Thread: another (paranoid?) safety question...

Has anybody got any info on health hazards associated with the stone dust created when lapping your hones? I know that in the craft of pottery, they are very carefull to wipe all surfaces down with wet cloths when cleaning up to avoid creating aribrone airborne clay particles (risk of silicosis). I would thing the same risk might apply when dealing with cleanup after lapping.

I am not sure this is an issue here since all the lapping and honing I do is done wet. The only stone I have ever used dry is a Spyderco Ultra Fine. It was lapped wet to start with and now besides being smooth, has the finish of a piece of marble, so there is never any dust using it.

Ray

I'm with rayman. Since it's all done wet, there is VERY little dust unless you're doing an enormous amount of lapping, and not cleaning up after yourself.

Dust particles are in the air all the time. Just check the filter of your airconditioner and you know.

Excessive exposure to large amounts creates silicosis (industry, mining).

If you lap a hone dry every so often in a well ventilated room there's no problem. if you lap hones dry for a living you may have to take precautionary measures.