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sanding bisque. a health hazard?

updated wed 15 mar 00

 

iandol on mon 6 mar 00

------------------
Joan Pierce asks about Sanding Pots.

Using glass paper, garnet paper or any other abrasive to make rough bisque =
fired
clay object smooth is a Health Hazard. If you use grinding wheels, sand or =
glass
paper can release fine silica dust. I know it is a common task for the slip =
cast
brigade to sand dry clay. But there are better techniques. If work needs =
that
amount of grinding, think about the problems and sort them out. The teacher =
has
a responsibility to help with this. There are solutions which do not have =
the
hazard of silicosis.

Inside or out, well ventilated or not, dry grinding is always a health =
hazard.

Ivor Lewis.

CYoung/NCzuchra on tue 14 mar 00

I agree that sanding is not a healthy thing to do without protection and I
sand all of my pierced work because much of it cannot be sponged as I work
and sanding's the only way to do it. To solve some of the problems, I wear
a respirator and goggles and use an air compressor to blow the dust off of
the work and myself after sweeping the area. I work with the breeze behind
me and on dead days, hook up a fan to blow the dust away. I only (95%)
sand outside but in case of a time/rain emergency ( and this does look
really wierd) I use a Rube Goldburg "sanding box" through which I cut a
hole behind the area I'll sand and reach inside the box to sand the piece
while wearing: goggles, respirator, and ear protectors. I duct tape the
vaccuum hose to the hole in the box and sand away. The dust gets sucked
into the hose and I'm protected. A pain to do but pretty safe.

Candace
http://www.bayriverpottery.com

At 05:11 PM 3/6/2000 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>------------------
>Joan Pierce asks about Sanding Pots.
>
>Using glass paper, garnet paper or any other abrasive to make rough bisque
fired
>clay object smooth is a Health Hazard. There are solutions which do not
have the
>hazard of silicosis.
>
>Inside or out, well ventilated or not, dry grinding is always a health
hazard.
>
>Ivor Lewis.
>
>