chrisbenjy
New member
Yesterday I learned a bit about the importance of adequate work holding.
While I’ve never posted on the forum before, I’ve browsed it enough to know that what I’ve done can be described as being a bit of a Homer Simpson.
I’m mainly working from home at the moment, like many people, in my desk job. And I’ve found myself wanting to squeeze in some woodworking in the middle of the day whenever I get chance - spending a few minutes here and there working on my current project while I wait for the kettle to boil in between calls or as a quick break during the day.
This particular time I decided I would use a chisel to pare back some tenons I’d previously cut.
I don’t have a proper hand tool workbench (due to lack of space), but I do have a black & decker workmate, which can be a bit wobbly, but works ok. Needless to say, I wasn’t using this, because it was much quicker to just use the kitchen table.
I wasn’t using clamps because, well that would take too long for a quick 5 min woodworking break and plus I’m not sure I could even clamp anything to the type of kitchen table I’ve got.
So I had my work piece secured down on the kitchen table with my elbow/forearm, my chisel in my right hand, and my left hand doing a dual role of securing the work piece to stop it from rotating, and also guiding my chisel.
I started paring - I was probably taking a bit too much off as I needed to exert a lot of pressure to keep my chisel moving through. I increased my pressure for a particularly tricky bit which I think was a bit of a knot. After a second my chisel glided through the wood, but given the amount of pressure I’d applied, my hand slipped and I lost control of the chisel, which I managed to drive straight into the base knuckle of the index finger of my left hand leaving quite a deep gash.
I’m not usually squeamish about blood, however weirdly there wasn’t actually much anyway. The queaziest part about it was that when I clenched and unclenched my fist I could see my tendon moving
I thought it probably best to go to A&E and get it checked out, cleaned and stitched if needed. The nurse said I had nicked the tendon, but with it being a cut along the tendon rather than across it, it hadn’t severed it and so it should heal quite well without the need for surgery.
She was, however, particularly impressed with how neat the cut was, which I’m calling an endorsement for my sharpening skills and my whetstone collection...
It didn’t need stitches, it’s just been taped together, and should heal well, so I think it’s a lot better than it could have been.
The lessons I’ve learnt from this are the importance of adequate work holding and having the right set up; cutting corners on safety to save a little bit of time isn’t a good idea as A&E takes up several hours (plus public resources that are better spent on people that have had genuine unfortunate accidents, and not just been stupid); and that I probably shouldn’t dip in an out of it for a few mins at a time when I’m probably not fully concentrating.
Will it stop me doing the latter? Probably not. But I will certainly make sure my work is clamped down in my workbench and my hands and fingers are out of the way! Hopefully no more A&E visits for me!
While I’ve never posted on the forum before, I’ve browsed it enough to know that what I’ve done can be described as being a bit of a Homer Simpson.
I’m mainly working from home at the moment, like many people, in my desk job. And I’ve found myself wanting to squeeze in some woodworking in the middle of the day whenever I get chance - spending a few minutes here and there working on my current project while I wait for the kettle to boil in between calls or as a quick break during the day.
This particular time I decided I would use a chisel to pare back some tenons I’d previously cut.
I don’t have a proper hand tool workbench (due to lack of space), but I do have a black & decker workmate, which can be a bit wobbly, but works ok. Needless to say, I wasn’t using this, because it was much quicker to just use the kitchen table.
I wasn’t using clamps because, well that would take too long for a quick 5 min woodworking break and plus I’m not sure I could even clamp anything to the type of kitchen table I’ve got.
So I had my work piece secured down on the kitchen table with my elbow/forearm, my chisel in my right hand, and my left hand doing a dual role of securing the work piece to stop it from rotating, and also guiding my chisel.
I started paring - I was probably taking a bit too much off as I needed to exert a lot of pressure to keep my chisel moving through. I increased my pressure for a particularly tricky bit which I think was a bit of a knot. After a second my chisel glided through the wood, but given the amount of pressure I’d applied, my hand slipped and I lost control of the chisel, which I managed to drive straight into the base knuckle of the index finger of my left hand leaving quite a deep gash.
I’m not usually squeamish about blood, however weirdly there wasn’t actually much anyway. The queaziest part about it was that when I clenched and unclenched my fist I could see my tendon moving
I thought it probably best to go to A&E and get it checked out, cleaned and stitched if needed. The nurse said I had nicked the tendon, but with it being a cut along the tendon rather than across it, it hadn’t severed it and so it should heal quite well without the need for surgery.
She was, however, particularly impressed with how neat the cut was, which I’m calling an endorsement for my sharpening skills and my whetstone collection...
It didn’t need stitches, it’s just been taped together, and should heal well, so I think it’s a lot better than it could have been.
The lessons I’ve learnt from this are the importance of adequate work holding and having the right set up; cutting corners on safety to save a little bit of time isn’t a good idea as A&E takes up several hours (plus public resources that are better spent on people that have had genuine unfortunate accidents, and not just been stupid); and that I probably shouldn’t dip in an out of it for a few mins at a time when I’m probably not fully concentrating.
Will it stop me doing the latter? Probably not. But I will certainly make sure my work is clamped down in my workbench and my hands and fingers are out of the way! Hopefully no more A&E visits for me!
