Congratulations on your Nomad 883 Pro!
All machining should be done within eye sight and hearing range. Your eyes and ears provide vital and critical insight into correct, incorrect and potentially dangerous/hazardous conditions.
CNC machining affects the user in three ways - eyes, lungs, and ears.
The Nomad’s enclosure takes care of the eye issue - nothing flying can harm a user if the enclosure is closed.
The Nomad’s enclosure does provide some help with the issue of lungs - simple isolation. The large particles are contained but the small (and dangerous) particles are not.
Friable (“easily crumbed”) materials (e.g. wood, fiberglass, FR4, carbon composite) generate small/fine particles when machined. The particles are extremely hazardous to your health. They are sized such that they affect the lungs in a very negative way. Asbestos can seem healthy in comparison.
The particles from wood can carry/release toxic compounds (e.g terpenes) and potentially dangerous viruses (those beautiful tropical/exotic hardwoods).
Handling the particles generated by CNC is not hard, but it does require care and proper handling. A dust collector (i.e. vacuum element) is necessary, one with a HEPA filter rated for 0.3 micron in order to be safe. HEPA filters are expensive so one usually adds a dust separator - a dust cyclone - to separate the particles before they clog up the expensive filters.
Emptying particle containers should be done carefully and OUTSIDE. Upwind and/or with a mask is appropriate. One wants to minimize their contact with the particles.
The good news is that plastics and metals are not friable and so are not generally dangerous. Plastics are only dangerous when they are machined improperly - till they heat, smoke, and burn.
Plastics and metals are thus fine for your dorm room. Aluminum (e.g. 6061, 6075), PVC, Delrin, HDPE, LDPE and many other materials are safe to machine without particle handling issues.
Metal particles tend to be RAZOR SHARP so be careful. Aluminum particles (“dust”) - and so other metals - can be flammable.
Brush and/or vacuum particles up - don’t blow on them! We don’t want them going flying increasing the chance of exposure… or getting into motors or other equipment.
Disposing of these “safe” materials is easy - recycle them!
There is a gotcha - the issue we haven’t dealt with yet - ears. The sound from a CNC machine can be loud and can continue for HOURS. The Nomad enclosure suppresses the machining noise significantly but your room mates or neighbors - even yourself - may have other opinions - especially if the sound goes on for hours.
Damage to hearing is not simply about exposure to high intensity - sudden/single loud sounds. It is a function of sound intensity/volume and duration. A single unprotected shot of a .357 Magnum revolver (165 dB) can permanently damage your hearing - but so can mowing your lawn for several hours, or being around a jet engine for several minutes.
Limiting exposure to loud or constant sound is necessary, not a good idea. Avoiding lower level, constant sound prevents annoyance.
I would not be surprised if you need to make an enclosure for the enclosure to keep the noise under control - for yourself and/or those around you. There are inexpensive ways to obtain significant noise reduction. We can discuss them. YMMV.
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