Body Filler on old machines

Timthelen

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Hi Gents, stripping down my Van Norman 12 mill and I'm super curious if anyone can tell me what the makeup of the filler putty that was used circa 40s. I don't believe it is lead, when sanded it has a distinct oil based paint smell and the color is a dark gray. Any thoughts before I sand any more of it and expose myself to something super toxic?
 
Many coats of paint or glazing filler.

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Anything from that era I would suspect to have either lead and / or asbestos in it. they used that stuff in everything.
 
The filler may well be some kinf of linseed oil putty. But don't take any chances!
Test kits are available from both HD and Lowes ... probably also Menards.
 
Why not use an appropriate face mask with a proper filter?
Assume the worst and play safe. It is not worth taking any risk with the unknown when it comes to your health.
 
It's the dust that's the worst. Use a chemical stripper rather than sanding. If you must sand, do it wet, and clean clean clean so that you don't bring lead dust into your house, your laundry, or eat it with your sandwich at lunch when handling food with your contaminated fingers... A good hit of lead will mess you up right away. For a body filler made prior to epoxy chemistry, there may well be fiber in it, too. The upside is the latency period for asbestos is up to 40 years, so if you're already in your fifties, you will probably die of natural causes before you die from the exposure.

OSHA has good tech manuals on their site on how to control exposure to both substances. It's worth a look to understand the nature of what you might encounter when working on pre-1980-ish paints and probable asbestos containing materials.
 
Most probably gilsonite, it's asphalt based.
 
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