I've been doing some work with my PC bisuit jointer. Do ya'll use hearing protection when using a biscuit jointer? It seems that on some cuts, it isn't much worse than a drill. On some cuts, it is much louder, and I definitely was using hearing protection for those cuts.
As a rule, no ... my 557 is pretty quite, at least in most of the woods I've used it in thus far ... mainly oak and walnut. It is also for a very brief duration for the most part, with no sustained level like there is with a router, which is what will eventually get you.
If I had to guess, I say around 85 dB spl at arm' length, which is about where I usually mix at in the studio. When I get a chance, I'll bring a spl meter to the shop and check it out.
Okay get ready to flame me I can handle it, To me it is a danger to put on those things that block your hearing I've been at it for 48 years and there is no problem with my hearing. The danger is not hearing the sound of the machine and any cutting tool working the wood The slightest thing wrong with any motor or any piece of wood being cut i can hear across the shop, Whether I'm working it or someone else is working it. I know this is not for everyone but to me it would be blocking one of my major senses when working. George
That's nuts. Absolutely nuts. They don't block anything, they muffle it. Reduce the damaging frequencies.
I can still hear a pin drop in my shop with my ears on, but it really cuts down on the *amount* of noise I get from running my crappy universal motors. Especially the TS and router, which put out about a billion decibels each.
I don't know if mine are different from the average woodworker's hearing protectors or not though. They're gun mufflers. I bought them when I got my .45... Took it to the range (30 minutes away) without them once, and I only fired off one shot before packing up and coming home. People who used to shoot without hearing protection were nuts. Especially people who used to shoot .357 and .44 Magnums without hearing protection. (Or worse, artillery. Sorry to all the vets who were doing that before hearing protection was invented. Cops too, for that matter.)
Woodworking isn't as noisy as shooting, but it's noisy. Running my TS without my ears is about as bad as shooting a .38 revolver with no ears. Tolerable, but unpleasant.
If I ever go into your shop, I'm putting on my ears. I don't care what you do. I don't care if you wear your seatbelt, or ride a motorcycle without a helmet, or smoke, or drink a gallon of booze a day, or rewire outlets without cutting off the breaker. Your safety is your problem, and I'm happy that you're happy not to wear hearing protection. I still think you're off your rocker though! :)
And anyway, to answer the OP's question... I don't have a biscuit joiner, but if I did, I'd probably wear my ears while using it.
I don't put them on just to use my drill press, electric drill, or metal-cutting bandsaw, and that's about it. I wear them for using my jigsaw, circular saw, table saw, router, belt sander, shop vac, and I'll probably use them with the wood-cutting bandsaw I just got.
My hearing is OK too. Some loss in the right ear, but I can still get a perfect score on a hearing test.
If using it on and off for more than 15 minutes, I'd recommend using earmuffs. If using other tools as well, definitely.
If you don't like using earmuffs, shop around for a comfortable pair, hearing loss is cumulative, and the voice ranges are typically the last to go - DAMHIKT.
Ear protection, like eye protection, is always advisable...tho I've been in this trade for 40 years and seldom use ear protetion... I the more so need ear protection from the little woman of the house.
(tom - who figgers it was the endless hours of standing in front of a Vox Super Beatle/Fender Twin Reverb (tubes)/Peavey that was the beginning of the end of his hearing - it ain't all bad - it's a built in excuse to hear what you want to hear when yer wife is yammerin)
"Why is your amplifier always turned to 10?"
"Because there ain't no 11 on the gotdamned thang!"
Regards, Tom Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania
Hearing damage is based on volume and time. Even when it's "not that loud", doing it for a decent amount of time can cause irreversible damage. If you use a dust collector or vac with the biscuit cutter, you may be exposed to more noise than you think. The hum of a dust collection system often dosen't SEEM loud, due to a low pitch, but it may be more damaging than expected. I was a pro sound guy for quite a while and did a lot of reading on hearing protection, as deaf sound mixers don't command very good fees.
