Turning injury

[David Wrate]

Well I had my first turning injury yesterday.
I was getting set to sharpen my bowl gouge and I tucked it under my arm to slide the Vari-jig on. It slipped out and landed sharp end down on my leather shoe, slicing clear through the leather leaving a clean U-shaped hole and making a wicked gash on first metatarsal of my right foot.
Four hours in the ER and six stitches later.
Be careful out there folks!

 

[Ron Solfest]

Sorry to hear that David. Glad it all worked out OK. I could have been much worse. My wife did something similar with a rotary cutter years ago while quilting, she also was fortunate. Thanks for the safety reminder. Merry Christmas

 

[David Wrate]

Thanks Ron, definitely could have been worse!
Merry Christmas to you as well.

 

[Randy Anderson]

Glad you're OK and hope no lasting issues. You know, there are easier ways to find out if your gouge is sharp....

 

[David Wrate]

Good thing I hadn't sharpened it yet!

 

[Lou Jacobs]

So sorry to hear David. Hope you heal quickly! We could have a whole thread about ER visits. My right ring finger has stories to tell, but I’ll keep them to myself for now!

 

[David Wrate]

So sorry to hear David. Hope you heal quickly! We could have a whole thread about ER visits. My right ring finger has stories to tell, but I’ll keep them to myself for now!

Thanks Lou, I'm sure I'll be back turning soon.
I will say that the doc and nurses were amazing. So that's a plus

 

[Mike Zip Hamilton]

David, you just esperienced the third law of gravity. The second law: When toast is dropped, it will land jelluy side down. Heal fast.

 

[David Wrate]

David, you just experienced the third law of gravity. The second law: When toast is dropped, it will land jelluy side down. Heal fast.

Thanks Mike, I'm going to avoid the toaster today. Don't want to anger the Gods!

 

[Earl McLain]

Serious reply in a moment, but in the meantime....at least it didn't hit the concrete!! (i'm always nervous about damaging the tool, never gave a thought that it could cut a shoe!!)

Best wishes on a speedy recovery. I'm impressed with your sharpening skills!!
earl

 

[David Wrate]

Serious reply in a moment, but in the meantime....at least it didn't hit the concrete!! (i'm always nervous about damaging the tool, never gave a thought that it could cut a shoe!!)

Best wishes on a speedy recovery. I'm impressed with your sharpening skills!!
earl

Thanks Earl, suffice it to say that in hindsight I wish it had hit the floor...

 

[John Hicks]

Ouch! I only use hard toed shoes now. Too may things dropped on my foot!

 

[Marc Banka]

Bummer, David! Glad it wasn‘t more serious than it was.

Sometimes we who have invested in expensive tools, with refined edges tend to treat them like gold, afraid to damage that oh so precious edge. It’s best if you can adopt the instincts used by mechanics/machinists. First, get the hell out of the way. Then consider what is/was falling. It’s easy to fix the dented edge. Takes less time and is cheaper than the ER visit.

Not trying to jump on while you’re down, but sometimes we forget to treat ourselves as the most important tool in the shop!

 

[Richard Coers]

Reminds me of the time I slid a big piece of glass out of my van. I lost my grip and tried to stop the fall. Instead of just breaking glass, I also broke a toe. Lesson learned! Hope you heal up quickly.

 

[hockenbery]

Well I had my first turning injury yesterday.
I was getting set to sharpen my bowl gouge and I tucked it under my arm to slide the Vari-jig on. It slipped out and landed sharp end down on my leather shoe, slicing clear through the leather leaving a clean U-shaped hole and making a wicked gash on first metatarsal of my right foot.
Four hours in the ER and six stitches later.
Be careful out there folks!

Glad there is no lasting damage.

 

[Aaron Harris]

Thanks for the warning, David- and I'm glad you're okay! Maybe you guys have seen the same videos I have of turners wearing shorts and crocs or sandals. I even saw one not wearing a shirt. I dropped my massive, heavy Alan Lacer Uber-Skew that I keep razor shop once in my shop. Fortunately it missed my foot-probably would have severed a toe or something. All be careful. Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[David Wrate]

Ouch! I only use hard toed shoes now. Too may things dropped on my foot!

Indeed, I'm not sure steel toed shoes would have made any difference as the gouge hit at the first metatarsal. But I'm now on the hunt for kevlar socks!

 

[David Wrate]

Bummer, David! Glad it wasn‘t more serious than it was.

Sometimes we who have invested in expensive tools, with refined edges tend to treat them like gold, afraid to damage that oh so precious edge. It’s best if you can adopt the instincts used by mechanics/machinists. First, get the hell out of the way. Then consider what is/was falling. It’s easy to fix the dented edge. Takes less time and is cheaper than the ER visit.

Not trying to jump on while you’re down, but sometimes we forget to treat ourselves as the most important tool in the shop!

If I had a split second more time I would have managed to get my foot out of the way. I guess I either need to be a foot taller or get smaller feet

 

[David Wrate]

Ouch! I only use hard toed shoes now. Too may things dropped on my foot!

Me too.. I'm going to go back to steel toed shoes...

 

[David Wrate]

Reminds me of the time I slid a big piece of glass out of my van. I lost my grip and tried to stop the fall. Instead of just breaking glass, I also broke a toe. Lesson learned! Hope you heal up quickly.

