stainless steel - what are the exposure risks when working it?

Your exposure to cutting fluids is far more hazardous than any risk from stainless steel. The exposure to the dust is coming from the grinding wheel and not the metal. Any steel when ground creates heavy particles that do not linger in the air. Slowing down only deteriorates the quality of the surface finish. If you're really concerned, use Kool Mist. It's a very safe coolant.

Even melting lead is very low risk. Handling lead while eating or smoking is a far higher risk. Lead doesn't vaporize until it's at about 1140°F. That's far above the temperatures for melting and casting.
 
dbb-the-bruce said:
That's a little harsh.

The whole point of asking here was to get a rational perspective.
There are plenty of authoritative sources of the real risk of grinding dust from stainless steel. My level of exposure is small enough that I seriously doubt it's an issue - but it's worth asking.

Your knowledge and experience leads to "you don't need anything beyond what you would typically use for procedures and PPE"

The consensus in the responses so far seems to be don't sweat it.

Thanks.

As a kid, I had access to mercury which I played with a lot. Also melted and cast quite a bit of lead (100's of pounds) in a closed basement. In general messed around with whatever was available. I also smoked for 10 years. A couple of years ago, a clean up project had me going through 3 gallons of acetone. I did it outside but never got gloves that it wouldn't eat through (rather quickly. Despite all logic, I rarely wear a helmet when I ride trails on my bike....

I try not to do stupid things, sometimes I succeed.
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I did not find his response harsh.
Blunt yes but till I read read his post I was about to suggest you take up pinochle, chess or knitting.
 
David2011 said:
Your exposure to cutting fluids is far more hazardous than any risk from stainless steel. The exposure to the dust is coming from the grinding wheel and not the metal. Any steel when ground creates heavy particles that do not linger in the air. Slowing down only deteriorates the quality of the surface finish. If you're really concerned, use Kool Mist. It's a very safe coolant.

Even melting lead is very low risk. Handling lead while eating or smoking is a far higher risk. Lead doesn't vaporize until it's at about 1140°F. That's far above the temperatures for melting and casting.
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I didn't elaborate in the first post - I got a fog-buster setup and I am using kool-mist. And in regards to slowing down, It was really about roughing stainless without coolant. With the coolant my and my small mill I can now do 3/8 slots .080 deep at a good feed without producing dark blue chips and ruining bits.
 
Wear at least an N95 grinding anything. My lungs are a mess from nearly 30 years in woodworking. They don't like grinding dust.
 
Not adding anything new other than my experience with stainless steel on the mill is that the chips & slivers seem to gravitate toward my fingers. I usually wear nitrile gloves when machining it on the mill and have tweezers handy. Here's what "the oracle - Google" has to say about stainless steel hazards.

Bruce

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Ok - after considering responses and some more research, here is the gist of it.

- Stainless Steel is 10 - 20% Chromium.
- Cr(VI) - Hexavalent Chromium is something you don't want to be eating, inhaling etc. all day.
- Cr(0) and Cr(III) which is an essential nutrient, will turn into Cr(VI) in the presence of oxygen at temperatures in the range of 200-300C (400-570F)

So working with stainless steel or chrome at temperatures over 400F in a way that produces dust or fumes will produce Cr(VI) and you should consider taking precautions to avoid it - depending on your intelligence a risk avoidance profile.

What does this mean practically for a hobby machinist?
If you take normal sane safety precautions - ventilation, dust protection, eye protection, don't worry about it.

It seems that the biggest risk is from welding and grinding. Note that wielding that uses an inert gas will produce less Cr(Vi) - because no/low oxygen environment.

Let me be perfectly clear - There are plenty of hazards that exist in our shops with varying degrees of danger, some have immediate consequences other accumulate over time. I prefer to know / learn / understand them. Being informed is not worrying.

I developed a mild skin irritation as a result of working with stainless steel. Not a big deal. I'll more be more careful next time.

Your risk profile may be different - you do you.
 
dbb-the-bruce said:
Ok - after considering responses and some more research, here is the gist of it.

- Stainless Steel is 10 - 20% Chromium.
- Cr(VI) - Hexavalent Chromium is something you don't want to be eating, inhaling etc. all day.
- Cr(0) and Cr(III) which is an essential nutrient, will turn into Cr(VI) in the presence of oxygen at temperatures in the range of 200-300C (400-570F)

So working with stainless steel or chrome at temperatures over 400F in a way that produces dust or fumes will produce Cr(VI) and you should consider taking precautions to avoid it - depending on your intelligence a risk avoidance profile.

What does this mean practically for a hobby machinist?
If you take normal sane safety precautions - ventilation, dust protection, eye protection, don't worry about it.

It seems that the biggest risk is from welding and grinding. Note that wielding that uses an inert gas will produce less Cr(Vi) - because no/low oxygen environment.

Let me be perfectly clear - There are plenty of hazards that exist in our shops with varying degrees of danger, some have immediate consequences other accumulate over time. I prefer to know / learn / understand them. Being informed is not worrying.

I developed a mild skin irritation as a result of working with stainless steel. Not a big deal. I'll more be more careful next time.

Your risk profile may be different - you do you.
Click to expand...
NaCl is sodium chloride, mix it with water and break that down through electrolysis and you'll get chlorine gas which is very bad for you and the environment; yet, you ingest copious amounts of NaCl on a daily basis.

You are correct, there are elements within stainless which are not good for us; yet stainless steel is considered one of the best materials for the prep of food and use within the body as surgical instruments and body replacement/augmentation parts....
 
About welding...

MIG, TIG, and arc (SMAW) involve an oxygen free atmosphere around the weld...

Stay away from using a plasma or cutting torch without proper PPE... but that should be with any metal, not just stainless.

I respect that you are willing to do the research and find out rather than learning the hard way.

As with everything else, a measure of common sense goes a long way.

-Bear
 
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