A lesson learned

[glenn bradley]

At 55, I pretty much wear glasses all the time. I took advantage of that and had some Rx safety glasses made; about the size of Rick's but metal frames with the side shields. Now I don't have to remember to wear them, they're on whenever I am in the shop ;-)

Glad you didn't lose the eye, a new one is a lot more than the glasses cost. Oh wait, that's right, you can't get a new one for any amount of money ;-)

[Rick Markham]

Having had to wear hearing protection for 8+ hours a day working in an industrial environment you would be surprised how acute your hearing becomes, your mind compensates very rapidly, (I can hear someone whispering, very clearly, behind me in a loud environment with lots of commotion going on) Just start wearing them Brendan, you will be surprised how rapidly your brain adjusts. I would even be willing to say, I can hear minute details much better, since the background noise is muffled with mine on. Or invest in a pair of electronic ones, the are great for the range too. I have always wanted a pair, but have never seen the point in them once you are used to ear muffs. I'm sure they are very nice though

[Joe Chritz]

One name in ears.....Peltor.

The good ones actually make hearing stuff easier since they amplify everything under a certain Db level.

Even so a regular set of muffs or foam plugs doesn't block out enough to not hear what is going on. A 30 Db reduction is pretty good and I know that just the air going through my dust collector averages about 75 Db.

Joe

[Mike Cruz]

While shooting glasses will probably work, most of them don't give you the full protection that shop safety glasses give you. What I mean by that is that most of the shooting glasses I've seen are like mine (they look much like regular glasses), whereas shop glasses protect more area, and even help keep out dust.

There was a poster on the wall of my Industrial Arts class way back in 9th grade. It said this, and it stuck with me:

Lisa never liked to where her safety glasses in the shop.

Now she doesn't have to.

[Jim Rimmer]

I already went to see the obtomitrist. I definately am heeding the safety glasses thing, but I cannot do hearing protection too, to me, I need to be able to hear the sounds of the machine to judge on my feedrate(bandsaw makes a particular noise when you feed too fast or turn too tight) and to ensure things are okay(like to be able to hear the clicking that means shut it off before the blade snaps...)

I will definately try and go this weekend(hopefully) and get a decent pair.

-Brendan

Brendan, the experienced guys here tried to tell you to wear safety glasses and you po-pooed that idea and now you have learned the hard way they were right and you should have listened to them. Now they are telling you to wear hearing protections and you are telling them you can't do that either. What is wrong with this picture?

[mreza Salav]

I guess you never watched Norm
I always wear saftey glasses if I am using a tool (even chisels), always.
If I am operating router or planer (which are loud) I wear hearing protection too, but not when using table saw as the noise is low.
I also were dust mask when creating dust.
The combination of glasses+hearing protection+dust mask is not comfortable at all but I would choose this anyday over loosing the functionality of any of my limbs to even a fraction of it!

[Mike Cruz]

Uhhhhhh, he's a teenager.... Why would he listen? He hasn't seemed to heed any advice to this point. Like most teens, he has to learn the hard way. Jim, he knows what is best for him. We know nothing. He has the world figured out. We are adults, and therefore are obviously here to steer him wrong. Remember, he is an experienced woodworker. He's been doing this for a very long time....most of his life. We all probably ought to be looking to him for advice.

Oh, and Jim, LOVE the typo that you consequently fixed.

[Neil Brooks]

Uhhhhhh, he's a teenager.... Why would he listen? He hasn't seemed to heed any advice to this point. Like most teens, he has to learn the hard way. Jim, he knows what is best for him. We know nothing. He has the world figured out. We are adults, and therefore are obviously here to steer him wrong. Remember, he is an experienced woodworker. He's been doing this for a very long time....most of his life. We all probably ought to be looking to him for advice.

Feel better ?

[Mike Cruz]

I do what I can...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Hey Guys...

Let's cut the kid some slack.

As the oldest of 6 kids I still haven't figured out how my parents survived. My younger brother loves to tell stories I can't post at this site.

In fact, my father died of a heart attack at age 46 and left Mom with 3 kids still in high school.

Mom survives today. How she maintained any sanity is beyond me.

