A mask or respiratoris just common sense my friend. Regardless of how good the extractor is there are times you will forget to position it near your work or something. The mask should be your FIRST line of defense - the extractor is a convenience.

I welded and grinded (is that a word?!) for years with no mask and would blow black crud out my nose for days. I bought a decent 3M mask with pancake filters that fits under a helmet and Im regretting that I didn't do that when I first started welding. I occasionally weld stuff that's cadmium plated - not often and not much BUT the fumes are deadly. You want more than an extractor when you're doing stuff like that. 3M mask and 2097 filters. I change the filters after about 60 hours of welding.