Stupid ways I've hurt myself making knives

Travis Fry

Well-Known Member
Confession time. I've almost finished my 34th knife, and though I've escaped the making of a few completely intact, usually I do something dumb that calls for bandaids. On average, I think I've got 5 or 6 bloodless knives to go before I can say that I'm ahead. Here are some of the dumb things I've done to loose skin and blood in the knife shop:

-Hitting my finger with a hammer while tapping in pins (today)
-holding on to a blade barehanded or without clamps on the drill press (I won't mention how many times...)
-holding on to a piece of guard material barehanded or without clamps on the drill press (detecting a theme?)
-drilling my finger while holding something while using the drill press
-slicing myself on metal curls from 304 stainless on the drill press
-impaling my finger with drill bit shards from a bit eaten by 304 stainless on the drill press
-grinding my knuckles on a moving belt
-grinding my arm on a moving belt
-cutting fingertips on the side of a moving belt
-slicing my finger with the tip of a blade while hand polishing
-catching my hand on a blade that was clamped in the vise (that one could have used stitches)
-hitting my finger with a hammer while peening pins
-rolling my finger under a bolster I was lapping flat on my granite plate and abrading it with 80 grit sandpaper
-skimming my fingernails on a belt and cutting into the quick
-burns from sparks of all kinds from various sources
-picking up hot tongs with bare hands
-large metal shavings in bare feet
-popping blisters acquired while drawing out some wrought iron

That's all I can think of at the moment. Oddly, cutting myself with a sharp knife is not on the list, and after composing this, it seems my drill press is my most dangerous tool. Anyone else got a list like mine?
 
That's IT ??

That's what I do while making coffee, before going into the shop.

My Best: Polishing the handle on a hunter 4" blade, I caught the sleeve of my sweatshirt in the vise handle, just knocking the blade loose. The hunter dropped out of the vise and went into my thigh right below, up to the hilt. I now have a hunter sticking out of my thigh. I am taken to the hospital that i am an attending at. One of my resident got to stitch me up while every doc I knew watched.

Don't get no better.
 
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HA! I've done most of those myself and it's rare i don't at least scrape something before I leave the shop. I consider it a blood sacrifice to the knife gods.

One I've done that's particularly painful is sand through my fingertips while wet lapping small pieces on the surface plate. Because of the water and the fine grit of the paper, you don't feel yourself removing that skin until you are washing up and realize you don't have any fingerprints on a couple of fingers. The next few days touching anything stings like a SOB. :)
 
I managed to grind down the bone and made it quite flat on the end of a thumb and then after it healed had to have a spur removed from it. I still don't use the end of that thumb straight on when it comes in contact with anything it will press from the side instead. Boy, it's amazing how far down the floor is when something like this happens and you know you better sit down right away. Frank
 
- binding a knife between the belt and work support, causing the knife to helicopter (pictures of the outcome of this greet me every time I use my phone as a reminder)

I'm cured of not clamping on the drill press.
 
That's what I do while making coffee, before going into the shop.
My Best: Polishing the handle on a hunter 4" blade, I caught the sleeve of my sweatshirt in the vise handle, just knocking the blade loose. The hunter dropped out of the vise and went into my thigh right below, up to the hilt. I now have a hunter sticking out of my thigh. I am taken to the hospital that i am an attending at. One of my resident got to stitch me up while every doc I knew watched.

Don't get no better.

Thats funny!

I have been fortunate so far.I have had some close calls and some moments when I stopped and asked myself what the hell have I got going on here?
One thing I do on every knife though is burn the fingerprints off my thumbs.:(
 
Dang, those hurt!

I done some of the above, including one more. I had a sharp blade in the vice, point pointing up. I was in a hurry just before going on duty, popped into the shop to grab something off the shelf above the blade and wasn't watching as I brought my wrist back down onto the sharp point of the blade. Blade stabbed my wrist and went crossways into my wrist and in between the tendons.

I had to run into the house and do some quick self ER before going to work. :eek:
 
I am also cured of not using a clamp with the drill press. Cut the hell out of my thumb. Went to the emergency room, and waited for what seemed like an hour before someone noticed I was pumping blood out on the floor. I had my thumb wrapped up in a towel and duct taped, and because in Rock Springs, Wyoming it takes several hours to be seen, I had walked over to pick up a magazine to read and just bending over to grab the mag, and must have popped the artery. I sit down not realizing that I'm pumping blood all over the place.
 
I love to learn by others mistakes and yet I'm sure I will make the same sooner or later:unsure:
 
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