Effects of welding galvanized steel...

[ThomasPowers]

One other big nasty is beryllium dust so you knifemakers be carefull when you grind scrap bronze and avoid stuff that may be Be containing. I had a beautiful colour bronze wrench I was going to make into a knife guard once---until I read about the effects of beryllium poisoning. Then I trashed it immediately as Be bronze was used for non-sparking tools!

Talking with a friend who was a professional brass founder he told me that *1* piece in a traincar load of brass scrap that tested positive for Be was grounds for not accepting the entire load *and* they had to decontaminate the entire scrap area---that was a tad large as they took in train carloads of scrap.

[aametalmaster]

Its right here in black and white.
Safety and Health Topics: Hexavalent Chromium
Use a good hepa respirator not one of those cheapie paper masks and forget the old wifes tale of drinking milk before welding. I wish i had this info 30 years ago when i started instead of drinking a glass of milk because i prob wouldn't have a puffer in my pocket now...Bob

[Jose Gomez]

Here is a 6 page article that not only explains the effets of welding galvanized, but also the safe way to do it. It's a long read, but well worth it if you have to work with galv.http://www.sperkoengineering.com/htm...Galvanized.pdf

[hammerkid]

Originally Posted by Pat Roy

After reading the Paw Paw Wilson tragedy, I went into my shop and removed and discarded any iron with zinc or shiny coating on it; like cadmium coated bolts and nuts etc. I don't want to weld, grind burn or forge anything like that. A lot of painted metal isn't great for you either. I also wear a dust mask to keep the soot and dust out of my breathing apparatus. I want to enjoy my grandchildren for as long as possible.

Yeah I going to take ALL the gal. stuff in my 2 shops and throw it in the scrap bin and never use it !!!!!!!!

[aametalmaster]

There is no problem using it as long as you do it safely with the proper respirator. A lot of my small bolts that i powdercoat after welding get dunked in muratic acid to remove the coating becaus i need plain bolts and can't buy them...Bob