What do you use for hearing protection?

Atlas Knife Company

Atlas Knife Company

Joined
Feb 16, 2010
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Not certain, but I doubt my grinder and bandsaw are the only loud ones out there. Does anybody use noise canceling headphone or some other solution?

I really need some, but I can't hear the doorbell with the regular muffs and the grinder running.
 
I'd shy away from noise cancellation, as you still want to hear some things. I use shooting muffs or in-ear plugs. Usually the in-ear plugs when grinding and the muffs while forging.

--nathan
 
Ear plugs here for the most part, I don't like the muffs pushing against the ear pieces of my safety glasses.

For doorbell and phone I have installed small flashing strobes that you used to be able to buy at Radio Shack. Only seen them on Ebay lately though.
 
That's one thing about the muffs I like during forging: they keep my eye protection in place :D.

--nathan
 
Depot and Lowes sell good ear muffs I have the radio ones that I hook my Ipod to they are great.
 
I use the full ear covering hearing protectors. I can't stand to wear them for very long, but they are effective at making the screaming noise of the portable bandsaw bearable.

- Greg
 
Mostly I use earplugs, but we have a few pairs of headphones in the shop with a radio and an external mic system. Radio and incoming sound are limited to 85 db or so. The external sound circuits work OK, muting when you use a loud tool, then amplifying the shop sounds when it's quiet. The radios are less than impressive, like a cheap transistor set with lots of static and dropouts as you move around the shop. But there's a jack for an IPOD etc. if you really need music. The last pair I bought cost about $50 on sale, and there really isn't much difference between the $100 sets and the $50 set
 
I use the disposable foam earplugs....my favorite are the Moldex Spark Plugs. I keep a box in my finish shop, and have one of the Dispenser Stations hanging on the wall in the Blacksmith shop.
I've used hearing protection for so many years, and have gotten so used to the sound of everything with them in, that if I don't wear earplugs, nothing "sounds" right.

While we're on the subject of health/safety DO NOT FORGET TO PROTECT YOUR LUNGS! Many of you know what happened to me a year ago, but for those who don't:

I had to have a portion of my right lung removed due to a tumor that the Doctors were 80-90% certain was caused by working in the shop for all these years without proper protection. The biopsy called it "False Lymphoma" but also revealed traces of a specific calcium (ivory dust), iron (gee wonder were that could have come from?), and traces of specific carbons which the Doctor attributed to wood dusts.
It's all fun and games until they have to rip a lung out of you! GET YOURSELF A GOOD RESPIRATOR AND WEAR IT!! You can survive with hearing loss, but you can't survive without a working set of lungs!!

OK, I'm climbing down off my soapbox now.
 
Yes, I have a few different respirators in the shop, still trying to find the most comfortable. I'm pretty good at hearing and lung protection, it's the eye protection that I most often forget to wear.
 
If you're having headaches and lots of ringing in your ears, it might not be tinnitus or other damage. I just always figured it was from 20 years of standing in front of guitar amps and printing presses, and I'd just have to live with it.

Mine were so bad a few weeks ago I finally gave up and went to the doctor. An hour later the pain and ringing were gone and suddenly everything around me was REALLY LOUD! The cure? Hot water.

Yup, a lot of my problems were caused by simple ear-wax build-up, which the doc said "just happens over the years". All they did was flush out my ears with hot water till all the goop finally came out. :barf:

It was kinda gross and I felt like an idiot, but it really helped a lot.

Of course you should still use hearing protection, don't get me wrong. I was just surprised such a simple thing could be causing most of my symptoms.
 
I use muffs, Thundersomethingorothers, I think by Howard Leitz. Read somewhere that the little foam inserts don't protect the bones behind the ear, through which damaging vibes can reach the eardrums.
 
My goal is o find something that will block the noise of the grinder/saw but still allow me to hear when the doorbell beeps, as well as the music. I know, get quieter tools. . . .
 
Mahoney said:
Mostly I use earplugs, but we have a few pairs of headphones in the shop with a radio and an external mic system. Radio and incoming sound are limited to 85 db or so. The external sound circuits work OK, muting when you use a loud tool, then amplifying the shop sounds when it's quiet. The radios are less than impressive, like a cheap transistor set with lots of static and dropouts as you move around the shop. But there's a jack for an IPOD etc. if you really need music. The last pair I bought cost about $50 on sale, and there really isn't much difference between the $100 sets and the $50 set
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I use these too, and though I only use the radio occasionally, I listen to books on mine all the time, the longer the book the better. I was thrilled with Steve Kings book "under the dome" 34.5 hours for one book; yeehaaw.
I used to only use them while using the angle grinder, and then I was working with my dad one day and he was running the chainsaw, and I tried talking to him in a normal voice after he shut it off, no good. I realized that I was going in the same direction but maybe it wasn't too late. Now I wear them all the time.
Del
 
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