# Carving injuries



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I was wondering if anyone else has injuried themselves carving. When I started carving I knew nothing about a woodworking vise. I would clamp the wood to a table to work on it. One day I needed to carve a small part that was too small to clamp so I held the part in my hand to carve on it. As I worked on it the thin board I was working on broke in two and the chisel when through the board and almost through the palm of my hand. Another occasion I was using a sweeps 5 3mm chisel and it broke in two with one of the pieces went through the edge of my finger.


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## bradford (Jun 14, 2014)

I made a similar mistake. Not carving but using a chisel and holding the piece. (Sorry I know the topic is carving) slipped and into my finger. Don't know if you want a picture but here is one. A constant reminder. This picture was after the wrap in wet paper towel and electrical tape to stop the bleeding.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I have been cut several times by just barely brushing a blade in passing. The worse cut I have from carving was my left thumb, not paying close attention, talking while carving, the knife slipped and the full width of the blade went to the bone on the end of my thumb about 1/8 inch below my thumb nail, cut from one side of my thumb to the other, still don't have any feeling in the end of my thumb. 

I have some carving gloves now but they feel so cumbersome.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Smart and safe carving is cutting and paring away from yourself, your hands, and fingers. If it helps to clamp down or fix in a vise, that would be the best way.


















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## PaPa Jack (Jun 3, 2014)

The use of a good glove and carver's tape helps a lot. I have a chain mail glove that I use most of the time and I always use the tape. Even at that, I have cut myself many times but fortunately, never severely.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

PaPa Jack said:


> The use of a good glove and carver's tape helps a lot. I have a chain mail glove that I use most of the time and I always use the tape. Even at that, I have cut myself many times but fortunately, never severely.


I think I would rather risk getting cut than risk taking the edge off the chisel on a chain glove.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

I was taught to always carve away from myself. For the kinds of carvings that I like to do, that isn't hard to do at all. Also taught to consider where the tool edge will go if it pops out of the wood = what's the follow-through path?
Probably the most dangerous moment is the end of the session/day when I'm putting gouges, handle-first, back into various tool rolls. Been nicked more than once.

Since I've been making more and more use of carving tools in the Pacific Northwest style, it's a whole different ball game.
a) when I bought the elbow adze blade, the bladesmith (Kestrel Tool) advised that the only thing that could stop that blade in motion is a bone in my leg. Pay attention!
b) crooked knives are usually held in a fist grip and the best control is in a pull stroke so I'm carving towards myself. 
Dug one too far into cedar. Rather than back it out and make a shallow cut, I tugged on it.
When it popped out, the follow-through made a neat cut, right through my shirt, into my chest!
Lee Valley # 06D10.41, to be precise. Now I wear a bib-front denim apron.
Live and learn, I suppose.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Robson Valley said:


> I was taught to always carve away from myself. For the kinds of carvings that I like to do, that isn't hard to do at all. Also taught to consider where the tool edge will go if it pops out of the wood = what's the follow-through path?
> Probably the most dangerous moment is the end of the session/day when I'm putting gouges, handle-first, back into various tool rolls. Been nicked more than once.
> 
> Since I've been making more and more use of carving tools in the Pacific Northwest style, it's a whole different ball game.
> ...


Some of us learn the hard way. LOL It don't take more than once for me to catch on to whittlin wood instead of my fingers. :smile:

I want to buy or make a scorp for making spoons and laddles. I made a large one but so far I still haven't gotten it as sharp as I want it.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

jiju1943
Take a serious look at the Mora(Sweden) #171 Equus Hook knives which are farrier's hoof trimming knives. Any place that sells, tack, farrier's tools, etc. Diamond #271 are just as good.

You can see a big selection of different brands in profarriersupply.com.

You get a perfectly good handle. I cut back the bevels from 30 degrees to 12 degrees with chalk and chainsaw files = very quick to do. Then sandpapers on dowels and hone. 

