Morrow
Don't make this weird
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I feel like I'm talking to myself. No worries....I'll fix that right now.
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This is why you should wear a glove when whittling
- Thread starter poetommy16
- Start date
I feel like I'm talking to myself. No worries....I'll fix that right now.
I can understand why people think that the need to use tools properly is paramount. But I can't understand why anyone would argue against anyone's desire to use safety gear. I know when I used to whittle at my grandfathers house decades ago we never used any safety gear but that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea. It might just mean like many other things that minds have changed since with regards to how something might be done more safely. After all my grandfathers first car didn't have seat belts. So does this mean we are now pansies because we use seat belts?
My understanding from various places I've come in contact with that anytime a knife is used in the workplace the worker has to wear protective gloves per OSHA guidelines.. This tells me that accidents with knives are fairly common place. Whether you know and practice good practices there's a reason for also using the proper safety gear. People are human and they make mistakes. Safety gear works when used properly.
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I've seen finger guards sold, particularly for the thumb and index finger of the hand holding the knife/carving tools, usually made from leather and only protecting the pads. Check woodcrafting or woodcarving sites or stores. They are usually only a few dollars.
There are plenty of whole-hand cut-resistant gloves sold for the professional kitchen market. Some are cloth or metal reinforced cloth, some are steel mesh. Check kitchen supply stores or just search on the web or Amazon. You can get them in 3-packs, for one or both hands. These are used primarily by chefs or meat processors who are using big knives all day long.
Look for gloves that meet the European EN388 standard and offer level 5 cut resistance. They are usually less than $10.
If you want to go big time, there are steel mesh gauntlets that cover your whole forearm. Useful if you break down tuna all day, I guess.
Sorry about your injury. Good that it wasn't much worse. I still have a small scar on my left palm today from one my early knife safety self-taught lessons, about 50 years after it happened. Swiss Army knife. Lesson learned - never cut towards yourself, and your hands are considered part of "you".
There are plenty of whole-hand cut-resistant gloves sold for the professional kitchen market. Some are cloth or metal reinforced cloth, some are steel mesh. Check kitchen supply stores or just search on the web or Amazon. You can get them in 3-packs, for one or both hands. These are used primarily by chefs or meat processors who are using big knives all day long.
Look for gloves that meet the European EN388 standard and offer level 5 cut resistance. They are usually less than $10.
If you want to go big time, there are steel mesh gauntlets that cover your whole forearm. Useful if you break down tuna all day, I guess.
Sorry about your injury. Good that it wasn't much worse. I still have a small scar on my left palm today from one my early knife safety self-taught lessons, about 50 years after it happened. Swiss Army knife. Lesson learned - never cut towards yourself, and your hands are considered part of "you".
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trevitrace
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I'm still curious how he was cutting that me managed to clip the back of his finger (if that is indeed what happened).
Regardless, I agree with most of the responses here. Don't wear a glove, take your time, don't force a cut that's being too obstinate, know where that blade is going to go if you complete the cut or glance off something and keep your digits/leg/face/close friend clear.
Good luck, poetommy! :thumbup:
Regardless, I agree with most of the responses here. Don't wear a glove, take your time, don't force a cut that's being too obstinate, know where that blade is going to go if you complete the cut or glance off something and keep your digits/leg/face/close friend clear.
Good luck, poetommy! :thumbup:
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Think about how you'd bore a hole in a block of wood with the tip of a blade. Gouge it in and spin, right? The problem with that is if you're not applying pressure straight back against the pivot you can accidentally snap the blade closed on your fingers.
Just one way he could've done it... and the reason for one of my scars.
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Working in a trauma center, I've seen a lot of folks come in from their job with a finger in a bag of ice, and of course lacerations from home injuries. We have seen an uptick lately in our area of people coming in with less severe lac injuries because they were wearing chef grade cut proof gloves. They are pretty nice; light weight and flexible enough for delicate food prep work, breathable, and washable.
trevitrace
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I suppose that could be it. I've never cut myself in that spot and was having difficulty envisioning a scenario. Guess it comes down to technique and what kind of knife you're working with. Different strokes and all that.
That's a pretty advanced technique for a beginning whittler learning the art from a book!
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Wearing a cut-proof glove when learning to whittle could reinforce bad knife-using technique and give a sense of false security that ends up with worse injuries down the road. He's not slaughtering hogs on a meat-packing factory disassemby line, it's just whittling, and it's not supposed to be an intense, fatiguing activity that requires safety gear. One of the main points of whittling as a kid is that it's an excuse to use a knife, so you can learn about your beloved new blade and how cutting works, before you grow up enter situations where you can lose a digit or hand if you don't pay attention.
Can you imagine the well-deserved atomic wedgie a kid would have received if he'd pulled out a friggin' kevlar glove before using his pocket knife to say, gut a trout? It's preposterous.
Can you imagine the well-deserved atomic wedgie a kid would have received if he'd pulled out a friggin' kevlar glove before using his pocket knife to say, gut a trout? It's preposterous.
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Seat belts are good because they give you something to brace against during a crash, when there used to be nothing. Having a seat belt is more like having a locking knife, to help mitigate a screw-up.
Using additional safety gear to whittle with a pocketknife is like having 6 airbags to body-slam you in the face because you bumped into a dumpster at 15 mph.
I've never even seen a chef, or fishermen fileting hundreds of fish at the docks, let alone anyone else, wear cut-resistant safety gloves when working a normal (non-meat factory) job.
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Don't feel too bad. Most knife people have plenty of scars and are even proud to have them. In my day, we danced with death on a regular basis. Sometimes for God and country, but mostly just because. Rites of passage are very important. You've just been through one and well done I say. If it don't hurt or bleed, your doing it (the rite) wrong. Keep it clean and put some ointment on it. After it barks up, get back to it. Don't get steel or diamond dust in your wound or ointment. You'll be fine unless your related to Queen Victoria. (Haemophilia)
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You assume he's thoroughly invested in the course though. I'm betting it's more like the instructions for flat-pack furniture assembly. Just glance at it and go to town.
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That's why it's best not to sit in the chairs I bought from Ikea
It seems to be the way instructions are used now
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Yeah exactly. One of the few times I was able to wear gloves without affecting performance was working with a manual/hand saw years ago. Cutting a chunk of wood to make fireplace logs, it was giving me a little trouble and the saw kind of got stuck and jumped forward. It ran right over my right hand, which was holding the log down. Boy if I didn't have gloves I'd have had that saw deep into my knuckle at the base of my index finger, probably would've been some nerve damage at the very least. So gloves are useful sometimes, but I don't think whittling is one of those times. Too much precision/control involved.
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Wait so you walked away without a scratch?
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