Do you wear a faceshield?

[alamocdc]

For pens I usually just use safety glasses, but I add a shield when using CA. For anything larger I always use my Triton... especially for bowls.

 

[tommyd]

Never used to until I was turning a single segmented ring taped to face plate and tail stock holding it when three pieces flew out and hit me right between the eyes now I always wear one. now I read about the guy who died from being hit in the head.

 

[nava1uni]

Meijer's makes a plastic polish and I used to use it to polish the windshield on my full face fairing on my motorcyle. It took out all of the scratches and leave a beautiful clear shield. Nova makes plastic polish in various strengths. One for coarse scratches, then one for finer scratches and a final polish that really makes plastic things shine.

 

[fstinard]

As a career paramedic and woodworker I have to say if a chunk flys off the lathe and hits you hard enough to kill you unless its a full face motorcycle helmet I dont think its going to save you however it dosent mean dont wear eye protection

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

As a career paramedic and woodworker I have to say if a chunk flys off the lathe and hits you hard enough to kill you unless its a full face motorcycle helmet I dont think its going to save you however it dosent mean dont wear eye protection

The idea is that the faceshield will deflect the wood enough not to kill.

This is what I wear

 

[fstinard]

Sorry Ron but a chunk big enough to kill is just going trough that thing The only thing that keeps us truly safe in a shop is good work practice and common sense. If it feels wrong or looks like trouble rethink it and thats where people screw up and say the hell with it and keep going. Its not the equipment that makes us safe its how we use it

 

[NewLondon88]

Sorry Ron but a chunk big enough to kill is just going trough that thing

I dunno Fred .. in your line of work, you must have seen some damage
cause by small bullets .. and they don't exactly keep a straight trajectory
once they encounter resistance..

 

[Texatdurango]

Sorry Ron but a chunk big enough to kill is just going trough that thing The only thing that keeps us truly safe in a shop is good work practice and common sense. If it feels wrong or looks like trouble rethink it and thats where people screw up and say the hell with it and keep going. Its not the equipment that makes us safe its how we use it

Obviously you have not spent much time around wood to think you are in total control at all times and that nothing can happen even when everything "looks and feels right"

 

[fstinard]

Ok guys with out going into a kinmatics of truma lecture that is 3 day course for my paramedic students my point is yes use saftey sheilds but dont relay on them for your safty. Any object flying off a lathe at velocity and mass enough not only injury but to be fatal a safty sheild will not stop it. That thought process is comeing after 17 years of EMS including 100's of industrail accidents. and by the way have been woodworking since 12 trained by my grandfather and father and have the customer list and portfoilo to show it maybe you should spend less time on the computer and woodworking

 

[skeeterbeater]

I was turning a travel mug for my daughter out of a 4x4x12 in piece of butternut when the skew caught. That piece of wood came off the lathe and put a 2 inch long gash in my forehead, just above my right eye. Didn't knock me out but I was definitely seeing stars and weak in the knees for several minutes.

After going to the house for some clean up, words of concern from THE BOSS (what did you do now?) and a couple of butterfly tapes I went back to the shop. Dug the face shield out of the drawer and started using it when turning.

I got my daughter started right when she came for a visit and wanted to turn some stuff by making her use the shield.

She drove over 100 miles to her nearest Woodcraft store so that we could both do the "Turn a pen for the troops" even though she is in NJ and I'm in FL. That got her hooked on turning and she hasn't slowed down since. She did a bunch of small stuff on her last visit home and has several projects lined up for her Christmas visit, including a large table lamp for her condo. When that big piece of wood for her lamp goes on the lathe I'll feel a lot better knowing that she has a shield on.

Jeff

 

[THarvey]

My shield hangs on the tail stock of my lathe, when not in use. I have to move it to use my lathe. Good reminder to put it on, while it is in my hand.

I wear perscription safety glasses too. I wear these even if I am only walking in the shop.