8 of my 12 crooked knives are built this way. The bonus is that you get a progressive sweep AND a scorp-like hook at the tip. Not at all easy to sharpen but worth the trouble. I've carved about 70 spoons and the Mora 171 are great finishing tools.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Robson Valley said:


> jiju1943
> Take a serious look at the Mora(Sweden) #171 Equus Hook knives which are farrier's hoof trimming knives. Any place that sells, tack, farrier's tools, etc. Diamond #271 are just as good.
> 
> You can see a big selection of different brands in profarriersupply.com.
> ...


Thanks RV, I appreciate the link, I got it bookmarked. That is exactly what I am looking for. I have a friend who is a farrier, I will check and see if he has an extra one laying around.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Steve Neul said:


> I think I would rather risk getting cut than risk taking the edge off the chisel on a chain glove.


Are you serious?? Well, not me. That's why there are carving gloves.

















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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> Are you serious?? Well, not me. That's why there are carving gloves.
> 
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Yes I'm serious. I've only been injured once that was my fault. I was 17 at the time and did something stupid which I won't repeat. A bandaid is a lot quicker to put on than re-sharpen a chisel.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Talking about a knife's edge, I came home one day not long ago and one of our teenage grandsons had one of my sharpest knives using it to remove a screw from his Iphone, I was not happy, I still haven't got the small chip out of the blade yet.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Steve Neul said:


> Yes I'm serious. I've only been injured once that was my fault. I was 17 at the time and did something stupid which I won't repeat. A bandaid is a lot quicker to put on than re-sharpen a chisel.


If you are nicking your glove, you are destined to cut yourself by not wearing a glove. If you are hitting the glove hard enough to take the edge off the tool, you're through the skin and into the bone. That's ER time and stitches. Safety is the issue here.

















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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> If you are nicking your glove, you are destined to cut yourself by not wearing a glove. If you are hitting the glove hard enough to take the edge off the tool, you're through the skin and into the bone. That's ER time and stitches. Safety is the issue here.
> 
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Woodcarving just isn't that dangerous to go to those lengths. I could see wearing protective clothing running a chainsaw but not a chisel. 

If you have a chisel sharpened correctly the slightest touch against metal will ruin the edge.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Steve Neul said:


> Woodcarving just isn't that dangerous to go to those lengths. I could see wearing protective clothing running a chainsaw but not a chisel.
> 
> If you have a chisel sharpened correctly the slightest touch against metal will ruin the edge.


You missed my point.

















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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> You missed my point.
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I don't think so. You just like to argue. That's what I'm here for.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Steve Neul said:


> I don't think so. You just like to argue. That's what I'm here for.


It's not arguing. The point is that if you are hitting a glove, you are reaching the skin.

















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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*carving vs whittling*

As I have grown up I whittled a stick pushing my jack knife away from me and making a point on the stick. Never got cut once.

Carving involves using a chip carving knife, gouges, chisels etc.. to create a form or likeness a much more involved process. Many time the knife is facing the carver and is pulled by opposing the blade with your thumb, where the likelihood of getting cut is increased.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-carving-and-whittling.htm

Whethere a glove is worn or not, is a personal choice. There is no one correct way. The debate about a glove is innane. It's no skin off anyone's nose even the carver.

If you don't drip some blood on your project you probably haven't left the couch.... try working with sheet metal and see how many times you get cut. Gloves would be a requirement in my book, but I don't always follow my own advice. :no:


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

No. Your destiny is not to cut yourself unless you are wearing a glove, kevlar, SS or not.
They are not perfect protection. The economical solution is not to carve your hand.
I believe, with all my heart, that my fingers trump any old crummy gouge, Pfeil or not.

I carve with a full-size Stubai carving adze and a Kestrel Baby Sitka adze. I had to rethink my strikes and follow-throughs. I believe they can sever entire fingers and limbs.

jiju1943 : see what you can score from a farrier. Bashed up or not, they can be redeemed for wood carving. The real deal is that you will discover that you need the RH and LH pair.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I don't see how anyone can carve with a glove on. I need to feel the chisel cutting as much as looking at it.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Steve Neul said:


> I don't see how anyone can carve with a glove on. I need to feel the chisel cutting as much as looking at it.


Here you are arguing with yourself. Obviously you've never tried it. I wear a glove on the hand that's not the tool hand. You can still feel the tool, you can still see the tool, and you can still see the tool cutting. 

The point I was making was that while wearing the glove there are many times the tool makes contact with the glove. If I wasn't wearing it, I would have been cut. The tool doesn't get damaged. I can't make it any clearer than that.

















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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> Here you are arguing with yourself. Obviously you've never tried it. I wear a glove on the hand that's not the tool hand. You can still feel the tool, you can still see the tool, and you can still see the tool cutting.
> 
> The point I was making was that while wearing the glove there are many times the tool makes contact with the glove. If I wasn't wearing it, I would have been cut. The tool doesn't get damaged. I can't make it any clearer than that.
> 
> ...


It's true I haven't tried a carving glove nor do I see the need to try it. I don't see how a glove would help on the hand holding the handle of the chisel or the mallet. I also don't understand how you can have the point of the chisel touching the glove. I never even come close to having the point of the chisel touch my hands.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Steve Neul said:


> ]I don't see how a glove would help on the hand holding the handle of the chisel or the mallet.


See you did miss the point. The glove is not on the hand holding the tool...it's on the other hand!!!



Steve Neul said:


> ]I also don't understand how you can have the point of the chisel touching the glove. I never even come close to having the point of the chisel touch my hands.


You don't plan for that to happen. It just does. When it does, the glove takes the hit, not your hands or fingers.

















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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

I wear gloves for the cold steel of a cold shop, hand grime on the carving, vibration from a day with a mallet. Rarely think of them for safety. Took them off last night to tune up a planer knife (2-edged crooked blade in an 18" handle). Nice for smoothing split wood as in western red cedar planks for salmon BBQ.
Sure enough, just barely bumped the left side of my RH thumb at the knuckle and blood all over the place. 1/2" vertical cut into the joint.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Robson Valley said:


> I wear gloves for the cold steel of a cold shop, hand grime on the carving, vibration from a day with a mallet. * Rarely think of them for safety*. Took them off last night to tune up a planer knife (2-edged crooked blade in an 18" handle). Nice for smoothing split wood as in western red cedar planks for salmon BBQ.
> 
> *Sure enough, just barely bumped the left side of my RH thumb at the knuckle and blood all over the place. 1/2" vertical cut into the joint.*



Hello.:yes:

















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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> See you did miss the point. The glove is not on the hand holding the tool...it's on the other hand!!!
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I'm having difficulty understanding how you could get either hand in front of the chisel. I've never seen anyone carve in that manor. When I carve I either have both hands on the chisel or have a mallet in the other hand.


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

cabinetman said:


> If you are nicking your glove, you are destined to cut yourself by not wearing a glove. If you are hitting the glove hard enough to take the edge off the tool, you're through the skin and into the bone. That's ER time and stitches. Safety is the issue here.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
I agree, I have been carving since 2003 and the only time I cut myself is when I am not wearing a CARVING GLOVE. :thumbsup: I have seen too many guys cut them selves without a glove. When I go to the carving club I always bring band aids for guys who do not wear gloves. Happens all the time!

Cabinetman is 100% correct.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

You guys are comparing apples to oranges. Steve is a two hands on the tool kind of carver. Both hands on the chisel and it's nearly impossible to cut your hand. If only 1 hand on the chisel than the other is on a mallet. Cman is talking about holding the piece being carved with 1 hand, hence the glove. 
At least this is my assumption, and we all know what happens when you assume.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Amen, sawdustfactory. There are so many different styles of carving. To try to hammer one style into another carver's experience and style is sandbox silly.
I don't do caricature, flat plane, relief or any holiday carvings. Those seem to need to be held in one hand and carved with the other. They are an enormous tribe of carvers, don't stir them up.

I carve in the round and formline relief. From 9" to 30" seems to be my comfort zone.
Two hands on the gouge, gouge and mallet, crooked knives, elbow adze = those are my life-long experiences that I'm quite content to pursue.

