Hi fellas,
I'm converting a resin figure to fit into my current M35A1 Cargo Truck build & I'd like to hear your thoughts on how bad the resin dust is for us modellers. I've had to saw both the figures legs, waist, arms & head to get the look I wanted & it has created a fair amount of dust. How bad is it to breathe this dust in?
Thanks guys.
Joe.

not that I have conclusive evidence...

Sanded the massive plugs off the bottom of some floats for Academy's MASH chopper (neat product) and I was struck by the real smelly nature of the dust, and some oils that seemed to become more apparent while exposing fresh resin. (the creamy yellow type...)

I paint for a living and I woulldn't want to inhale stuff that fine that smelly like that. My 0.02$ worth.

Looking forward to hearing more info tho'! If I were you, I'd just try too keep the piece wet to minimize dust; wet the resin and saw it dripping.

AFAIK the problem is that the dust is so very fine it gets deep into your lungs not that the resin itself is poisonous once it's cured it is I think inert. I used a UMM saw to cut resin and contantly dip the saw in water so that the dust clumps on the blade. With each dip into water the dust falls away leaving a clean cutting blade.

As with any fine dust, avoid breathing it in. The same goes for sanding the polystyrene plastic in injection molded kits. I dont believe resin dust is any more harmful in its cured state.

Hi Joe,
I use 3M dust masks. The local drywallers swear by them as they stop the fine dust from sanding drywall mud(plaster). I cannot state by microns the smallest it will stop,but I know my nose no longer itches,etc. and less incidences of broncitis.My Doc says large quantities of any material(dust-like) will irritate the lungs
I tried the cheap ones,not so good.The 3M last quite while,after the vacuum cleans up the dust(obviously put the tiny bits in a secure place)they are like new(almost).
Just what works for me. Good luck

Jake

Hi Joe.....Just my two cents on any kind of fine dust or fibrous dust...... Years ago when in the Navy, I was part of an engine room crew. We, at times handled asbestos and did so without any special care. We were young and no one told us just how bad it could be to breath it. Back then the general public was not even informed of the long term danger. So long story short......if you are a non smoker, the chances of having harmful affects from temporary inhaling of dust etc is not really all that bad but if you smoke the odds of complications is multiplied quite a bit. My best friend, who also served with me, was a smoker and now fourty years later he has a slight respiratory problem, but I a non smoker, do not. Breathing dust is a part of everyday life, especially around construction, none the less make some effort to block it out....... .....Al...........Good idea to stop smoking anyways . That will mess someone up up more than a little resin dust from a figure. Don't loose sleep over it.

10 years and I'm not dead yet, used to mass produce castings too. It's a lung irritant, but if you aren't sanding mass quantities and/or use a dust mask you should be all right.

I was doing a large diorama with many resin figures over a three month period and it involved much sanding and cutting.

When applying for life insurance I was rated after a blood test showed toxins from the dust in my liver. Bottom line its is bad stuff. wear a mask and wet sand if you can particularly on large projects.

Deathdork

That's unusual. "Resin" is actually polyurethane, which is completely inert once it's cured. So far as I know it can't be metabolised and if that's right, by-products shouldn't show up in your system. Solid particles can, though, which is why wearing a mask or wet sanding are good ideas if you do it a lot. Worth reminding everyone that this applies to any sanding, though, including sawdust - resin isn't unique in this respect.

However, if not fully cured, resin can produce all sorts of horrors that could very easily be taken in via the lungs and end up almost anywhere. So, to return to the original quesiton, if there's a horrible smell when you sand your figures, that means it's not fully cured yet. As soon as you expose the interior, I'd leave it a few days to allow the smell to dissipate. It will then be a lot safer to work.

Joe, my take is that it's sensible to avoid inhaling it if you can, but not to get hysterical over it like some folks do.

ANY dust is (potentially) harmful if you're inhaling industrial quantities of the stuff. But given that we're inhaling on a daily basis all sorts of crap that's floating around in the very air that we breathe, a little bit of resin dust probably isn't going to make a world of difference one way or the other in the grand scheme of things.

When I cut resin (with a blade), I sometimes wear one of those dust masks you can buy cheap from any DIY store. But not always - sometimes I'm too lazy, sometimes I simply forget. If I'm sanding the stuff or sawing off large casting plugs I tend to be more conscientious, and if appropriate I might also wet it a bit to bind the dust. But it's not something I lose any sleep over.

Given that we live in very "litigious" times with ambulance-chasing lawyers touting for business by any means possible, I'm sure that if resin really was THAT dangerous, we'd long ago have seen health warnings and disclaimers being printed on kit boxes and packagings. But I've yet to hear of any modeller anywhere dying from inhaling resin dust.

Just my 2 cents.

- Steve

If I've got a lot of cutting or sanding to do I like to use a plastic washing-up bowl of water - that way the whole process happens under water with no dust. Mind you, I need to be gentle to avoid dowsing the table! (That could be more harmful to my health than inhaling a whole Verlinden upgrade set...)

Tom

My Two Cents,I`ve had more problems with saw blades than resin dust ! - when bits ping off they do`nt half sting !!.Now i wear safety glasses when "Dremmeling" pieces of their casting plugs and counting my blessings that i did`nt get hit in the eye.