On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:20:03 -0400, "Josepi" wrote:

I always wear earmuffs with my cheap sliding chop saw. They hang on the
blade cover so I have to do something with them. The ring of the blade is so
bad it actually hurts my ears.

None of my tools are loud enough to cause pain. I've been tempted to take a
sound pressure meter home to measure them, but so far haven't thought of it
when I was going to use the tools. It's full summer now, so the tools are
probably going to get a rest for a few months. :-(

I already have tinnitus quite bad and you don't want to share that one.
People think it is a joke until they lay awake at nights wondering if they
will go crazy. Sometimes I can hear it over movies rocking the house on the
600 watt Dolby surround sound 12" speakers and bass boom box shaking the
floor.

I've had tinnitus on and off for a few years. It doesn't bother me all that
much and it certainly doesn't keep me awake. Little does. ;-)

I blame most of this on small staple guns and the odd framing nailer shot
(you know the ones that just dribble out of the end?...LOL). Every so often
you get your head and ears between two joists and the shot deafens you.

Protect your ears from long or loud exposures! Unexpected ones are hard to
protect against.

My shop tools aren't loud enough and I certainly don't use them long enough to
matter, though the router is probably pushing it. What bothers me far more is
constant sinewave I listen to occasionally at work (testing audio equipment).
I can hear them for hours afterward (mostly 1kHz).