If you have not visited the University of British Columbia, Museum of Anthropology, you need to put 2 days on your bucket list. In the meantime, Google 'UBC/MOA' and sort through 35,000 carvings on line.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

sawdustfactory said:


> You guys are comparing apples to oranges. Steve is a two hands on the tool kind of carver. Both hands on the chisel and it's nearly impossible to cut your hand. If only 1 hand on the chisel than the other is on a mallet. Cman is talking about holding the piece being carved with 1 hand, hence the glove.
> At least this is my assumption, and we all know what happens when you assume.


Well that makes sense now. After I hurt myself I haven't made any attempt to hold the wood I am carving on. It's always put in a vice or clamped to a table.


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

Yes two types of carving hand carving and bench carving where the piece is held by anything except the hand.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I hold the wood with one hand and carve with the other, now days I just make sure my hands or fingers aren't inline with the direction I am carving, if my fingers aren't there they can't be cut.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Bob Willing said:


> Yes two types of carving hand carving and bench carving where the piece is held by anything except the hand.


Perhaps that is where the term "Hand Carving" came from. :laughing:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

I whittled my first wooden "chain" when I was 18, two weeks out of high school. A freakin' hour into the first element (a cube in a cage) I sliced the hell out of my palm. Almost 2" long gash. I cleaned it, wrapped it in a bandage so that the wound stayed closed and changed the dressing every few hours for a few days.

After a few days I picked up the wood and knife and got right back to it, while my hand continued to heal. I learned several important lessons in that brief moment of time: keep your knife sharp; if it feels like you're applying too much pressure, you likely are; don't whittle intricate trick carvings in oak.

I frequently draw the knife towards my thumb. That's often what gives me control. And the blade touches my thumb often. Yet, my thumb getting cut is extremely rare. Even when it does occur, it's very minor. Other cuts on other fingers is only slightly more likely (for me).

I do have a carving glove that I bought after removing a divot from a finger with a palm gouge while carving a near life-sized skull. I can only use the glove when carving with chisels. With knives, it feels too cumbersome and the grip somewhat insecure.


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## JigokuShoujosRevenge (Sep 4, 2014)

*I wish my brother would shut up.*

My first mishap was when using my X-Acto knife. The thing being I don't have a proper work space, (I'm setting up one now.) so I hold most of my stuff down by hand. :blink: Genius at play, I know. So I got a little impatient and applied a little too much pressure and *BOOM* stitches and tetanus shot. 
Now my brother won't shut up about it. Everytime he sees me woodcarving he mocks me.


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## Chamfer (Sep 6, 2014)

Only whittling/carving Ive done is with the tool in one hand and the material in the other. I found out about the gloves a few months after I started and never ended up buying one. Knock on wood, never had any accidents. Proper technique along with SHARP TOOLS goes along ways.

Most of my whittling was done with a detail knive and a little bit of straight knife. If any chiseling was done, it was on a bench clamped.

And there nothing wrong with making a draw cut, you cant always carve away from yourself. Proper technique is important but it is a proper way to whittle/carve.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Brother's can do that.

We have a 3 year old grandson, his brother is 8, when the 8 year old is playing and another child chases him, well the 3 year old runs after the chaser, and says, DON'T CHASE MY BROTHER, hehe, 

Dale in Indy 

"DON'T LET THE DEVIL SEE YOUR TEARS!
SMILE THROUGH YOUR FEARS!
HOLD YOUR HEAD UP HIGH, GIVE THE WORLD,,,,,,A SMILE!
JUST BE THANKFUL ALL THE WAY, I GUARANTEE IT WILL BE WORTH IT SOMEDAY!"


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## mwevre (Sep 16, 2014)

You can make paring cuts towards you without the blade running into your thumb by adjusting the grip of the knife so that your index finger runs into the base of the thumb/palm first.


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## hazimkazim (Nov 27, 2014)

everyone has been injured by carving


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## Dam8 (Jan 22, 2015)

Hi guys.
im new to the forum, but not to carving, ive been carving for sone 35 yrs. its funny, some really feel thje need for a glove, when i fought carving, it was required,( moms felt better) i'd rather go bare handed, and know, "there is a respect" for the business end of your tools. however, i agree when carving with full size chisels and mallet. i like to wear a glove, neoprene, or cotton, so as to protect the steel ( and to keep my hands from turning black!)
grea thread!!


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