Question for you geezers (you know who you are)

Kevin McGovern

Kevin McGovern

Joined
Jul 31, 2015
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3,118
So I was rough sanding some paring knife handles on the slack area of my belt grinder yesterday and ever since my shoulder is really hurting. I didn't lift anything heavy. My wife thinks it may be an overuse injury from all the repetitive movements of knife making (I have been working on knives a lot lately). Anyone else ever have this problem?
 
I'm a mere 37, but my right wrist acts up with over use. After the mad rush getting all the Christmas knives done, I'm having trouble even holding my coffee cup.
It goes away after a few weeks rest.
 
You should do some light stretches once the soreness starts getting better and keep doing them after your all healed up. You would be amazed at what stretching can do for injuries like these and even more chronic problems as well. Not to mention the preventative benefits. My family gets annoyed with me whenever i tell them they should stretch after they complain of a soreness. but thats because if they do stretch they do it once and never follow up.
That being said you should look up stretches and do a little research before doing them. Doing stretches wrong can make your problem worse.
 
Shoulder pain is not easy to diagnose with that little bit of info. So many muscles and different movements are made there. You're best bet is to go see a physical therapist. They can diagnose the problem and give exercises, including stretches, that will heal and strengthen it. Plus that will help avoid doing the wrong regimens which could make an injury worse.
 
there is always the possibility the soreness came from a different repetitive movement lol :D . to get to the slack belt area above the platen, are you holding your shoulder up above relaxed position to reach it? if so, try standing on a wooden box or something next time so you do not have to reach up.
 
The design of my grinder means the slack belt area is higher than it is on most 2x72s. The bottom platen wheel is about belt buckle height.
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This may have something to do with it. Thanks.
 
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It's pretty common for shoulder pain to be related to very tight pecs, and a hunched over posture at the grinder. Quite a trick to keep a balanced stance- I'm a work in progress, and my chiropracter has been giving me a lot of coaching- makes a huge difference. Just pulling your shoulders back makes a world of difference, but you may have to change your grinder config.
 
Along the lines of changing grinder config, would it be possible to make a replacement "platen" with two mini platens with the gap in the middle. It may be too much trouble in terms of tooling change time. I can't tell by the pic how your platen is supported If that would work.

An adjustable height stool might also be another direction to go if it nets you enough elevation.
 
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