I know I'm new here but it seems that all the older members
have forgotten how often you can (and I did ) cut themselves when beginning to carve. I don't have sites or stores on hand to recommend to beginning carvers but I feel when giving advice it would be sound advice to tell them to FIRST buy a protective kevlar glove for safety reasons.
Am I wrong?
If you have sites and stores that sell them, would you please respond to this so I can build an inventory to forward to newbys?
Thanks

You sound like a carver with experience. I am sure any of us who have carved for a period of time have the 'battle wounds' to prove it. I was fortunate enough to get scared into buying a glove after a near miss... not until it was too late! Now, when I pull on my glove, I look at the scars and cuts on it instead of my hands! I am now due for a new one and have found that the 'fish skinning' gloves are the same thing and are less expensive. But like the Grump said, any price is cheaper than the Emergency Room charges!

Good Luck...

Go to GENERAL carving under chess patterns to read about slips and cut experiences. Sorry that we got off subject there but it should make people think about protecting thier hands even when 'just testing' the tool for sharpness.
After reading these, if you would like to reply, please come back here to do so. That way they can get back on subject there and get that young man some help.
In fact, while you are there maybe you can help him with his problem too.

Well, I ran a veiner (?) gouge into my finger the other day. Didn't think I cut myself when I looked at it. After a few seconds of holding the wood I was working on, I noticed a little red pool on the table. Went and found a carving glove. Thanks for the reminder.

I don't know how functional they are for carving, but doesn't Walmart, etc, sell a glove put out by Normark for filleting fish?

I don't know if wal-mart carries them but ace hardware handles a fillet glove. Probably any fish and tackle store should have them.
When I first started carving, I put up with the little (not to deep) skin cuts, untill they started getting deeper and more painfull. It was then that I bought a kevlar glove,but as the Captain Bandaid says' they still don't stop puncture wounds'
although they may stop them from being as deep.
The most important thing though is you have to wear it before it'll work. I found this out the hard way when one night I had decided to stop working on a piece, I took my glove off and then decided to ' make one more cut'. And boy did I, a 3/4 gouge slipped, going into the palm portion of my left thumb and continued up into and through the bottom knuckle, cutting nerves and cartilage. The end result is an emergency room visit( I live 14-20 miles away so my son drove me) apx. 42 stiches, (my son watched- he thought it was 'neat') and no feeling on the bottom side of my thumb has ever returned.
Total cost - $650.00 + doctor fees

Wear a glove, if it slips get out the hot glue gun and make a light cross-hatch design on the palm. It might be an inconvience but so is the emergency room.

[Captain_Bandaid]

Grumpy, that hot glue idea sounds like it might work. Lots easier than putting leather patches on the glove!

[Shimmy]

After reading all replies it looks like your tools are not sharp enough.You have to push and cut with too much force, which adds to the accidents.Also before you decide to cut see to it that your other are clear.Especialy when a piece breaks off.

[Shimmy]

I meant to write (your other hand is clear in case of a slip).

My tools are sharp enough to cut through a kevlar glove,is it possible to get them sharper? If so , tell me how because I want them at their best.
Pushing hard is only one way to cause a slip, as I carve in the round while holding the piece in my left hand, the oportunities to slash yourself are endless. In the case I spoke of above, the gouge didn't slip, the wood did. (I'm almost positive the beer I was drinking had nothing to do with it?????)
As captain bandaid has written ' Cuts happen when you least expect it.'
Don't Drink and Carve........fathers against drunk carving

I use vet wrap on my fingers to protect them. Vet wrap is the stuff that people use to wrap the legs of horses. I use it only on my fingers because I've never cut the palm of my hand.