Thanks, it's definitely a learning experience. Having moved some big machinery I have managed to re-tune my instincts so that I don't put myself in harms way.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

If I had a split second more time I would have managed to get my foot out of the way. I guess I either need to be a foot taller or get smaller feet

Or move to a planet with lower gravity .

 

[robo hippy]

Well, no steel toes for me because if I kick some thing, the steel bends back into my toes.... I know there is a shield of some sort that a lot of welders have for the top of their feet/boots. That might work. I did get a good cut once, but no stitches. My swept back gouge fell to the floor and landed on the handle end, then did a slow fall towards my leg. Got a nice horseshoe print on the side of my leg. My hacky sack skills ain't what they used to be....

robo hippy

 

[David Wrate]

@robo hippy I have a love/hate relationship with steel toed footwear. I wore them for years on job sites and now I'm loathe to wear them in my shop. But I'm reconsidering that now. :/

 

[Marc Banka]

I don’t think its reasonable to PPE your way to a safe enjoyable experience in the shop. Sure, you can do steel toed boots (and hope that sharp thing doesn’t hit further up your foot!) Chain mail pants with spats could do the trick.
What of the sharp knife in your kitchen that drops off the counter? What!? Barefoot in the kitchen?

Why not look at what actually caused David’s accident. Holding the gouge under his arm. Why not just adjust that behavior?

 

[David Wrate]

I don’t think its reasonable to PPE your way to a safe enjoyable experience in the shop. Sure, you can do steel toed boots (and hope that sharp thing doesn’t hit further up your foot!) Chain mail pants with spats could do the trick.
What of the sharp knife in your kitchen that drops off the counter? What!? Barefoot in the kitchen?

Why not look at what actually caused David’s accident. Holding the gouge under his arm. Why not just adjust that behavior?

Oh definitely, I'll not be doing that again!

 

[John Hicks]

velcro covered handles

 

[David Wrate]

velcro covered handles

Funny you mention that actually. This morning I was thinking about wrapping the handles in hockey tape. I've done that on my clamp handles and it's a major increase in grip.

 

[Jason Goodrich]

I just had my skew fall as I was putting back on the wall after use. I just stepped back and let it fall just 15 mins ago. It will need a little extra grinding next time.

 

[David Wrate]

I just had my skew fall as I was putting back on the wall after use. I just stepped back and let it fall just 15 mins ago. It will need a little extra grinding next time.

My accident was the classic 'didn't step back fast enough' situation. Pure, unadulterated stupidity on my part.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

You know David, I think we all do these things, at least ones I think.
I had a skew roll of the lathe and caught it, wasn't really falling, but I got a good cut, emergency and it got stitched up, took a while though, as the tendon was nicked and the surgeon was hesitating just stitching the cut, as he wanted to get some thought from another surgeon , anyway it did get stitched and it is the last time I try to stop sharp tools from falling

 

[David Wrate]

You know David, I think we all do these things, at least ones I think.
I had a skew roll of the lathe and caught it, wasn't really falling, but I got a good cut, emergency and it got stitched up, took a while though, as the tendon was nicked and the surgeon was hesitating just stitching the cut, as he wanted to get some thought from another surgeon , anyway it did get stitched and it is the last time I try to stop sharp tools from falling

Thanks Leo, reaching out is to stop something from falling is certainly a reflexive action for me. Takes some learning to stop doing it...

 

[Vincent Vogel]

I was turning today and thought about your injury and was very careful how I handled tools. I wear leather steel toe shoes and long pants when turning with a turners apron, but being careful is the most important. Hope you get well soon.

 

[David Wrate]

I was turning today and thought about your injury and was very careful how I handled tools. I wear leather steel toe shoes and long pants when turning with a turners apron, but being careful is the most important. Hope you get well soon.

Thanks Vincent. I'm much better today than I was yesterday.

 

[Earl McLain]

Thanks Vincent. I'm much better today than I was yesterday.

Good to hear that…was wondering.
Earl

 

[David Wrate]

Good to hear that…was wondering.
Earl

Thanks Earl, I'm definitely on the mend.

 

[Pat Patterson]

Good thing I hadn't sharpened it yet!

Sounds like it was already pretty sharp. Hope you heal up well. I once had my tools in a 5 gal bucket backed up into it and embedded a skew into my calf. Talk about feeling stupid!!!

 

[David Wrate]

Sounds like it was already pretty sharp. Hope you heal up well. I once had my tools in a 5 gal bucket backed up into it and embedded a skew into my calf. Talk about feeling stupid!!!

Ouch!
I will tell you that I have a new found respect for the sharpness of a 'dull' chisel. Learned the hard way

 

[Monty Ivy]

Yikes! I'm glad you are more or less OK. Now you can say that you put blood, sweat, and tears into your work!

 

[David Wrate]

Yikes! I'm glad you are more or less OK. Now you can say that you put blood, sweat, and tears into your work!

Thanks Monty, I'm hoping to get back into the shop later today. Job 1 is clean the gouge.

 

[Ric Williams]

Not that it's any consolation, but at least we tend to heal better from a cut from a sharp blade than we do from a dull one.