The old days.

[Paul.J]

After putting a post on earlier regarding Timber and your health,just thought i'd point out that in the the last edition of Woodturning,it features Dennis White,who recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
Dennis had been turning for 83 years,full time.
So i just wondered what sort of health and safety precautions would he have taken back then.He must have turned some interesting timbers in his time.Did any of them effect him and his health.
I used to know an 83 year old carpenter who used to say that they just put an handkerchief or some cloth round their mouths when doing dusty work,which i have also done in the past. :roll:
Paul.J.

 

[CHJ]

Is it just the fact that he has reached that age when hundreds of others in the trade have not that makes him of interest as much as his creative abilities.

 

[Paul.J]

CHJ wrote
Is it just the fact that he has reached that age when hundreds of others in the trade have not that makes him of interest as much as his creative abilities.
To be honest Chas i had never heared of him nor seen any of his work before :roll:
Just made me wonder when i read the article how the old turners,machinists,etc,coped with what we suffer with today using all the modern masks,extractors etc.
Paul.J.

 

[dickm]

I guess there are several reasons for the very old turners not apparently suffering "as we do". Partly, at least, it's that we don't hear about the ones who succumbed, died or gave up because of ill health . Possibly the smaller range of timbers easily available in the past would restrict species-specific hazards, and if you go back far enough, turning on pole lathes using green timber in the open air would not create much dust.
But I do wonder whether we are seeing another aspect of the vastly increased incidence of allergic conditions? So problems are now occurring that just did not happen 30-60 years ago.

 

[Bodrighy]

Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with the need for precautions against dust etc from wood I remember my grandmother (died aged 98 saying that a peck of dirt does you good. I also believe that the modern phobia about hygiene, cleanliness etc has gone a long way towards modern man simply not having the kind of immunity that our forefathers had. The huge rise in allergies etc has surely come about because of a combination of lack of natural immunity through exposure and the inreas in our daily intake of unnatural chemicals via the air we breathe, the materials we use and the food that we eat.

Pete

 

[PowerTool]

Pete - I agree completely.I very rarely suffer from anything (colds included) and the younger generation at work often seem to be off sick
So I am a firm believer that playing in the dirt,eating worms,getting cut hands,and getting gravel rash in the knees helped me to develop an immune system that younger generations are lacking (and suffering for)

Andrew

 

[Woodmagnet]

You just have to look at all the kid's today with asthma, there weren't many kid's had it when i was young, there again we didnt have central heating then. :wink: