Recommend a combination full-face mask/respirator please

mr chips

As per title, I'm considering getting a full-face mask with respirator as the separate goggles and respirator mask with filters I already have are too much faff for extended work. I'm asthmatic, so I can't cope with the amount of dust raised when cutting through concrete flags with an angle grinder or the smoke & fumes generated when cutting through metal. I also wear prescription glasses and without them I can't see well enough to work. Although the safety goggles I already have fit over those pretty comfortably, they're not a good combination with the breathing mask as no matter how tightly I fit it, exhaled air can still escape upwards, causing both the prescription glasses and the inside of the safety goggles to mist up. I'm constantly having to stop work, clean the inside of the goggles, clean the glasses, put it all back on, do another couple of minutes, stop again ...

I have a lot of this sort of work to do in the coming weeks and I'm not happy to go without eye protection, especially when cutting through metal, so I need something better than what I have which ideally doesn't cost the earth but will allow me to breathe and see while I work. I've seen a few on ebay like THIS one, but can any fellow glasses wearers say whether this one will do what I want?

Purgative

Hi Mr Chips


I use one of these for wood working



https://www.toolpost.co.uk/product/jsp-powercap-active-ip-wuniversal-charger-dock


Over 200 quid but it does the job.

mr chips

Thanks Purgative - it's an unusual design as the filters are mounted at the top rather than the bottom. Unfortunately that one is a fair bit outside my budget - then again, I don't need an active/powered unit. But I'd be interested to know if you wear glasses yourself and if so, whether you ever have any issue with them or the mask getting fogged up.

Stigura

What is your budget, le Chip? Grim fact of life is that these things don't come cheap. And 'cheap' ppe is an insane concept :eek:

Just out of curiosity, I've checked an industry website from my days. I'm looking at one, £135.00. Then, plus all the knobs and whistles; VAT, filters, case and so forth. Could easily rack up to €200.00, to get ye working.

Purgative

mr chips wrote: »

Thanks Purgative - it's an unusual design as the filters are mounted at the top rather than the bottom. Unfortunately that one is a fair bit outside my budget - then again, I don't need an active/powered unit. But I'd be interested to know if you wear glasses yourself and if so, whether you ever have any issue with them or the mask getting fogged up.

I don't wear glasses for doing woodwork no. The mask has never fogged. Its comfortable to wear even in summer. My workshop is in a tin roofed barn - it can get really hot but the mask keeps a stream of cool air blowing across your face.



The non-powered ones can be quite tiring as you need to keep sucking air through the filters.


Best of Luck

mr chips

The effort to breathe through a non-powered mask doesn't bother me - I'm well used to that with the mask I have, and despite the asthma I'm in good enough physical shape that I can work hard for hours so long as I'm not being choked with fumes/dust.

What I'm looking for isn't something I need for long-term regular use. I'll happily spend twenty or thirty quid on a mask that will let me do a few jobs in safety over the next week or two - however it will only get very sporadic use thereafter (the odd bit of angle-grinding through concrete flags/bricks etc), so I don't want to spend two or three hundred notes on a bit of kit that I'll rarely use once this job is finished. For comparison, the goggles I have fit really snugly around the glasses and only cost me a few quid, while the breather mask probably cost me less than a tenner back when I got it. Before I'd got this far I was cutting through metal outdoors and I didn't need the breather mask at that stage, so there wasn't much of an issue with condensation on the goggles or glasses then. But now I've started working inside cutting the heads off a couple of hundred rivets which are too robust to drill out, I definitely need the breather mask as well as the goggles and the resulting condensation is slowing me down a lot.

listermint

mr chips wrote: »

The effort to breathe through a non-powered mask doesn't bother me - I'm well used to that with the mask I have, and despite the asthma I'm in good enough physical shape that I can work hard for hours so long as I'm not being choked with fumes/dust.

