My first turning accident of significance....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Yesterday, I was turning the roughed and dried Bradford pear bowl blank given to me in Houston in June. I had it finished turned and was adding some embellishment to the rim when the piece of wood I was using to friction the rim..broke and my left hand got thrown onto the bowl. A piece of the rim broke loose sending a nice sized sliver into my left forefinger. I continued working on the piece until family members showed up for dinner. After dinner, I tried to dig the splinter out with little luck.....Hey...I'll wait until tomorrow...The resulting infection will aid it in coming out.....WRONG.....I woke up this morning with that finger red and swollen the entire length. 3 hours in the hospital a lady doctor removed it. It was about 3/8-1/2" long and about 1/8" in diameter. Now I've had a tetnus shot, an antibiotics shot, x-rays, oral antibiotics for 10 days. She didn't suture it and packed it so it would drain for a couple of days.....Oh and pain medication.....Becareful!:o

[Bruce Page]

Ouch!
Heal quickly!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Man - sounds like it could have been pretty bad! Glad it wasn't any worse and that you will recover!

[Nancy Laird]

Ouch, Ken!! I'll bet that really put a damper on your celebration last night!!

Oh, yeah. Hope it was happy!!

Nancy (117 days)

[Dennis Peacock]

Man...Ken..!!!! Sorry to hear that buddy.
Just think...once you get a vac-chuck setup? You won't have to be overly concerned about jam fitting any more. Much safer IMHO.

Here's wishing you a speedy recovery bud.

[Patrick Taylor]

Sorry to hear that Ken, glad it wasn't any worse. Just the other day I was watching the sawstop videos, and my new B/s still scares the bejesus out of me. Stay safe!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nancy.....Thanks for the birthday card. The wound didn't slow me down a bit. I did drink a little more beer than I should have.:rolleyes: Eric Burdon and the Animals were great. He is, I noticed, older than I remember him from photos in the '60s but he still has a great voice. Overall they were great entertainment. Only disappointment, they had updated a lot of their old standards and consequently most people didn't recognize the song until they were almost over....but still....they were good.

[Steve Trauthwein]

Ken,

Sorry about your misfortune and thanks for posting about it. I always read about accidents, not out of some morbid fascination but as a precautionary tale. I have a tendancy, when I am hot in to turning a piece, to get caught up in what is developing and not pay the greatest of attention to safety.
After a couple of close calls I wrote THINK in black marker on the shop wall. I am afraid I don't look at it as often as I should. Thanks for the reminder.

Hope you heal soon, regards, Steve

[Shannon Grizzell]

Ken,

Sorry to hear about your mishap. I'm glad it wasn't worse. Having an infected finger cleaned and packed is no fun, though. I still have a scar from my experience. :(

Speedy recovery, my friend.

[George Guadiane]

As someone said about my recent burl claim:..
"No pictures - it didn't happen." Now, wouldn't it be nice if it worked that way??? I'm really glad that your injury will be overcome. Just curious, how many lessons DID you learn from this little event?
I watched Johannes Michaelsen use a stick for coloring, on an hat rim. Looked COOL, thought I might try it. NOW??? Not so sure.
No pictures, REALLY, I'm squeamish.:o

[Brian Weick]

I hope your injury heels quickly- yes- that is one area that I need to address - I need to make a custom shield for my lathe as I have been working without one and I know that one of these days something will happen so i am going to get on that write away! I should have had one installed write from the beginning.:rolleyes:
Brian

[Tim Beauregard]

So sorry, and I truly hope it heals quickly.

I cut down trees sometimes and have done a few Bradford pears. They seem to break fairly easily. Is this experience going to change the way you do that particular operation in the future? Like a different species of friction wood, or gloves, or ???

As a rank amateur, I want to learn from others and this is a great opportunity for you to teach the rest of us...well, me.

[Joseph Peacock]

Ouch!!!! That's got to hurt!! heal quckly!!!!!:cool:

[Jim Becker]

Ouch! Heal well, Ken.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Oh my that had to hurt. Heal quickly buddy.

[Tony De Masi]

Ken, here's wishing you a speedy recovery from your injuries.

Tony

[Pete Jordan]

Good Luck and I hope you heal soon!

[Barry Stratton]

Man, you old geezers get hurt easy:D :D

Heal fast, get back in the shop, and happy belated b-day Ken!

[Jeff Bower]

Hope the wound heals fast and well. My only injury so far, knock knock, has been bending over to pick up a peice of sandpaper and hitting my head on the lathe. No blood/infection just a nice bump and a few stars.

[Glenn Clabo]

As DrLOML read this over my shoulder...WHAT WAS HE THINKING?!!!!!

The wait till the splinter festered idea was one of the first head cuffs I got from her..."Do you know how many fleshy appendages I've seen cut off?"

p.s.- hope you heal quickly.;)

[Gary Garmar]

I work in a hospital administering anesthesia; You've helped some of my kind make a living. One thing to remember, splinters are more effectively removed as soon as possible because it doesn't seem to hurt as much - something about the disruption of the pain pathways. Is that the finger you use to scorn someone? If it is , it should appear more intimidating. Might be an upside.

Get better soon, and take EVERYONE of the Antibiotics!!!!!

[Ed Scolforo]

Ken , I feel your pain. Well, not really, but I hope you mend soon!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Yeah......Well.....I just returned from the hospital. I now am the proud recipient of an IV in my right arm for antibiotics and a bandage on my left forefinger. My left forefinger is where the splinter was....well the swelling and redness has gone up the finger...transgressed across the 2 adjoining knuckles and starting down the finger next to it.:( I return to the hospital tomorrow!

