My favorite uncle is approaching retirement age and has always wanted to get into woodworking once he has the time. Unfortunately a couple of months ago he lost sight in one of his eyes and now he is backing off of the idea. His vision in his good eye is close to perfect.
My question is what the experiences of other woodworkers who are visually impaired? I would like to possibly set him up with a basic shop, table saw, router, and some of my tools that I have duplicates of. Other than putting a patch over one of my eyes and trying to work in my shop can someone give me some perspective as to what changes and what remains the same.
I think that he is afraid that he is going to end up missing a couple of fingers. But he is a farmer and I figure that if can safely run a farm for all of these years, a table saw with guards should not be that much of a threat if treated with respect.
Replies
Abe,
Your concern is commendable. I am a woodworker that has both eyes but I can only focus on an object one eye at time. I have no depth perception except as a "learned" accommodation. While this casues some adjustment for certain tasks, it is in no way a safety hazzard. In fact, one can argue that one-eyed workers probably focus more intently on the task at hand and are not as easily distracted.
I would encourage him to have at it.
Doug
The dealer I used to by hardwood from was hit in the eye by a piece of wood from a saw years ago. He continues to sell lumber and do full time cabinet making, and seems to get around the shop fine. He's not the brightest guy, though. The pile of sawdust on and around his wood stove always gives me the willies, and he still doesn't wear safety glasses when woodworking.
The Englishman, Kevin Ley, in Furniture & Cabinet Making only has one eye and wears a patch over the other one. I have never seen him wear a pair of safety glasses or a safety monicle. If you only have one eye, better protect the other.
My uncle was blinded in WWII by a grenade. After he came back home and went through rehab, he set up a woodshop in his basement; table saw, lathe, drill press, etc. Built most of the furniture in his home without ANY accidents. Drove my aunt up the wall because he was working without any lights on. She finally trained him to turn the lights on for HER peace of mind. To get back to the topic, he practiced situational awareness to a degree most of us would find tedious. Everything had a place and was in its' place if not being used. Power was turned off and locked out when adjusting power tools. When he was through using a tool, he cleaned up the mess he made with it before going on to the next step.
He sure impressed the heck out of me!
I have a Nephew who was born with only one eye and as a result he has no depth perception. I helped him make a bird-house this Spring and the poor fellow couldn't hit the house with the hammer let alone drive a nail. He can't catch a ball and trips over everything (but Boy is he a computer whiz). Some people do better, I am told, but some just can't make it happen. I am sure your Uncle will have his own comfort zone and level of abilities.
How about getting him interested in one specific area of woodworking? Marquetry, carving or turning?
Depth perception is the really the main problem when functioning with one eye. For me, this translates into things that are further away than most of the stuff involved in woodworking. I sometimes (like the last couple of days) have to wear only one of my contact lenses, and I'm near-blind in the "empty" eye. Biggest problem is driving at night.
Peripheral vision, of course, is the other problem, but can't see where that'd be a big deal in woodworking, unless your lumber pile is slowly toppling over.
Maybe start him out with hand tools and smaller power tools. He'll figure out that he can handle it, and probably plunge into the rest. Might make him feel more comfortable if "danger zones" on certain power tools are highlighted. for instance, the throat plate of a table saw could be bright orange.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
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