Dust Mask Clears the Air

When I started making furniture, the shops I worked in didn’t have good dust collection. A single-stage dust collector hooked up to the planer was about all you would find. One of my teachers wore a weird-looking dust mask called the DustFoe whenever he was doing something that generated a lot of dust. I bought one of those masks, and have been using it for the last 18 years. However, because the DustFoe is no longer sold and mine is showing its age, I have been looking for a replacement. The Elipse P100 is it.

The P100 is comfortable, light, and easy to put on and take off. The seal around my face was very good, and the filters are easy to change. Its NIOSH rating (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), as its name suggests, is P100, which means that it captures 99.97% of airborne particles and is strongly resistant to oils (not a concern for most woodworking tasks). All in all, the Elipse P100 is a great mask. My only complaint is that it has made my 18-year-old good friend obsolete.