Two specific examples...

I'm looking at filming an instructional video on doing body repair on automobiles. I will be using a lavalier mic for the artisan and it should work fine. The problem is when he's using a dolly to hammer out dents on the car, I'm afraid that the hammering will peak out and give me some really nasy sound....maybe even to the point of causing some damage to my mic.

An instructional video on precision shooting...using the same mic setup, the rifle's report will peak out and quite possibly even damage the mic.

How would you handle the audio for these types of videos?

You're right. It will.

You'll have to use cut ins and edit them later.

Use a 421 Sennnheiser (not the 421 II), or an EV 635A omni for the rifle shots.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Use voice overs, like This Old House. The craftsman can explain what he is doing, and why, and you'll have a more controlled voice track.