On average, lightning strikes kill 62 people each year in the US. You’ll probably never be struck, but if you work on a job site that’s prone to strikes, you might want a little insurance. The pager-sized StrikeAlert warns of lightning strikes within 40 miles, giving you advanced warning and extra time to get to cover.
These aren’t my X-rays, but last night, while working with my Craftsman nail gun, I had the pleasure of shooting a 2″ nail into my thumb. The nail passed cleanly through without doing any real harm. On the positive side, I came up with a new combination of swear words, I now have a great deal more respect for air tools — and I’ve started taking safety a little more seriously.
Sensgard claims the ZEM hearing protection device dampens the loud noise of machinery yet allows you to hear people talking to you, so you don’t have to remove your hearing protection. Instead of using foam or other material to attenuate sound waves, the ZEM directs sound away from the ear.
I’ve seen some pretty stupid things in my lifetime, and this one ranks way up there on the list — a prime example of what can happen when you don’t have the right tools for the job. Try not to laugh too hard.
Just like your high-school wood shop teacher taught you: the table saw must be respected, because a moment of inattention can lead to a serious injury — unless you’re cutting with a SawStop. The SawStop employs sophisticated electronics to detect the difference between wood, flesh, and, apparently, hot dogs — and it turns what could be a serious injury into a nick or a cut.
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If you’ve ever punched the clock for a living, you know what it means to feel like a tiny cog in a much larger machine. Next time you feel that sensation rushing over you, think of these Chinese factory workers who ARE part of the machine.
Place-Duck-Grab, all day long. The management cautions against daydreaming or zoning out, and bathroom breaks are as much about timing as scheduling. Safety regulations are pretty lax, so the likelihood that you’ll get a cool nickname like “Lefty”, “The Stump”, or “Mr. Screams Like A Girl” are pretty high.
If you work in a warehouse or in any sort of material-handling job, a utility knife can be your best friend, or it can send you to the ER. Martor USA makes a series of utility knives, including the Megasafe 116003, that features a blade-retraction mechanism — the blade automatically snaps back into the knife’s body when it loses contact with the material it’s cutting. This reduces the risk of accidental injury by making sure the blade is only out when it’s under control.
It’s so very temping to beat normal wrenches with a hammer when a nut or bolt sticks, but doing so is potentially dangerous and can damage the wrench. A striking wrench is designed to take this kind of abuse. Stanley Proto offers a few different options for striking wrenches, including this twelve point offset striking wrench.
If ever there was “One Shop Tool to Rule Them All”, it might be the Saw-Aid. Let’s list the functions:
I count eight tools in one. I’m not sure I’d replace my steel rule or brass setup bars with the Saw-Aid, but it looks like a great tool to have by your table saw or to throw in your go bag or toolbox. You can find the Saw-Aid at many woodworking retailers for between $15 and $17.
Our question to you: Is it worth it? Is this something you would use in your shop, or is it something you get as a Father’s Day gift, that sits on your shelf collecting dust? Let us know in comments.
Saw-Aid [Stots Corporation]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon
We’ve covered earmuff-style hearing protection here, here, and here, but now AO Safety has built an AM/FM digital stereo tuner into its Digital WorkTunes hearing protectors. Sure, you could just wear earphones under normal muffs, but you probably wouldn’t put up with the hassle for long. With this self-contained system, you just put it on and go.
Even electricians need ratchets, but when you’re working with high-voltage, you can never be too careful. That’s why Kinpex makes both 3/8″ and 1/2″ drive insulated ratchets along with insulated extensions and sockets in both SAE and metric sizes.
We all do it: We use our palm to hit the end of a screwdriver or a chisel, instead of just picking up a proper hammer. But you might not realize that doing it regularly could damage your hand. Well, don’t fret about it — just pick up a shock pad from Tools For Working Wood.
We’ve mentioned pint-sized dust collectors on Toolmonger before, but here’s an even tinier one. The Razaire Dust Management System measures a minute 11″ x 11″ x 6″ and weighs only 7-1/4 lbs — your first laptop computer was probably bigger than this. Razertip Industries even built in a carrying handle. They obviously meant for this dust collector to be portable.
What this little guy lacks in size, it makes up for in flow. With its variable speed fan it can achieve a flow rate up to 530 CFM in free air, and it does so quietly. While that’s impressive, its performance under load really tells the tale. The impeller will move air all the way up to 1-1/2″ static pressure. The best description of the Razaire 530’s power comes from this blurb at Chipping Away — “at high settings it can pull very fine dust particles right through the filter!”
It can be easy to take care of safety problems you can see, but sometimes you can’t see all potential risks, like harmful air particulates from smoke or dust in your workshop. Dylos’ Air Quality Monitor helps you see what you’re breathing.
Dylos designed the DC1100 to be affordable to the average consumer. Its laser particle counter, which can make measurements as small as one micron, maintains current counts of the amount of particles in the air between one to four microns, and above five microns. As a point of reference, a human hair measures between 40-120 microns in diameter.
Industrial noise, an insidious thing, will rob workers of their hearing without them noticing it — until the damage is already done. Unfortunately, proper hearing protection can make it harder to get your point across in a conversation — it leads to screamed exchanges, with lots of “WHAT?!”s and “HUH”s that lead to discarding of hearing protection altogether. Luckily, Elvex makes the COM-655, which offers 25dB of passive sound attenuation while amplifying speech.
You can’t overstate the importance of having a fire extinguisher in your shop or garage. There’s really no excuse not to have one — they’re relatively cheap and available in a variety of ratings and sizes. Now companies like First Alert have even introduced fire extinguishers that look and act like spray cans.
One such product, the Tundra, comes in a 14 oz. spray can with a nozzle that delivers a wide spray. Supposedly the Tundra lasts four times longer than traditional fire extinguishers, and it’s appropriate for kitchens, garages, workshops, boats, automobiles, or anyplace where there are fire hazards.
First Alert claims another potential benefit of their product — easy cleanup. If you’ve ever let a chemical fire extinguisher rip in your kitchen and had the fine yellow powder spread through your whole kitchen, you know what a pain it is to clean up.
At about $16 to $20 the Tundra is pretty reasonably priced — but does the fact that it doesn’t look like a regular fire extinguisher cause confusion in the heat of a fire? Are Tundra and similar spray can extinguishers really as effective? Let us know your opinions and your experiences in the comments.
Tundra [First Alert]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon
Though handy to have around the shop, disposable blades present a danger long after they’re useful. If you’ve ever found out the hard way that someone tossed out a used razor blade, you know what I mean. Instead of tossing sharps out in the normal trash, you can store ‘em safely in OLFA’s DC-4 Blade Safety Case until they can be properly disposed of.
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