Just wondering if I was the only one

[Colin-Partridge]

This is a thread that I have been meaning to post for a long time. Now before I say anything I know that there are those of you that absolutly advocate the wearing of a glove when carving. As for me I could never get used to it. Even when chainsaw carving I just hated all that safety equipment. I know that is why its called "Safety Equipment" but I hate it when I am not comfortable when carving. Any day you can find me chainsaw carving in just a pair of shorts, running shoes and sun glasses. So my question is when you cut yourself and with me its usually at least once every carving session. When I do I usually put a bandaid on it no matter how deep it is and continue on carving. Sometimes two or three, but it never stops me carving. There are probably more times than I can count that I should have gone for sutures but never have. I dont dispute the fact that I am not the smartest man in the world but I am the way I am. Just wondering if any of you were the same as me. Now for all you new carvers dont pay attention to anything I say here wear a safety glove.
Colin

[cut up]

I've been told, by my brother, several times that I'm not the brightest bulb, but I've always considered the source.
Seems like every time I do any woodwork, I end up smearing a little blood somewhere. I went to Woodcraft today to replace a worn out thumb guard, not so much because of the blood loss as it was because my thumb is sore.LOL! Yes, I've been neglecting hand protection, but I'm trying to be more cautious and wear at least the thumb guard because that's what usually gets cut.
Michael

[Tom-H]

Yep Colin! Me too. Since I like to carve small, it's damn near impossible to hold the small piece in a gloved hand; and still manipulate it as needed.

Tom H

[DanJohnson]

I used to think that way and had the usual assortments of cuts but after a couple of serious incidents (one didn't convince me) and not being able to carve for weeks while they healed I am no longer comfortable not wearing a glove when I carve. Now when I am distracted or slip and see the knife or gouge stop in the fabric and not my hand I an glad I have it on.

[Robson Valley]

I wear gloves for a whole lot of reasons other than safety. I have explained before. As bad luck would have it, I seem to get wrecked just about every time I take the dang gloves off and keep working.

So, I wrapped the wreckage up in kleenex and duct tape and kept going. Supper. Changed kleenex & tape. Armed Forces Legion meeting in the PM. Guy there said: "You ought to go and get that looked at." I was leaking pretty good., I guess. That was the beginning of October last and some days, it still hurts like Hello. With gloves, might have been just a pinch.

[Wb7whi]

I use one of the white gloves I ggot from woodcraft. Since I am still new too all this I feel good about wearing it as without it my left index finger takes a beating.

What I don't like is that I can't get a firm grip on the wood with it. The glove should be more tacky for a better grip.

Any recommendations out there?

[medicinedog]

Colin, this is like one of those confessionals where we come out of the closet sort of thing. I'm in medicine and I should know better but I hate those damn gloves too. I have cut myself a few times but never badly. It just seems the gloves actually seem more dangerous because I can't get a good hold of the carving while wearing them. I've tried numerous gloves and nothing works well. I have oversized hands, maybe thats part of the problem. I have recently found some very cheap gloves at the bigbox stores that "kind of" work. But then I ride a harley though the twisty roads of the Bighorn mountains with no helmut, cutoffs and slip ons too so I am not one to emulate. To my way of thinking should we all sell our tablesaws and buy a Sawstop. No we keep our tablesaw and practice safe cutting. So is it with carving, hold the carving in the bare hand to allow a solid grasp and plan your cuts. Lar

[kdispoto]

Since my last nearly serious finger cut (summer 2010) I've been wearing a glove - since then '0' cuts.

I bought a pair that was recommended by Randy (CarvingBarn) called Ansell HyFlex 11-501 Foam Nitrile Kevlar Stretch Armor Gloves . I use them every day - really enjoy them!

[gene-messer]

Colin .. Alot of this way of thinking comes from being born like myself many years ago when running to the doctor for every little scratch or cut was unheard of .. People we grew up with just didnt do such things .. we just stuck a band aid on it and kept on going .. not even thinking about it ..
Now we seem to be scared of everything today .. you cant have a gun because you might hurt someone .. you cant say something negative about anyone because you have to be politically correct .. you have to wear 10 tons of safety gear so you wont get a scratch or cut .
Dont get me wrong .. all this stuff is fine if you want to wear it and it does help prevent accidents .. but not everyones the same and let people decide for themselves ..
But I will say this .. because of lawsuits and being politically correct .. can you imagine this magazine WCI saying you shouldnt wear a carving glove or safety equipment and someone is hurt badly because of it .. even that with the law today .. you can get sued for it .. so they have to endorse a safe environment
If you dont think so .. look next time when you buy a new saw or power tool and look at the ridiculous owners manual in it .. and read some of the do's and dont's of operating the equipment .. it's ridiculos .. common sense would tell you not to do such things .. but they have to have it in there because some person somewhere will be careless and get hurt on it and blame the company for it ..
Just my 2 cents
Gene

[Tom-H]

Good post, Gene. But you forgot one thing. I guess some folk cannot read and comprehend the written word in instruction manuals. We now have to have pictures/decals on the machines at the point where an injury might occur. I am partial to the picture on lawn mowers of the finger in the blade. The wood carving "industry" is way behind the times.

Thanks Colin for starting this posting......

Tom H