Exposure to walnut

[Daryl]

Please do Wayne.

[bob in the woods]

Building instruments from many exotic woods for almost 50 years  has caused me a few problems.  Black walnut is known to be troublesome, and I have found that wearing a mask and gloves helps a lot. I can no longer tolerate cocobolo, and paduak is an absolute NO for me , causing severe dermatitis within minutes of exposure.  I try to keep sanding to a minimum. Planes, scrapers, and even rasps are much better, and easier to clean up after. 

[recurve]

when sanding walnut or turkey feathers (the dust is bad for the lungs) I also use a shop vac outside running the hose to my work area to suck the dust out of the shop, dumping the canister into the burn barrel still with the mask on.

clothing left out in shop, showering to remove from body

[Eric Krewson]

I have a friend that decided to build a recurve bow out of Ipe (Brazilian Rosewood), it is known for its toxicity. He was a professional arrow shaft and bow maker for years and never had a problem with dust.

As soon as he started running the Ipe through his bandsaw he got a whiff of the dust and passed out cold from an allergic reaction, he never touched the stuff again.