HELP ! My hand.

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recane1
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HELP ! My hand.

#1

Post by recane1 »

Last night I finished the preliminary planing of my first rod. This morning after changing the bandages on my hands I bound the rod sections in string and put them in the oven. My question is: Do all you guys have sliced up hands or is there something that one can do to prevent this from hapening? I was wearing leather gloves but the bamboo just sliced right through them. I switched to a thicker pair and that worked but I really felt like I had a handfull of thumbs. What should I do?

Aaron

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WIHEXROD
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HELP ! My hand.

#2

Post by WIHEXROD »

Aaron,
Sounds like maybe you are taking off too much at a time or your plane blade is not sharp. Just a guess.
Scott

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aparramoure
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HELP ! My hand.

#3

Post by aparramoure »

Two tricks I use,,, a meat cutters glove (the one that is like a mesh) and the other which is much easier to use,, is an old fashioned "pink eraser",, yeah,,,, the kind we used in school !!!!!!!!!!! but no matter what,,, that enamel is sharp PERIOD , I have cut myself just by touching it. But the eraser will help and hold the blood loss to a minimum.

Have fun !~

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greendrake ll
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HELP ! My hand.

#4

Post by greendrake ll »

Other than a suit of chain mail,get used to it.Cuts are unavoidable.The longer you're at this,the less cuts you'll get.BUT just when you get smug and think"well,I'm over the cut phase!",WHAM.It'll bite you again.!-- :lol -->

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pvansch1
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HELP ! My hand.

#5

Post by pvansch1 »

Slow down, sharpen your plane blades, take off less material, use a pink eraser if you want, but slowing down helped save my fingers the most damage. Once you get the "feel" of what's going on you won't get as many cuts.
Keep a tube of crazy glue available for the cuts, closes right up.
Oh ya, did I mention slow down? !-- :D -->
Pete

lazydogs
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HELP ! My hand.

#6

Post by lazydogs »

I wear the gloves that are rubber on one side and nylon/cotton material on the other side. I've never been cut using those and they are about $5 at Home Depot

yorktown5
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HELP ! My hand.

#7

Post by yorktown5 »

Just don't do what I once did and use a pair of gloves with a fuzzy lining, keeping them on while I glued up the section. Took me awhile to figure the black spots in my glue lines were trapped fuzzies from the sliced through glove liner. Oops.

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canerodscom
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HELP ! My hand.

#8

Post by canerodscom »

I wear rubber finger cots like those pictured in the Garrison book on the first three fingers of my non-planing hand. They are tacky enough to give you a positive grip on the bamboo, and thick enough to prevent 99% of the cuts.

They're available at office supply stores and are dirt cheap. They last nearly forever. I've been using the same 8-10 finger cots for over 100 rods.

And they're great conversation pieces. My dear saintly mother moved in with us a few weeks ago. This past weekend I brought the finger cots in the house to wash them with dish soap in the kitchen sink. Mom asked, "What are those?" I simply replied, "Rubbers." She dead-panned back, "For whom, midgets?"

Harry

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aparramoure
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HELP ! My hand.

#9

Post by aparramoure »

Oh dear sweet mom ! ~~ Out of the mouths of babes.. Thanks for sharing.

Dave Rinker
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HELP ! My hand.

#10

Post by Dave Rinker »

Ive been using a set of hold down clamps on a slider since viewing Tom Smithwick's setup a few years ago. Its a great way to avoid slices and it allows you to safely place your hands in front of the plane to seat the cane tightly into the form on your final passes. Not something I would do any other way. I still cut my hands, but more often then not its from caressing spinning metal objects on the lathe. Something I don't seem to able to stop doing.
Dave Rinker

bluejayee
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HELP ! My hand.

#11

Post by bluejayee »

Hi Guys, I posted a 'safety alert' a couple years ago and this is a good time to remind us. My episode was a splinter in my finger that landed me in the hospital with a bacterial infection. I had to have a PIC, which was a tube from my forearm to my heart into which twice a day put Vancomycin, an antibiotic they give to AIDs patients. It was serious, so get medical help if it goes too far. I use cots with no problem for planing but this thing leaped out of a refinish project. I use gloves now. Don't forget Fred Divine died on the job!! Jay Edwards

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Brian K. Shaffer
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Re: HELP ! My hand.

