Hi guys, let me start by saying that I really enjoy making plugs. I’ve been building for only a few months and it seems as though this hobby is becoming more popular every day.

I have been doing a lot of reading lately and it seems that I don’t really know as much about safety as I should. I have to admit that sometimes I am concerned that I may be putting my family and myself at risk. I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread dedicated to safety tips and precautions taken while building.

Here’s what I had in mind…
Start by stating the general task of plug building (for example, turning, sealing, weighting, painting, finishing…). Then explain what safety precautions are taken and if you can explain why. Maybe others can comment on the precautions taken too. Good and bad.

I’ll start.

Turning:
I always wear safety glasses and a respirator; most of my face is covered. Don’t wear gloves and if possible wear short sleeves. I’ve never had any major incidents, but a few times the wood has split and pieces have gone flying. If these pieces hit me, they could do some severe damage. The dust created while turning cannot be healthy to inhale, hence the respirator. I’m not sure what kind of damage it can do though. No gloves or sleeves because if they get caught in the lathe, you’ve got big problems.

Dust collection:
Consists of a broom. A little dust never really bothered me, but I don’t know what it’s getting into.

Sealing:
I seal my plugs (debatable point). Some say it’s not worth it. Oh well… I seal with a combo of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits (60/40). My safety precautions here, I dip the plugs and then hang them. I don’t wipe them off, I figure it’ll drip off or get absorbed into the wood. That way I don’t have to deal with disposing rags. Which I’ve read can spontaneously combust and start fires. Anything else? Ventilation? Skin contact?

Weighting:
I weight plugs with lead. I melt lead. Lead causes cancer. I don’t want cancer. Gloves always, respirator and goggles when I’m melting and I only melt lead outside. Water and lead don’t mix I’m told. Any moisture will cause the lead to “pop” and “splash”. My melting pot is always covered with a scrap piece of wood. I generally try and stay as far away as possible from this stuff when I’m melting.

Priming / Painting:
I spray on a couple light coats of primer. I do this outside but then let the plugs dry inside. They still stink. As for painting, I use Createx paints with my airbrush. No spray booth, ventilation or goggles, but I do wear my respirator. And I paint in my in-laws basement right next to the furnace.

Finishing:
I use Devcon 2 ton epoxy. Basically, no safety precautions. I do it inside on the coffee table, in front of the TV.

I realize that this is asking a lot from some of you more experienced builders, but I believe it would be very beneficial to many of us “newbie’s”. Or maybe I’m the only one concerned.

Thanks

If you guys follow no other safety tip, follow this one;
DO NOT wear gloves around your moving machinery. NEVER!!!
I spent 35 years in plant engineering, I've seen what happens and it aint pretty!!
Thanks for listening.

I second the thought of no gloves around machinery. I have been in the machine shop for almost 30 years and have seen some nasty accidents. I have got plenty of stitches to prove it. A fellow worker was just polishing 1" dia. shafts with sandpaper in a lathe and like a fool he was wearing gloves, he did not want to get dirty. Well when you sand the outside of something never grab your hand around the part being sanded because the paper can bind up or grab itself. If possible hold both ends of the paper to sand or polish that way you can let go when this happen's, and it will happen. He was sanding at high speed with gloves and using one hand around the shaft. Disaster struck and the end result was he pulled his finger off, not sliced it off but pulled it right off his hand when the glove got caught in the sandpaper. I saved the finger from the bed of the lathe but they could not reattach it. Needless to say he lost the finger. Machinery is very unforgiving so don't cut corners and rush. I know a little wood lathe doesn't look very dangerous but they bite. Just a little food for thought. P.M.

On the use of a respirator, the one you use for dust, may not work for paint fumes. Same goes for melting lead. Make sure you are using the correct respirator cartridge. Also, dont think that just because you have a respirator on that you are not being exposed. If the respirator does not fit properly or the cartridges have become saturated, then you are being exposed.

Good post Motor Fish,:btu: Some ecellent suggestions posted. When handling materials such as sealers,paints, epoxies or whatever, look on the package for the following terms:
Danger-most toxic
Warning-less toxic
Caution-least toxic
Just remember there all toxic.Whenever they say adequate ventilation there has to be some kind of harmful fumes.
Good idea to wear a charcoal respirator when spraying water based paints also. I remember Fishingfreak saying one time your body is made up of water and waterbased stuff can stay with ya.

Funny you should mention gloves. I'm a Bodyman, and in an effort to keep my hands clean so when I mix with polite company they don't start staring and backing away, I wear latex gloves. Well, I broke out the air-drill today, and whilst drilling my right glove disappeared into the chuck. Right at that moment I promised myself to A; not do that again, and B; not to wear leather gloves anywhere near the lathe.:eek:

If you are pouring lead outside, check which way the wind is blowing and stay up wind from the pot. If you do a lot of lead work, once a year get the doc to pull some blood and test it just to be sure you are doing things correctly.

Jigman

When I melt lead I do it outside only and I use a large fan to blow fumes away from me. P.M.

My lathe is a used one. I have used it on and off for 7 years. Many times my project would go flying over my shoulder. Hence I always wear a full face mask. Three months ago I had trouble with the motor only to find out it was 3450 rpm and should have been 1725 rpm. What a difference! I kept the mask and wear long sleeves with tight collar. An old full face mask plastic shield placed over the workpiece attached to a shopvac catches most of the sawdust. Use both incandescent and flourescent lighting to avoid strobe effect. I find most turning problems are a product of wood with knots, splits, etc. or tools that are not super sharp. A small belt/disc sander is next to my lathe to touch up tools quickly and will not do too much damage if you slip. And yes, never use gloves or loose cuffs, jewellery, etc.

And be careful not to drop cold lead into a pot of molten lead. did that once pot blew up, and I've got the scars to prve it. Was wearing a gold bracelet at the time and a glob of molten lead stuck to it. By the time I cut the bracelet off my wrist was badly burned.
Took months to heal, lots of doctors visits and changed dressings. Those kind of burns just keep peeling and oozing.
Still got hundreds of tiny lead particles stuck to the back of garage door. Thank god it wasn't my eyes.;)