Saturday night in the ER

S

sixth_sense

Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
41
I wanted to share a story so others don't have to suffer this same dumb injury. Saturday night I was finishing a knife on the buffer and just taken it off the machine to wipe off the excess compound. I always wear leather gloves when buffing, but for some reason this night I decided to take them off when I was done buffing. I was wiping the excess compound off of the knife with a rag with my left hand as I held the knife in my right hand. The only simple explaination I have is that I was carelessy wiping too hard and too fast in anticipation to showing my wife the great knife I had just finished. As a result, I missed the rag and "wiped" the knife with my thumb. The result was a night in the ER and several stiches (OK, just two stiches, but let me continue).

In five years of knife making this is my first serious injury so I have a lot to be thankful for. It's easy to forget that we are working with sharp pieces of metal:)
 
Huh, I wonder if it's possible to grind off all the nerve endings in ones fingertips? The reason I ask is the last time I did it, it didn't even hurt! I can still hear my dad when he told me, "If your gona be stupid, you gotta be tuff".
 
Thanks for the reminder. Over the years I have found I get a sort of excited rush about me just before I end up hurting myself or mesing up my knife. I know the feeling now and slow down. Sometimes even wak away for the day.
 
I feel for ya', bro. I just whacked a good chunk of skin off the outside of my thumb "touching up" the finish on a hand sanded blade after it was sharpened. It just takes a second of not paying attention in this biz. The good thing is that the sharper the knife, the less it hurts...and more it bleeds.
 
Hmm, I would never get cut, Hahaha, thats why I keep suture's and battle dressings in the shop. Electrical tape helps slow the blood so you can finish the task that got ya cut in the first place. Lets not forget cauterizing, nothin like burning yourself good after a nice deep cut Mm hmm... lol
 
I am scarred from head to toe but no stitches... I was stabbed in the chest last year in a fight but was afraid to go to the hospital because I hit the guy with a pipe!! I kept it clean and kept putting triple antibiotic ointment on it and it healed nicely.
Another time my friend and I were screwing around with knives and he accidently cut a slice of my thumb OFF! The slice was the size of a quarter and I though they could reattach it but once I found the slice it had shrunken to the size of a dime. They made me keep mu thumb in a solution for an hour and sent me home bandaged up.
 
The first thing you learn as a bladesmith is that metal doesn't haven't to be red to be hot.

The worst feeling in the world is to be in the shop and see fresh blood and realize you're alone.

Will
formerly known as badbamaump
 
This is a fast hard rule of the knifemaker's shop. If you rush or hurry you will bleed.
 
I sometimes think that if I don't bleed, the project doesn't go well.
 
Have to admit, one injury in 5 years is not to bad man....But as you said, never forget you work with steel and sharp steel at the best of times....Speedy recovery.
 
don't you just hate doing that,, I almost think cutting yourself on the side of a micro belt hurts worse :D
nice story but NO pictures , what's this forum coming to.. :rolleyes: ;)

I hope you heal well :thumbup:
hey guys knives can be sharp , be carefull :)

dang no pictures ,,, :(:)
 
Greetings,
I got the scare of my life a couple weeks ago when I thought I would polish up an area of a knife that I just completed. The edge of the knife caught the edge of the buffer and then took off, rotating around the buffer. I held on to it strong enough to pull it out.....BUT I WILL NEVER AGAIN USE THE BUFFER TO POLISH A KNIFE UNLESS I HAVE IT SCREWED TO A BOARD FIRST!

Let me explain my process.... once I completely finish wet sanding the blade, I screw it to a 2" x 2" by 18" long board through the pin holes on the handle. I then polish it on one side and then flip the knife over and again screw it to the board. I can hold onto the board much stronger then just holding the knife. There is no way that knife can take off! Then I tape of the finished blade and continue the completion of the knife.

I also contacted a glove company and they advised me (they sent me a free sample) to get a Dyneema Glove. They are twice as cut resistant as Kevlar. Check them out here:


http://www.superiorglove.com/products/product.asp?sectorid=23&categoryID=94&productID=383

Regards, Dennis
 
I'm glad you didn't seriously injure yourself. My rule of thumb is, SHARPENING IS THE LAST THING you do to a finished knife.
 
Dennis Paish said:
.... The edge of the knife caught the edge of the buffer and then took off, rotating around the buffer. I held on to it strong enough to pull it out.....
Click to expand...

Creepy, isn't it?:eek: I had one catch so bad it went all the way around, too, and the stainless blade bent 90*. Who'd'a thunk it could bend so well? LOL Wrist hurt for days.

The board idea is a good one. :thumbup: Thanks, I'll have to try it.
 
I buff bare handed,
it keeps me on my toes :D really it does once you get whacked a few times....:o but try to aviod that part.. with all kidding a side,,

theres nothing wrong with a buffer if you pay very close atention to what you are doing and learn why it bites back,

I learned a long time ago in the tool and die trade you don't wear gloves with machinery you can get hurt much worse wearing them then not.. gloves many times will drag you in farther..
 
Any one know where you can get "durma bond " from. Thats the super glue they use at the ER.
Haven't been cut in a while, "Knock on wood" but my new belt grinder has completely removed my thumb prints, and yesterday I relearned how fast aluminum heats up on a bandsaw.
 
right there with ya,one moment of inattention,and lo and behold one mostly severerd flexor tendon in my right index finger,30 stitches and some permanent damage,but the cool thing is the resultant scar is shaped like a drop point blade!,hehe
 
As far as dermabond, I did an addition for an ER doc, he recommended plain old super glue in a pinch...in a pinch heh heh
 
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