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I was just wondering about resin. Whenever I use resin I'm quite pedantic about safety: washing with gloves; rubbing with a toothbrush; spray varnishing before I fasten them onto the rest of the miniature. How dangerous is resin? Some have said it is fine to just treat it like metal unless your cutting or filing it.

Resin dust is pretty dangerous. The stuff itself isn't good if you eat it, but other than that, you're fine.

Chowderhead wrote:Resin dust is pretty dangerous. The stuff itself isn't good if you eat it, but other than that, you're fine.

I personally think that the danger from resin dust is a little overstated. You're not going to get cancer from breathing in a little dust now and again, because if that were the case, nodoby would be able to use it. Additionally, not all resins are created equal, therefore they aren't all going to necessarily be carcinogenic. That being said, it's probably a good idea to wear a dust mask when sanding resin, just to be safe, but the fact of the matter is that unless you're working with resin in mass quantities over a long period of time, you're not going to get sick. You're more likely to get sick from breathing in the fumes from superglue whilst assembling your models. Handling resin is just like handling any other plastic, and unless you're using harsh chemicals to clean it up with, you don't need gloves.

Thanks for all feedback. That helps a lot.

Are we talking about GW-style dark grey resin? I've never heard of such precautions being neccesary before.

spectreoneone wrote:

Chowderhead wrote:Resin dust is pretty dangerous. The stuff itself isn't good if you eat it, but other than that, you're fine.

I personally think that the danger from resin dust is a little overstated. You're not going to get cancer from breathing in a little dust now and again, because if that were the case, nodoby would be able to use it. Additionally, not all resins are created equal, therefore they aren't all going to necessarily be carcinogenic. That being said, it's probably a good idea to wear a dust mask when sanding resin, just to be safe, but the fact of the matter is that unless you're working with resin in mass quantities over a long period of time, you're not going to get sick. You're more likely to get sick from breathing in the fumes from superglue whilst assembling your models. Handling resin is just like handling any other plastic, and unless you're using harsh chemicals to clean it up with, you don't need gloves.

+1 to this.

ALL dust is bad to breathe in. ALL dust. Some are just worse than others, and superglue fumes are a bigger irritant than the resin dust will be.
I've known guys who've worked with fibreglass for 3-+ years and if resin was as bad as some make out, they'd already BE dead (not that the resins used with fibreglass aren't noxious enough).
As with ALL dust, a dustmask is advised - but so is good ventilation.


Don't huff the dust, and you'll be right.

If I do any filing of metal or resin, I wear a mask. If I am doing clipping of metal or using a dremel tool, then I also wear safety glasses.

Might be overkill, but I only have one good eye, so I keep it safe.

Resin dust only carries a risk if you use power tools on resin every day. Less often is extremely low risk
.

Once its set, resin is pretty much inert plastic, so is safe to eat. Not recommended though! The dangers come from prolonged exposure while its curing. However, there may be residual amounts of the uncured resin or harner on the models. However, even if you get a bit of uncured resin in your eye it just stings, its not so bad.

Dust mask and safety glasses are all you should need, even for the most aggressive attacks on cured resin. There's no harm in gearing up for safety (within reason, of course - there are those rare cases where no gear is better than too much), but filing or sawing by hand doesn't even contaminate the air, as the particles are large enough for gravity to keep them on your table/floor, instead of in your lungs. Vigorous, fine-grit sanding (especially dry-sanding with power tools, i.e. rotary tools) is a bit more iffy, so I'd pop on the dust mask. I wouldn't worry about gloves when washing off mold release or varnishing before working the material, though.