Ok so seriously... You ever cut yourself by just accidentally touching your blade?

K

KennyB

Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
2,312
I always hear people talk about how their edges are so sharp that someone will use their thumb to test it and cut themselves wide open, or just barely brush it and cleave themsleves open or something. This kind of sounds like a bit of hyperbole though because I've gotten my knives hair whittling sharp and all that--shave with my Needs Work. But I've still had a pretty "dumb" moments where I left my finger behind something I was cutting and it made contact. Never really get "cut" seriously, though I've filleted my finger prints off a few times. But as far as a really bad cut, I tend to notice it before it really gets under the skin... More like little "surface" cuts.

So, are people talking about, they touch their blade, and just lay themselves open, or just mildly cut a bit of skin off as I've described?
 
I cut myself badly every time I just look :D at my blades. Seriously, I have cut myself most often when my blades were dull.
 
I don't know about laying myself open, but I have had many people say that they didn't think the knife was very sharp, then cut themselves. I had one friend remark: "That's not very sharp," proceeded to test the knife on the back of his finger, and needed me to help him clean the ensuing wound. He hasn't done that since. Learning by burning, I guess.

The dumbest one was a co-worker claiming he could match my balisong flipping, grabs the bite handle, flips for a second and cuts himself, then (bleeding) says: "It's not very sharp, is it?" I helped him with his band-aid, too.

I have cut myself many times, but it's usually not all that serious. Worst cuts came from bali flipping the first few weeks I had my first one, and those always seemed a little "HOW??!"-ish.
 
it's because the people who do that don't know how to touch a sharp knife. my opinel has cut several friends and coworkers. most of whom carry cheap gerber, s&w, kershaws, etc... from sporting goods stores or wherever, and the knives have spent years being dull... so they grab my little unassuming little knife and RUN THEIR FINGER DOWN THE EDGE. these are full on bleeding cuts.
 
One of my coworkers was checking out my Endura (he had a crappy no-name). He said it wasn't sharp. I asked for it back and proceeded to shave my arm with it. He shut up after that.

On randomly cutting myself, I think the wort I've had was accidentally closing my SOG Aegis on my finger. Cut in decently well, but not major
 
Cut a finger on my Miyabe chef's knife the first time I used it. Was doing cucumber or some such thing, straddling it with my fingers, and my aim was off a bit. Just a prick, but it bled well.

Just a few weeks ago, I was working on some mycarta scales. Hadn't covered up the blade yet, and a portion of my workbench came tumbling down. I accidentally touched the back of my hand over the tip of my BK24 in putting it back up.


So, technically, yes.
 
Normally, when people cut them selves with my knives, it is the act of running their finger vertically, in line with the edge that does it.

I have bobbled a knife of mine and laid my thumb to the bone in a 180 degree cut, severing the nerve. It was not a hard or forceful cut at all. I just went to set the knife down, and butter fingered it on the table. Lost quite a bit of blood. The ER Dr.'s first question was whether I ever needed to use my right hand again for work. I told him not really. Though, it was a lot harder to get around without a properly working right hand than I was expecting!







The offending knife (ghetto 5160 made in my garage, with hand tools, and heat treated in my $15 hibachi grill)





 
Last edited:
I've cut myself many times, but not by taking my thumb over the edge.
 
Took a chunk of skin out of my thumb getting used to a buck metro knife I received as present one year. I was flicking it open getting used to it than after a few minutes I looked down and saw this weird looking thing that almost looked like a chunk of skin. I touched it and it felt like it was, looked at my thumb and saw a very nice chunk missing from it and 2 small pinpoint drops of blood. I didn't feel a single thing from the cut, it was a knife clean cut. Went huh that's weird I am missing a large chunk of my thumb, didn't feel pain, and it's not bleeding. So what do I do, I poke it, and than it wouldn't stop bleeding (pretty good too I might add) for probably around 30min with direct pressure. And a band aid wasn't going to cut it as it was too much blood.

For those who don't know a buck metro has a very small blade, smaller than a leatherman micra or small SAK. It looks puny, but after this incident it has earned my respect.

As for running my hand across the blade and cutting myself, don't think I cut myself that way off hand. And I stop people who decide to test knives that way.
 
This week? No. I don't run anything across a blade that I don't want cut. However, incidental contact has happened. Its usually light stabs (no explanation). Once in a while I will see a little line of blood and just assumed it was incidental contact.
 
Nah, never, ever, ever happened :rolleyes: except for this one time:D, with a dagger I was
polishing. Bit me really good. Actually, it bit me almost every time I picked it up.
 
My hand simply brushed my chef knife's edge, the cut was clean and wide open, and a full bleeder. Blood came forth in a steady drip. Scared my wife half-to-death, she went white as a sheet. I just shrugged and said, "Can you hand me a couple sheets of paper towel, please?". After I stopped the bleeding she wanted to help clean it, and crammed an alchohol wipe down into it. :-) Cut is still wide open but healing. The edge was well-polished and convexed, and cut so cleanly that the skin even with platelettes and fibrin wouldn't close shut on it's own. :-)
 
Yep. While choking up on the blade of a GEN 4 Hinderer XM-18 and using the choil, I cut my finger right at the point where the sharp edge of the blade joins the choil. Nothing serious. It's just that I don't like bleeding or pain. IMO the choil on that knife needs to be larger or it needs some sort of guard like the Striders have to prevent this from happening. 7 years of carrying/using a SMF and I have never cut myself. In the first 5 minutes of using one of my Hinderers - blood. No more choking up on the Hinderer XM-18 blade until they fix that problem. Heck, why even put a choil like that on a knife if it can't be used safely? M 2 cents.
 
IMG_20130521_112451_zps3a8968ad.jpg
 
UI was recently arranging my knife display case after cleaning and oiling a few blades, and was closing a swiss army knife. I did not remember that the deten t was almost spring like when you close the blade, and it snapped hard on my pinky, and trapped it down. I was surprised, and stood there in horror looking at my pinky, as it mimicked a mouse in a mouse trap. Good times!
 
I think toothy edges dig in more, if you strop your knife till it's smooth as glass, you might be able to run your finger down the blade lightly without getting cut. If you had a knife that was sharp but toothy, it's going to dig right in and draw blood.
 
I can get my knives to cleanly slice phonebook paper and shave but I think they must not be that sharp in comparison to others' knives. I think it's because I leave most at 40 degrees inclusive and keep my Spydercos at 30 degrees inclusive.

What angles are on your knives that will freely cut you if you so much as touch them?
 
Fanglekai said:
I can get my knives to cleanly slice phonebook paper and shave but I think they must not be that sharp in comparison to others' knives. I think it's because I leave most at 40 degrees inclusive and keep my Spydercos at 30 degrees inclusive.

What angles are on your knives that will freely cut you if you so much as touch them?
Click to expand...

I think a lot of us are doing the whole micro bevel thing. 40 degree back bevel, 30 degree edge bevel. I've had good success with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top