Functional pocket art

Yikes! That’s good to know. Hopefully I didn’t spew a bunch of toxic chemicals out into the world while making this wallet. Time to look for some non-deadly alternatives.

Hi Gary,

I am very sensitive to particulate matter. I wear a respiratory mask when I laser with 3M Organic Vapor Cartridge/Filter 60921, P100 Respiratory Protection. I also wear a plastic shower cap and change my clothes after a laser session. I also have 2 hepa filters running in my garage. Please make sure that your ventilation is out of your house . Be safe-

Deep breath here :slightly_smiling_face:

We all have different tolerances for chemicals. The ones you spewed into the world aren’t deadly except potentially in concentrations that you’re not going to be able to achieve with your laser. Some of us on the board have been lasering chrome-tanned leather for years without ill-effect to ourselves or our machines. I don’t like it but more for its physical characteristics than the fact there is a trace release of chromium based compounds when lasered.

Most everything you laser will have some potential poisonous chemical or particulate potential. Lots of woods are awful, most are okay but none are truly benign. Yet it’s probably the most widely used material (& really it’s hundreds of materials because each species is different).

Acrylic is right up there and being petroleum based it has all the toxicity and potential nastiness that suggests.

However, as long as you ventilate properly and don’t have specific allergy triggers you’re okay using the materials you’ll see folks using here. Sure, you’re putting some number of chemicals measured in the parts per million into the atmosphere but that quickly becomes unmeasurable just feet from your exhaust. Don’t worry, you’re not killing the planet.

Remember, water is poisonous in the right quantities and it’s not because it started out as urine you flushed down the toilet last week :blush: Oh, and any diver will tell you that oxygen can be bad for you too :wink:

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