Topic: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

Just came across this interesting article...

https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenan … 0fa867ed68

I've seen some teams working under cars at the track....scary...car supported with hydraulic jack, tires, blocks, etc...
and not the best protective gear, eye protection mostly...

(I think there was a similar thread in the past, but no (significant!) harm in reminders...)

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Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

Falling objects. Like when you work on a table and shake the table and something randomly just falls off the table, and usually hits your foot. Can be anything, knife, brick, neighbors cat...

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Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

Good reminder. When I was using spring compressors near the max of their travel, I wore my race helmet and shielded some of my body with plywood. Not sure if it would do any good against a small projectile but it made me feel better.

Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

My heap sits on quickjacks when its at home. They're pretty stable as long as you heed the weight descriptions for your model and don't try to use too many blocks to get more height. The good thing is they have a locking bar that locks them in place and relieves the hydraulic pressure so you don't have to count on that. And unlike some combinations of raising, it leaves the entire undercarriage free to roll a creeper under without knocking into jack stands or a jack.

Eye protection with grinders, always.

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Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

Let me hold this small piece of steel while I drill it out another 64th of an inch....Really good way to break your hand.

Safety glasses and liquids.

Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

Any wire wheel.

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Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

Not as common a thing, but MIG welders can be scary in a mixed use home garage. By that I mean garages where you are mixing woodwork and metal work. It's really easy to forget how far splatter is flying from a MIG welder, and it's hard to see what it's landing on with the shield down. That pile of sawdust under your table saw is just waiting for a spark.

I knew some one who cleaned up metal for welding with acetone, chucked the rags where he thought they were far enough away, and then managed to hit them with splatter and started a fire. He had no idea it was happening until someone else walked by, saw it, and yelled to get his attention. Thankfully it was caught before it became a big problem.


I'm super paranoid about fire. My garage is very small, and I try to do a large mix of work in it, which means doing wood and metal work. I have become obsessive about making sure what I'm doing is safe. My MIG comes out as a last resort most times, I try to TIG everything just because it's less likely to catch things on fire that are not right in front of me.

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Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

One of y team mates is like Edward Scissorhands with a sawzall. I don't this the tool is inherently dangerous, but hand one to Aaron and watch out...

Last time we let him near a car with a sawzall, the roof came off the Kim Jong Elantra.

--bb

Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

Eye protection always; ear protection when using loud power tools or banging on things; welding gloves when welding, grinding, cutting. Jack stands. I do those things, still have both eyes, good hearing and all of my fingers, never been crushed by a falling car. I watched my neighbor use power tools without ear protection, he said he didn't need it. He is almost deaf, needs a hearing aid. Guess now he has an excuse not to listen.

Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

I'm kind of terrified of my 12 ton press. 

I've always been kind of terrified of my circular saw. 

I'm also scared of my spring compressors.

My welder probably has the best chance of seriously injuring me or burning down my house.

My angle grinder with the wire brush probably has the best chance of minorly injuring me.

But the thing that injures me the most is stuck fasteners suddenly coming free and causing me to loose knuckle skin.

Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

DelinquentRacer wrote:

Any wire wheel.

GIANT DITTO on this one.  Flying metal wires and no safety glasses.   Invest in a quality pair of impact resistant safety glasses.

Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

One more tip on wire wheels. Do not use those little dremel wire wheels inside your house. I was dumb and used one to start polishing something in my apartment kitchen years ago (yes, I was very single at the time). It did not matter how well I vacuumed, I picked up little wire pieces with my feet for years. Worst part is you don't realize it right away, usually you wake up in the morning and find it's painful to walk suddenly since it's been stuck in your foot all night. Highly do not recommend.

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Re: 8 of the most lethal tools in your home shop: anything to add??

I disagree with the premise of the original linked article, though I value the warnings and suggestions (both here and in the article) regarding tool usage as important.


I contend the only lethal or dangerous tool in your shop is the brain you _don't_ use (the linked article alluded to this by listing "ego" as one of the 8).


The physical tools do certain things, and yes, they can break, but they only do those things with input from humans.


It's really the actions we take resulting from the decisions we make, that are the cause of injuries.


Here are some - in my experience - characteristics of actions, or conditions of people, or the work area, which have proven to be dangerous:


Carelessness
Hurrying
Shortcuts
Tiredness
Non-cooperation
Dehydration
Overheating
Spills, debris, parts, and tools left lying around in the working area.


Dehydration and overheating, to the point of danger - can come on very quickly, before we can recognize it in ourselves, if we're focused on a task. _Not_ taking steps to prevent the above is a decision made while lucid. Deciding to continue when the above is finally recognized in yourself is compromised.


There's only two conditions of the people making decisions that cause all the above characteristics:


1. Ignorance - the definition being: "lack of knowledge" about (or experience in) any particular subject; I'm ignorant about a lot of things, but I try to _not_ be stupid


2. Stupidity - "obdurate ignorance in the face of credible evidence to the contrary"


  "Credible" is key.


The advice you get from someone who has "done this hundreds of times" but - for example - never read the directions is not necessarily "credible".


I initially listened to someone (who owned an auto repair shop for a few years) while I was trading heavy lifting, crawling underneath, and "wrench ***ch" work, for help with _my_ vehicle.


After talking to a young mechanic (who was professionally trained) about a technique I saw the older guy use, I never listened to him again without a skeptical outlook.


After that, he only caught me once when he changed position before I could react; I didn't see his first move because he was on the other side of his customer's vehicle.


I was initially ignorant.


But finding out how out-of-step he was with "best practices", I would be stupid if I had continued to listen to him as 'authoritative'.


He did understand the importance of jack stands. But I'm thinking that's because a mechanic in the town he grew up in was killed (~40 years ago) when he didn't use them. And I heard about it from several older guys in the same town, so it was notorious as well as local.


But he was careless about eye protection; strangely enough, he couldn't see very well. Hunh - imagine that.


I'm in a much better situation now. I get to watch someone who _really_ knows what they're doing.