Definatley wear a dust mask, the bone dust contains DNA from another animal that if it gets inyoure system can do some reactive things. Also bone does carry some deseases if the animal it came from was deseased. Also wear a dust mask when working antler and horn.

Good advice--not to mention it stinks to high heaven too.

That is interesting, I would not have thought of that. I thought I had read a while back about some problems with bone dust but wasn't sure.



ghostdog

The calcium in the bone dust is also supposed to dissolve out in the fluid in your lungs and re crystalize in accicular (needle like) crystals which are *NOT* good if you plan to be able to lift a hammer at the forge without a 5 minute break for breathing after every blow!

Some tropical woods can sensitize you and cause allergic reactions to even very *small* ammounts.

I've had my grandfather and my mother in law die from lung problems and it's just not a lot of fun!

The time to take care is when you are young and immortal so that you're still allive when you grow older and *know* Ma Nature's just itching to feed you to the worms.

Bog Iron

If a man chooses to be a knifemaker he assumes certain risks. You absolutely can't protect yourself from everything in the shop or the smithy. If you feel you need to it's time to find another vocation. Think about it. Life is what it is. Education is a wonderful tool. And safety is a good idea. But when it comes down to brass tacks and real life you just can't cover all the bases. Can you? And still be a creative spirit? No. Not in my opinion. Every choice we make in our lives is filled with risks and hazards. Choose wisely and learn to live with the consequences. Otherwise, I'm sure there's plenty of openings with OSHA.

I live life each day as it comes. No regrets. When it's time for me to punch my life clock and see what there really is out there after this existence I'm ready. That's just the way I see it. Breathe that bone dust and expereince life at it's fullest! Hell, just breathing the air around you is hazardous to your health. It causes cancer. Are you going to wear a bubble suit to escape the only reality available to you? No. Do your best to stay safe but don't over do it. My opinion only. Life is what it is. And it'll always be that way. Don't fear what you can't change. Just deal with it and move on. If you have a problem with that concept just look at our ancestors. They lived and died just like we do. Be realisitic. Be safe. Just don't remove yourself from the 'real reason' for doing what it is that we do.

Our bodies are the most amazing thing. They can metabolize most anything that we put into them. The only things that really seem to do us great harm is the stuff we have to synthesize or create from the chemical laboratory. If it ain't natural it can hurt you. Period. Bone dust is a natural organic part of nature. Relax and enjoy what life you have left. Sorry, I'm feeling a bit deep lately. Be safe. Wear a mask.

Considering how much coal smoke I've breathed I can't point the finger at folks; but there are some basic things folk can do to live long enough to enjoy their dangerous hobies.

Dust is a big one silicosis was reported by the ancient greeks, brown lung and black lung are all due to natural products (BTW cyanide, aconite, botulism toxin are all "natural" compounds as is U235 however my body has trouble with them anyway)

Dust is a simple one to deal with too; masks are pretty cheap and easy to use. Ventilation is cheap and easy to build. The cost/benefit ratio is pretty clear on this one!

We have an old family friend who was a world class whitwater canoer, (gold medal winner!) He got into building them using fiberglass and resin with minimal precautions. He is now so sentisized to the resin that sitting in a canoe can bring about anaphalytic shock and a run to the hospital. I worked with a fellow in a wood shop whose nose would start to bleed if you sanded black walnut by hand 50' away. These help drive home to me that some things *will* hut me and in a very short while! Am I perfect; no way; but I try to shade things my way a bit to avoid stuff when I can.

Start a few good habits young and enjoy life a lot more when you're old! I still remember my Grandfather sitting in his "chair" with a cig in one hand and the Oxygen mask in the other. My other Grandfather is 10 years older than when he died and just built a deck on his house and working on getting his pond stocked. I know which way I'd like to go!

I believe it's your right to play Russian Roulette; just let me point out that the fewer bullets you put in the cylinder the greater the probability you advance to round two...

Bog Iron

a medicine man would take a peice of bone from a
rotting animal..and the user would stick the victim
with it..from most accounts the victim died within
weeks...so i imagine that the comment that
it carries diesese in some cases holds creedence..
bone dust comes in 2 forms mostly..organic bone
and fossilized bone..breathing fossilized bone dust
is DEFINATLY a BIG NO NO...breating non fosslized
dust (organic) is as said..a crapshoot..it may or
may not contain dieseses..it may or may not dissolve
in your lungs..and if it does.it may or may not cause
other problems...to me..the issue isnt weather or not
its gonna kill you...the issue is if it does..how many
years will you suffer its conditons created before it
does.. COPD...chronic obstructive lung desiese
is not pretty..hackin sputterin.like BILL the CAT.
wearing oxygen all the time...NO THANKS..ILL WEAR
MY $65 MASK...for bone..carbon fiber..horn..wood..and
everything else...one more tip..viruses are neither alive nor dead..they just are..they exist for hundreds of thousands of years sometimes... Who knows what
disgusting creepy crawley viruses lie dormant in
mammoth tusk barks..IM WEARING A MASK..before i end up GROWINGa trunk or something worse...did any of you ever cut thru mammoth ivory? YOU CAN SMELL THE CRITTER..IT SMELLS LIKE ELEPHANTS FROM THE CIRCUS..ONLY ALOT NASTIER..me..im wearing a mask...LOTT

I have a beard-a long beard so respirators do a minimum amount of good.so ventilation is the way I go now.You mention disease in bone and you are right The 6 people in the USA that contracted Mad Cow Disease did so because they breathed the bone dust they were putting on their roses.When I heard that I didnt do a bone handle for a couple years.Be safe as possible we need all that old hands possible here for all of our benefits--Glenn--

I always boil and mildly bleach my bones before using them. I then have to age them to make them look right, but like they say--better safe than sorry.

Bleaching and boiling-good idea.How do you age them?Glenn

A short story about BSE and related diseases. As a student, we studied a case of 'kuru disease'. What i remember was the following... I believe the kuru where some cannibal tribe somewhere in Borneo (or in some other wild place). The females all suffered from neural disorders: while eating their victims, the males took the best meat (ie muscles), the females and children ate the organs (bone marrow, organs, brains). These organs contained small virus like proteins (prions), that, once inside an organ, don't do too much harm, but activate when they come into contact with the digestion system and cause 'little inconveniences'.

Similar proteins are found in organs of ie goats, sheep and cows. Because animal waste (ie organs) is recuperated into animal food, these prions get into their system... causing ie mad cow disease. So as long as these multinational animal fodder companies start realizing a cow needs to eat grass, not cow brains, we all keep swallowing whatever...

I'm not sure in which degree such prions (which may be inbedded into bone or marrow) can move into one's system as a dust particle, can be disactivated by boiling or can be stopped by a simple big pore carpenters dust mask. Anyway, it sounds reasonable to cook this stuff and wear a respirator all the time you're grinding.

Each time i clean out my shop, especially the grinding area (and i have a professional vacuum cleaner attached to it), i realize how important it is to wear a mask.

Keep safe and start eating grass :)

tim

"Or in some other wild place..." like Belgium, perhaps. I've never read of a beard quench in Borneo. :)

But hey Tim, I can take it as long as you're buying the ale, Bro. :)

Ummm Dana, I think you had better take a bag of trinkets for trading. These are knifemakers. <BSEG>.


ghostdog