Thingmaker's Things

One pays for convenience. I learned that a long time ago, but I didn't realize what it meant. I thought it had to do with money. In the past few years, I've learned that convenience also carries an "opportunity cost." To be able to run out and purchase a tool or product means having to settle for the tool or product that is available. I've grown very weary of paying the cost of convenience. I have chosen instead to pay the cost of things done right. We all know who has to do it if it's to be done right...

Eye Protection

Some folk go without safely glasses because they believe this tool to be uncomfortable and unstylish. My own thoughts are that safety glasses are more stylish than bandages, eye patches, glass eyes, or white canes. I doubt anyone would debate that safety glasses are vastly more comfortable than eye irritation or injury.

Hot Stuff

Always, always, always check a piece of metal with the back of your hand before grabbing it. The back of the human hand is more sensitive to heat than palm or fingertip. The back of the hand can be more quickly withdrawn than clutching fingers, since human defensive instinct is to close the fist.

Geronimo Bayard used to say: "The black will get you before the red does." Folks studiously avoid the touch of glowing steel - but steel doesn't start to glow until it's over a thousand degrees Farenheight! (Water boils at 212 F - care to handle any metal that "cold?"

Leather gloves heat up slowly, but they also cool down slowly. Leather gloves, especially if stiff from burns, cannot be removed nearly as rapidly as cotton gloves. Kevlar gloves are available and provide excellent protection from heat - but they are extremely expensive.

If you do burn your hand, stick it immediately into water to cool the injury down. This will minimize damage. Ever burn yourself of a piece of too-hot meat? Well, when you get burned, a bit of you becomes too-hot meat! The tissue adjacent to the burn gets burned itself - unless you cool things down before that can happen.

Clothing

Synthetic textiles are typically more flammable than cotton. Ash from natural fibers is much easier to clean out from a third degree burn than is the goo from synthetics. That synthetic goo in a burn is also highly toxic. Burns involving synthetic textiles leave much worse scars than would otherwise occur. Wear cotton.

Shoes should be leather, not synthetic. Their tops should be underneath the pants cuffs to prevent catching hot bits. Steel toes protect real toes.

Coal Dust

A simple dust mask can keep most of the smoke and gunk out of you. Miner's Lung is not a fun disease. Don't waste money on the dust masks with a single strap - get the kind with two straps. The good kind are OSHA compliant and more comfortable to wear.

Fumes:

Make sure that the work area has adequate ventilation. Never heat galvanized metal without wearing the correct respirator. Many hot metals give off fumes that cause brain damage.

What did you say?

Sound begins to damage the ear at levels far below those which cause discomfort. Impact noise (hammering) causes damage at lower levels than constant noise. The first loss usually occurs in the range needed to make out the consonants of human speech - especially in women's voices. Wear ear plugs or your wife will make you regret it!

Interestingly, the most effective hearing protection is also the most comfortable!

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