Stupid Newb Mistake

[Bob Warfield]

Was flatening the backs of a few chisels earlier. Although not nearly finished yet I wanted to get oil on them due to the extreme humidity. I learned a very valuable lesson, use a rag to oil your tools not your bare fingers! Yes I did a little pareing on my right index finger. Not bad just enough to learn what not to do.
Thanks and be safe,
Bob Warfield

[Jim Koepke]

Even when you do these thing everyday, a moment of inattention can bite big time.

Even when wiping with a rag, one needs to be very aware of where the sharp edge is in relation to parts of one's body. Also, to pull the blade across the rag being held as opposed to pushing it.

jim

[Joel Goodman]

I was handing my son a newly sharpened chisel and while warning him how sharp it was my attention wandered with the inevitable result. I guess I really showed him how sharp it was!

[Rick Rutten]

I got my first blood bath from a chisel glancing off my finger. Didn't feel the cut but thought I should look and there it was. I think it was my second day working with hand tools. Thanks for the reminder.

Rick

[James Taglienti]

also don't use chisels for tasks that other tools were made for. I was changing my oil and used a 1" chisel to cut the top off a quart bottle, to make a funnel. I was amazed at how nicely it cut the plastic, and even more amazed when a 2" long canyon appeared on the top of my thumb! my wife immediately went haywire and 4 hours later i was on the couch with a dozen stitches.

it barely even bled!

[john brenton]

put a massive gouge in my face the other day when a big ol june bug flew right in my face. I was holding a big ol plane iron and the bug scared me half to death. I swear I missed my face by an inch. That would have been really, really bloody.

[Kevin Grady]

I have a nice permanent crunching feel to my index finger on my left hand from a chisel. I was paring out the waste from a mortise for my new front door, chisel slid through the dead bolt hole and sliced a 4 stitch gash right at the knuckle.

[John A. Callaway]

I love stitches, tetanus shots, and open wounds. These are not mistakes, they are experiments in healthy tool manipulation in relation to the phalanges, metacarpals, and the epidermis. Some times, If you put the tool in the wrong place, you can see just how efficient your circulatory system works.

My chisel mistake three weeks ago got me five stitches , and a tetanus shot too....!

[Rick Rutten]

At this rate we may soon be approaching the Sawmill Creek version of Patrick Leach's Blood and Gore.

Rick

[Mark Roderick]

And the worst thing about cutting yourself is the blood on the wood! It stains like the dickens, which means you have to stop work and wait for the bleeding to stop. Many times I've tried to work with a big paper towel wrapped around and around the injured finger, but it's very awkward.

[Bill Houghton]

Not bad just enough to learn what not to do.

A mistake is stupid the second time you do it. The first time is educational. To quote one of my favorite definitions, "Experience is something it would have been very nice to have, just before you needed it."

When our sons were getting their driver's licenses, I realized that, as a parent, I should want each of them to have a small accident - no injuries, preferably no expensive crunchies (at least not on our cars - their own cars, different matter), no property damage. Just enough to get their attention.

[Bob Warfield]

Well guys after reading some of these stories I guess I really was lucky. I do take blood thinners every day and bleed like a stuck hog but didn't need stitches.

And Bill my daughter did actually have a minor auto accident her first day of driving. That's been 20 years ago now and I had forgotten all about it!
Thanks and work safe,
Bob Warfield

[Steve Branam]

And the worst thing about cutting yourself is the blood on the wood! It stains like the dickens, which means you have to stop work and wait for the bleeding to stop. Many times I've tried to work with a big paper towel wrapped around and around the injured finger, but it's very awkward.

Second worst thing is that the smallest little slice never stops bleeding! Last week I just grazed the edge of a finger with a chisel corner, barely even got under the surface, but just wouldn't stop dripping. I keep a first aid kit in the shop, so I immediate stop what I'm doing, wipe it off, and wrap it up in bandaids no matter how minor. Otherwise I start find little red smears on my bench, my work, my shirt.

A box of disposable alcohol wipes and a couple boxes of bandaids will take care of 99% of accidents. Get the fingertip and knuckle bandages as well as the plain ones. Anything more severe is probably worth a trip to the emergency room (and a roll of paper towels).

[Jim Rimmer]

And the worst thing about cutting yourself is the blood on the wood! It stains like the dickens, which means you have to stop work and wait for the bleeding to stop. Many times I've tried to work with a big paper towel wrapped around and around the injured finger, but it's very awkward.

Paper towels and duct tape - the woodworker's bandage.

[Bob Glenn]

I was demonstrating building Windsor chairs at an eighteenth century reenactment a few years ago and had a large crowd watching my presentation. I had cut my finger and didn't know it, when someone in the crowd said, "Your finger is bleeding." I looked down, and blood was dripping off my finger. I picked up a wood shaving and wrapped it around the wound to stop the bleeding. A young girl then asked "Is that REAL blood?" The crowd went wild!