My bonehead safety mistake.

D. Crawford

D. Crawford

Well-Known Member
Greetings all,

It's my first post here in Shop Talk and I thought I would post some pics of something I'm sure most of us are guilty of doing at least once. A few days ago I was preparing to do some hand sanding on a blade of mine. Normally I clamp onto a block of wood in the vise but this time I didn't see anything handy. Being in a hurry I snugged the tang up in my machine vise with the 8 1/2 blade pointed at my vitals. Yes, I knew this was a stupid thing to do. Before I could put sandpaper to steel one of my neighbors comes over to chat for a minute and I completely lost track of what I was doing. A few minutes later I walk back into the garage and whammo, I walk right into this sucker. Luckily I had my arm up in front of my torso so I was impaled in the forearm about two inches rather than getting it in the belly. I was very lucky considering how it could have gone. I guess my point is that I knew when I was doing it that clamping up that bare blade was a stupid thing to do but I let my guard down and payed the price. Remember, our small lapses in judgement can have serious and lasting results. If it feels wrong, don't do it. On the good side, I did grab my cell phone and take some action photos for you guys to enjoy. 2thumbs

Thanks for reading & lets be careful out there,
David Crawford
Overgrinder
 

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wow....you are really lucky. I know that sounds strange but it could have been so much worse and that is something that easily could have happened to anyone. Heal up quick.
t
 
Gee whiz! I'm glad to hear you're okay. (Is your tetanus shot up to date?)
 
I have been tempted to do this in the past but after looking at it in the vice I changed my mind.
Glad you are not worse brother.
 
Glad your OK buddy! I was not so lucky once. Had one poorly clamped in a drill press and if had covered the blade I would not have gotten my 12 stitches in my favorite left hand.

Safety first guys we are supposed to be enjoying this stuff!
 
I tape a blade up completly when working on a knife, but it'd be awfully hard to sand one taped up.:D

Glad yer OK, relatively speaking.
Heal quick! 2thumbs
 
David, sorry to hear about your injury! Get healed up and back to making knives. I hope this was not the steel I gave you!
 
johnny warner said:
David, sorry to hear about your injury! Get healed up and back to making knives. I hope this was not the steel I gave you!
Click to expand...

Johnny, no that AEBL blade has yet to draw blood. But this is the blade on which you gave me grinding tips at Dan's shindig. You forgot to warn me about the sharp end however! ;)
 
Ouch!! I did just about the same exact thing!! Only my wound was a little closer to my wrist about in the center of my forearm. As if that wasn't bad enough I put a knife in the vise the same way a few months later and my wife walked into the shop and dropped something. When she bent over to pick it up the point of the knife stabbed her in the ear. Luckily it didn't get her to bad but was still to close for comfort. So I am even a bigger bone head it took two times to teach me. Oh yea and the knife doesn't have to have a sharp edge at all for this to happen just somewhat pointy.
 
DAVID: I JUST ABOUT DID THAT ONCE , SO NOW WHEN I WALK AWAY FOR ANY REASON,(PEE BRAKE, TALKING ON PHONE , GETTING SAND PAPER)i PUT A PEACE OF 2" PVC OVER IT THAT AND I ANCHOR IT DOWN.
THAT IS A BAD WAY TO GET A LITTLE LOVEN FROM THE BETTER HALF.
VERN
 
I'm glad that it wasn't a worse injury. I find that I have to sailor proff my shop. My work bench is a Work Mate and I clamp my regular vice to it so that any blade that I have in it is parallel to the edge and does not overhang the end. I have a knife vice that I clamp between the boards of the Work Mate and also so that the blade doesn't overhand the edge even when using a knife board. I also keep safety equiptment, including my knife board, near where I work so that I don't have to search for it. I keep my respirator, hearing protectors, and face shield hanging on my grinder so that it's hard not to use them when I'm just doing one of those jobs that takes two minutes. Always think safety not only in your work but also in your shop set-up.

Doug Lester
 
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