Hearing Protection and Music question

[Clem Wixted]

Peltor has two ear muff hearing protectors that I am considering to use while turning.

One is "Worktunes" and it provides hearing protection and AM-FM radio reception. By using Jeff Jilg's idea of using an FM transmitter I can listen to my CD's through the radio in the protector. I can also use the hearing protection and listen to the radio while riding on my lawnmower.

The other is "Racetunes" which provides hearing protection, AM-FM radio reception AND an input for a scanner (presumably to listen to the pit crews, or such). My question is do you have one of these? Can I connect a portable CD player instead of the scanner. If so, is the radio always on or can I switch to the CD player only and have control over the volume? Then I could listen to CD's while mowing.

Thanks for your technical advice.

Clem

 

[C Edward Moore]

Listen!!

Clem,

I have absolutely no knowledge of the products you describe. But I am quite aware that I use my ears a lot when turning. Several years ago when I was at Bob Rosand's shop for some tutelage and was turning, Bob listened to what I was doing and could tell by the sound that the cut was being done correctly -- and it was. Good turners use their ears as well as their other senses.

Just yesterday I was using the vacuum chuck to clean up the bottom of a bowl and something did not sound right. I turned off the lathe and checked -- sure enough, the chuck had loosened slightly and would have lost the vacuum if I had not stopped and checked.

My point is simple. I think it is very bad shop procedure to wear ear protectors with music/sound. It is unsafe and unwise. Suppose a tablesaw is left running and the music prevents you from hearing it and you place something on the blade and table.

At a high school near our former home, a young lady was leaving the school parking lot with the music turned up in her car. She did not hear the approaching firetruck and a disaster ensued.

If someone wears ear protectors with music, it is not "if" you will have an accident, but "when". I urge you to reconsider. 😱 😱 This is intended as an effort to help you, not as a "put-down".

 

[dkulze]

Gotta agree with Ed here. I have a radio in my shop and will have it turned up while I'm working, but never enough to drown out the sound of my turning. Will even turn it off when I get down to the finer work so that I can hear what I'm doing. Luckilly, I have pretty sensative fingers so I can often feel vibration before I hear it.

I do wear ear protection when I'm on my bandsaw or table saw (or circular and saber saw for that matter) but I use plugs, not muffs, so that I still get a fair amount of sound, just not painful. I'll also wear them when I'm deep hollowing and it starts to scream pretty loud, but I have the music turned off and try to take my time.

Dietrich

 

[John Taylor]

Look at a Peltor Alert

I would recommend something more than just the work tunes. I have a pair of the work tunes and just love them! I don't wear them while turning.

If you are concerned about the noise level while turning but still need to hear faint sounds or a change in sounts I would look at the Peltor Alert. This unit will electronically reduce loud noise and boost week sounds at the same time.

:cool2: Of course you wouldn't get away with the; "I didn't hear you. I had the lathe running" excuse anymore if you had an Alert Alert unit.

🙂 P.S. Just don't let a woodturners spouse read this! 🙂

 

[Clem Wixted]

Thanks for the advice

Good information.

I appreciate good safety information and will use your well intentioned input.

Clem

 

[Jeff Jilg]

Gotta "chime" in again. Does anyone own a sound level meter to measure decibel output from machines in use? I would be interested in measurements for typical woodturning machines in use - bandsaw, lathe, grinder, electric chainsaw, etc. (Gas chainsaw = obvious).

I still continue to use earmuffs on a persistent basis with the music turned down. So far it has not adversely affected my health or the turnings I produce. In fact it probably helps both since I am much happier with the good tunes atmosphere.

The ability to hear the wood on the lathe is not heavily impeded by the earmuffs. Sure it is muted, but that is the intent - to block out loud persistent noises. I would rather have my hearing stay healthy longterm and will continue to wear earmuffs until better data is available.

Does anyone have a sound pressure meter to gather some empirical data from woodturning shop activities?

 

[Wilford Bickel]

Jeff,

From years of working in mills, the noise level is dependant on location. A machine in my shop could be at dangerous levels and require hearing protection when in your shop it was safe without protection. I run by the rule - if in doubt wear it!! By the time I have my air cleaner and dust collector running I have trouble hearing my radio on the shelf at the other end of the shop. By putting on my muffs they filter out the machine noises of the equipement and I can work on the lathe and hear the radio fine! Like you this helps the stress from a bad or good day at work!!!

Wilford

 

[C Edward Moore]

It's the music!

I understand the logic for dampening loud sounds that harm the ears, but most turning I have observed is not in the offending range. Earplugs and protectors should protect the ears, but they do not introduce sounds that can mask other sounds. A little brochure printed in red on woodturning safety says in #4, "Always wear adequate hearing protection. Longterm exposure to noise can damage hearing." I won't mention what it says in #10, that is off-topic.

I don't care if it is Mozart, Mantovani, or a didgeridoo band, music is distracting and that means that the wearer is not concentrating properly on what they are doing. I am not talking about having music in the shop on a radio or other device, but I am speaking against having sound in the ear protectors, which dominate the ear. To advocate listening to music while working in the shop sounds good, it's almost like motherhood in its appeal. And while one person may not be adversely affected by listening to music, there are many novices who need to be focussed on the task at hand. No matter how nicely you package it, all I am hearing is just rationalization for an unsafe practice. The logic has the same appeal as some of the reasons for talking on a cell phone while driving around the Washington Beltway. 😱 😱 😀

 

[Jeff Jilg]

That's why I'd like to gather some empirical evidence about the sound levels emanating from the lathe and/or dust collector. If we are talking about safety, then the concept includes hearing protection.

Ed - to take the opposite tack - If one person is not adversely affected by not wearing hearing protection, but some or many people suffer hearing loss as a result of not wearing protection then the longterm result is detrimental.

I understand your position and you understand mine. If we can get some data on sound levels at the lathe then we can look at the woodturning environment more objectively.

From my observations of multiple turners over the years, the bulk of them do not wear any hearing protection at all while woodturning. I am happy to see that there seems to be an increased usage of dust masks and dust protection devices.

 

[C Edward Moore]

Jeff,

I am not opposed to ear protectors. I quoted the "red pamphlet" that advocated wearing appropriate ear protection. My concern is the music which is fed into the ears by the protectors first mentioned in Clem's original post. Ear protectors should keep the noise level down. The combo protectors may do that, but having the music on does two things: 1. It distracts from the task at hand. 2. It introduces noise which may mask a sound that the worker needs to hear.

 

[john lucas]

I couldn't turn without music. Gotta have it. It promotes a good feeling which helps me relax and turn more freely. At the present time I just use speakers (that are actually pretty loud sometimes depending on my choice of music) I just switched to Serrius satelite radio and man is that great. I'm going to look into headphones because the serrius radio transmits the signal so a set of AM/FM radio phones should work with no wires to get in my way.
I do still like to hear the sound of the lathe particularly when hollowing so I keep the volume tolerable.
Several years ago one of the magazines, maybe Wood, did an article on sound levels in the shop complete with all data but they did not include lathes. One of the loudest tools in my shop is the bandsaw. I'm not sure it's as loud but it's very shrill. I always wear ear protection when I use that.