#12

Post by Brian K. Shaffer »

My crimson covered knuckle wishes I read this yesterday,
and I am no where close to this stage of the build yet.
" There's no such thing as a fly fisherman wholly satisfied with his casting performance. " ~ Jim Green (1971)
" Just once I wish a trout would wink at me. " ~ Brian Shaffer

Use the SEARCH for justification and reasoning.

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lfentfish
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Re: HELP ! My hand.

#13

Post by lfentfish »

I glue the finger cots on a golfer's glove with rubber contact cement. Like it was said earlier the cots last forever, but I'm on my fourth glove. I also carry a bandaid in my billfold, even though I haven't had a cut in several years. Getting cut is just part of the learning process, I guess.

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canerodscom
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HELP ! My hand.

#14

Post by canerodscom »

Consider swapping your Garrison-esque finger cots for one Hy Flex Kevlar infused rubber left hand glove #11510. I never thought I would abandon the finger cots but one of my students talked me into trying the gloves. For me and all my students since then the difference has been amazing. Try it. You’ll like it.


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Last edited by canerodscom on 01/25/22 14:02, edited 1 time in total.

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henkverhaar
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Re: HELP ! My hand.

#15

Post by henkverhaar »

recane1 wrote:
06/04/07 07:58
Last night I finished the preliminary planing of my first rod. This morning after changing the bandages on my hands I bound the rod sections in string and put them in the oven. My question is: Do all you guys have sliced up hands or is there something that one can do to prevent this from hapening? I was wearing leather gloves but the bamboo just sliced right through them. I switched to a thicker pair and that worked but I really felt like I had a handfull of thumbs. What should I do?
My experience is: practice, practice, practice. My first few rods left me with multiple 'paper cuts' in my fingers, even with the heavy duty garden gloves (rubberized fingers) that I was using), plus calluses and cramps from manipulating the plane...; but these days I plane with bare hands, and cuts are few and very far between. In fact, the only procedure in which I still use gloves is removing dams - I split strips before moving dams, and hack of the remains of the membranes from the individual strips with my froe - a Buck Compadre 'machete'. This operation, which I also do 'freehand', by holding the strip in one hand and hacking with the froe with the other hand, has the tendency of pulling the strip out of my hand - which will result in severe cuts (don't ask). So for protection, and for better grip, I still use my heavy duty left glove for this.

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kermit
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Re: HELP ! My hand.

#16

Post by kermit »

This has been talked about before. NEVER run your hand/fingers down a strip of bamboo! When I'm handling bamboo from culm, beveled to finished strips, I always wear these gloves, always! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012 ... UTF8&psc=1 These are very flexible, provides protection on palm and fingers, yet still allowing dexterity.
Zia Rods Brochure
www.ziarods.com

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BigTJ
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Re: HELP ! My hand.

#17

Post by BigTJ »

Sooner or later you will cut yourself. It should not be something that happens regularly. This is kind of obvious but what you should do is be more careful. Whatever you are doing to get cut, think it through and stop. With basic precautions you should strive to never cut yourself.

DonT
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Re: HELP ! My hand.

#18

Post by DonT »

Welcome to the club…. I’ve ended up with the rubber infused Kevlar gloves. I wear the left one when planing. They work well on both hands for handling the culm and strips when splitting. Still get myself every once in a while just handling the planed strips but the gloves are cheap and effective.
Don Titterington
Desert Canyon Rods
West Linn, OR
Repairs/Renovations
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LeeO
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Re: HELP ! My hand.

#19

Post by LeeO »

Sounds like you are using too much force. If you are holding a strip and feel like it might slip, the you are using too force force. Outside of hogging the amount of force you use while planing is minimal.

If your hand slips, you are going to get cut.

For what it is worth, I don’t use any hand protection while planing
Lee Orr
304 Rod Company

http://www.304rodcompany.com

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Don Andersen
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Re: HELP ! My hand.

#20

Post by Don Andersen »

I switched to the cheap gloves similar to Harry’s recommendation many years ago. Haven’t had a cut since. Got pairs scattered everywhere, garage, car, truck & shop.
Bought my first pair when the clothing salesman picked up a dime wearing them.
Use them for splitting, straightening, rough planing.
Finger cot for final planing only.

Don

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