Loud noise

[mahking51]

I have just had a very worrying experience.

Needed to mill quite a bit of my greenheart down from 28mm to 19mm so ran an edge and a face on the jointer no problems nice and quiet so did not need hearing protection.
Then I needed to thickness on my Axminster 330, looked for my defenders and buggered if I could find them so thought I'd just carry on.

REALLY STUPID THING TO DO!!!!

As the greenheart is so hard I was taking light passes, hence a lot of them. Next thing I know 40 mins has gone by and when I turn the thing off I am totally deaf with a horrible sound going on in my head like heavy surf hitting a beach. Terrible headache and generally feeling like s**t.

One hour later I can just hear my wife telling me what a prat I am but cannot pick out speech from the TV.

Next day it is a little better and after talking to my GP he says it will go away back to almost normal but NEVER do it again. Apparently we have a few thousand tiny hairs in our ear and when these get trashed thats it - period!

Have just taken delivery of some noise canceling ear protectors and if I have to buy 6 more pairs so that they are everywhere - so be it.

This really put the wind up me so make sure you all take good care of your lugs!

Regards
Martin

 

[Gill]

A salutory lesson for us all. I hope your hearing soon recovers and any long term effects are minimal.

Gill

 

[mahking51]

Pardon?
Martin

 

[LyNx]

Hope all is well, not nice i bet.

Why not invest in the little disposable ones and attach a small cardboard box to each machine with a few in. If you can't find your defenders then they are to hand pretty quick. Or why not hang the defends in the line of travel into the shop so you bump into them, once around your neck you won't need to look for them anymore.

Andy

 

[trevtheturner]

A valuable posting, Martin. Thanks for sharing that with us and highlighting the dangers. Pleased to hear that you are recovering okay (but almost, almost, tempted to say serves you right for picking up all that buckshee greenheart. :wink: )

Cheers,

Trev
(who sometimes suffers from the 'it won't happen to me' syndrome and will now probably be far more disciplined about hearing protection).

 

[Duiker]

"One hour later I can just hear my wife"

If this is the result I might consider throwing my defenders out tonight :lol:

 

[Philly]

Martin
Wow-you certainly have to be careful! I think the thicknesser is the loudest of the machines, too.
I play guitar in a rock band and am no stranger to the "ringing ears" problem. Custom earplugs make all the difference-you can even wear them when the Missus around! :lol:
I leave my ear defenders clamped to the dust extractor so they are always handy.
Cheers
Philly

 

[jonny boy]

HI,

Why are the thicknessers with universal motors so loud? I have a Dewalt one and the noise that comes from it extremely disturbing. Are thre any quieter one's around apart from induction run machines?

cheers,
jonny.

 

[Chris Knight]

Martin,
It sounds horrid and very frightening. I sure hope everything reverts to as normal as can be asap!"

 

[Losos]

Martin, Thanks for the warning, I should be getting a new planner/thicknesser pretty soon & was thinking about what things I need on the 'tool board' that I like to have by each machine. Ear defenders will definately be on the list

 

[frank]

martin what you should do is let some of the lads take that nasty noisy greenheart off you ,and give you some nice quiet b/q pine .wot did he say

 

[tim]

Martin - I hope its all back to normal soon.


What noise cancelling defenders did you get?

Cheers

Tim

 

[cambournepete]

Cut up some paving slabs on Monday using a Makita 9" angle grinder.

First one was done without ear defenders and after a few seconds I noticed my left ear started to feel a little odd. For all subsequent cuts I wore theseand everything was alright. They're only £3.11 so there's no excuse for not getting some if you use power tools.

Fortunately no lasting effects, but I was thinking of Martin's experience even as my ear vibrated...

 

[Adam]

Funny, I found I could never find any safety goggles, so now I have about 5 sets in the workshop, which means I've always put one down whereever I'm looking!! As for ear defenders, they do get worn for the thicknesser/planer, but I also keep a backup of the little disposable orange ones, in case someone else is in the workshop and need a pair, or if I can't find my "proper" set for any reason.

Adam

 

[Anonymous]

glad you're recovering Martin

Sounds like tinitus to me which is as you described especially with reference to the hairs.

I was warned about this as a lad who loved LOUD rock music and especially, live concerts - as I remember it, Motorhead were a particular problem being the (then) loudest band around

 

[Waka]

Good post Martin, thanks for the heads up.