[Jewelry making - Article 00456] - Re: [Orchid] Working with Titanium

[James Binnion]

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Hey Martin,

    You certainly can work with HF in a safe manner but most jewelry
    studios are not equipped with the proper safety gear and most
    metalsmiths have not been trained to handle it safely. To work with
    it safely you need a laboratory grade fume hood and the proper
    protective clothing, goggles. gloves etc.. The problem is many
    people do not listen when this said and run out and buy a bottle of
    HF and use it. I was teaching a workshop once and the subject of HF
    came up and I told the class that it was not needed for what we were
    doing and mentioned the safety precautions that HF needed and told
    them they should not use it unless they had full understanding of
    its safety requirements and had the proper equipment. A week later I
    get a call from a student who has bought some HF and they want to
    know dilution rates and other info. I asked if they had the hood, no
    but they had some rubber kitchen gloves and their safety glasses
    wasn't that enough? 

    I think this is the reason many of us get so agitated about it.
    Unlike  the rest of the acids use by metalsmiths HF will kill you if
    you get a spill on your skin that covers 5% or more of your skin
    area. There is no antidote for this event, no hospital can save you.
    So while other acids can cause severe burns, blind and even kill you
    if the event is severe enough they are typically much less lethal in
    the dilutions we purchase and the volumes we use. 

Jim Binnion 

James Binnion Metal Arts
Phone (360) 756-6550
Toll Free (877) 408 7287
Fax (360) 756-2160
http://www.mokume-gane.com
jbin AT mokume-gane.com
Member of the Better Business Bureau

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