What I'm looking for isn't something I need for long-term regular use. I'll happily spend twenty or thirty quid on a mask that will let me do a few jobs in safety over the next week or two - however it will only get very sporadic use thereafter (the odd bit of angle-grinding through concrete flags/bricks etc), so I don't want to spend two or three hundred notes on a bit of kit that I'll rarely use once this job is finished. For comparison, the goggles I have fit really snugly around the glasses and only cost me a few quid, while the breather mask probably cost me less than a tenner back when I got it. Before I'd got this far I was cutting through metal outdoors and I didn't need the breather mask at that stage, so there wasn't much of an issue with condensation on the goggles or glasses then. But now I've started working inside cutting the heads off a couple of hundred rivets which are too robust to drill out, I definitely need the breather mask as well as the goggles and the resulting condensation is slowing me down a lot.

if its long term you will have to spend the cash, thats the reality.

If its just a once off job then keep it simple.

I cant tell from your opening post and this one whether this is your job or its a once off DIY.


If its your job spend the money properly 3M have a system where the filter and vents are waist wrapped and behind you. Thats the level you should be looking for.

lgk

I use one of these with appropriate filters at times. Most of the regular masks, even the ones with exhaust valves still left me with protective glasses fogging up.

Calahonda52

OP: Trend do an air shield rig, same sort of mula: 200 quid plus

Even without the asthma it's worth the money.

listermint

Calahonda52 wrote: »

OP: Trend do an air shield rig, same sort of mula: 200 quid plus

Even without the asthma it's worth the money.

This puppy, with Sterling on its arse.

https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/trend-air-pro-airshield-pro-respirator-230v-uk

Calahonda52

listermint wrote: »

This puppy, with Sterling on its arse.

https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/trend-air-pro-airshield-pro-respirator-230v-uk

I agree, just get the Death Star as well

mr chips

I'm not after something I'll be using regularly over the long term - must admit I thought I'd put that across by saying "a mask that will let me do a few jobs in safety over the next week or two - however it will only get very sporadic use thereafter" ... and "a bit of kit that I'll rarely use once this job is finished."
Sorry folks that I wasn't clear enough - maybe I'll start again!

Over the couple of weeks, I have to use an angle grinder to cut through metal rivets with a diamond blade and then cut through concrete flags and bricks with a masonry blade. I'll be doing this for a few hours at a time.

• I want to protect my eyes, especially from sparks and fragments of hot metal.
• I want to breathe without being choked by fumes, smoke and/or dust.
• I want to see what I'm doing and not have my goggles or glasses constantly misting up.
• I don't need a powered air supply - passive filters are enough to let me breathe normally and my old dust mask would do fine if it wasn't also restricting my vision.
• I don't want to spend eighty or a hundred or two hundred notes on the sort of gear that someone doing this sort of work long-term might, because this is a short-term project. I would hope to get what I'm after for twenty or thirty quid.

Looking further through the Screwfix site after seeing lgk's suggestion, THIS ONE might do the trick for me with the following specs -
Anti-Mist & Anti-Scratch Coating - Low Breathing Resistance Valve - Fully Adjustable Elastic Harness - 94% Filter Efficiency - One-Piece Clear Lens for Optimal Coverage - Can be Used with Prescription (Rx) Eyewear

The only thing is I'm not sure if that filter would be adequate for the smoke/fumes generated by cutting through metal. If not then maybe I'll just try spitting in the goggles I already have to see how I get on!

lgk

mr chips wrote: »

I want to protect my eyes, especially from sparks and fragments of hot metal.

Good call. If you ever need an MRI, you might save them having to go fishing for shards with a needle...

mr chips

I had to take a neighbour into A&E a few years back after a spark went into his eye just from hitting a nail with a hammer! They actually got it out with a really powerful magnet, no needles involved. Still not something I'd want to try for myself though ...:eek:

Stigura

:eek: Well; That's the last time I'll ever smirk, when I see a " Wear Goggles " label on a claw hammer!

cletus

Mr chips, with the last facemask you posted from Screwfix, I'd be surprised if you could wear glasses comfortably under those goggles

mr chips

Yeah, that's why I'd been thinking about something more like the one I linked to in my first post. So far though, the oul' shpittle in the goggles has made enough of an improvement that I was able to get through four or five times as much work before having to take them off again to clean, so for the amount left to do I'll probably just batter on like that. :cool: