Cardinal Knife

yes, thanks

I'm sure you already know this but if not, those respirators, once unsealed, are only good for an average of a few hours to a few days depending on what your using them for. They still work for dust of course.

yah, been reading about that too. I would weld anything when I was younger, surprised I made it through.

Quench- Thanks for the advice.I'm on day four and my symptoms are beginning to subside. I'm gonna give a bit of background. My respiratory system seems to be hypersensitive in comparison to others. At my workplace we use some nasty stuff once in a while including, glass primers, fiberglass resins, spray epoxies and gelcoats among carbon fiber manufacturing. I had a bout with a category 4 gelcoat while spraying a carbon fiber mold about 6 months ago. My respirator had been open and unsealed a few times prior to this job, and deep down I knew I should wait till the following day for a new respirator, but my Dad was eager to get going, so I ventured on. Well sure as $h!t I could smell the fumes and was in the spray booth for about an hour. The symptoms I acquired were the exact same as I have now, burning chest, that turned into runny nose, sneezing, post nasal drip that turned into a cold (or what feels like a cold). If I use rattle can of spray paint for a couple minutes I can literally feel my nasal passages restrict a bit, nothing horrible, I'm usually fine within 10-20 minutes, but it conveys the message that I am hypersensitive. Since that episode with the gelcoat I ordered myself, and the others here at work, higher end 3m masks with replaceable organic vapor cartridges, which now are available at the ready. As far as sitting in there for even 30 minutes- yikes! I've been reading on this bird dust crap and it scares the hell out of me. I think I may move the forge to my other garage that has never housed animals , work for just 20 minutes, and see if I have the same reaction. I may just doomed to wear a respirator either way for the rest of my life. Like I said, they bother other people to have on their face, but I can wear one for hours. It feels like a nice security blanket to me.

maybe I should take up smoking while I'm in there, lol

yes it was a chicken coop at one time way before we acquired the property. I have spent time in there on a few occasions but it never bothered me until I ran the forge. We hosed it down at one time, but looking back I doubt it did much good, as one other poster pointed out, I did not do the walls or roof, basically just hosed the floor with water and no antibacterial whatsoever.

This pic was taken 4 years ago before we built our house. House now sits where the photo is taken from. This whole mess has me sketched out so I'm thinking of moving the operation to another building. The unrestored chix coop sits on the left, garage barn far right will work good but the doors are difficult to open in the winter. The corn crib center rear would also work, lot of wood in there though, and if it goes up in flames it's gonna take my large horse barn with it. The little well house in the foreground center is now gone. The carriage type building far right rear has some friends boats and stuff in it.

Thanks for the advice Frosty.

Thanks Thomas

Good catch

>ausfire- Had to google "chook" - def. Aussie slang for chicken. I was skeptical at first that this was allergy related because I have spent time in there before with no issues, but am starting to think Glenn and the rest of you may be correct that the propane fumes and stirring of air may be kicking up some unwanted airbornes. I don't know what to do at this point other than wear a respirator and move the forge outside. I have two active children and a 45 hour/week job so it's not like I do this daily. I wear vapor/gas respirators at work all the time and wouldn't have a problem wearing one for couple hours straight need be. Is there a sticky somewhere here on IFI in regards to forge safety, I checked the gas forge forum and didn't see anything. I really dropped the ball on researching this upon purchasing my forge. I was so excited when I got it home I just fired it up with total disregard to my safety. At my age I should know better by now. I have a metal two level shop cart ( like automotive snap-on style). What's your guys thoughts on putting the forge on top and the tank on the bottom so I could wheel the assembly out the door? Safe- Unsafe??

Tough love- thanks Jim!

Thanks, I did do this first thing when I got it home.

much appreciated

My oven doesn't sound like a rocketship and heat up my kitchen 20 degrees in a matter of 15 minutes. It also is rated for indoor use and has more precision burners designed not to asphyxiate you.