My buffer drew first blood today

I have read countless times on forums, in books, and I've been told by several people that the buffer is the most dangerous tool in any shop. Well today I found it out for myself. I was buffing scale off a freshly quenched blade blank (just a flat piece of steel, not even beveled yet, much less sharpened to an edge) and it caught on the edge of the wheel and flipped around and gave me a nice 1/4 inch deep bite on my finger. So I calmly unplugged the buffer, grabbed the first aid kit, and made my way inside to clean it, spurting blood the whole way. Then as I was cleaning it in the sink, I smacked myself on the head, thinking out loud "How could I have forgotten to take pictures before I cleaned it off!? I know my knifedog buddies would've loved to see that." Well, sorry to disappoint, all I have are some pics from after being rinsed

If that's what a totally blunt blade did to me then I definitely would've lost that first digit if I had been buffing a razor sharp blade. I'm gonna leave the blood stain on the shop floor under the buffer to remind me to be more careful next time

Stay safe out there knifedogs sleep tight and don't let the (bed) buffers bite

Buffers are bad mojo....I try to never go more than halfway across any surface after the little "fling" I had with my buffer. My finger was sore for months....

Hope you heal quickly!

Oh yeh, we love the sight of blood, someone elses. Every time I see one of these it makes me think I should sell my buffer. Too useful to do that, but you sure make me a lot more careful. Thanks for sharing.