[K_C]

First I would like to point out that there might be a health consideration . I dont know this for sure but it seems to me that as you would not use a used needle you wouldn't want to cut yourself with a tool that someone else has been cut with and using a used tool you dont know if that has happend or not . I would have to say that its very likely that it has as many times as I have nicked myself with mine . Dont get me wrong you dont cut off fingers and toes every time you carve but you can nick youself by just picking a tool out of you'r tool roll .
I dont know how long germs live out side the body but. I dont want to play with dead ones either . Kinda like playing with a dead snake its still spooky . That is if you live in the south where snakes have fangs and poison . So be sure to clean a used tool with germs in mind before you us it . Just to be safe .
Be Carefull when borrowing tools also . We all have done it at a school or at a club meeting .The guy or Girl you borrow from may look clean and be Very nice people . But you dont know what germs they may carry . They may not either . Keep some alchol wipes with you and just wipe the end of the tool before You us it and after . It wont hurt the tool and the tool wont hurt you in the long run in the event you cut yourself . Not to mention the peace of mind knowing you cleaned it and dont worry about what people think of you . They may not have thought of cleaning for germs . The same for lending your tools . By the way I dont go around washing my hands all the time and spraying disinfectant on everything . But carving tools do come in contact with blood .
I thought of all this after I had bought some used tools from someone on Ebay and cut myself with one of them . It worried me that I didn't know anything about this person and that the tool might be dirty . But If I had cleaned them first there would have been no worry . Except for the cut that was going to be in the way of finishing my carving . Good thing is I didn't bleed on the wood

One more thing used tools get sharpend by some people that have no idea how steel reacts to heat and try to sharpen with power sharpeners . These sharpeners cause lots of heat from friction that get tools very hot if not used properly this heat can take the hardness out of your tool and cause it to not hold an edge like a new tool would . So if you buy a Pfeil tool that has been heated to much it could not hold an edge like it should therefore you have wasted your money .
There is a way to reharden tools but if you buy a tool and have someone harden it for you unless you know how to do it yourself you would have been better off just buying a new tool and been happy carving away and not trying to get the used tool right again or buying another tool to replace the bad one . By the way there is no way to look at a tool and say if it has or has not been over heated and will perform like it should .

I would like to think that there are no bad germs out there and that every body that sells some of their used tools are honest and know what they have . But thats not the case so be carefull with used tools . Have fun carving !!
Ken

[carver6]

K C,
Thanks for bringing up some safety points I hadn't even considered, and they are valid ones.
Thanks again.
Garon (carver6)

[Lightningbolt]

Thanks for taking time to cover another angle on carving safety and especially in an age that seems plagued with such dreaded diseases such as Aids and Hepatitius B. To my knowledge HIV can only survive outside the body for moments, but it is Hepatitus B that scares me the most because it can remain "active" for quite a long time outside the body. Our school offered all the Hep. B vaccinations for free but who wants to take chances?! I teach woodcarving in our school woodshop almost every day of the working week and also sit on our safety committee and your cautions are well worth the mentioning for anyone who carves with or around others.

Despite all the safety speeches on carving to my students, I still have several small cuts each year and "sanitizing" the offending blade is something that usually gets overlooked in light of the more pressing concern of the actual cut. I will be stocking some of those Clorox Wipes along with the first aid kit starting tomorrow.

[Kenny_S]

Good topic! However, I don't have a problem with used tools and several of mine was givin to me by others. Now someone I don't know, maybe a different story. I usually change the bevels or reshape and strop whatever I get unless they are sharpe when I recieve them. But I do believe that caution should be taken with ANy tool whether it is used or new. We use clorox aipes no matter what and used up several this past week. One never knows.

[K_C]

Lightningbolt
Thats a good and you being the instructor it would brake the ice about using cleaners in the class room better than If I were a student and borrowed a tool and started cleaning it .
I could see where you might get some looks . But hey its all in safety and every body knows about germs and if its brought to there attention it would only make good sence .
Ken