-=> ROY J. TELLASON wrote to JIM HOLSONBACK <=-

 JH> Over the years, asbestos was used in a large number of ways in the
 JH> building construction industry.

 RJT> It sure was.  We had that stuff to mess with in one shop class in
 RJT> school,  as I recall,  in both fairly thin sheets (sorta like
 RJT> cardboard) and in quarter-inch thick chunks,  which could be drilled
 RJT> and things scrwed to them.

Toward the end, when it still was sort-of allowed, the things which were
prohibited were field-drilling and field-cutting of the sheets, due to
the constituents of the resulting dust.

If you drilled and/or cut such sheets and happened to inhale any of that
dust, you're farkeled, Roy. May as well get your affairs in order
now, and prepare to meet your Maker.  (just teasing, but kids darn sure
can't mess around with AC panels in shop class nowadays, if they still
have 'shop class' available to them).

 RJT> A friend of mine had an apartment where the stove was right next to the
 RJT> refrigerator.  There was a time when he went out and got a sheet of
 RJT> that stuff to stick between them,  so his running the oven wouldn't
 RJT> overload the fridge...

My take -  Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral, with some
outstanding properties of fire-resistance and insulation value, among
others, and I think it is our loss that we have not been able to come up
with ways to still use it "acceptably".

Heck, I got some 12x12 tiles in my front hallway here, which I'll bet
are squares of VAT (Vinyl-asbestos-tile) as made by Armstrong and many
others some years ago.  Am I gonna have to bring in guys in moonsuits
and all if I ever want to take them up?

- - -  JimH.

... Inquiring minds want to know. - Bubba
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