I had a Cherry bowl blank escape from the chuck and hit knock my mask off my face. Broke the top visor and part of the shield. I only had a small sore place where the head band removed some hair. (I wish I had kept the mask, like Curtis. Great object lesson for the kids.)

I did not turn the lathe on again, until my new shield arrived from Woodcraft.

 

[Spats139]

How many of you ALWAYS wear your face shield...

... and then realize that you're standing over the lathe with the shield up? Come on, I'm sure mine isn't the only hand that's up right now.

Like many of you, when I walk into the shop I put on my safety glasses - they're right by the door - and they stay on until I walk out. I wear them under my face shield, I wear them when I have my powered respirator on, and I wear them when I'm wearing the half mask respirator while finishing. No, I'm not 100% compliant, but I'm pretty close; the other 1 or 2% of the time I just have to hope I'm lucky.

I was looking at some information from our provincial WorkSafe people, and they describe face shields as being a secondary level of protection, and suggest that you should always wear safety glasses as well. So, when a pair of safety glasses and a face shield cost less than a couple fancy blanks, or a single high-end kit, there is simply no excuse not to wear them.

Whether or not that piece that comes off the lathe is going to kill me or not isn't a big concern to me, the odds are too long to worry about; but when I look at some of your avatars, and read some of your family stories, I just think that it would be a shame to never SEE some of those people again.

My $.02 worth. Turn Safe.

 

[gmcnut]

Yep! The clear shield on mine curves in all directions so it fits pretty comfortably. I bought it at NAPA (my employer)

http://www.sassafety.com/store/shopexd.asp?id=237&bc=no

 

[carpblaster]

THIS VERY WEEK WHILE TURNING A OSAGE VASE,I had a bad blow out, busted the face shield,one piece cut my thigh and some i cant find,I was standing on the edge looking in and it got caught and i did not know what happened till it was over and i hurt in a few places, busted shield, busted head piece,got another one this week, but thinking about buying a betterone,I always wear on new wood,and sometimes on pen, especially acrylic,
carpblaster

 

[navycop]

I used to just wear saftey glasses (got them from when I was working the shipyard) or googles. Then a week ago a blowout of acrylic blank hit me in the cheek. Now I wear a faceshild over my glasses.

 

[phillywood]

Well, I have had few blow out and the bowl flew off the lathe even in most cases the foot(tenon) broke off since it was not very strong wood, However, I think you should not stand in the direct path of the rotation of the wood and to one side it. Always waer a face sheild, but the safest way is not to be in the direct path. (of course no gurantees which way the piece is going to fly)

 

[InvisibleMan]

I had a peppermill split in half and hit me in the left eye/forehead while wearing goggles only. No lasting damage, but I did spend a few seconds with my hands on my knees taking inventory. Contemplating my long term viability, even for a few seconds, was not fun!

I now wear a face shield when turning bigger stuff, but only goggles with pen blanks.

 

[Linarestribe]

I haven't turned big stuff yet but I taught myself to use the face shield on everything I do so that it's just a habit. Now I always reach for the face shield and will be wearing it when something does go wrong.

 

[StephenM]

I wear a full face shield mainly for the convenience of keeping the chips out of my face. If it saves my rugged good looks, extreme intelligence and overwhelming sense of modesty, so much the better.

 

[WWAtty]

I wear prescription eyeglasses and have found the over-the-glasses goggles tend to fog up a lot. So I prefer a face shield whenever I'm working with power tools.

Once, while turning a tool handle, a good-sized chunk decided to exit, passing over my shoulder and putting a nice little dent in the plywood wall behind me. Too close for comfort!

I have gone through 2 or 3 of the cheap, $20 AO shields from Home Despot. The headband tends to break at the pivot point. They would only last a couple years or so, even with light use. So I ordered a nice Uvex shield for about $30 from Amazon. Very robust.

 

[fitzman163]

All the time, every time!!!