Regardless.......all of us old geezers were teenagers once and ....a bunch of us including moi had to learn the hard way........

[Alan Schwabacher]

It's worth having more than one pair of safety glasses because one will get scratched up, and you will still want to be able to see clearly.

In my opinion, I can better tell how my machines are behaving by listening to them while I am wearing hearing protection than without. It took a little to get used to the sound with them on, but they don't interfere. If you really need to be able to hear quiet things, there are electronic versions that block sounds, but also have a microphone to pick up sound and play it for you -- as long as it's not too loud, in which case it cuts out.

There was a good quote from "So Big" by Edna Ferber that went something like:
"People need to make their own mistakes. And they get upset with you if you try to keep them from making theirs."

My last comment is just that if you think wearing safety glasses is a pain in the arse, you may be wearing them wrong.

[Jerry Bruette]

Hey Guys...

Let's cut the kid some slack.

As the oldest of 6 kids I still haven't figured out how my parents survived. My younger brother loves to tell stories I can't post at this site.

In fact, my father died of a heart attack at age 46 and left Mom with 3 kids still in high school.

Mom survives today. How she maintained any sanity is beyond me.

Regardless.......all of us old geezers were teenagers once and ....a bunch of us including moi had to learn the hard way........

I don't think we're trying to beat up on Brendan...but.

He got a freebie with the eyes. You don't get freebies with your ears. I know from experience that once yor hearing is gone it's gone. And you don't lose just your hearing you lose your ability to communicate.

Brendan, if you'd like to listen to and understand your kids and grandkids some day please wear some type of hearing protection.

Heck if it'll help I can even send you some samples of ear plugs for free.

PM me if your interested.

Jerry

[Neil Brooks]

I don't think we're trying to beat up on Brendan...but.

I'd generally agree, but ... only generally. It was heading that way.

In another thread, he did get a beating

The thing I'm trying to remember is ... HE'S acting HIS age (YIKES!). Are WE acting OURS ?

For every Brendan Plavis out there, doing dangerous stuff ... at least THIS "kid" IS asking for our advice. The LAST thing I'd want to do is scare him away.

I'm not much of a talented woodworker ... sadly. Maybe I'll be better, with time. But ... it would do MY heart some good to think that I played ANY role in encouraging and mentoring the next generation of tool addicts

[Brendan Plavis]

I don't think we're trying to beat up on Brendan...but.

He got a freebie with the eyes. You don't get freebies with your ears. I know from experience that once yor hearing is gone it's gone. And you don't lose just your hearing you lose your ability to communicate.

Brendan, if you'd like to listen to and understand your kids and grandkids some day please wear some type of hearing protection.

Heck if it'll help I can even send you some samples of ear plugs for free.

PM me if your interested.

Jerry

Thanks, but sadly I must decline... I am not sure what the parents would say if I 'randomly' recieved hearing pro from a guy named Jerry....

And now losing the hearing wouldnt be a bad thing... particularly with the grandparents.... okay, now I am joking.......

-Brendan

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jerry,

Apparently you didn't see the other thread.

I have about 30% of normal hearing. I'm totally deaf in my right ear with tonitius in it.

I have about 40-50% hearing in the other ear but the tonitus in the right ear subtracts from that so......30% of normal hearing....

Music WAS my great love and release from job stress. Past tense.

There is nobody more concerned about Brendan's hearing here at SMC than I. I know what it's like to lose a significant amount of hearing.

I would sincerely encourage him to wear some kind of hearing protection...otherwise his family and friends will find themselves forced to shout and he will have to resort to trying to read lips and making a lot of mistakes because he misunderstands what someone is saying.

However......I didn't want this dicussion to become a shouting match or a personal attack.

It doesn't matter how many times you tell him...... and insulting him isn't going change his mind either.

Until he realizes that the people here aren't trying to be jerks. We are really concerned about his well being and him NOT having to learn the hard way....like some of us did.... Until he realizes this and decides he is concerned enough about his own well being to learn to use hearing protection....more piling on isn't going to help.

Do you get my drift? Can you hear me? Good.....I wish I could!