My biggest woodworking problem!

[Mark Singer]

Splinters! I don't know why? They love me ....big huge Wenge splinters...Shedua.

The other day I was grabbing a small piece of wood from the pile and a huge Wenge splinter from another board went deep into the meaty part below my thumb! It broke inside and I can't get it out....it feels infected..

[Jeff Sudmeier]

It most likely is infected. Seems like every sliver I get, gets infected. Make sure that your tetnus(I know I spelled that wrong) is up to date. I try to wear gloves, but I still get them all the time.

[Jim Becker]

He who works with splintery wood gets splinters!! (Actually, just about anything can throw them off when you least appreciate it...) Get it looked at, Mark...infections are not a good thing to have anywhere and a nasty finger is no exception.

[Andy London]

I work a lot with wenge and have had my fair share of experience in the splinter department but one I will never forget, last spring my son and I were doing a craft show, an 8 X 10 Wenge frame slipped out of my hand but I cought it before it hit the concrete and drove a big splinter into the palm of my hand, off to emergency after setup, two docs tried for 45 min to get it but could not, due to where it was freezing did nothing and man did it hurt. They said to just leave it, about 10 days later I had to go to my own doc due to pain, I had blood poisining, had to do an emergency again, they put me out and removed it. It was three weeks before I could use the hand again and I have since learned, most of the time to wear gloves with certain woods.

Perhaps an extreme case but if you can't get it out, have it looked at...IMO

[Steve Jenkins]

As far as I'm concerned Wenge has to be one of the worst. They feel infected as soon as they enter and get worse. OUCH.

[Jim Young]

My hands too like splinters. The wood that gives me the most problems is mahagony.

[Arnie Grammon]

Somewhat related.......my daughter caught a splinter on the back of an oak church pew when she was about 8 yrs old. We tried to remove it, then took her in to the ER......they told us to leave it in......."it'll be okay" :rolleyes: . 3 weeks later she had to have it removed surgically because of major infection. Turned out to be a $3,500 splinter.

Splinters are nothing to mess with.....I got one just the other day on WR cedar and it hurt like the dickens.

Arnie

[David Fried]

Again, have it looked at. I ignored one once. Next morning I noticed red streaks running up my hand toward the wrist under the skin. I remembered that description from a first aid class and got myself to the ER. Just a shot and a stern warning because I waited a bit. Good Luck!

[Jerry Clark]

I also get splinters- I guess it is one of the hazards of wood working-- I use a small pair of tweezers that has a small magnafing glass attached-- don't remember where I got it, but it helps with the little ones--:confused:

[Dan Mages]

I have had my fare share of splinters from splintery wood. I have found thin, knit cotton gloves reduce the likelyhood of getting splinters.

Dan

[Dale Thompson]

Mark,
Splinters are a "part of the game" so to speak. I like the big ones because they usually come out in one piece. :) However, regardless of the size, they must be removed. If I break one off inside, I close down the shop, slop down a Manhattan and either bite it out, tear it out with a tweezers or cut it out with a torch-sterilized razor blade. ;) Using this method, I cry a lot but I make sure that no blood gets on the wood. I will heal - the wood doesn't. :eek: :eek:

Dale T.

[Jim O'Dell]

I don't know if wenge is anything like cedar or not, but you need to get it out. Cedar is very bad and can cause infection to the point of losing the index. I got two 3/8" splinters of cedar under a thumbnail one time. Almost passed out pulling them out, but knew that it had to be done. If any of the wood had stayed in the thumb, I would have been off to the emergency room to lose the thumbnail. I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but do what needs to be done to get it out. Jim.

[Dan Mages]

Mark,
Splinters are a "part of the game" so to speak. I like the big ones because they usually come out in one piece. :) However, regardless of the size, they must be removed. If I break one off inside, I close down the shop, slop down a Manhattan and either bite it out, tear it out with a tweezers or cut it out with a torch-sterilized razor blade. ;) Using this method, I cry a lot but I make sure that no blood gets on the wood. I will heal - the wood doesn't. :eek: :eek:

Dale T.
You should NEVER use an open flame to sterilze a needle or blade. The vapors from the flame will only add to the dirtyness of the flame. The best thing to do is leave it in boiling water for a few minutes.

Dan

[Dean Baumgartner]

The best thing that I've found to remove splinters if you can find one is a needle pointed tweezers. They used to use them long ago for fabrication of transistors before they got too small.


The needle point works really well for geting in right to the splinter and pulling it out.


Dean

[Don Selke]

If it went in that deep, you may need an X-ray to determine if there is anything to be concerned about. If it starts to get red around the wound, get medical help as soon as possible. I agree with Jim, nothing to fool around with, get it checked out.

[Wes Newman]

Once when I was about 8 we had a privacy fence made out of rough sawn cedar and being a daring kid I decided to try and scale this fence without any shoes or soxes on, well I got about half way up and then I slid down with my feet scraping the whole way down. You can just imagine how many splinters I had sticking out of my feet. Probally in the hundreds range. My Mom picked as many as she could out, the rest finally took care of them selves after a few weeks of baths. I'll never forget that experience. Funny what goes through your head when your a kid (or rather what doesn't go through your head).

