Cutting yourself accidentally, infections, complications, ect.

G

Gendry

Joined
Jul 19, 2014
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So, I’ve only been knife making for a year or so, yet I’ve been working in a shop with a lot of metal working for 8 years now. I have heard some terrible horror stories.. Infection, blood poisoning, and worse, from getting cut while metal working.. (Apparently a guy at another shop sliced his palm while cleaning sharp metal with varsal(SP?) and within a half hour he was in an ambulance, and he returned to work about 8 months later and 100lbs lighter..) Though I don’t work with that shit, it just goes to show how serious this kind of hobby can be.
Frankly, in the last year I have been doing this, there have been 2 occasions, where I slipped with something, and ended up with a wound that the average person would have went to the ER for, but I know first aid at least, and have supply’s on hand at most times, so I can treat my own minor-semi major wounds myself, and have time and time again.
I am not afraid of getting cut, my body is a fooking roadmap of scars. I am afraid one day I will be sanding a knife, slip, and use the edge to push half a gram of metal shavings into the wound, or a solvent I am using, or what have you, and end up with a savage red line running up my arm 10 minutes later…
I am just asking for any stories or experience you guys have when it comes to questionable injury’s, involving infection or what not.. Have you had one? Was it serious? How did you react and treat it? How did that go?
This is one of my main concerns with this all guys, is my own safety, I am even a little paranoid about it. So any information you can give me about this topic would be appreciated.
 
I should mention I guess, that I post this because tonight, I was sanding a fresh hardened/tempered blade, there was a ton of visible build up of metal shavings and fire scale on the blade, and I did slip. The point caught my finger and split me deep, instant blood and a cut half a cm long. I immediately rinsed in water, pushing the blood down towards the cut, hopefully expelling any unwanted material in there recently out the open wound. Washed it with ISO alchy (ouch), and wrapped it tight. Average wound, no problems so far. Yet, I can see how this could have been a disaster to my health.
 
When was you're last tetanus shot? If you can't remember then I would go get one.

Usually when I puncture or cut myself I superglue it closed and go back to work.
 
I had a savage red streak going up the arm and I didn't really see it, but the woman did and it was a good thing.




Gluing a puncture shut without it being perfectly surgically clean is bad.
Yes surgeons use it, but they know how.


I had a deep puncture, very small wound pin prick on the finger
Not even worth noticing and no blood.

A few days later It became infected, warm red savage red streaks and no pus.

A phone call to the Dr had me on antibiotics within the hour without his even having seen it.
Let me tell you that's unusual, SOP is a two week wait for an appointment.


As mentioned above expressing blood, soap and water scrub, dressing to keep clean is what I do.
A coating of super glue is handy to put a hard layer on, but I won't seal a puncture.
 
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Kudos for bringing this up. I have the same worries and concerns being new to all this and now having some formidable tools in the shop. I had a major mishap recently, though nothing that resulted in an injury fortunately. I was drilling holes in a tang at my drill press, it's a 20" model. My girlfriend had just complained I wasn't wearing safety glasses so I put them on and got complacent. All safety basis covered, yeah? The drill bit snagged halfway through and ripped the knife out of my hands. It was spinning at about 800 rpm with the bit stuck in the back of the tang and the blade flying tip first at myself and my girlfriend. Before I could slam the switch off the blade went flying. My heart sank, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if my girlfriend had a knife lodged into her chest. I turned and looked back and fortunately she was unharmed but man I'll tell you what, I went to HD the next day and dropped 20$ on a drill press vise and now this will not happen again. I recommend everyone else do the same if you don't have one, for only 20$ its a cheap investment that can save you from serious injury or worse and they are fantastic as far as drilling stuff accurately. I can't live without it now.

Some other stuff I've learned along the way so far:

  • Never wear gloves around machines that rotate (lathes, drill presses, etc) they can snag and pull your fingers in
  • Do not heat galvanized or zinc metal in your forge or with a torch they put off a harmful fume
  • Make a jig when hand sanding your blades don't clamp it to a bench with the blade hanging out like I did. Nick Wheeler has a video with a nice one, for now I just cut a blade profile out of a 2x4 and clamp it and the blade
  • Break yourself of the habit of trying to catch things with your hands or feet when they drop, we tend to do this naturally and in a metal shop this is a bad idea, pull your hands into your chest and step back
  • Be careful when using stone and angle grinders, there are some horrific videos on utube of stones and discs exploding in peoples faces. There are several ways to check stones, look it up I'm not qualified. And get a full face mask when using your angle grinder and make sure the guard is positioned to maximize the amount of debris that it blocks
  • Don't put fresh coal/coke directly into your forge unless you are certain it is dry and free of any moisture, especially with store bought coke! I did and it sounded like a bullet ricocheting in an old western movie but in my shop :eek:

