Knife making mishaps

T

TheEdge01

Joined
Apr 3, 2015
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A few weeks ago, I was grinding on a piece of steel with my angle grinder. Needless to say, I should have been more careful to start with. My vise was bolted down inside my shop, and I prefer to use the angle grinder outside. So I supported the steel with one hand and held the grinder with the other. The picture below is the result of me letting my mind wander instead of paying attention to what I was doing. It healed up nicely but I’m left with an ugly scar. Is there anyone else willing to share their mishaps with the community?
C280-E6-D3-D36-A-4-AAD-9-A29-28-DBD739-AF3-E.jpg
 
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john april said:
you are drilling your handle holes into a profiled blade on a drill press with no clamps and it turns into a helicopter blade because the drill bit gets stuck and your hand just happens to be in the way. i got 5 stitches in my palm around 2007.
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I’ve experienced the helicopter blade as well, thank God the blade was dull enough that it didn’t slice me. I really need to invest in a drill press vise.
 
TheEdge01 said:
A few weeks ago, I was grinding on a piece of steel with my angle grinder. Needless to say, I should have been more careful to start with. My vise was bolted down inside my shop, and I prefer to use the angle grinder outside. So I supported the steel with one hand and held the grinder with the other. The picture below is the result of me letting my mind wander instead of paying attention to what I was doing. It healed up nicely but I’m left with an ugly scar. Is there anyone else willing to share their mishaps with the community?
C280-E6-D3-D36-A-4-AAD-9-A29-28-DBD739-AF3-E.jpg
Click to expand...
I have a 3” plus scar along the side of my left index finger from the Helicopter of death!:eek::D.. On your drill press . Drop in a 1/4” or larger bolt with washers & nut in the 1st quadrant so the blade has something to stop against!if the blade gets away from you .:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: This blade had been taken to a bullet edge & HTed and the holes had shrunk in Cryo treatment . The Loveless Bolts wouldn’t fit.Just a quick job to reem them out! Yeah right!:eek:. Never be in a hurry!;)
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
I have a 3” plus scar along the side of my left index finger from the Helicopter of death!:eek::D.. On your drill press . Drop in a 1/4” or larger bolt with washers & nut in the 1st quadrant so the blade has something to stop against!if the blade gets away from you .:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: This blade had been taken to a bullet edge & HTed and the holes had shrunk in Cryo treatment . The Loveless Bolts wouldn’t fit.Just a quick job to reem them out! Yeah right!:eek:. Never be in a hurry!;)
Click to expand...
I’ll give that a try, thanks.
 
TheEdge01 said:
A few weeks ago, I was grinding on a piece of steel with my angle grinder. Needless to say, I should have been more careful to start with. My vise was bolted down inside my shop, and I prefer to use the angle grinder outside. So I supported the steel with one hand and held the grinder with the other. The picture below is the result of me letting my mind wander instead of paying attention to what I was doing. It healed up nicely but I’m left with an ugly scar. Is there anyone else willing to share their mishaps with the community?
C280-E6-D3-D36-A-4-AAD-9-A29-28-DBD739-AF3-E.jpg
Click to expand...
 
There's a similar thread here with pics of fingers and hands with half missing,I'm squeemish and couldn't even look at them
 
Last summer I took off my index finger's nail with a 36 grit blaze. Thankfully it grew back but I lost a bit of feeling.

About a month ago I had the edge of a belt cut into the top of my thumb. Couldn't control the bleeding and finally broke down and went to the hospital for 6 stitches. The following day I dropped a Nikiri and batted it out of the air because it was going to hit my dog. Sliced up the inside of my middle finger. I could at least control that cut and my dog was unharmed.

Couple of weeks ago I had a bad allergic reaction to what I think was the dust from grinding African Blackwood. 2.5 weeks on the rash is finally subsiding.
 
Around the time I first started out I had a blade clamped down with the tip exposed, I stood up without even leaving my chair and the tip slid into the area just above my knee, thankfully only about 1/2". It isn't the worst thing that's happened, and I didn't need stitches that time, but it's a scenario that hasn't been mentioned here yet. It actually wasn't a knife that I was making, I think it was a (sharpened) "SOG Seal pup elite" bowie, and I honestly forget what I was doing to it to need it clamped o_O lol

It's common sense for most, and I know I'm preaching to the choir, but it can't hurt to be repeated for any new guys who may read this thread:

** DON'T have any part of the edge/tip exposed when it's clamped for hand sanding etc. **
The tip will stab and the edge will slash, whether it be your moving hands and fingers while hand sanding or your body when you get up and walk around. If you leave it that way and get it, it's also dangerous to anybody else who might come in the shop.

~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Some older vids of some of the older knives I made)
 
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TheEdge01 said:
I’ve experienced the helicopter blade as well, thank God the blade was dull enough that it didn’t slice me. I really need to invest in a drill press vise.
Click to expand...


I found that I didn't like the drill press vise. I use no vise or clamps when drilling my tang holes. I simply use the main beam on my bench top drill press as a backstop so the blade cannot rotate past that.
 
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