Grinding freehand finger protection

E

EdgeCraft

Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
122
Don't get the latex, it may melt when the steel gets hot... Some guy's use finger tape.. I sometimes use tight fitting leather gloves and I do mean tight fitting...
 
I've used tape before... I usually forget to tape up until I burn myself and then it's too late course I don't worry about my nails too much :(
 
rocketmann said:
Don't get the latex, it may melt when the steel gets hot... Some guy's use finger tape.. I sometimes use tight fitting leather gloves and I do mean tight fitting...
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Thanks.
Can anyone who uses the finger tape tell me if it grips well, and if you can feel the blade enough through it?
 
I use nitrile gloves. They've saved my hands from a lot of little things, and I can run my hand over my wife's pantyhose without causing pulls in them...
 
Best thing is ,Don't grind on your fingers.
I used to wear gloves but got my thumb caught between the blade and tool rest. Don't use gloves no more or a rest. Free hand on a glass platen.
Have a water bucket near by for dunkin. Use new belts they don't gererate as much heat. I grind pretty gently and don't let things get to hot. Sometimes I harden first and grind after. You got to watch your heat then so you don't ruin the temper.
Just the way I do things but knife makin is a hobby with me.
Take Care
TJ
 
I try not to let the fingers get in the belt, but leather gloves for rough grinding, finish grinding I don't use any so I can feel the heat of the blade and dunk it before it gets too hot.
 
I understand the concern if you need your fingertips and nails for other than grinding steel, but, it is difficult to me, to reduce the sensitivity of fingers on steel....I do grind after heat treat, so burning a fingertip is better than damaging heat rreated blade or spring steel.
One of the best known makers I know wears heavy leather work gloves to grind. I think his biggest grinder is like a 2"by 145" with something like a 3 phase 5 hp motor and he does just fine. I guess it is what you get used to....
 
Fiddleback said:
I use nitrile gloves. They've saved my hands from a lot of little things, and I can run my hand over my wife's pantyhose without causing pulls in them...
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My last job we changed blades on bread loaf slicer. Lots of sharp edges. I started using cut proof gloves like nitrile and Kevlar gloves. They fit tight like a second skin. But Nothing is better than just being careful. My last injury was last week where I burnt a spot on my finger when I touched a hot lanyard that i had just melted the ends. So go figure.
I use leather gloves to do heavy grinding where heat is involved. That is about all I use gloves for now. I don't sharpen the blade till everything is done. I even take picture of unsharpen blades. It is the very last thing I do before I take them out of the shop for show.
We added band aids to our display as a joke as first. But it has become our consistent reminder that our blades are very sharp.
 
I prefer bare hands, but I've got to prevent even the partial grinding of the tip of a fingernail so I can perform on guitar.
If you've ever made a partial new fingernail out of a tea bag (cloth) and superglue, you'd understand. :mad:
So....can you feel the heat of the steel and grip it firmly with the finger tape. Same question for the nitrile gloves. I tried a pair of gloves with kevlar, Spectra, and Stainless Steel mesh in the middle. They felt dangerously wiggly and slipery.
 
I have your answer! I hated those involuntary manicures as well...and I used to use masking tape to wrap my fingers...and it does work, but it is not waterproof when you dunk your blades while grinding. What made me forget masking tape was a product I found quite by accident while giving blood at the local Red Cross this past year. When I finished donating, the nurse did the ol cotton ball and elastic bandage trick on the needle site. She wrapped it around my arm/elbow and then ripped off the tag end of the tape. At that time a light went off in my head....Bingo! That is what I have been looking for all this time! I asked her if I could "have a spare roll to try at home to protect my fingers in my shop". "Sure, not a problem...here's four rolls...thanks for your donation". The stuff wraps on, sticks to itself, very flexible unlike golves or tape, STAYS on even with the dunking and then it pulls right off with no problem when I am through. I swear this stuff is magic! And every time I go to the Red Cross they give me a few rolls in appreciation. The stuff is called CO-FLEX NL and is manufactured by a company called Andover. If any one of you guys has a wife that is a nurse...she knows what it is. You can thank me later after you try it....like I said, it is magic... I suppose you can get it at any health care store, etc...
 
I keep a tobaco can of half water and half ice right beside me when grinding so it dont get to warm if i forget to cool it down after 2 passes she sizzles. I wear gloves but only on one hand sometimes. Thats the hand i push with i burn my thumb 20 times a hour. kellyw
 
EdgeCraft I think that finger tape safety tape is the stuff I use. I thought I bought it from Ellis, but don't see it on his site so I maybe thinking wrong. I really like it and quit using gloves when I got that stuff. It does really well at blocking heat.
 
Back when we were having real cold weather I would carry an extra pair of socks in my pocket just in case I misplaced my gloves. Anyway I needed to do some grinding and it was way to cold to do it bare handed so I put the socks on my hands. I really wasn't sure if it would work but it did. They kept the skin where it belonged. Its a good way to get some extra miles out of the socks that have been retired.
 
I am definitely a newb, but have had the opportunity to visit with a couple of talented makers. This is what I a currently doing:

Flat-grind: I don't use gloves but I do use a push stick. Mr. Wheeler showed me a fairly slick method that uses a tool-rest for stability and a the push stick to apply pressure where needed while pulling the blade across the belt. Lots of folks talk about how flat grinding is more difficult than hollow-grinding. Because of Nick's guidance, I have not found this to be the case.

Hollow-grind: I don't use a tool rest for this work. With the guidance of others - combined with trail-&-error - I now hollow-grind using a notched stick to support the spine of the blade while my thumb (the one on the same hand holding the stick) applies pressure to the side of the blade. I cut the tip off the thumb of a leather glove, and wear this for thermal protection on the thumb pressing against the blade (another trick that I picked-up from Nick).

Erin
 
Leather finger guards or cots work and allows you to remove them and place them on again. I used them when I first started grinding. It did not take long before I shyed away from them entirely. I agree what others have said about using bare fingers and feeling the heat from the blades. It keeps you from ruining the temper on blades. Having said that, there is a learning cure where one gets scrapes or burnt finger tips. Seems it takes a few times to get one hot enough that you throw the blade down and stick your hand in the water bucket.:mad::rolleyes::D

I enclosed a link that shows the leather finger and thumb guards. http://www.mhcrafters.com/servlet/the-2158/Both-Leather-Finger-and/Detail
 
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