[TheForge] Tongs & power hammer - a safety issue?

[theforge@mailman.qth.net]

If your hands are baby smooth, with nary a trace of scratch or burn, 
then maybe you are the super vigilant one that has no need to consider 
any safety device, but if your hands are a callused network of minor 
mishaps, then you might want to at least consider the merits  of various 
safety devices.   I used to say to myself I would never seriously hurt 
myself  with woodworking tools, since I was so hyper vigilante with them 
.   Then I took out a joint in my hand with a 3/4" wide dado blade at 
two in the morning ( hey, if I can regularily work with code all night, 
why not wood?).  One unthinking moment and over in an instant.    My 
favorite usenet quote was on rec.crafts.woodworking, where the then semi 
annual debate on table saw blade safety covers were being debated.  The 
issue being that the obstructed the view, and were really a pain to set 
up correctly.   The reponse I loved was:   " Yeah, they are a pain in 
the ass to get adjusted just right, thats why you'll want to do it now 
when you got all of your fingers".  


Charles



Andy Vida wrote:

>	Probably depends on the smith.  Well-clued and mindful
>	ones probably don't need or want them.  Others may find
>	them useful, though I've yet to hear of anyone losing a
>	finger this way.  Generally, I don't like devices that
>	make it easy to be sloppy around such machinery.  There
>	are methods of safe operation that require nothing more
>	and nothing less than being clued-in and mindful while
>	working.  I've learned this the hard way. :)
>  
>