I have decided to buy some new thingies for the ole workshope, and they arrived this week.
The thing that I was most looking forward to was a new respirator. The one I use these last few years has some serious issues – the strap that goes around the head is just one strip of elastic and it really hurts when worn for a longer time. I also have problems with sealing – but not around the beard as the manufacturers of these things like to warn, but around the nose, where it is too wide and soft. The new one seems to fit well, but I did not get around to test it in action yet. The load on the head is spread on two solid strips so that should be better too. Here you can see my staring into the void wearing that thing. It does feel quite comfortable, today I shall see how it feels when worn longer and doing actual work.
Another safety-related thingie that I bought is a stand for my angle grinder. I have been mulling this over for about a year but decided finally to buy it because by coincidence I have seen it at my friends’ garage and he confirmed that it does in fact work as advertised and is compatible with my tool. It is assembled now, but it probably won’t get into any real action before the next batch of knives.
When at it, I also bought a mini-vice with a swivel ball joint at the base. I hope it makes manufacturing and finishing of fiddly little things easier. It came right with plastic soft jaws and at a glance seems to be exactly the thing I have needed for a long time by now.
There were other small things in the packet not worth extra mention, but one other thing is. Unexpectedly I have also received a nice big package from Marcus, who was so very kind and has sent me two pieces of steel rope damascus and a piece of stabilized maple to play with. That is simply grand, because it will take some time before I can make my own damascus (if ever) and stabilized wood (on that one I am more confident). So big thanks to Marcus, after my currently running projects are done, I already know what will come next.
I am realizing that instead of pretty pictures I am serving you mostly things from my workshop but as you can imagine that is where I concentrate most of my effort these days and I did not have time to play ft with my camera for quite a long time by now.
Safety thing are good! Have fun with your new kit and with Marcus’ bits.
Money spent on safety is always well spent!
Have fun experimenting!
Yay for safety stuff. Tell me how the respirator works. I had one from that company, the model with the round filters and changing them was a pain in the ass. We finally threw them away because we couldn’t get them to fit properly with the replacements anymore.
It think by now Marcus has quite some people at the customs offices wondering…
@Giliell, it feels comfortable on the head and I like it. I cannot say how changing the filters will work, that won’t be needed for quite a long time. But unlike the previous one (I do not know the manufacturer, but it is too one with round filters), this one really fits my face and holds tight. The plastic is a bit harder than on the previous one, and it hugs my narrow and a bit big nose properly without me having to fidget with it constantly, something that no respirator has managed so far.
What marcus said
I have worked with this respirator and it is very compfortable and retains fit for a long time (even with beard and a lot of sweating) for me. I hopw you have similar positive experiences with it.
@Giliell: Yes, marcus packages are treasureboxes. (I wonder,what the customs officers thought about that bright pink plastic grenade inbetween wonderful soap. :D)
Slight correction:
“…retains a good fitting seal for a long time…”
You can never go wrong with good equipment, especially of the safety kind. I hope it all makes your next batch of knives easier to manufacture.
I, too, wonder what customs thinks of all those packages of happiness that Marcus sends around the world.