Official Luthiers Forum!

Glad your back John!!!!

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Rich S

"The inconvenience of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain has been forgotten"

Welcome back John! You have been missed (even by us lurkers!)

Your advice is taken to heart. My father had the exact same thing happen to him, with the exact same cause. He was a part-time wood worker/cabinet maker who never wore a dust mask in his life. He regretted it after having the abscess removed from his chest wall (similar to Pleurisy). He also spent a few weeks in the hospital.

Fortunately you are young and will heal. Take care of yourself and get back to work!

Jim

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Jim Hansen

Glad you are feelin better and on the mend dude...

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Glad to hear you're back and doing ok John.

I'm in Central Texas, but if you need a hand with anything around the house (mowing, etc.) while you're resting, let me know and I'll be happy to make a trip up there.

I too am guilty of the dust buggers but will from this day forward, be sure to put those respirators to use.

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

I hope you get to feeling better and back to work soon.

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http://www.booneguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Boone-guitar-builder/488208541257210

I'm glad to hear you came thru it all OK - and thanks for the warning!

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

John,

Another one that is guilty of not using the good equipment I have (but I LOVE the smell of rosewood, walnut, cherry is my
excuse- not good enough). I've had a mild case of pneumonia, and certainly would not want to go through what you did.
I'm gonna change my ways

Good to see you're back, and hope for a fast recovery. Broken ribs are hard on good sleep.

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

Thanks for the nice words fellas. I'm more excited than anything that my post might raise some awareness for proper safety and dust collection.

In my surgery they made a 8 inch cut underneath my right arm. Actually starts a little on my back and wraps around under my arm. They spread my ribs, went in and peeled, and scraped away infection. The infection was a by product of double pneumonia. I had both Staff and Strep Pneumonia heavily in both lungs. I had three different doctors tell me that many people die from what I had, and I was very lucky I'm young and healthy. Couple ribs were broken in the process. It's painful, but I totally believe that if I would have been more vigilant throughout the years this may have been prevented.

I'm moving into my new house in a week or so, and I'm outfitting my new shop. I'm spending thousands on dust collection, and I'm wearing a respirator whenever I'm kicking up any dust at all. I would beg you all to join me in a new found diligence in regards to personal safety for your lungs. It sucks that it takes things like this sometimes to kick yourself into gear, but I'm glad it happened now rather than in 30 years when my lungs were far beyond reach.

I'm rambling now. Thanks for the nice words of encouragement, and thanks even more for those who are joining me in protecting your future health.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

John,

I can't believe what you've been through. I didn't think pneumonia could have such extreme consequences. I can feel those broken ribs all the way up here in Canada. Wish I was a little closer to give you a hand with getting settled in. I hope you have a few friends in the new hood.

I've been thinking a lot more about airborne dust lately, even prior to your situation. And although I do put on a dust mask , today I put on a respirator when using a ROS. Felt pretty good. It's a drag it's at your expense, and others like Bill Pence, but thanks for the further wake up call.

Heal Well,
Dan Vincent

Glad you are back and doing well. To answer Danny above, pneumonia is real tricky to detect until it is almost full blown. Once you have had it, your lungs retain scar tissue and some breathing capacity is gone forever. I had it once. Took two weeks before I ended up in the hospital. John is right. Wear masks.

Mike

Johns point about prevention at the source is a good one. I wear a dust mask any time I'm sanding, right up until I'm done vacuuming. I still blow wooden boogers out of my nose sometimes. This is because of the airborne dust that lingers in the air, and even gets kicked up on days when you aren't sanding something.

My "shop" is still in need of some tooling (wide belt sander, side bender, etc...), but my next investment is going to be not only dust control at the sources, but an overall air scrubber to keep the dust particles down at all times.

Thanks for the awareness John. Sometimes it takes a swift kick-in-the-pants to get us doing the right things.

Jim

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Jim Hansen

Whenever you post your guitars, the first thing I feel is . After that it's a good solid because right when I thought I might be able to get there someday, you raise the bar again. I'm glad you're back, man.

Welcome back big fella'. Glad to see you out of hospital and on the mend mate.

Cheers Martin

Welcome back.

John, so glad you're still in the land of the living.
Here's to hoping you'll be up and rapping again soon!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

John,
We're all glad that you're on the mend and thanks for the warnings. I've been making an ebony bridge this morning per your video and the dust was everywhere. I'll certainly be more diligent from here on.

Chuck

Welcome back, John. Take care of yourself!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hi John,

Glad you're out of the hospital, and getting stronger.

Your warning does not fall on deaf ears - there will be at least 1 micron dust collection in my "new" shop before any wood gets cut or sanded. Thanks for passing on the warning to us all.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Wow. That sounds rough. I keep a rather low profile around here, so I stayed out of the earlier thread. I was thinking of you, though, and am glad to learn that you are on the mend.

Good luck,

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George :-)

Glad your on the road to recovery take it easy and mate of mine was hospitalised with pneumonia and has to be so careful each cold in the winter can lay him low for 3 weeks so take it easy and make a full recovery before getting back into the workshop

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

hey John! nice to hear you are out of the hospital , up and ( at least hobbling ) about , three weeks on your back could not be fun . thanks also for the advice about dust collection, I am also guilty , too often, of being " in the moment" , just walking into the shop and working, without thinking about the future possible consequences of my endeavors. it makes me also think about doing more with planes and scrapers and chisels . rather than sanding .

Hey John,

Newest of the newly registered lurkers here. Been lurking for nearly 3 years now. You don't know me
obviously but i've greatly admired your work since I started dabbling in lutherie 3 years ago. Browsing through
the posts I ran across your situation and I'm sorry you had to go through that. A couple of years back I had
walking pneumonia and it was no fun at all as you can attest to with the full blown version. Took nearly a year
for me to get over it. I was too stubborn to see a doctor because I just don't like pharmeceuticals! I'll keep
you in my prayers for complete recovery.

As a woodworking craftsman with nigh 30 years experience, I too must remember to always, ALWAYS, use
my respirator. Good dust collection and a fine particle air filtration unit aren't enough. I even add an exhaust
fan into the mix when it is not so dry here in CO that it drops the humidity below my humidifier's capacity.

Best to you and I'll see you here from time to time when I'm not so busy in the shop or remodeling the house.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!