That Lazy Machinist on utube has a two hour video on general shop safety and its very informative. Some of what I listed above comes directly from those videos. I believe it was Jim Hrisoulas who said to ask yourself if missing an eye or fingers was worth whatever shortcut you were taking? Really made me think about skipping on the safety glasses or respirator. They can be a pain in the ass but there is a lot of risk in what we do and the tools we work with! I look forward to what others have to say. Perhaps we can cram a bunch in here and make it a sticky.

Stay safe and keep grinding

-Augus7us
 
Yes. Exactly... With this thread hopefully we can come up with some insight to prevent some types of sad accidents of this kind from happening.
 
After thinking about it for a few moments, the accident I had tonight could have been avoided if I had: Clamped my blade to the counter, and taped my sand paper to a block and used that, rather then holding it with one hand and sanding with the other... Stupid... These types of accidents still scare me though.. Infection is a nightmare to me for, reasons..
 
About four years ago I had a knife with the scales glued in place and a pilot hole for "Loveless bolts" . I just needed to use a step drill to finish pinning the knife. I put it on the drill press and the drill caught in the linen that layered the Micarta and had a classic "helicopter" wound pictured here. I sprayed rubbing alcohol on the wound and tore open a bag of new shop towels and applied pressure. My wife drove me to the emergency center and eight stitches fixed it. I was lucky the blade didn't cut anything really important but the wound was nearly a quarter inch deep. I should have clamped the knife to the drill table.
A word to the wise is to use the clamp every time. Larry
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12345678910 said:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...c-loss-Gordon-Dempsey-killed-in-shop-accident
Click to expand...

Shit that's terrible. I had a blade ripped out of my hand by a buffer for the first time the other day. It was an "oh shit" moment for sure. Luckily I was working it on the lower part of the wheel. It did slam down on the table real hard, bounced back up and bit my hand. By how violent it was I expected to pull up my hand and see a large skin flap, but only a small cut. Buffers are serious machines and I'm taking some further precautions from now on when using mine.
 
JG, I have had several knives grabbed by the buffing wheel. I have mounted my buffing wheels so that one of them overhangs the corner of a workbench and I buff with my feet back away from under the buffer.


One knife maker had a saying: "Do you want to learn to throw knives?" "Then use a buffer." I think the buffer is more dangerous than the drill press or the angle grinder. Just my opinion. Be careful and go slow. Larry
 
I have to agree and forgot to mention it in my diatribe above. I have to say the thing about the buffer that got me was that it seems harmless. Compared to saws and grinders and such the buffer is just a puff ball and unassuming. The buffer tried to rip a knife out of my hand last time I used it and had I not read over and over how dangerous they are it may have been a different story...

Such a terrible tragedy though, my heart goes out to his family.

Stay safe everyone

-Augus7us
 
I have a friend who was knocked out using a buffer. and a friend who had a knife lodged in his boot between his toes, anyway that is why they don't use buffers any more and they scare the heck out of me.
on time I dropped a knife in the grind water and had a tiny sliver of metal in my thumb and just ignored it. next morning it was a swollen with a white circle of puss around it, luckily I was able to lance it and get the sliver out and half a day later it was doing all right.
 
I framed homes for 12 years Ive seen my fair share of accidents including my own, in my shop I try not to hurry things and clamp everything.
 
Man, buffers are dangerous. They deserve a lot of respect. I heard a story about a Knife maker that used to buff knives while sitting on a tall stool. The knife caught and it pierced his femoral artery and if he hadn't had medical training he would have bled out. Larryz10 had a good suggestion of letting the wheel overhang the bench. Whatever you do buff as far down on the wheel as possible so it will at least fly toward the floor. I can only guess that the poor fellow that had the knife pierce his heart must have had the blade up high on the wheel.
 
