[Lynn O. Doughty]

I just received my Summer 06 issue of Woodcarving Illustrated and was literally shocked to see the full-page advertisement inside the front cover. Here we have an elderly man, (Grandpa?) showing his very young Grandson how to carve. Neither is wearing any protective gear whatsoever. The knife the boy is using is much to big for him. The caption of the photo is "Make it a day to remember!" If this were a real situation I can pretty well tell you what it's going to be remembered for.

I was heartened to see that the photo on page 8 of another young boy with a carving glove on and the two articles "Magical Fairy" and "Ozark Character" all show carvers with safety equipment. This is how it should be.

When I see someone carving without a glove or thumb protector I always ask why they aren't wearing one. It's their decision but I'll still ask. If they're a new carver I'll encourage them to put the glove on. If they're in my shop I require them to put the glove on.

Maybe it would be a good editorial policy to make the viewer aware of the suggested safety guidelines. Advertisors especially should be encouraged to demonstrate proper safety in their ads.

Woodcarving is a very enjoyable art but it can also be a very dangerous one.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Amen!.....................

[carver6]

I noticed that same advertisement, I believe in the last issue as well, and wondered why they didn't have safety gloves and other protection, but being the dummy I am, didn't say anything about it. Maybe this will get someone's attention Lynn, and save some grief for another carver down the line.
Garon

[BobD]

We're well aware of that ad, Lynn. And we're trying to get it changed! It's difficult because technically Editorial and Advertising are separate...but we're working on it!

Bob

[AlArchie]

Just my opinion, but perhaps this is all getting a bit blown out of proportion. The ad portrays a grandpa and grandson working together on a simple project in a way that most folks just don't get a chance to relate any more. C'mon, it's an ad, not an instructional item. Granted there would be nothing wrong (in fact it WOULD be better) if they both had carving gloves on, but that was not the intent of the ad.

Advertising is designed to appeal to the emotional side of things, define needs, or go to the "adventurous" desires. Thus the car ads showing vehicles slipping sideways on wet streets while the driver maintains perfect control, snowmobiles leaping off high drifts, women dancing over the backs of chairs as they dust with Swiffers, small kids leaping into swimming pools with no floatation...heck the list just goes on.

Next to the Sugar Pine ad is one from Chipping away offering a power honer with no guards on the drive belts. Page 79, the carver holding the large chisle while he is wearing shorts and SANDALS??? What if that chisle slips and he drops it. Tell me none of you have done this!

As far as wearing a glove goes, I DON"T! Don't like 'em, never have, and probably never will. On the other hand I encourage any new carvers to wear 'em. At Scout Camp when I was the handicraft and camp director for three years, I insisted on ALL wood carving merit badge participants wearing safety gloves (in fact ordered 'em from Rick). That cut the serious injury rate down to ZERO. We used to have at least one run to the emercency room every day for stitches. After initiating a safety program that had been lacking for years, that run actually stopped. If we had even a minor nick per day it was unusual, so I am not an opponent of wearing a glove.

Let's cut the adverisers a little slack.

OK, I also know I'll get a huge "I told ya so!" if I do amputate a digit, but I've been carving for over 50 years and have yet to cut myself more than a nick, ususlly just put a finger on the nick and the bleeding stops in a minute or so.
Al

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Sorry. AlArchie.....But I have to respectfully disagree. Even you shot your whole argument full of holes in your fourth paragraph.

If the people preparing this advertisement had devoted a little more time and thought in preparing the ad they would have realized that they might have increased their sales even further by showing gloves and thumb protectors. I imagine they sell those too.

Hey...I do all kinds of stuff in my shop that others would consider unsafe. The one thing I try not to do is to advertise it!

[AlArchie]

Like I said, just my opinion.

Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Sorry Al, I have to disagree on this one too! It isn't just a minor slice that is the major concern..it is the cutting of a nerve and having a dead area, maybe a large area or worst of all I think is when there is "something" in the wood and a minor little cut gets infected, have heard of several that have almost died because of it, nope, no matter how long one has been carving, it isn't worth the risk! remember the old adage "tempt not!"

[AlArchie]

Lynn, first of all I want to thank you for the blog page you have put up, I've been following it along as a guide to a project on loggers I'm thinking about. I'll probably never get around to it thogh.

Have you noticed on your "About the Artist" page that you are sitting on a fence with a horse off your shoulder holding a knife and wood carving (YIKES, no glove!) And a bit further down the page is a gent sitting at a bench whittlin' away (YIKES again, no glove) on a project.

Now this is my point......not that wearing a glove is a bad idea......just that your ad, as was Sugar Pines', draws the nostalgic element of carving out, and I take no offense that you didn't show all the necessary safety equipment.

All your blog instructions show the use of gloves and thumb protectors, and that is a GOOD THING! But your own ad skips that element. And I think that your ad photo with the horse and you sittin' on the fence is a GREAT one.....I wouldn't ask you to change it, and I wonder how mayny folks really noticed the lack of a glove in either shot.

Al

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Hands in the air! I surrender!

I never really thought about those photos as advertisements but being as you brought it to my attention they will be changed the next time we update the website.

I really don't want to kick this can any further down the road. I think the point has been pretty well made. Some like to use a glove...some don't. Carving gloves are an optional piece of safety equipment for those of us who are old enough to make up our own minds. However, the six or seven year old boy in the photo has not yet reached that stage of maturity. Grandpa should have realized that.