Safety in woodworking

[Ed62]

I think this is a subject that needs to be discussed every so often. It seems to me that it's easier for someone to be lax on safety when it comes to things like dust and hearing protection because it is something that is not instantaneous "hurt" when it goes wrong. It is also not outwardly visible like a cut or a lost body part, thereby it loses it's "OH NO!" impression. So, do you have a problem being lax on those things, more so than the setup of an operation? I expect those with a lot of experience will be more aware this as much as those with less. Fell free to include any other safety related thoughts.

Ed

[MikeMcCoy]

Hearing protecton is probably way up on the list of things over looked. I spent most of my adult years wearing a headset and talking on a radio so hearing loss was something we were constantly made aware of. I've recently read that a planer in operation can start to cause hearing loss almost immediately. That makes those one or two quick passes take on new meaning since it's cumulative over time.

[TB Roye]

Hu! couldn't hear you, bad hearinig. Not from woodworking. To many years racing and working with air tools with no hearing protection. Nobody used those things back then. I have mild COPD from smoking also. Now I do use hearing protection and a dust mask or respirator when working with wood or loud power tools. My lungs are in pretty good shape as of last check up. If I was in better shape I would breathe better. Quitting smoking made all the difference in the world in my lungs. Protect your Eyes, Ears, and lungs, not expensive to do. When I take the Grandkids to the Races they all wear hearing protection, me I take the hearing aids out.

Tom

[LinuxRandal]

I try to do as much as possible outside, due to the dust issue and lack of space. If I ever buy another house (not likely, four more years and I am paid off), I hope to have a taller basement, and a actual garage that I can use with a cyclone (6' ceiling is REAL limitiing).

But hearing protection is something I used more inside then out, until recently (got the radio headset). Outside previously I would wear them when working with loud power tools EXCEPT things like the mower/weedwacker, etc. Now that I have radio ones (and plan on getting an FM transmitter), I use them a WHOLE lot more.

[jussi]

This guy did a few podcasts about safety a few weeks ago, during safety week . By no means includes everything but a decent place to start I thought.

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/

[germdoc]

I see guys mowing their yard, leaf blowing, using a chainsaw, etc. without hearing protection. Big mistake.

I even vacuum the house wearing earplugs. I already have some hearing loss and tinnitus from years of loud rock music...

[Caddis295]

I have to agree, it is when you become relaxed with what you are doing something happens. The little plastic guards that go on the sides of your router were designed and placed there for a reason. I had a nasty accident with my PC router, and it was in slow motion that it happen. I just finished a cut with the router and it was spooling down and as I was laying it down, I managed to to stick my thumb in the side port.....right into the still spinning bit, it chewed up my thumb and forefinger....thank god for Super Glue! No stitches, but a very nice cut nonetheless! Plenty of blood all over my project, floor and steps into the house......

Talk about a total Idiot!

So, slow down and pay attention to what you are doing....oh yeah...use the guards for what they were intended to do!

Regards,

Caddis295

[dbhost]

I guess I am kind of sensitive to both of those issues, as well as eye protection. Let me explain...

Being naturally nearsighted, I am pretty aware of how my eyesight differs from someone with 20/20 vision, PARTICULARLY when I take my glasses off. Even with safety glasses on, I have had some close calls with materials coming loose off of vehicles I was working on. Hearing is also quite precious since I am also a musician. (I play rock / jazz bass guitar). I learned MANY years ago from a former classmate's unfortunate hearing loss, that it isn't something you notice immediately, and once gone, it's gone....

And if you would read my discussions RE: dust control, you will see that has been an issue I am striving to get handled, I just had no idea there was a better way to do it than with the dust bags the factory includes.

Even with a dust collector, I will be using the fan / air cleaner setup, as well as a mask. I smoked for too many years and figure I don't want to add insult to injury. Good lord knows that I probably have a lung full of asbestos from working on automotive brakes for as long as I did....

One thing not mentioned above, that I have done, and would STRONGLY encourage others to do. Get one of those industrial First Aid kits that Sams Club sells, and mount it somewhere convenient in your shop, that way you don't have too far to go if you or someone else gets in trouble...

Sams Club First Aid Center


Just pick a spot, measure, level, mark, run screws in, set kit on and adjust until it fits tight.

I mangled my thumb last night with a wall anchor and stupidity, I was VERY glad I had mine so easy to get to.

[LarryG]

With advancing years my Mr McGoo-like nearsightedness has gradually improved, after steadily declining during my teens, 20s, and 30s. I've been able to read without glasses for perhaps 15 years; able to work at a computer without them for about two; and now, within the last few months, I've gotten so I don't wear them in the shop.

Which is a good thing, because my regular glasses don't have safety lenses and too often I was failing to slip a pair of goggles on over them, because of the hassle and the fogging. Now that I'm not wearing my regular glasses in the shop anymore, I always put on my eye protection before turning on a power tool. Before, the knowledge that I had something -- however unsuitable -- between my eyes and whatever might come flying at them made me foolhardy. Now, with my naked eyeballs hanging out in the breeze, I have all the incentive I need to reach for some proper eye protection.

The shop is now plumbed with dust collection piping, with blast gates right at each machine, and I have a wireless remote to turn it on and off; result is that I rarely make a cut without switching on the DC. I will sometimes run the miter saw without turning on the DC because with that tool, I can barely tell the difference between ON and OFF anyway.

That leaves hearing protection. There are some tools -- planer, router -- I never use without slipping on my muffs, but pretty much everything else ... eh. Lately I've been trying to do better but will admit I still have miles to go in this area.

[dbhost]

Your issue with the glasses, is not uncommon. I use a full face shield to protect my eyes. It has worked very well in conjunction with my glasses.

I get stuff bouncing off the shield so often, I have to wonder why on earth anyone would not use eye protection.

And yes, I have a simliar issue with the miter saw. I have nearly given up on DC on that particular tool... I am working on rigging up something similar to the "Big Gulp Dust Collector" for the CMS. It is basically a big scoop-ish looking gizmo that tries to funnel the flying bits toward an opening, and that opening is a 2.5" shop vac fitting. (or in the case of the real Big Gulp a 4" DC fitting).

My CMS DOES have a dust port, but I have yet to figure out why. Very little gets through the port, most of it shoots out of the slot in the CMS table and out the back, and accross the shop and under the bench and... You get the idea...