 

[jmbaker79]

Full shield all the way... HF carries a face shield that comes with ear protection as well...it is a mesh screen so no fogging up. one ER trip, and a corneal Abrasion is All it took to convince me. Just the other day a buddy ended up with ca glue in the eye while finishing a bottle stopper in my shop....apparently flew off the lathe during finish, looked pretty painful. I've tried to tell him...

 

[Richard Gibson]

After reading this thread... I'm going to go get a face shield this weekend... and use it.

 

[gimpy]

Hi Ron, I live in Danville, pa

 

[Haynie]

After taking a sharp chip up the nose I wear a face shield all time when I turn on the wood lathe. My metal lathe does not turn that fast so I never thought about it with that. I should probably change that behavior.

 

[bubbamorse]

East Waterdown man fatally injured
By Catherine O'Hara
Jul 16, 2009

An east Waterdown man was pronounced dead at his Waterdown home on Monday after he was fatally injured by a piece of wood.

According to Hamilton Emergency Service – Fire information officer, Bob Simpson, local fire and ambulance crews rushed to Fellows Crescent at approximately 1:10 p.m. for a medical call.

Upon arrival, emergency services personnel discovered a man with no vital signs. "They used the life pack on him, but unfortunately he was pronounced on the scene by paramedics," said Simpson.

The information officer told the Review that the Waterdown man was operating a lathe when a piece of wood broke off. The local resident suffered a fatal blow to the head.

Article on mission misses mark | FlamboroughReview.com

How about now?

I use this. It has a hardhat built into it as well as a air respirator. It's not heavy at all and I don't even notice it any longer...

 

[ghostrider]

I always wear a face shield.

Last year I had oral surgery, and decided it would be good to wear one just in case during the healing process. I've been using one ever since.

 

[TerryDowning]

I usually wear one. Always with bowls.

I do note that the articlle from the OP does not state whether he was wearing any safety gear or not.

Depending on the size of the object and the velocity it was hurled. a face shield may not offer much protection from a "Lethal Blow" I've had a 10" chunk of oak come flying of during initial balancing (speed was set too high). This occurred during power up while the the blank was coming up to speed. Fortunately for me I was smart enough to be out of the line of fire. Had that chunk hit me in the head or possibly chest, a face shield would not have made much difference.

With unstable items, it's not enough to wear a face shield.

Make sure the speed is down low
items are properly chucked/secured
and you are out of the way!!

Terry

 

[IPD_Mr]

Wow that startled me seeing a post from Ron, then realized is was an old post.

I am kind of glad this was brought up. I usually do not wear anything other than my glasses, if I wear those. The other day I was cutting a difficult piece of metal and a 1/4" cut-off tool broke sending it flying across the shop, off the back wall hitting my son in the backside while he was routing. What was the first thing I did? Look stupidly around the room then reached for my "safty glasses" The metal lathe has thrown some new elements my way and I need to work at training myself to grab the glasses before I hit the on switch.

This is a good thread and if it makes one person start wearing safty glasses then it was well worth bringing it back.

 

[Rick_G]

I only turn small stuff but wear safety glasses with side shields all the time in the shop. I have a face shield that gets used when I think it may be needed.

 

[Rfturner]

I rarely ever turn with a faceshield. I probabally should wear a faceshield more. I have not turned much lately as i have been busy with work and antique furniture repairs. Safety glasses go on before i start any work and dont come off till i am dusted off and heading back inside. Another thing to consider is look at the safety glasses you use. I never get any safety glasses that are not Z.87+ as they are more impact resistant than just Z.87

one of the worst "explosions" i have experienced on the lathe involved a segmented pen blank. it looked like a miniture checkerboard with about 1/16" squares. It violently caught for about half a millisecond and shreded the blank. I was unscathed other than hurt feelings over the lost work as it took about 5 hours to make/prep the blank. I found about a week later shards of it in a mattress all the way across the two car garage imbeded with multiple little shards. i was wearing a faceshield i believe but it has since gotten too scratched up and needs replacing