[John Miliunas]

Mark, please, don't mess with it! Get it taken care of properly. Infections like that are NOT to be taken lightly! Hey RYAN, if you're out there, get the old man to the doc, wouldya'!:cool:

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

LOML gets on me regularly because I have rough hands, and I won't use lotion or anything to make them 'soft'...but the primary reason is that it doesn't seem to hurt as much when I have to dig out splinters. I've had some bad ones, too...a few that I've just not been able to get out until a little infection gets going and 'festers' it up where I can get to it.

Worst for me are teensy slivers of steel wool. You know they're in there, just can't see 'em.

KC

[Norman Hitt]

When I was younger, my hands were all calloused and my skin was much more flexible yet seemingly harder to cut or pentetrate, and I hardly ever got splinters. When I did, they came out easily. Now, however, it seems I can walk by a stack of lumber and 20 splinters will jump 4 ft right into my hands and they Always seem to break off inside and I have to literally dig them out.

I hate pyracantha (sp) and prickly pear cactus worse though because of the barbs on the ends and the soreness and infection they cause. When I was a teenager, I worked on a ranch some and while working some cattle one day, a cutting horse (that was MUCH better at cutting than I was at riding), managed to plant me upside down on my back in the ONLY cactus patch in that whole 600 acre pasture. (that dern horse didn't even miss me, he just kept after that steer). My mom picked those things out of me for nearly two weeks. I was one solid fester, but fortunately didn't get any serious infections that she couldn't treat.

However you do it, Mark, it's gotta come out or it could get serious.

[Jerry Olexa]

I also get splinters a lot. Usually the smaller ones that I can't get to work themselves out in a couple of days. Cleaning well and antibotic are also helpful. When I have one that is troublesome, I get out the nail clippers (the MDs in group are getting nervous) and then carefully trim and remove the small area of skin around the splinter . Following hot soapy water soaking (swells the splinter) I can usually grab and remove.Then apply a disenfectant. But best advice when all else fails, is go to an MD or an ER. I had to do that a few years ago when I got one under a fingernail which above couldn't help.The Drs will be doing a form of the above but under very clean, controlled circumstances and followed by a strong dose of gern/infection killer. Sorry about your mishap...

[Mark Singer]

I soaked in peroxide....used a black head remover and pushed ...then with tweezers I got it!

[Jerry Clark]

Wow Mark-- the supense was killing me! Glad you are OK:)

[John Miliunas]

Good for you, Mark! Be sure to put some anitbiotic schtuff on it and a band-aid. BUT, not being the young man that you are, :) I need to ask: What in Tarnation is a "black head remover"???:confused: :) :cool:

[Mark Singer]

John

It has a loop and is metal...when you push it against a black head it forces it out with the pressure.:cool:


Good for you, Mark! Be sure to put some anitbiotic schtuff on it and a band-aid. BUT, not being the young man that you are, :) I need to ask: What in Tarnation is a "black head remover"???:confused: :) :cool:

[Marshall Harrison]

If they aren't too deep I usually get a pair of side cutters, dikes or what ever you want to call them then just cut a hunk out of me deep enuff to get the splinter. Sometimes I just take a knife and keep digging pieces of me out till I get it. Hurts a little but can't leave the bugger in.

[Tom LaRussa]

Splinters! I don't know why? They love me ....big huge Wenge splinters...Shedua.

The other day I was grabbing a small piece of wood from the pile and a huge Wenge splinter from another board went deep into the meaty part below my thumb! It broke inside and I can't get it out....it feels infected..
Mark,

I'm glad your self-surgery was a success! ;)

My biggest problem is feeding parts of my hands into grinders and such.

Took off a big piece of my right thumbnail -- well below the "quick" thank you very OUCH! -- a few weeks ago on the bench grinder.

More recently I fed my index finger into a wire brush I was using to clean rust off an old plane blade. You know, it's amazing how often the back of one's index finger gets bumped. It happened so many times that the constant irritation would not let the finger heal -- it started getting all red and puffy. So I had to rip off the scab and newly forming scar tissue to release the puss and start over again. :eek:

Not fun. :(

[John Shuk]

In addition to needle poited tweezer you can get them with a magnifying glass built in for better viewing. When I sold first aid supplies I couldn't keep the stocked. I have seen them at Rite Aid or you can try Grainger's catalog.

[Mark Hulette]

A neat little trick I've used for when there's just a little bit of the splinter still sticking out (or you can wait a bit and if it's not too deep they can/will move to the surface) but not enough to get a good grip on...

is to use WWing glue and just spread a thin coat around the splintered area, let it dry (just takes a few minutes) then peel it off. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries and if the little bugger is bigger, a thicker coat of glue will help but I've never had this method fail! Of course, all other first aid principles apply as well, including cleaning the area afterward.

Mark- glad to hear you've distanced yourself from that little bit of Wenge!

[Jim Fancher]

My Dad had a bump that developed on the side of his leg. It got bigger over time until he started to complain about it hurting. We finally talked him into going to the doctor. They removed a hard growth that was about half the size of a dime in diameter. They did a biopsy on it and guess what it was.

A splinter. :D