Hobby machinist to business/employment

[fizzy]

On a similar note. Cyclists and pedestrians wearing headphones are a liability
Rely on my ears heavily when riding on the roads and crossing roads on foot

DON'T - I am the same but remember there are more and more leccy cars out there now.
Having said that tyres make far more noise than engines at speed.

 

[Brad93]

This is the kicker.

 

[pressbrake1]

This is the kicker.

Good working pace, we know what that means.
Unless you’re self employed manual machinist means skint!

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Good working pace, we know what that means.
Unless you’re self employed manual machinist means skint!

Saw skilled joiner positions for 12 quid an hour earlier .
As a Chippie on the cards I'd struggle to get much over 150 a day.

 

[bricol]

On hearing protection; I've found custom moulded plugs to be the best. My basic ones are designed for shooting, but I've started using them for working with power tools. There much more comfortable than the muff type, don't interfering with other PPE, you can even wear ear muffs on top if you like. Takes a little to get used to, but you can converse with them on. There also much more reliable than the foam roll up and or disposable kinds.

You have to have an impression made of your ear canal, it's really weird having that done but isn't unpleasant and I believe they keep hold of it, so you can order replacements or additional pairs without having to have another impression made. The types of plugs that are available to you is partially determined by the size of your inner ear canal IIRC. I just have a basic set, cost about £95, although that was some years ago. If you don't have a company local to you, Mercury Hearing Protection frequently have a stand at game and country fairs and do the impressions there for you, they also have models on display for you to have a look at. You can have custom colours, removable electronic modules, Bluetooth, little wire dongles so you can plug in a ipod or something, alsorts. Mine are just bog standard plugs, but work very well for DIY, welding especially because they keep any weld splatter out of my ears.

I have just those for work - very good. Was made to wear cans over them in a plant in Brazil - they were really hot on hearing protection.

 

[4String.]

I did some photography work pre digital days. The commercial and social stuff like portraiture was fine, but doing weddings without having an assistant was very stressful..... Luckily, I never made a balls-up of any ceremony and the bride & groom were always very pleased with the results - but there was always LOADS of potential as a result of my running round like a blue-arsed fly.

Then this should bring back some memories:



Sorry John .

 

[slim_boy_fat]

 

[dannyp]

those headphone ear defenders IMO should be banned i would say they are the most dangerous things in the workshop, the biggest near mis ive ever had happend realtivly very slowly. and i would say it was 100% down to been unable to get attention of person on machene wearing a pair of them.

im sure they must have got people killed

 

[northwest]

Anyone gone from using their own equipment/making stuff in their own garage to working for someone else in a unit/factory type of environment?

My hobby is my day job. But, and it is a big BUT, it does not always go my way. Sometimes I get really crappy jobs in or I get the same job five times in a row and it will be a job I don't like. It does not matter, it has to be done. It doesn't stop there either, today I am going to leave earlier than usual and clean the crapper. Somebody has to do it and it won't clean itself.
If you take your hobby and turn it into your living expect some disappointments and some really crappy jobs. And if you are working for someone else, most of the time expect the really crappy jobs as nobody else wants them either.

 

[earthman]

My hobby is my day job. But, and it is a big BUT, it does not always go my way. Sometimes I get really crappy jobs in or I get the same job five times in a row and it will be a job I don't like. It does not matter, it has to be done. It doesn't stop there either, today I am going to leave earlier than usual and clean the crapper. Somebody has to do it and it won't clean itself.
If you take your hobby and turn it into your living expect some disappointments and some really crappy jobs. And if you are working for someone else, most of the time expect the really crappy jobs as nobody else wants them either.

Yes, I'm sure that it's not all rosey shall we say. Years ago I did take my hobby/passion of motorcycling into weekend instructor, after X amount of time you do lose the hobby side of it.

 

[Parm]

Are they or are they not H&S compliant then??

There’s no such thing as H&S compliant.

It’s one of the most misleading statements out there

 

[stuvy]

Even whilst panel beating I wear peltor ear defenders if I’m doing it all day I stick my dab radio in my ears or turn it up on the bench

I can’t work without music and wouldn’t work somewhere there isn’t any

Previous to this place we all had one earphone in and ear defenders if the forklift came in you took the ear piece out and used your common sense

Previous to that I used to work for a chap that hated music so had to use my earphones. I never understood how he hated music

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Even whilst panel beating I wear peltor ear defenders if I’m doing it all day I stick my dab radio in my ears or turn it up on the bench

I can’t work without music and wouldn’t work somewhere there isn’t any

Previous to this place we all had one earphone in and ear defenders if the forklift came in you took the ear piece out and used your common sense

Previous to that I used to work for a chap that hated music so had to use my earphones. I never understood how he hated music

I don't hate music.
I just don't like the radio blaring while I'm working.
Even when I used to use my site radio at work it used to be on low and if get to around 2pm and had enough.

 

[earthman]

I can’t work without music and wouldn’t work somewhere there isn’t any

Yes, I'm sure that many others would agree with you on that, especially in a workplace where other work colleagues are constantly banging etc, being able to hear a tune, even at a low volume helps the brain block out all that other loud irritating noise I think.

 

[JohnRUFC]

I've spent quite a few years in high volume machining that I didn't really enjoy, I wore earbuds but always had one in one out. Never had an issue with H&S but you don't get a chance to appreciate what you're doing. I work in a much slower machining environment now making custom one off stuff and It's much more enjoyable.

 

[Wallace]

I wore radio ear muffs for two years operating a CNC punch, I wouldn’t have lasted 3 months at the job without them. I liked them on quite low as my hearing is good and their volume was not particularly high on full.

As to going to full time machinist from hobby work, did you have any formal training?

 

[earthman]

I wore radio ear muffs for two years operating a CNC punch, I wouldn’t have lasted 3 months at the job without them. I liked them on quite low as my hearing is good and their volume was not particularly high on full.

As to going to full time machinist from hobby work, did you have any formal training?

Did the H&S bod have anything to say about you wearing them, assuming they visited you at some point?

Nope, I've not had any formal training or been on a 'machine shop' course shall we say.

 

[Parm]

I've spent quite a few years in high volume machining that I didn't really enjoy, I wore earbuds but always had one in one out. Never had an issue with H&S but you don't get a chance to appreciate what you're doing. I work in a much slower machining environment now making custom one off stuff and It's much more enjoyable.

So you will probably have damaged hearing in one ear

 

[stuvy]

So you will probably have damaged hearing in one ear

my ears of loud stereos, gigs and race bikes have done it for me I’m now trying to slow the inevitable down

 

[Parm]

my ears of loud stereos, gigs and race bikes have done it for me I’m now trying to slow the inevitable down

You should get a hearing test done