Do you need nice hands??

CUTS LIKE A KRIS

CUTS LIKE A KRIS

Joined
Sep 28, 2005
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My fiancee has convinced me to go back to school so in August (pending a catastrophe or rejection) I am starting Massage Therapy training. I was just wondering how many of you makers have a job that requires you to have nice hands and how you make knives and keep them nice. I am thinking that forging will be pretty much out for now, unless it is just here or there- not that I have tried it yet but it was on my wish list. I am thinking that stock removal will have to be done with extra care and maybe more use of gloves but....

What do you guys do to keepem nice??
I don't want to give up this hobby but I want the career too.:confused:
 
Not so easy with students wages, a 2 year old and tuition but I'll keep that in mind!!!
Wait- where is the creativity in that- no hardships, no sweating over a hacksaw going through 1/4" O1 for 10 inches......
And besides- nobody would ever buy a knife made with a CNC would they???
 
i had a football coach that was a massage therapist......he worked out atleast 4 days a week and didn't have soft hands at all,the lotions or oils you use compounded with the fact that you use your fingertips more than possibly calloused palms means no person can feel the difference between soft and somewhat hardened hands......many techniques involve quick, percussion-like strokes with a cupped or closed hand so you really have nothing to worry about
 
Wear gloves when you work

Moisturizing hand cream will keep them from callusing up too bad

work CAREFULLY

And keep `em clean. Most people won`t be bothered by scarred or slightly callused hands as long as they`re clean
 
I don't remember exactly which subforum it was in (somewhere here in the maker's section though) where someone asked about getting his hands clean. There were several suggestions in that thread to include putting cleaner on your hands and then gloving up with rubber/vinyl gloves for the last 20 minutes or so of your work session.

I would think strong (but clean) hands would be an asset to a massage therapist.
 
Latex exam gloves go a long way toward keeping my hands presentable.
Mostly that just means keeping the steel dust out of the little skin crevices- they won't protect you a bit from burns, cuts, and grinder abrasions. But then again, they won't dull your sense of touch much, and maybe you'll get fewer burns, cuts, and grinder abrasions (than when wearing other gloves) :D.
 
About 30 minutes before the end of your day, take a pair of latex gloves and fill them with the lava or orange soap stuff car mechanics use, the stuff with the little grits in it, and pour a good couple squirts into the gloves and put them on and move the soap around, then go about your end of the day business, cleaning up, putting stuff away, then when you are all done, take the gloves off you will be surprised by the cleaning action.
 
Kris,
You will need 2 things.
Get a good nail brush, They really work.
Keep a small dish of borax near the sink where you wash your hands, mix a little with the soap and that will go a long way to getting your hands really clean.
Thanks,
Del
 
What type of work do you want to specialize in? I'm only one opinion, but I have had to get regular massage work over the last few years due to chronic neck and shoulder pain and tension. I go to a Neuromuscular Therapist, and get extremely deep work which involves (to the best of my knowledge) lots of elbows, forearms, thumbs, etc.

I could care less about how clean their hands are, and only want to know that they are strong enough, and knowledgeable enough, to get out my knots and tension.
 
I don't have the "clean" issue but my hands do crack badly in the winter. When I bag balm mine I just put on an old pair of cotton socks since I don't have any cotton gloves. I'd wear cotton gloves before latex gloves for bedtime use.
 
I do quite a bit of hands-on work as a physical therapist and my hands get to looking pretty rough from making knives. I have a hard time-especially in the winter- keeping my knuckles from cracking and bleeding a little, also small cuts tend to remain somewhat open for a long time. What I'm getting at is for infection control reasons as much as anything I use exam gloves while contacting patients. This also is beneficial in that it prevents the lotions, etc. that you use from softening your hands-a knifemaker doesn't need soft hands. One area of concern that I have at this time is the excessive wear/degenerative changes that I am getting in my finger/wrist joints from years of manual work.
 
I use the blue nitrile gloves if I have an open wound or abrasion. My wife is a paramedic and got Hep C from a meth maggot and is going through treatment right now. You do not want to deal with that, trust me. It only takes a very small blood exposure to contract it and then you are screwed.

Latex gloves will breakdown/disolve from the oil. I do plenty of forging and wear dearskin gloves and my hands are completely calous free.
 
Thanks for the replies everybody. Right now I am going through the excitement phase and since I have to write an essay on massage therapy and what I offer the program I am going through everything in my mind and my fiancee brought this subject up. Right now I am not sure what specialization I will want but I am pretty sure I want it to be more rehabilitation than spa treatment- this way I am truly helping people and will feel like a constructive part of society after being a bum for the past 7 months.
 
I also use blue nitrile gloves for handle scale work, epoxy, hand sanding, etc.

I had psoriasis when I was younger. Grew out of most of it, thank God, but I have areas of thickened skin over most of my knucles that dry out (esp in winter) and crack. I use my hands to make a living (Physical Therapy), and I have to use a good lotion to keep the skin more pliable. I also use a cortisone cream on the knuckles if they give me trouble and cover it with a band-aid over night to keep it moist. Another that worked well was a urea cream a doc gave me samples of one time.

Your skin condition isn't usually a problem during massage work as you will be using some type of massage cream or lotion, and I've never had any problems during patient treatments. The more important thing will be cleanliness so as to make a positive first impression. I've found that if I kept a little bit of a nail as opposed to cutting them extremely short, it is easier to keep a clean appearance. Cutting the nail too short allows grit and oils to stain the end of the nail bed, and it shows as there is no nail to cover it up. I just use a tip of a knife to scrape under the nails to clean up as well as a hand cleaner (like the orange stuff). Use some good lotion as you are on the way out of the house, and it will go a good way towards keeping your hands a bit softer.

Hope you go far in your career. Remember to use your body to do the work instead of relying soley on hand strength. Strong hands definately help, but use body mechanics and physics to help with the force. You don't want to be put out of work because of overuse tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or early osteoarthritis. They'll cover all of that in your training. Also, remember to tailor your massage to your patient. Some of 'em like to hurt. Some don't. I knew a massage therapist once who was all about showing how he could find trigger points and push into them as hard as he could. If I needed massage, I would never go to that guy. It can help for certain situations, but Joe or Jane Blow off of the street usually just want to relax and get some relief from sore, tight muscles. Have fun and you'll get into some great conversations with a bunch of different types of people while helping them along the way.

--nathan
 
Bag balm and cotton socks before bed gets my vote!(just make sure you grab a clean pair :barf::barf:)
My wife keeps reminding me how much doing the dishes is good for your hands too :rolleyes: Look Madge I soaked in it :D
 
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