In the majority of cases, infections from shop accidents happen not because of the material causing the injury or any lodged particles, its mostly because our hands are dirty, greasy, covered in whatever and that gets pushed into the wound. Abrasions rarely get infected (sanding your fingers) because the dirt is ground away first. Cuts, punctures and slices are the normal culprits because the first thing we are taught is to put pressure on the wound, this immediately puts a dirty hand in contact with an open wound that already has something in it. As much as it sucks, the moment an incident happens, cover it, then get to a sink and wash it, then cover it again and if need be, get to a medical facility. As has been stated, for punctures, give a quick squeeze to be sure no material has been lodged inside which can cause issues later on even if it doesnt get infected. While not shop related, i was working in Puerto Rico once and ended up getting some cuts and abrasions while working in the harbour alongside the docks, when i went to the Doc, she immediately gave me a hard bristle soap scrub pad and told me to not spare the elbow grease getting them clean. It sucked but there are times when i think about what might have happened.. ew.
 
I avoid using loose buff wheels on my buffer and I threw all my sisal wheels away years ago. Those wheels can throw out a group of strands at any moment and take a part out of your hands. If you think you need a sisal wheel in knifemaking, you haven't done enough prep work. I prefer to use only sewn cotton wheels and the appropriate compound. I use good technique on the buffer, which is mounted on a pedestal, and am always thinking about how the wheel is contacting the work. I never put anything on any part of the wheel that is rotating toward me. By following these general guidelines, I feel pretty safe working at my buffer.

What does make me nervous is cutting out blanks on the porta-band saw. I have mine securely mounted in a SWAG table and I've never had an issue but, I am always very aware of all that exposed blade. Vertical bandsaws should have an adjustable blade guard to minimize the exposed blade and protect hands in case of a slip.

The reality is, knifemaking can be dangerous and any tool can hurt you. Every commercial shop I've ever been in has signs that say "think, safety first". That is so important! For every task you are about to perform in the shop, just take a moment to execute a risk assessment in your head.

Bob
 
For DIY first-aid, aggressive wound irrigation (e.g. cleaning) is extremely helpful. I use a spray bottle with the nozzle on the jet setting, filled with an antiseptic (betadine, etc). In a pinch, you can fill a water bottle with antiseptic, close the lid, poke a small slit in the bottle with a knife, and squeeze the bottle to jet the solution out of the slit.
 
I cut the knuckle on the my right hand trigger finger early on in my attempts. It wasn't much of a cut at the time.

I had cut, or "pre-cut" the tendon sheath in my finger (there was a second injury doing yard work a few days later) and the MSRA infection set in. I was mainlining Anti-biotics into my heart through a PICC line for just about a year.

You do not want to lose control of your life for that long to doctors appointments, at home nurse visits, and severe drug reactions.

-Ron
 
The above all indicate the constant risk of working with sharp objects and dirty hands. However, remember that it is the biological agents from the work environment that cause blood poisoning and infections. Metals and their dust are pretty much not an issue unless they get in your lungs or eyes.

I have sliced off pieces of my palm, cut/burned my fingers, hands, legs, and arms, and ground away a lot of finger and knuckle flesh. These rarely caused more than discomfort and annoyance. Only a few required stitches that I couldn't put in myself, and most just needed a band-aid. The main thing is to wash well with lots of warm water and soap. Rinse out the cut well, and use a antibiotic agent like Neosporin. I occasionally close a small cut with cyanoacrylic, but this is a procedure for people who know what they are doing.

About ten years ago I was cutting up a whole giraffe leg bone for dying and stabilizing...all 4 feet of it. I poked my knuckle with a sharp shard. Not much of a prick at all. Didn't require a band aid and I just wiped the drop of blood off a couple times as a I continued to work. No problem at all and it was forgotten by the end of the day. I washed up well after I came in and took a good shower, because I stank from cutting and grinding all that bone. A couple days later my knuckle was sore, then really sore,...then swollen. I opened it and drained a lot of pus. I knew what was going on, so I went straight to the ER. I had the knuckle opened up, irrigated, and left partly open to drain. I was given powerful antibiotic injections and a scrip for 10 days of wide spectrum antibiotics. The point is that what appeared a minor issue was really a big problem because of the staphylococcus bacteria in and on the bone. If left a few days longer, I could have lost a hand, an arm , or my life.

I used to teach advanced first aid and would tell the students that they should treat every wound as if the object causing it came out of an unflushed toilet........ wash, rinse wash, rinse, wash again. Rise, dry, apply antibiotic. If it is a puncture wound, oral antibiotics are indicated as well. Tetanus shots for people who work with sharp stuff should be boostered every three years. If you work with horses or on a farm, every two years.
 
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