Utility knife care

[Joe Pelonio]

I won't gross anyone out with a picture, but thought it might be good to bring up utility knife safety. I have had assorted small cuts over the years doing vinyl, using an olfa break-off knife and metal rule to cut things. Yesterday afternoon I was rushing due to work piling up in a sudden rush of sign jobs.

The knife slipped and I got top/right edges of both the middle and index fingers on the left hand. I held tissue on them and went downstairs to have my wife help with the bandages. Nothing serious, but open wounds with no flaps to cover them. Went back up and sitting on top of the taped vinyl lettering were the two bits of finger.

So this morning I'm finding it a little hard to type.

[Scott Shepherd]

Ouch Joe, hope it all heals up quickly. I'm paranoid about that very thing from years of handling very sharp objects.

I saw this thing at a trade show and bought one, I'm sure you've seen it. It's called a Sooper Edge ruler.

http://www.beacongraphics.com/safety-rulers.html

Scroll down a couple of items. I've had it for a while now. I really like the protection it gives. I don't like the fact that the stainless rod is slightly raised above the surface, as you can get your blade on an angle if you're not careful, but I do like the protection of it and the way the rubber on the bottom holds down the work nice and tight.

Take care of yourself and rest them fingers.

[Randal Stevenson]

Asking the wife for Butchers gloves for Christmas? Leno had an ad that they were in on headlines a while back, as they have two styles, full hand, and three finger. They are a stainless steel mesh (chainmail style) glove.
Having had access to one, I found that it was handy to have at times.

I have one coworker, who I try to avoid, when he has a knife. He has dropped and caught them (the hard way), dropped and deflected (projected towards the person beside him/aka me at the time), and does the talking with the hands things (put down the knife).

[Joe Pelonio]

Spending 4-5 hours a day with this knife the number of finger cuts is pretty good. In 14+ years I only had one Labor & Industries claim for an emergency room visit by one employee. In this case I'm doing about 200 signs with vinyl, and having just started when this happened I have a long way to go.

Unfortunately it's hard to work with vinyl when wearing gloves. Scott, I have one of those safety rulers but it's 8' long so I rarely use it. I probably should buy a shorter one.