Woodworking power tools are loud, ask anyone not involved in the hobby. The problem is we love our power tools. They help us quickly and more easily create the wood working projects that we have been thinking about.
Unfortunately there is a dark side to power tools. They emit a lot of noise that over time and continuous exposure will damage your hearing.
Give you an example, my father was in construction business for over 50 years. Here is a short list of tools that he used that contributed to his hearing loss.
- Table saw. When building custom kitchen cabinets he would set up his table saw in the near by room. The echo of the table saw noise was deafing.
- Gasoline powered chain saw
- Gasoline powered shredder / mulcher
- Router, also set up in a confined space with lots of echoing
- Cement mixers with a 10 horse power engine whose exhaust was a straight piece of pipe
When I was a child, oh about 30+ years ago, I can distinctly recall that I developed a pattern when attempting to get my father’s attention. I would call out his name and then wait for a response. If I did not get a response I would call out his name again, slightly louder and wait for a response. It did not make sense to start talking if he wasn’t paying attention.
The frustrating thing about this is, he never admitted or acknowledged that his use of power tools without hearing protection was causing him to loss his hearing.
He also complains of a constant ringing in his ears even when the room is silent. The medical term for this is Tinnitus.
Today he can barely hear. With the help of a hearing aid he is able to hear a little better but not much.
How can you tell if you are damaging your hearing? Simple ask your family and friends.
- Do they have to repeat what they say to you?
- Do you find yourself having to ask them to repeat themselves?
- Do you say ‘What’ or ‘Huh’ a lot?
- Are you using the volume on the TV as your hearing aid?
It is not worth destroying your hearing while creating beautiful heirloom quality furniture. In an upcoming post I will discuss what you can do to protect your hearing. It is never too late to start protecting the hearing that you have.