[George Guadiane]

Yeah......Well the swelling and redness has gone up the finger...transgressed across the 2 adjoining knuckles and starting down the finger next to it.:( I return to the hospital tomorrow!
That doesn't sound good AT ALL!!! Watch it, if it continues to degrade, :eek: don't wait! Time is one of the biggest enemies when dealing with a traveling infection.

[Tom Klass]

Ken hope it turns out well. My late best friend lost his ring finger from a sliver hanging a fir door. thought he got it all out woke up in the morning witha red streak up his arm and finger turning black. The Dr. told him he was lucky they caught it before it rounded the shoulder.
Tom K.

[Mike A. Smith]

Get well soon Ken! Thanks for posting the warning and NOT posting pics. We'll take your word on this one.

[Tom Sherman]

Ken I hate to hear about your mishap, hope all goes well. Any kind of invasion by foreign matter to our hides is not pleasant, we would all do well to take more care.

[Richard Link]

Sorry to hear about your injury, Ken. The lathe is a scary tool sometimes. Good luck on your recovery.

Hand injuries are no fun. Having celebrated my new pneumatic nail gun purchase by....yeah, I know...nailing my thumb to a nice stout piece of poplar a few months ago...its only a matter of time till I get something ballistic going on the lathe....

Seriously though, having spent a bit of time on the hand surgery service at the county trauma center during training, I can say that there are two golden rules for power tool safety:

1. The order of the evening should be power tools THEN the bar....not the reverse....this isn't something that people seem to grasp easily.

2. If it's 2 am on Sat and you've had a few drinks and you are by yourself (and hence depressed), its still wiser to play with your circular saw than to clean your firearm...or...at least take the gun out of your wasteband before cleaning it.

Best wishes on your recovery. At least we are all thankful that you are still typing well.

Rick

[Patrick Taylor]

Sorry to hear about the progression! :( We're all thinking of you and hoping it gets better fast. maybe it's time for a Creeker beat-down to beat that infection into submission.... I guess that would require beating up Ken to get at the infection! :eek:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Richard.........Just for the record.........I drink.....I NEVER drink and then use a power tool! I never drink with a gun!

Hey guys.....Thanks for the thoughts! It's amazing what the IV antibiotics have accomplished so far. Earlier this afternoon, my left hand looked like I had 2 knuckles on it....the little finger knuckle and the BIG one......Now all four are quite recognizeable!:) The redness has decreased to the point where I can't see any outside of the bandage. Things are truly going well.:)

Lesson for me and hopefully everyone else....take those slivers seriously!:o

[Richard Link]

Glad to hear that the antibiotics are working. Makes you wonder how things were back before WWII and the discovery of pennicillin, though.

Any idea when you can get back to turning?

Rick

[Steve Busey]

...was adding some embellishment to the rim when the piece of wood I was using to friction the rim..broke and my left hand got thrown onto the bowl.

Ouch! Glad to hear you're on the mend. Not wishing you any pain, but I would much rather learn from *other people's* mistakes!

So maybe someone could help a newbie and explain what you mean by "friction the rim" and how I can know that I'm not doing that!

Thanks in advance - I really enjoy lurking around the Creek, and am anticipating mounting my late father's lathe and making some stardust and sawdust.

[Rick Smith]

From a USMC vet to the Navy...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Steve...often on a plain piece of wood I'll add some "V" groves to the sides of a bowl, turned box or pepper shaker to dress it up. I then take a piece of guitar string that is attached to a couple of pieces of wood. With the lathe turning the bowl, box or shaker, I'll place the guitar sting into the V groove and allow it to heat up and burn the V. When finished the burned area becomes a darker line around the outside edge of the bowl. I read somewhere that an odd number of lines is more pleasing to the eye so I'll often do this as a single line or 3 lines.

I'd never figured out how to do that to the rim of a bowl. I read where someone did it with a piece of wood. I put a V groove in the rim of the bowl I was turning and using a piece of wood I was frictioning or burning the V in the rim when the piece of wood broke. I was holding it with both hands and the forefinger on my left hand slammed into the rim of the bowl. A spinter about 3/8-1/2" long and about 1/8" in diameter was driven into my left forefinger near the second joint.

I tried digging it out on my own but the wood kept breaking off when ever I grasped it with either tweezers or some forceps I have. It was deeper than I cared to dig myself. Woodworking I've often had slivers go into my hands and was unable to remove them. The next day they'd festered a little and they squeezed right out. I always wash the wound with hydrogen peroxide and soap and water and dress it with some antibiotic creme and a bandage. This time.....it didn't work and in fact, it got down right dangerous as I obviously got a very serious infection.
My newly found advice...if you get a splinter....seek medical attention. I go back for further treatment to day...maybe some more IV antibiotics or maybe they'll decide they can take this IV out of my right arm:o The swelling is down dramatically and the redness has decreased dramatically too!:)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

From a USMC vet to the Navy...

USN vet to USMC vet


Maybe replace George's figurine with a ":o " would be more appropriate!:o

[Steve Busey]

Thanks for the explanation, Ken - I can visualize it much better now. Sounds like an interesting technique. Sorry this one was so painful to you - good luck on your continued recovery!

[Rick Smith]

Is this better?

[Nancy Laird]

Ken, a number of years ago I got a splinter in my left forefinger on the second knuckle, palm side. It swelled up, got hot and ugly, and I ended up at the hand surgeon having the wound cleaned out and on antibiotics. The doctor told me that when an infection like that gets into the tendon sheath, it can be extremely serious and can lead to loss of a finger--or two. Take care of that finger!!! You want to continue to be able to hold turning tools!!

(Glad it was a good birthday!!)

Nancy (115 days)

[Paul Heely]

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

[Jason Slutsky]

Best wishes on a speedy recovery Ken.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Is this better?


You sorry rascal!:D

[Ernie Nyvall]

Ouch!!! Hope you heal fast.