I have several types of protection easily available in the shop. They are always at hand, so there is no excuse to don something. I have several sets of the $15 Peltor muffs, 3M foam plugs (with and without neck bands), and Peltor AM/FM muffs. I've found that storing all safety gear out in the open, not buried in a drawer, makes me more likely to use it every time, especially for those "quick" jobs.
The AM/FM units are so comfortable, I normally wear them all the time when using power tools. I don't even take them off when the tools are shut off, I just keep on listening to the radio. The external noise reduction of them is very good, so the radio dosen't have to be loud to be clearly heard over the tools. These things are GREAT for mowing as well. The volume and duration of a typical lawn mowing session will damage your hearing, and these muffs entertain you to boot.
For really loud environments, like the pits at auto races, around guns, or around our diesel generators at work, I use loose 3M foam plugs under a set of muffs.
I agree to a point, no flame intended. Has your hearing ever been medically tested? You may simply be used to some loss, as you've adjusted to it over time.
I feel that hearing protection enables me to hear bad things better and earlier. For years, I could easily find a marginal driver in a massive speaker array, running full tilt, with David Clark muffs on. I've found the same to be true with tools. By lowering the overall volume, I can better hear the details of the sounds.
Get some good and comfortable ears (mine are fat Peltors). Then you wear them most of the day, just for the peace and quiet.
With my biscuiter (AEG 650) I probably wear them or not, depending on whether they're sitting on the bench or back on the hook over the other side of the 'shop. I don't _need_ them, but I often find concentration easier with them on.
I have a radio on BBC Radio 4 when I'm in the workshop. The only thing that really makes me run screaming for earmuffs is when The Archers come on.
Nothing so fancy for mine. My first tour at the Parris Island rifle range, they wanted to burn up some WWII/KW ammo...sl we shot the course either 9 or 10 times (we only moved stations 2-3 times, I think). That's about 500 rounds of .30 caliber out of the spout of an M1. My damned ears have ringing ever since.
You sure you don't live down the block from me? Actually, we've got a new bar (in WV, this is a nightclub..the Nip & Cue), a whole block from the local elementary school, about 4 blocks from my house. I can literally feel their subwoofer set up when I try to sleep. Call the cops? Bet on it. Results. Semi-snotty voice from the guy on duty as he takes down the info. That's it.
Charlie Self
"Man is a reasoning rather than a reasonable animal." Alexander Hamilton
An excellent point. About a year ago, SWMBO built a rack with about a dozen pegs and mounted it on the wall right inside the shop door -- for hanging goggles and earmuffs. They're always available. No excuses.
-- Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?
Mike don't get so excited about it . I am not telling you that you should go without ear protection, I made a statement on what i do, about the only machine that to me makes a bad loud noise is the router I cannot in any degree see how you compare woodworking noise's with gunshots.
Most noises we hear throughout the day are probably more damaging than the sounds in the shop, mine or yours. or anyone's, maybe they are worse in the confines of a home garage than in my open shop, that still is only 2200 Sq Feet but a lot more open than your confines.
Sometimes when on the phone I have shut the door to my office while the router is running to muffle the high pitches coming from the router, I can hear the machine but cannot hear if a piece of wood starts to splinter, I imagine that is the close to similar to what you are hearing with your mufflers on,
I don't claim to be an expert about it nor do I want to be Its good to be safe, and everyone has their own level of safety, Working in this business uses a lot of our senses not only the feel in our hands but the sounds around us as in the sight of what we are doing. To me shutting out the sounds is not much different than blindfolding me or tying my hand behind my back. I do know that there are some that understand what I am saying and then there are others as you that have no concept at all about what I am saying. Thats okay, I'm not trying to change you, For me its unsafe to operate a machine with a blindfold on and also not to be able to hear. Its not nuts and buy the way no you cannot hear a pin drop in most case's even when no machine is running and you have no earmuffs on
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