating my skin?
Does anyone else have a reaction to cutting maple? I know there are other woods out there that cause reactions but I have not heard of maple being a culprit.
Hi,
If you have hypersensitivity to saw dust from wood you should seek the advice of an allergist for testing concerning select species. From what I know these reactions only get more intense over time.
My friend is 92 years old and has worked in cue shops for over 45 years. For his first 20 years he had zero or only minor iteration to some species. It got worse over the years. It got so bad with Cocobola and other rosewoods that he could not fuction after even slight exposure. His arm pits, gentile area and some other body regions gets as red as a fire truck and he has to slather himself with zinc oxide for days with much discomfort.
Today he stops by my shop for lunch 4 days a week and it is a known fact to me that I never cut rosewoods until he leaves and I purge the shop with my 12" blower fan in my spray booth with outside doors open to purge the shop when I am done turning.
If he just smells rosewood he will start to get red rashes. This is scary stuff.
I personally have not had any reactivity to any woods my self but I have large vacuum blowers on my my tapering machines with plexiglass tunnel containments to reduce dust with pretty high efficiency with the suction sources located in a trailer out side my shop. Even with these precautions without a mask you can still smell cocobolo.
Again, you should wear a mask and make sure you discharge outside your shop. Shop vacs discharging inside your shop will not protect your from fine particulate passing filters.
With your hypersensitivity, I would see a doctor to get his advise as to your health concerning cumulative exposure with your specific condition.
You may have turned a lot of maple that day but did you turn any other pieces of wood that day at all? Even just one piece?
Good luck and be safe,
Rick
