Hearing protection

Along with the posts about planers,

How many of us use safety glasses and hearing protection religiously?

Occasionally I will skip it, but mostly I use them.

Push sticks, I use all the time. I follow David Mark's 3" rule.

My handsaws don't require any of them. :-)

I wonder if self amputation of an appendage ever took place using hand tools?

Reply to
Lowell Holmes
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I use hearing protection religiously. I had a misspent youth in close proximity to loud guitar amplifiers, and now have a screaming case (literally) of tinnitus. I once used my shop vac without hearing protection, and it resulted in a permanent escalation in the loudness of the ringing in my ears. Never again!

Kevin

Reply to
Kevin

Fanatically. no power switch gets thrown without both.

In my invincible (hah!) youth, stupidity along these lines led to a serious eye trauma. no permanent damage, but I certainly don't want to go through the wondering if there was going to be again. As for hearing protection, I'd like to keep what I have left.

Reply to
Joe

Hear , hear!

I never operate any loud machinery again without hearing protection. That includes, all shop tools, snowblowers, lawnmowers and so on.

I have a decibel meter which allows me to test the levels of these tools and anything over my target range is noted for hearing protection. I was born with hearing loss, though not extremely significant, but enough to ask "what?" many times which can be annoying to people and also have mild case of tinnitus. As another said, I want to save what I have left.

Reply to
SBH

Sure have... if you include toes, axes and adzes. ;~) I also recall a Boy Scout at camp sinking a hatchet in his thigh while limbing a tree with a less than well sharpened tool. Regarding handsaws, carpenters of old were sometimes afflicted with "carpenter's thumb" because the saw jumped the kerf and cut the tendon in their thumb.... not sure about full amputations though. Overall, I think stab wounds are probably most common and those among the less well trained--screwdrivers used for things other than driving screws and placing ones hands in the path of chisels.

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin

Hearing protection, rarely. Eye protection, always (my eyeglasses are safety glasses!) For some stuff, if possible, I'll use a whole face shield (angle grinders are particularly nasty IMO and for any roughing work at the lathe.) Push sticks, whenever it is warranted.

Back in high school metal shop, a kid cut nearly half way through his thumb (including the bone) with a hack saw. It's a wonder I can remember any of it but that is one thing I will *never* forget. Since then, I know exactly where a saw is headed and where my hands are.

Ed

Reply to
Ed Edelenbos

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's either very tough or very something else. Either way I wouldn't wanna mess with him.

Reply to
J. Clarke

"Lowell Holmes" wrote in news:ptncl.208$Aw2.165 @nwrddc02.gnilink.net:

When I'm working in the Morton building, I almost always use my hearing protection. (I was wondering why that saw was so loud. Time to put on the hearing protection.)

When working outside, I'm not as fanatic about it. The sound has places to go instead of reflecting back. I still do wear hearing protection most the time though.

Eye protection is another story. With glasses and sweating in the face, it makes supplemental eye protection difficult to keep clear. I'd rather take my chances with sawdust than not being able to see. I still use it, but usually take it off between cuts.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

Something to think about and not to dispute why your ears ring but my wife occasionally has this problem, I have had this problem as far back as I can remember. My wife can cure her problem though, on the off chance you use an artificial sweetener, try not using it for a few weeks. She had heard that these sweeteners will cause ringing in your ears and when she gets off the artificial sweetener the ringing goes away.

Reply to
Leon

I've gotten pretty obsessive about hearing protection since I lost all hearing in my left ear - I really don't want to diminish the right ear at all if I can avoid it. I just keep a half-dozen pairs of cheap ear-muffs around (get them at HF on sale) and stick them on whenever I get ready to start up a power tool.

Eye protection - not so much. My prescription glasses are pretty much as tough as safety glasses, although without the side protection, so I tend to only use the safety goggles if I'm doing something that would involve a lot of chips or stuff flying around. I also like eye protection when doing demo overhead, since old house dust really, really hurts when it gets in your eyes.

I am totally paranoid about spinning blades, so I use them all the time on the TS and jointer. The band saw doesn't worry me as much because it isn't prone to throwing or grabbing things, so I work much closer to it without mechanical assistance.

