Clean up after yourself!!

[Dkulhanek]

Just to give a little bit of a background, I work in a hospital in nursing. One of the ways I help unwind at the end of the night is woodcarving. Since I work evenings, it's not unlike me to be carving until 3-4 a.m. Typically I will do my carving on the couch with a pillowcase over my lap to catch the chips and watch TV. One night last week I decided to call it quits around 4 am and instead of putting all my stuff away, I set my knifes up on top of the fireplace and went to bed. I am at work tonight and I'm told I have an urgent call from my wife. I run up to the nurse's station and pick up the phone. She tells me that she cut almost all of the tip of her big toe off and it was all my fault. I put my momentary freak out aside and after finding out whether or not the bleeding had stopped and asked her what happened. She said she was dusting the mantle and knocked one of my knives off of the mantle, and THOCK....right into the tip of her foot. She said that she got the bleeding to stop after about an hour. I asked her if she needed me to come home, but she said no, it wasn't that serious. So when I come home tonight, I get to do more nursing!! Lesson of the day: Clean up your tools when you're done.

[Dileon]

You know some where I saw a cartoon , just like that.....a carving knife in the big toe. It still amazes me how sharp these tools really are! Bet she never touches your knives again....smile....

[Big Barn]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with your wife on this one - you now owe her big time. We all get into our routines & even dusting - who would think a sharp pointy object is just sitting there waiting to impale somebody. Put the tools away when your done with them. Another suggestion would be to put a piece of tubing over the blade end of your knife/knives when not in use or cork (not from a used wine bottle - the wine in the cork can react with the blade). You can use new/unused or synthetic corks (they do not absorb any of the wine). Bottom line - you're screwed.

[Robby]

I'm lucky that I have workshop in the basement, anyone entering that room knows something sharp could be anywhere. But, in your case, you need to be more deligent in cleaning up when done. Hopefully that toe will be okay and heals quickly and that your wife can just laugh it off.

[Buffalo Bif]

Hell, I'm likely to cut myself if I leave 'em hanging around, not to mention the wife or grandkid(s)

[edge]

Glad you wife didn't need stitches etc. You do owe her big time now! :-)

I have 5 little grand daughters who are extremely curious as the what I do in my work area. When I'm there they can come and check out what I am carving or working on. When I leave, the door gets locked. Not with a push button lock but with a keyed lock.

[ABitoSlo]

oooops.

Thanks for the post. It helps reinforce my attempts to put everything away, even in the wee hours of the morning, same as you do.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Sorry to hear that, hope she heals up real quick! Also hope she forgives you.

Dave

[Dkulhanek]

Thank you all for the well wishes. She's doing fine. I got home that night to look at it. I told her over the phone to get in my medical bag and get a piece of gauze and some tape out and wrap it. Well, apparently I didn't have anymore medical tape in my bag (it was in the pocket of my scrubs...oops!), she had it wrapped in masking tape. I got a good laugh out of that. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it was made out to be over the phone. Just a small cut, but a heavy bleeder. I irrigated and dressed the wound, got her tetanus immunization updated and it healed up in a matter of days. I gave her a little bit of a hard time when she made me put my knives away that night. I picked the offending knife in question, looked at her and said, "What, you couldn't clean the blood off the blade?" I got a pillow chucked at me. My wife and I have a unique sense of humor.