Hmmm, shop safety… You know something, in 38 years of working on
jewelry I have used an acetylene and an oxy acetylene torch. I have
soldered tens of thousands of things together. I have hammered,
polished, drilled, graved and done everything else required in the
making of jewelry. I check my torch tanks for leaks when I get new
tanks and I turn them off at night. That’s my entire safety routine.
In that 38 years I have managed to get a few burns (that’s part of
working with hot stuff–learn to live with it), drilled my fingers a
few times (builds up the calluses), I got my hair caught in the
polishing machine once (when I was 15), and I got a small sliver of
metal in my eye (when I was 15). I’ve never worn eye protection
(unless you call a loupe—or more recently glasses so I can actually
see something— eye protection) except when working with platinum,
I’ve never paid much attention to what kind of apron I use (they all
come from the hardware store now), what kind of clothes I wear,
leaving the polishing machine on, or just about anything else that
has been mentioned in all of the safety tips everyone insists on
providing. I’ve worked on my own goods in various states of
inebriation (trust me, after a few tequilas your designs get much
more interesting) and exhaustion (working until 1 am and getting
back in at 8 am to start all over again at Christmas every day for a
month). There just isn’t that much that can happen if you just pay
attention to what you’re doing. Just pay attention to what you’re
doing. Everything will be alright.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140