Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2004
- Messages
- 38,522
This weekend I have been working away on the knives I wanted to finish for Harrisonburg, which is next week end.
I took Friday off to get the yard cleaned up for spring and get started on the knife projects. I was in the shop by mid-afternoon, did all the final forging and pre-HT cleanup in about four hours, and did the HT late at night (as I prefer to do with low alloy Hitachi steels).
Yesterday I was in the shop at 7AM grinding/sanding/etc on the knives, took a break around 9AM and came in the house to check the forums. I went back out to get cracking again around 10AM. As I walked around the house, I went over to get some trash that had blown over along the tree row ......and stepped on a board with a nail sticking up. OUCH. It was in some 2X4 wood that I had recently cut up for the fireplace, and apparently had missed a nail. I went and got a hammer and pulled the nail, then went inside and cleaned up my foot. I syringed out the wound and dressed it with neo-sporin. Since it went through the foot ( yep, all the way through - double OUCH!), I went to the Urgent care at the end of my street to get a tetanus booster and a scrip for a broad spectrum antibiotic. I was pleasantly surprised to see only one person in the waiting room. I was checked in and was siting in an exam room within 10 minutes.....and still sitting there an hour and a half later. The doctor finally came in, and after I told him about the injury, he wanted an X-ray - to " make sure the nail wasn't broken off in my foot." I assured him that the 16 penny nail was intact when I removed it from the board after stepping on it ( He couldn't believe I went and got a hammer and took care of the nail first), but he said he wanted to check anyway. Since it was possible the nail had damaged the joint ( third metatarsal and proximal phalanx) I went along with it. He said the X-rays looked OK, but wanted to clean out any detritus in the wound. I told him I had expressed blood and irrigated by syringe through the wound with saline immediately after the puncture ( that did not feel great, BTW). He still wanted to take a look...which meant lidocaine and cutting the puncture open at the ball of the foot. Once this was done, and he cleaned out the wound to his satisfaction ( nothing found in there ), I was bandaged up and sent off with a tetanus shot and a prescription for ceflox. I lost nearly four hours, but went back to the shop and worked on until about 11 last night.
That was not how I planned to, "Take a Break".
The only good thing about this "Break" is that he and a nurse both ordered knives while I was there.
I went out into the shop early this morning to get some hand sanding done, and came in to take a break to get off my foot. I will be more careful this time.........
Now, back to work!
I took Friday off to get the yard cleaned up for spring and get started on the knife projects. I was in the shop by mid-afternoon, did all the final forging and pre-HT cleanup in about four hours, and did the HT late at night (as I prefer to do with low alloy Hitachi steels).
Yesterday I was in the shop at 7AM grinding/sanding/etc on the knives, took a break around 9AM and came in the house to check the forums. I went back out to get cracking again around 10AM. As I walked around the house, I went over to get some trash that had blown over along the tree row ......and stepped on a board with a nail sticking up. OUCH. It was in some 2X4 wood that I had recently cut up for the fireplace, and apparently had missed a nail. I went and got a hammer and pulled the nail, then went inside and cleaned up my foot. I syringed out the wound and dressed it with neo-sporin. Since it went through the foot ( yep, all the way through - double OUCH!), I went to the Urgent care at the end of my street to get a tetanus booster and a scrip for a broad spectrum antibiotic. I was pleasantly surprised to see only one person in the waiting room. I was checked in and was siting in an exam room within 10 minutes.....and still sitting there an hour and a half later. The doctor finally came in, and after I told him about the injury, he wanted an X-ray - to " make sure the nail wasn't broken off in my foot." I assured him that the 16 penny nail was intact when I removed it from the board after stepping on it ( He couldn't believe I went and got a hammer and took care of the nail first), but he said he wanted to check anyway. Since it was possible the nail had damaged the joint ( third metatarsal and proximal phalanx) I went along with it. He said the X-rays looked OK, but wanted to clean out any detritus in the wound. I told him I had expressed blood and irrigated by syringe through the wound with saline immediately after the puncture ( that did not feel great, BTW). He still wanted to take a look...which meant lidocaine and cutting the puncture open at the ball of the foot. Once this was done, and he cleaned out the wound to his satisfaction ( nothing found in there ), I was bandaged up and sent off with a tetanus shot and a prescription for ceflox. I lost nearly four hours, but went back to the shop and worked on until about 11 last night.
That was not how I planned to, "Take a Break".
The only good thing about this "Break" is that he and a nurse both ordered knives while I was there.
I went out into the shop early this morning to get some hand sanding done, and came in to take a break to get off my foot. I will be more careful this time.........
Now, back to work!
. I had to laugh at the idea of dealing with the nail before looking after yourself. My wife gets so mad at me for doing stuff like that.
