Minimizing the mess (welding & grinding related)

I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes but eventually the light comes on. The other day I was cleaning up my shop after a period that involved a great deal of welding & grinding.

My usual drill is to do all the Mig welding and then use a thick cutoff disc in a die grinder to take the excess off the welds before finishing them with a sanding disc. I do the grinding with the edge of the disc. (I buy the thick cutoff wheels from Northern and they are black.)

Well, while cleaning up the shop I realized there was this fine coating of black, sooty dust all over everything in the shop. I'm guessing that its from the cheap *** grinding discs that I used. The next day, while doing some more welding, I just used 3M green corps sanding discs and it seemed that all the grinding dust and steel particles stayed in close proximity to where the grinding ocurred.

Is this correct or am I imagining it? What tricks do you use to minimize the mess of grinding welds in your shop? Thanks for the tips in advance!

 

I have a metal working friend who finishes his work day by putting on safety gl***es and "dusting" the shop with a leaf blower.

 

I do it in my little welding/grinding room, which is off to the side of my main shop, and has a relatively small "doorway" (no door). When I'm working on something big in the main shop area, I have to clean up the mess when I'm done. If you think about where the grinder is shooting the sparks, and try to make it so they are pointing down, or deflect them with a grinding wheel guard or something, the mess is not so bad.

also if you let sparks hit gl*** or painted things or flammables or whatever, you might have problems.

 

I do try to do this. In fact, I have some welding screens that I put up around me sometimes. Despite this, the black soot gets in every nook and cranny of my shop. I believe it is mostly the cheap abrasives.

I've seen some fan/filter box deals that people put near where they are welding and grinding and they use these to **** up most of the smoke and mess. Anyone do that? Comments?

 

i too use a leaf blower to dust out the shop occasionally....

 

I got that **** everywhere too. Those cut off wheels go somewhere don't they?
I used to have some real good ones, "Spartan" razor thin relatively to the ones I Have now. They were tough, lasted longer. Debris was less because consumed less. The metal sparks are heavy and fall but the other stuff goes everywhere. I have a finished party loft that's open and constantly filthy. That stuff doesn't really stick like soot but its sooty.

 

I got 3 cheapie 20" box fans at wally world, put a 20x20x1 furnace filter on the back, makes an unbelievable difference in air quality.

the filter slows the fan way down and I'm sure the fans wont last as long as they should, but at 10 bucks each I really dont care!

the kitty's is shedding and it would be a nightmare without the filters.

 

The grinding dust is just part of the deal. The price of the wheels has little effect, but some of the "made in the USA" discs seem to have less grit flying into the air. USA made discs are getting real hard to find. I suggest you try a few different grinding discs, some of even the cheap ones are better then others.

Exhaust fans seem to help the inside of the shop, but the grit collects outside the fan. Its easier to clean up inside the shop then it is to clean up outside. I suppose a real dust collector might solve most of the issues, but getting one big enough to do the job would be costly. Hard to justify if your not doing this all the time, even then....... Gene

 

When its possible I do it outside in front of the shop. No cleanup.

 

Tig weld and dont grind

 

A chop saw is the biggest dust and dirt maker. We used one to cut all the exhaust in my muffler shop. The dust and dirt was hard to keep up with.

 

Just to add
dont get your cell phone any where near this ****..
It will ruin the speaker.the fine metal shavings attach themselfs to the speaker magnets in the phone and destroy the sound quality

i zip lock bag my phone now, even in my pocket

ask me how I know, 3 Droids later

 

I do this too. The only downside is that I have a rusty concrete pad in front of the shop. Probably should invest in a leaf blower

 

Yea me too!

 

I will take this into concideration. That never crossed my mind.

 

We blow the shop out at least twice a week. The biggest help is welding curtains. A couple of them in the area you are grinding contains all the big stuff to a limited area. Keeps the sparks off other cars and work areas as well.

 

Nice!

 

That dust is grinding disc and steel. Where do you think sparks go, they cool and turn into that ****. unless youre wearing a mask, youre also breathing it, steel and grinding disc. who really knows whats used to hold those discs together?

gotta clean it up, it will eventually oxidize and rust stain everything.

curtains are great. Ive even run 1x's across the garage from wall to wall about 6 ft up and stapled cardboard or plastic up to contain an area. cheap, easy, disposable

 

this sh*t is really tough on your lungs as well, wear a breathing mask.

 

So, that's why I've had to replace my cell phone 3 times this cycle. Makes perfect sense, thanks.

 

I have to thank Von Rigg Fink, too. Thought my phone was a piece of **** (it probably is), but I bet this is what's happening.

 

I do that, too..............sometimes.

 

I never even thought of this. Damn.

 

I need to remember to do that. I clean mine every few days...I'm on droid #2.

 

oh yeah....so jr was grinding the running boards out in front of the garage.....the next rain i had the Mrs all over my *** for the permanent rust stains in front of the garage....

 

i do the same but i use a dust mask too when i blow the shop out

 

One time when I was grinding some spring perches off a rearend in front of the shop, I caught some dry gr*** on fire....decided it's not worth the risk.

 

Stainles is real bad ordinary steel rust away in your lungs
stainles get incapsulated i know an old welder that beeps
at the airports in the metal detectors beacuse al the
stainles in his lungs he souds like an old horse when he breats

 

I LIKE that idea! On my way to get a leaf blower.