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Thread: hand tool safety

  1. #1

    hand tool safety

    Watched a talk about shop safety for some of the beginners in a woodworking group. The same speaker then talked about some shop made tools and showed some. His scratch awl was very sharp and had the usual palm handle, with not flat spot on the round handle to prevent it from rolling off the bench. In summer I usually wear flipflops in the shop. The one thing I learned the hardway many years ago is make sure the sharps can't fall off the bench. I don't believe I even have a round handled screw driver that rolls. My lathe tools are kept on a music stand sort of thing with strong magnetic strips that hold them in place. I have that to my left next to the lathe head stock for easy reach.

  2. #2
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    Good reminder. We have more than one post here about someone having a near miss with a dropped object. One chisel, I believe cut a toe after cutting through a shoe tip. I poke such things into a dog hole when they are not in my hand. things wide enough not to fit seem to be non-rolling on their own. Tailed tools can also get tugged off the bench.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  3. #3
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    Perry, it's always a good practice to do whatever is necessary to make tools safer. The flats on the side of round handles is a good example where that's practical. Now...about those flip-flops...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
    Perry,

    <In summer I usually wear flipflops in the shop>

    Maybe tools rolling off the bench should not be your biggest concern

    Doug

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Hepler View Post
    Perry,

    <In summer I usually wear flipflops in the shop>

    Maybe tools rolling off the bench should not be your biggest concern

    Doug
    Many teenaged drivers wear flipflops!

    Wearing flipflops in my shop? Not gonna happen, because I wear them only to a beach or on vacation (I don't even know where my wife puts them!).

    Walking around in a pair of flipflops in a dusty shop could also be quite a slipping hazard.

    Simon

  6. #6
    perhaps, but wearing shoes for hours in warm weather causes a skin condition that makes wearing shoes impossible for days even weeks. Even wearing socks becomes very painful. (dyshyrdrosia) Leaving my feet air dry and dusty prevents it. Given the choice between a foot injury in the shop or dyshydrosia to the extent that I get it, I'll take the injuries in the shop anyday.. I bale hay and do alot of farm work in flip flops or sandals for that reason. I do not operate the chain saw or lawn mower with flip flops however.

  7. #7
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    I wear sandals in the summer almost exclusively, including in the workshop, when haying, at the sawmill, etc. I do wear steel toed boots to cut large trees, but if I'm just thinning in the pine plantation I'll do that in sandals. I work by myself, so if I am careful there's no reason to drop things on my feet, and there's no one else around to drop things on them.
    Zach

  8. #8
    Personal shop safety is an individual responsibility. Do anything you want is the rule as long as you are the shop owner. If you have a health condition that prevents you from wearing proper shoes for shop work, it is a risk only you can calculate and decide whether or not to take it. But the general safety advice on now to wear flipflops in a shop environment sill makes good sense. It is no different than the sound "using a saw with a blade guard on" advice whenever possible, although some saw users don't use a guard at all.

    Simon

  9. #9
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    Perry, what you mention relative to the feet is no fun for sure. You might want to try some of the latest "mesh" sneakers/walking shoes. The ventilation is great and I have a lot less issue with my feet since I switched to them for my "shop shoes". Better support, too.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  10. I don't have many rules in the shop but I do make the kids wear shoes when they are playing in the shop with me.

  11. #11
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    Crocs sound like a solution. I wear closed toe crocs (no holes) in the shop for comfort and ease of on/off, and some protection.

    They offer enough protection that a falling chisel wouldn’t harm you. In your case maybe the standard perforated crocs would be best.

  12. #12
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    Switch to a japanese bench?

    On a more helpful note, I do feel there is a big range among shoes for ventilation and foot comfort.
    I expect you already search for good options there.

    Would hiking/trail-running sandals offer a bit more protection over the toes, while still allowing air circulation?

    Matt
    Last edited by Matthew Hills; 10-04-2018 at 7:12 AM.

  13. #13
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    This reminds me of the old Boy Scout safety adage:

    "A falling knife (chisel, awl...) has no handle."

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Hepler View Post
    Perry,

    <In summer I usually wear flipflops in the shop>

    Maybe tools rolling off the bench should not be your biggest concern

    Doug
    I remember an incident I was installing a grooving iron in a Stanley 45 and I didn't have the little hook on the iron engaged.

    Freshly sharpened iron fell right through a dog hole and imbedded itself right next to my big toe in my Crocs.

    Doesn't get any flatter than a plane iron...................

  15. #15
    I used to wear flip flops in the shop occasionally. One day a 12' maple board, 6/4 about 6" wide decided it had had enough of vertical storage. Silently it slipped it's bonds and made a swan dive for the floor. Luckily, I was far enough away that it didn't smack me in my melon. Unfortunately, it was able to reach out just barely enough catch my big toe. Well lets juat say that from then on Shell Top Adidas are about as loungy as my footwear gets in the shop.

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