Air Quality - Mask vs. Air Filtration

Lately, while cleaning rusty old tools I bought from a local market, I've inhaled steel wool dust
go w/ non-woven pads instead of steel wool..
in fact don't use steel wool for anything... use the pads...
if you want to use a rust solvent mix 1:1 ratio of ATF and acetone... won't take much...
a fan will make for good ventilation...

and possibly gotten a tiny bit in my eyes.
goggle/ski type safety glasses...
(examples) https://www.conney.com/category/eye-protection-safety-goggles

And while sanding wooden projects,
build your own down draft table and hook up a DC to the sander...
10 Downdraft Table Plans and Build Notes for Wood Shops |

possibly molding plastics, I'll want more safety.
positive pressure hood/full face respirator.. but the price of these jst make your brain hurt...
way too many hydrocarbons and noxious gasses to deal w/...

A long-time carpenter recommended a $130 full-face mask setup with replaceable filters, if I was to train with him.
goggles and filtered half face respirator w/ replaceable filters...
(example) 3M® 6000 Series Half Facepiece Reusable Respirators | Seton

But I know some people on Router Forums recommend air filtration of some sort. Are both needed? Is one more important than the other?
Shop air filtration???

- will a fan near the project be sufficient?
no, but add a box fan w/ an AC filter mounted to it to the arsenal... a positive plus that will not hurt...
Box Fan Filter

heating - but that's another topic entirely.
please....

I don't want to ruin my health - eyes, fingers, lungs - but I'm not building a bunker and I don't need to cycle enough air for an army. What's the middle ground?
dust collection (DC) system and eye/hearing protection...
use the search function here on DC as there are a lot of threads on the subject...
VOE says.. get more unit than you think you'll ever need.. ''no get bys'' is to your advantage...

Thanks so much for any advice! Health is so important.

This is very similar to the one that I have: 3M Dustmask. It works very well for me, and there are several different filter canisters that you can get for it, all depends on what you are doing.

I used to use the paper throw away masks and thought they did an adequate job. I had to make sure I got the ones with the center exhaust valve, else my glasses would fog up. Use dust collection at the source... whatever machine you are using, make sure you are using a dust collector. You will never get all of it IMHO, but if you get most of it, it's OK. Air filtration in the shop can be as complicated as the most expensive, efficient filtration you can find... or it can be really simple. Tape a standard furnace filter to a 20" box fan and turn it on. It won't get all the real fine particles, but it will still get a lot of the particulate matter floating thru the air.

Bottom line, use a filtered mask, and a collection system. You only get one pair of lungs, protect them.

BDBAILEY....
Unless you are a very lucky man, you will only ever have one set of eyes and one set of lungs.

Forget any kind of budget for safety items. Whats the use of having a workshop full of tools if your lungs are so bad you cant walk to it (try googling COPD), or you cant see to work it all.

Mask AND dust collection are vital and anyone who decides not to use both is just fooling themselves.

I have a dust collection system to my machines, and still wear a face mask to FFP3 specification, because its the very fine dust that you cant see that will eat your lungs out.

and I use safety glasses and ear defenders on anything that throws dust and chips at me.

In terms of a car, think of it as fitting a giant race engine but not upgrading the brakes. Starts off well, but disaster is just a little way down the road

@bdbailey Budget is always a problem and finding a balance between that and safety is tricky. A box fan and filter needs to be set near a wall so it creates a circulation. In a two car garage, I'd set up two fans on opposite walls, suspended from the ceiling With an attached garage, the problem will be tracking sawdust into the house, and having the fine, suspended particulates leak into the house.

Sawdust extraction at the tool is also very important. Sweeping up sawdust after you finish working is likely to only launch more fine particulates into the air. I spent a lot of money trying to put together a good home brew DC (Dust collection) setup, none of which really did the job. Finally, I got the Harbor Freight unit, on sale now and again, for $187 with a holiday weekend 25% off coupon and on sale. Still had to buy a couple of other parts and a 4 inch hose to attach to different tools. It cost me about half what I'd spent on various parts, blowers, barrels and such. I have two, one in my 12x24 shop that has a really fine additional drum type filter, and the other in my garage where I prep wood and resaw. The garage unit just has the cloth filter. The shop's canister filter lets me recirculate shop air rather than blow it out along with the heat and AC air.

A good DC system does not negate the need for a mask, eye and hearing protection. The DC units also serve to vacuum up the shop floor and shelves.

All that seems like overkill to some, but for a grand total of about $350, you can avoid a raft of breathing problems. I am a throat cancer survivor and the carcinogens in sawdust are NOT going into my throat and lungs! Discuss this with your spouse so she's on your side on budgeting for this. After taking me through radiation and chemo, my wife had no problem with my investing in good DC.

@bdbailey Almost forgot, Shop heating solutions. There was a long discussion on this recently. I have a similar problem during winter. Cold hands around spinning blades is a dangerous situation. Some solutions were using the gas outlet for a dryer to feed a closed flame heater. There are combination AC/heater units that are electric. But after all that, I realized that I had to insulate the ceiling and drywall it or any heat would simply be dissipated. The walls are already insulated, so since I'm too old to do that project, someone's coming in to do it with at least R38 batting.

That done and about R12 foam/bubble insulation in the roll up garage door--with good door seals--and I'll just run the gas dryer a few minutes and vent it into the garage. There is enough fresh air circulation from water heater venting so it will work and once heated enough, it will cool slowly. During summer (desert here), the insulation will mitigate the heat. Maybe AC some time in the future, but I'll see if it's needed. My shop has AC. Radiant space heaters near your work area is another help. Just no open flame or heater elements.

Hope this helps.