The most important safety rule...

[Bill Wyko]

I would have to say you're all wrong The most important saftey rule is "Common Sence" THINK BEFORE YOU ACT HHMMMM what might happen if my fingers are a 1/2 inch from the blade when I make this cut?

[Jacob Reverb]

Let a staple or a piece of carbide whack you in the eyeball while you're cutting something small on the table saw and let me know how things work out for ya when ya flinch.

[Peter Quinn]

Little chance of an eye injury? What the heck are you talking about? Every time you fire up ANY machine that cuts wood there is a very good chance of getting a blinding eye injury. Quick, fast, and in a hurry an errant projectile can change your life in an instant forever. Not even a maybe. Sure, it doesn't happen every time, but I've been whacked in the safety glasses enough to thank god they were on.

I'm an amateur musician as well, so I value my hearing and wear ear protection in spite of what NAHM does or doesn't emphasize on his show. That's part of that common sense thing Bill mentioned for me. At work we are required to wear ear protection and get tested regularly to meet OSHA regulations. They test us and develop a profile over years to make sure things aren't degrading. They also ask us to wear ear protection out side of work in any conditions of extreme noise to keep us safe. Few noises in the wood shop, and that includes the 6 head molders at work, are loud enough to deafen you in a single incident. I wouldn't want to choose between my sight and my hearing, so I do everything I can to protect both. I can say I have run a loud machine now and then for a quick cut without ear protection, but I NEVER push the green button without my glasses on.

[guy knight]

the most important safety device is your making sure you turn your brain on first

[Karl Brogger]

1. Eye protection or not, your face should never be in the path of flying anything. The past two times I've gotten a hunk of something in my eye has been turning the saw on, then bending over to make sure its at zero. Just a little piece of dust causing a 1/2 hour of misery in the bathroom rinsing out my eye. I admit that I am a poor example of using eye protection. The only one that I do on a regular basis is the lathe, then I go for ski goggles cause there is crap going everywhere.

2. Ear protection is a must unless you are sure that you want to spend your later years go "WHAT?!" or "HEH?" Sure, a chisel is pretty quiet, but we painting with a broad brush here, and most of woodworking is pretty dang loud.

[Greg Hines, MD]

As an MRO, I see plenty of people who have significant hearing loss due to industrial machinery from several different industries. I counsel my patients to wear safety glasses, but to also wear hearing protection. I wear plugs when I do anything in the shop, outside of a handsaw or a plane.

As a side note, even when I don't wear plugs, I always wear safety glasses.

Doc

[Ben West]

I guess we can add shop safety on the list with Festool and SawStop -- topics guaranteed to generate controversy!

If nothing else, hopefully this discussion has caused some people to think a bit more about shop safety, especially ear protection since it seems that is overlooked quite a bit.

Using woodworking equipment without eye protection is risky not because there is a "good chance" an accident will happen, but because of the severity of the consequences in the event an accident does happen. I stand by my original statement that the likelihood of having an accident that seriously injures your eyes is relatively low. If it wasn't, then there would be a lot of partially blind people around, because the vast majority of "do-it yourselfers" do not typically wear safety glasses (at least in my experience). I personally know of nobody who has experienced serious eye damage because of woodworking or home projects, but I know plenty who have experienced hearing loss. Nevertheless, I wear eye protection because the potential consequences of an accident, however unlikely, are too severe to risk.

It really wasn't about a debate, but to encourage people to consider eye and ear protection as both critical.

[Sean Nagle]

Let a staple or a piece of carbide whack you in the eyeball while you're cutting something small on the table saw and let me know how things work out for ya when ya flinch.

It doesn't have to be as destructive as a piece of metal. A good blast of dust will temporarily blind you while you're holding your fingers real close to a spinning machine.

[Brian Kent]

My one-eyed cousin Gary thinks I should always wear the safety glasses.

[jim carter]

Dont forget the cup for those unforseen projectiles.

[Dustin Lane]

Let a staple or a piece of carbide whack you in the eyeball while you're cutting something small on the table saw and let me know how things work out for ya when ya flinch.

Spent a couple hours in the ER getting a piece of rusty metal removed from my eye after not wearing eye protection while cutting a chain with an angle grinder. I thought it was only one quick cut, I should be fine. I was wrong. Now it's eye protection for anything. I always wear my ear muffs though, I can't stand the loud noises of machinery.

What are everyone's recommendations for eyes and ears? Currently I can't wear my eye protection with ear muffs for any length of time until they start to hurt. Suggestions for glasses?

[Matt Armstrong]

I find the shrill of machinery to be unpleasant. Why would you want to hear that crap? For me, it's more obnoxious to NOT wear the hearing protection. Eye protection is a no-brainer. I've had little bits of crap fly at my eyes when I don't wear it and it sucks... flushing stuff out of your eyes is really unpleasant enough... would you want to lose one or both?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Just for the record. I'm totally deaf in my right ear and have tonitus in it too. The tones there subtract from the hearing I have in my left so I have about 30% of normal hearing.

It is extemely irritating. I used to have an incredible ear for music. I could find things in recordings that professional musicians wouldn't hear until I pointed them out. I played and sang music in my younger years.

My hearing was very important in my adult years while elk hunting....hearing smell.....vision.

I woke up one morning about 10 years ago and I was stone deaf in my right ear. I've had MRIs...MRAs....near as anyone can figure I have or had a virul infection in my inner ear on that side and now am deaf. I also have had severe vertigo attacks that could be related to the previously mentioned problem? I take medicine to keep the vertigo in check.

First thing you notice....With stereophonic hearing you can tell the direction sounds come from....I can't. I hear a loud noise.....I'm turning around looking for the source as I can tell if it's behind me...beside me or in front of me.


2nd thing.....if it's you and me conversing in a big domed stadium and nobody else making noise...I can hear and understand most of what you say.....put someone else at the other end talking....I can hear both of you and can't understand either of you.

I have 3 guitars sitting 30' from me. Two of them are considered mighty fine axes. I play maybe 3 times a year. I don't hear as well as I used to...I can't enjoy the music as much as I used to......I don't want to take the chance of losing what hearing I have left.


The most important safety rule......use your head....wear safety glasses.....hearing protection.......read, understand and follow all of the safety rules prescribed by the manufacturers of the tools you are using. Be alert!

[William Nimmo]

I almost never wear safety glasses. They annoy the crap out of me. Hearing protection is worn quite often. In fact I think it is funny how they always put on safety glasses on tv when they do anything and in the real world most people never use them.

[Brian Kent]

Check out this video to see why:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQFD3JatwiI