Reminder, Don't try to catch a dropped blade (Graphic)

A C Richards

A C Richards

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Apr 14, 2006
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Was working on a Japanese style knife for the Seattle Show. I normally do not take the edge to final finish until after the knife is complete. But since this is a single bevel style that goes to a zero edge I needed to take it there before the handle. I was putting it up getting ready to wrap it for protection and it slipped out of my hand. Instinct took over and I reached out to stop it from falling. Well this is the result.

1822_zps649110ed.jpg


It flayed off a section of my knuckle. It could have been much worse. It is so sharp that the weight of it sliced off the skin and a few layers beneath. Soaked through a double bandage before it quit bleeding.

Don't catch a blade when you drop it. :eek:
 
When I was working with optics, I got in the habit of catching things with my feet to give expensive and delicate optics a chance to live.

That same strategy works poorly in knifemaking. :p
 
Too bad you weren't a little slower on the motion Chuck but lucky you weren't better at the catching. Frank
 
Some people say about motorcycle riders that there are those who have crashed and those who have not crashed....yet. Similarly, there are those knife makers who have been cut and those that have not been cut....yet. I guess you could file your experience under - "so, you wanted to be a knife maker?". A couple of days ago while finish sanding a kitchen knife blade I ran my finger into the edge. This was not a lengthwise stroke but a diagonal stroke which put my finger on a oblique path to the edge. Not fun. I chewed off the skin flap with my teeth, washed and bandaged it and got back to work. What else can you do? It's part of the game I suppose. I'm glad your injury wasn't worse. Thanks for the reminder.
 
I had a similar experience, not with a knife but with a tree cutting hand saw (that one with those big teeth). I was cutting some branches above the water when the saw dropped.
I tried to catch it. I succeeded catching the saw but the saw succeeded to catch me, in my hand...:grumpy: At least the saw didn't drop in the water.
 
Reaching to grab things will almost always result in a worse ending than just letting it fall.
Not always.
But, most of the time.
Sudden movements on a job site can be disastrous. I learned some things the hard way during 25 years of building houses. And many more lessons after 18 years in the knife shop.
Let it hit the floor, see where it goes and deal with it afterwards.
When things fall in my shop - I instantly become rigid and focus on where that thing is going.
I've also learned to sort of categorize things into things I don't mind hitting the floor, and things I don't want to hit the floor.
Things I don't want to hit the floor get worked on over the bench.
Those don't have far to fall, and I don't need to worry about grabbing them. :D
 
Michael Rader said:
If I had a dollar for everyone of those....
Click to expand...

Heck I would have made like 5 bucks this week, and if you count burns at least double. :D

but seriously I quickly learned to let anything and everything fall and to move my feet out of the way, I can make more knives but I only have ten fingers. :D
 
Yea, I normally let them fall. Even blade blanks that are not sharpened. Esp hot items.. This one just fell right and I went to catch but at the last second tried to pull my hand back. Too late.. It ended up sticking into the side of my bench, that was after it removed the chunk of skin. I too would be rather wealthy if I had a dollar for every cut/burn etc. Just goes with the territory.
 
I have workrd in kitchens for over 30 yrs and you can always tell the newbies by there reflex to catch a falling knife, its a tuff one to shake. I have been doing it so long my reflexes have changed from trying to catch it to letting it fall and getting my feet out of the way lol.
 
Ouch... those don't hurt right when they happen, but they sure sting later!

It's hard not to reach for things like that!
 
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I learned a very long time ago that "machines" can be repaired, I worked in a fabrication shop and had it hammered into my noggin to open both hands and spread my stance if I dropped anything. DO NOT grab for anything falling from your grasp. Your hands or feet are much more expensive to fix than anything. A good example is a drill press vice, don't use your knee as a deflector. Your time spent in the hospital, the transportation to the hospital, the time spent at home recuperating from catching a dropped item just isn't worth it. you wouldn't believe how fast you can get a knife spinning trying to catch it!! It also doesn't take me long to figure out how hot that item was.
 
If you ride horses long enough you will eventually get bucked off. If you ride motorcycles you will eventually go down, If you mess with knives long enough you will eventually get cut. And the list goes on. You just pray to God that when it is your turn it isn't too awfully bad.
 
I think the reach came from I had just finished spending 4 hours bringing it to full polish. Still I should not have tried. Yes Nick it did not hurt at all until about 5 minutes later. Then it stung for a few hours. Bled through first bandage then I put 2 on. Bled through them and put another 2 on. Then it finally slowed enough I could get back to work. Still left little blood drops here and there. Oh well life goes on..
 
My Grandad used to tell me that "a falling knife has no handle."

The instinctive reaction is hard to counteract, though. Hope it heals fast!

TedP
 
In the butcher shop you learn quick if a knife falls don't catch it, if the band saw grabs something don't try to save it. People look at me funny if we are working somewhere else and a tool falls, my first reaction is still to jump back and put my hands up like someone pointed a gun at me.
 
It is pretty much back to normal. The chunk of skin is still missing but it does not hurt anymore and I can get on with work without leaving blood drops on the blades.

See you all at the Seattle show.
 
Chuck, I totally hear ya buddy! A few years back when I was polishing out a W2 integral for Coop, it slipped out of my hand while I was adjusting the vise/sanding support. It was like the 3rd attempt at the blade, and I didn't have my finish grinding/sanding process down that well, so I had literally spent MANY HOURS, by HAND, getting it to 2000X.

So even though it was refined to a sharp edge, I tried to catch it! It wasn't a rational, logic based decision... it was just pure gut reaction.

What really sucked balls was that it cut me and still managed to hit the concrete!!! :foot:

BTW- those filleted cuts like that don't seem to work very well with superglue (for me anyway) but there's a product called Liquid Skin, that seems to work pretty well to cover the wound. Of course, for the cuts that go straight(ish) into the skin, SG works awesome.
 
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