The stool is already finished, at least the structure, so we only need to finish sanding and painting. That’s just an understatement, as sanding usually consumes a great deal of time in the shop. The chronology of the manufacture of a piece of furniture or any other wooden element is usually:design, design, redesign, design, measure, measure, measure, redesign, measure, measure, cut, assemble, disassemble, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, glue, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, paint and hold off until it is completely dry (and we could end with: and tell the whole story to your most patient friends while you proudly show them what you have made).
So today I spent a good part of the afternoon sanding the wooden stool. Fortunately, I don’t end up with a nose as full of sanding dust as I did before using these masks and using vacuum in my woodworking shop. The best thing about these masks is that thanks to the double fabric on the edge and the strong elastic bands and its anchoring system to the mask, almost no dust gets inside. They also have an active carbon filter, although it is unnecessary for sanding wood.
Even so, in the area just below my eyes the mask does not fit well and although little dust gets in there, the problem is that the mist from my breathing goes straight to my goggles and fogs them up. I have to try to put some foam strip or something like that in that area, especially because working with fogged glasses is dangerous (one tends to release one hand from the tool to put the finger inside the glasses to clean a little) and remove them to clean them continuously is very uncomfortable.
As for the Thesuction system that I use in the workshop, as you can see in the photos is not a big deal (although a bit expensive if it is the gadget, which after all is not much more than a bucket of paint with a couple of fixes). In the center is connected the tube of a normal vacuum cleaner (this is protected by the fabric filter of the bucket) and to the other entrance the shavings and dust arrive from the inside of the black tube from the machines, entering the bucket through the white elbow that you can see in the photo anchored to the inside of the lid. The cloth filter should not be left unwashed if it is not going to be used for a while, as it absorbs a lot of moisture with wood dust and turns black.
I actually bought this bucket to vacuum ashes from the iron stove and fireplace (it is highly recommended for this task, as it is done quickly and cleanly) and I use it at the workshop. I connect it between the shop vacuum cleaner and and the woodworking electric tools when possible.
