OK. I have a confession to make. About ten years ago, at a woodcarving show, I was looking at a custom made 6 inch carbon steel drawknife (two handles). I innocently ran my thumb along the edge of the knife thinking it would be similar in sharpness to the large eight inch production drawknife I had ordered through a hardware store not long before.
That POS drawknife will not stay sharp, has really poor ergonomics, is way too thick with a very wide edge bevel. It strips bark moderately well, but will not cut or shave wood well enough to be worth the effort.
So I ran my thumb over the edge of this shiny new carbon steel forged drawknife. It didn't feel too sharp. I was just noticing how well made it looked, when the salesman said 'do you realize that you are bleeding?' I was startled and looked down to see a rapidly growing pool of blood on the floor (at least I didn't bleed on the table).
I was mightily embarassed, surprised, and quite unprepared for such an occurance. Fortunately, this being a wood carving show, several people immediately took out their wallets and offered me their bandaids. And the hotdog vendor ran over and shoved a big wad of napkins into my hands. I cleaned up as best I could, and went on enjoying the show. Of course, I bought the drawknife. And a couple of other small carving knives with Huge handles and tiny blades (by standard knife proportions). Come to think of it, these tools were my first exposure to the custom forged knife world, but I didn't know it then.
For some time when I was first starting to learn to carve wood, I would manage to inflict some sort of wound that left trails or streaks of iron rich body fluids all over my work. Sometimes, this was only from banged up knuckles. Sometimes from painless cuts which would almost heal themselves while I watched. I have only had to be stitched up twice. And the last millimeter of my left index finger is still missing in action.
I managed to convince myself that I really was leaving some of my spirit in the carving. And a DNA test would prove it! But now cutting myself is rare. My hands stay Behind the tools. And my brother, who has been 'bitten' by his Kershaw Speedsafe minitask repeatedly, can not understand why that does not happen to me.
Words of advice for people Young and Old:
Stop. Think. Remove all essential body parts from the potential path of the blade. Then Flick and Cut. And if you see blood and don't feel anything, the knife is sharp, you are not, and you have a should have a bandaid in your wallet
Folks, be careful out there. There are sharp things everywhere, and some are dangerous and unpredictable. Be prepared. But remember that Stupidity can happen to anyone, at anytime. I'm beginning to think that's what life is all about: Learning to tolerate stupidity. Especially your own.
Paranoid