YMMV

-- "We need to make a sacrifice to the gods, find me a young virgin... oh, and bring something to kill"

Tim Douglass

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Reply to
Tim Douglass

Reply to
B A R R Y

The problem is...there are many reasons for the cause of tinnitus from temporary to permanent. What is known are some things, such as the sweetener, high triglyceride level and a few other lifestyle habits which can be controlled. Other reasons are permanent such as excessive loud music and/or sounds for long durations, especially earlier in life as we grow, an instant loud noise or bang such as a gunshot, fireworks, ect. which can cause a shock to the eardrum and haircells. Other reasons are uncertain as they can partake in any person at any given time but usually partakes to people with hearing loss, such as myself but can even partake in a perfect hearing individual.

Basically, tinnitus is a mystery for the most part and the cause within the ear is unknown though it can be related to the diminishing haircells which we need to hear. The sad part is there is no known treatment for it and over

3 million people are effected by it.

Another sad part which many people fail to realize is they have the option to save their hearing but neglect in doing so. Listening to loud music or not using ear protection for those high decibel sounds "will", not might, but "will" have a disheartening effect later in life. People don't get used to a high decibel noise, they simply lose their hearing. But the real kicker is those who think hearing loss is the only problem they may encounter, they forget about the tinnitus. In some people, it can be overbearing and very difficult to live with. Then they have regrets for not taken more precautions as a young adult.

Basically put, please protect your hearing and your eyes. They aren't easy to live without as would be a limb.

Reply to
SBH

Reply to
Jack

I'm religious about hearing protection - in fact, I now wear them when mowing the lawn and snowblowing the driveway. Never used to until I started using power tools a lot. It seems I've become more aware of the loudness or something. As for eye protection, I'd like to say I'm religious about it, but I'm not. I wear them pretty much always when ripping on the TS or using a shaper. Not so much with the jointer, rarely with the bandsaw or miter saw. Not smart I'm sure - so I'm trying to get better about it. I just have a tough time keeping them clean and since I've never worn glasses I'm not in the habit of putting them on and leaving them on.

I've started using push sticks a LOT more. In most cases I feel I have better control, so it's a double bonus. The key is to have them handy at each machine and to have the appropriate ones for each cut. If they aren't handy, I tend not to go looking.

I had one of my gnarliest cuts with a handsaw. It jumped over onto my thumb and left a ragged tear that took a few stitches and left a lot of scar tissue.

I'm sure with a hatchet or an adze, as someone else said.

JP

Reply to
Jay Pique

Safety glasses, never. Face shield, always.

I have multiple reasons for preferring a face shield over safety glasses:

1) Safety *glasses* won't fit over the prescription eyeglasses I have to wear all the time anyway. Safety *goggles* do, but they often fog up. Face shields don't have that problem. 2) A face shield is much easier to put on and take off. 3) For me, at least, a face shield is more comfortable. 4) There are other things on your face besides your eyes that need protection from impacts.

Hearing protection, always with power tools or hammers.

Reply to
Doug Miller

I use hearing protection anytime I'm using power tools. I use a face sheild when I'm turning on the lathe, but otherwise not so much.

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

I wear glasses all the time so I have at least minimal protection. I do have safety glasses to go over them if I'm doing something I feel needs extra protection.

Hearing protection any time I use a router or planer, not so much for the quieter tools.

I also use push sticks and don't take crazy chances or say "its only a quick cut so . . . ."

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I misread that the first time. I thought you said my wife occasionally causes this problem....I know mine does.

Mike O.

Reply to
Mike

Since I have had a hearing loss all my life, I am a fanatic about hearing protection. I also wear face masks often.

My wife got a rock thrown into her eye and did some damage while weed whacking. It healed up OK. But she won't hardly pick up a tool or anything that is powered without first putting on safety glasses.

Reply to
Lee Michaels

I got a wake-up call when, back in my 30ies, I went to see a local band play at the hall and I subsequently lost all hearing in one ear for several days in conjunction with a good dose of tinnitus. If there's a power tool going, I'll be wearing my earmuffs, and they aren't cheap ones either. The good ones work out cheaper in the medium to long run anyhow, cause they neither break nor lose efficiency quickly due to bad materials.

Since I've had some juice go through a (net) faceshield into my eye a couple of times and an aluminium filing once without a power tool near, not to mention other debris when working under old houses I've become very careful. Putting on those safety glasses can save a lot of pain, or worse, I reckon.

As well, I wear tough drill cotton overalls even in hot conditions when working with power tools. LOL - I once set my well worn overalls on fire with an angle grinder, but being cotton I got out of them faster than the flames could give me more than a light sunburn-type singeing. Gods know what would've happened with synthetics.

-P.

Reply to
Peter Huebner

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