Opening myself up to...er...with chip carving

[RUssL.]

This past Saturday the mail brought my new chip carving knife, sold by that internationally known author and chip carver who even has his own chip carving school.

I spent the better part of an hour sharpening the blade on a pair of ceramic stones until it could shave the whiskers off a termite. I then sat with a small board on my lap and prepared to perform yet another chip carving exercise. I have been doing these for the past six or eight weeks, only this time I had the “regulation issue” knife to kick my techniques up a notch!

I made a few cuts on the rosette and all was going well, though I thought that the knife might need a tad more honing because I still had to force the blade through the larger chips in the rosette.

As I pulled the knife through the third petal of the rosette the blade slipped off the board and raced up my thigh, opening a 6 inch slash in my flesh like a turkey on Thanksgiving. I could look down into my thigh and see muscle through the flooding gush of blood. It was not good. Not good at all. In a split-second I called out: “I need help here! This one is Emergency Room material!” My wife and kids came running.

Several blood-soaked towels and three hours later we left to return home from the Emergency Room. They put half a dozen internal stitches in my thigh muscle and a dozen staples to close the outer flesh. I’ll go back today to have them redress the wound and see what happens next. In the meantime I walk around with crutches and have to sit with the leg elevated and on ice for most of the day.


The smallest wood carving blade I own opened up the largest self-inflicted wound I have ever seen.“Operator Error” for sure.


Since I am unable to drive and am not to return to work until Wednesday at the earliest (according to the doctor’s orders) I have plenty of time to consider what do in the future to not put myself and my family in that sort of situation ever again.
Later,

Russ

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Sorry to hear that....sounds like waaaay too much pressure on the knife! If its that sharp, it shouldn't take much pressure. When I started carving, I was carving on a board on the dining room table, never got used to carving on my lap....sounds like its just as well.

[Peter Wright]

Major Ouch dude! Hope you get healed quick and back to chipping, what a perfect excuse from work for more shop/hobby time.

I am learnign to carve (aHEM-uh yeah honey it REALLY is art i'M DOING HERE......) "up high" on a table as well FOR SAFETY CONCERNS. All it would take is a good nick on the Femoral artery to really ruin your day.

That and my eyes are failing me and close is better.

[kitaye]

Sorry to hear about your accident. That is a major cut and you're very lucky it wasn't worse. I don't carve on my lap as I have PEter's problem...I need my wood closer than that.

I would suggest a welders apron or possibly a chain mail suit.

[Ron T]

Hi Russ,

I'm really sorry to hear about your serious accident. It's always after the horses leave the barn that we learn to close the doors, but Here's what I do.

I used to carve directly on my lap a lot but now I use a thick cushion and I've gotten used to carving on the table.

Something to consider is getting a heavy leather apron. I use a cheap cotton one made of denim and it's okay. Got a lot of cuts in it the would have been me or my clothes.

[CarverRog]

Hey Russ, when I first started chip carving I made a lap table just because I had a fear that I would do what you did.



I stapled a drawer liner to the front only so the bench could be used with or without it. When Wayne Barton saw it for the first time he didn't think much of it because he teaches to use the lap but my feeling is do what works for you and the bench works. Good luck with the leg!

[Ed Redwine]

Russ: Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I've had to have some sewing done before too, but usually in the left hand.
Chip carving is also part of my carving routine. I do a lot of crosses for the local parocial school auction each year.
I might suggest that on the larger triangle chips you make a smaller chip cut in the middle first to relieve most of the wood and then to the outline and do it again. Taking the middle wood out relieves the pressure, so to speak and makes the larger chip easier to do. An award winning chip carver shared that technique with me.
My lap disappeared long ago so I carve on the work table top.

ED

[RUssL.]

Thank you all for your safety tips, especially CarverRog and Ed Redwine.

All went well with my follow-up this morning and , relatively speaking, the wound looks good. Maybe I'll post an image it (with a "Viewer Discretion Advised disclaimer beforehand<g>) in a day or two...when it starts to get really colorful! :-)

CarverRog, I am thinking of a something along that line as well. I have already pulled out a piece of that non-skid pad that I had laying around out for use.I really liked your carved cross in the image, too!

Ed Redwine, Lora Irish recommends a similar techniques in one of her books and I have used it a little bit already, but I found it awkward. I think I'll revisit it and put a little more practice into it. I'm sure that it's worth the effort and I don't deny that it sure would make a difference.

For my part, as a corrective action, along with more or different safety gear and better technique I am making it a routine part of any carving practice to always check the trajectory of and edge-tool-in-use and see that nothing vital is in its path, just in case something slips or gives way unexpectedly.

All the best,

Russ

[MelNM]

Russ I feel your pain, I had my first visit to ER Sunday before last. Nothing as bad as yours, just four stitches. Mine was due to cutting a hide off a golf ball with a PVC cutter so I could carve the core. Found out I should even wear a glove when cutting golf balls.

How long did you have to sit before they would help you. I saw only one person in front of me and it took me 3 hours. I think they playing poker back there or something. Whoever lost got to work on me.
Be careful and keep carving
Mel

[RUssL.]

We have a great, small, local hospital only 10 minutes from home.
Our entire visit, from check-in to discharge was three hours.
Very little of that time was idle waiting.

I have no complaints about how I was taken care of.
In fact I hit it just right today and the same nurse and doctor who worked on me Saturday were on duty when I went in for my follow-up this morning.
Talk about "continuity of care"!

I always speak highly of our local hospital (Northwestern Medical Center, Saint Albans, VT.), and they justify it each time I need them.

Russ