 

[Lucky2]

I wear both, safety glasses and a full face shield when using the lathe. Each of them offer different types of protection, and should be worn in combination so that you have as much protection as possible. years ago I went completely blind for two weeks, I was doing nothing at the time it happened. That was the scariest thing to ever happen to me, and they couldn't figure out what caused it. Eventually they decided that a blood vessel must have busted. But, after two weeks of sitting around the hospital with severe headaches my vision came back to 20/20, and I've had no problems since, thankfully. But from that day on I decided that my eyes were my life, because believe me, when something like this happens it sure is scary and you don't know how you'll ever survive without seeing. So I don't think that you can afford to take a chance of being injured, especially if there are things you can do to be safe.I wear glasses all of the time for eye protection from flying objects and for protection from the sun because they turn dark in bright light conditions. Plus to make sure that I always wear my faceshields I have one by three different tools. One at the grinder, and one at each of my two lathes. They cover the on/off switch of these tools so that there is no reason to use the tool without wearing one as you have to move it to start the machine.
Len

 

[nava1uni]

It only takes one time for you to get hurt. People can be seriously hurt by small flying objects. If you wear one to do bowls then it would make sense to wear one all the time. A long time professional was killed last year and a face mask might have deflected the piece and she might be alive. I wear glasses and wear a face shield that doesn't fog my glasses but still protects my face. The Triton and the Trend not only protect your face and eyes, but also your lungs. I really like seeing and breathing.

 

[Richard Gibson]

I kept thinking as I read this thread today, you guys that have the Trend Airshield Pros just laying around and not using them... Post them on here.I would love to have one but can't afford the new price.:tongue::biggrin:

 

[Richard Earl]

As Gary Max said some time ago, "The only time I wear a face shield is when the lathe is on." I also keep a couple of replacement visors on a shelf so that when the nicks, CA glue and other random trash makes it difficult to see I can put on a new visor. I keep one old visor to show beginners why you wear a face shield and not just glasses. All I have to say is, "imagine if this was on your face and not on the shield." One time the shield got hit by a piece of koa that was so big I made a bookmark out of it for my daughter. I actually keep two extra units in case one or two people want to watch me work. No one is in my shop with the lathe on without a shield.

 

[latheturner]

Turned aluminum and almost learned about the next life!

I turned a block of aluminum and it shot out of my lathe chuck jaws like a bullet. It just missed my head. It scared me to my bones! I stayed away from my lathe for a few days. I instantly had a huge amount of respect for working with my lathe at that point.

I imagine a piece of wood traveling at bullet like speed could do as much damage. There is no excuse after an incident happens to not have made enough safety precautions before the incident in the first place.

There are many professionals with years of experience with missing eyes, scares and missing fingers. Most of us are just amatuers *THINK*.

This incident happened about 5 years ago by the way.

 

[wade45]

Nope, still don't. I can't see what I'm doing.

 

[firewhatfire]

The hole in my ceiling from a piece of wood reminds me to wear a faceshield. The after I had 2 pieces of wood skip off that face shield.(same piece twice actually).

I actually wear it for pens also.... To many close calls especailly when you do alot of segments with aluminum and brass.

 

[dtswebb]

For me, it's prescription safety glasses with sideshields and a Trend AirShield Pro helmet. Any time the lathe is turned on.

I've been employed for over 30 years in the petrochemical industry, so wearing the proper Personal Protective Equipment is a regular and expected event.

I don't ever hope to find out, but the Trend AirShield appears to be constructed extremely well and would probably provide the difference between some short term pain and discomfort versus permanent injury or worse.

Matthew

 

[AlanZ]

For me and Lauren it's all the gear, all the time.

We each wear either a 3M Airstream or 3M Breathe Easy respirator helmets (depending on our moods < s >).

Protects our eyes and lungs... and makes turning much more comfortable.