Monday, August 20, 2007

Sharp Things

No surgeon could have cut a thinner slice from my thumb.

The rule is simple, don't put anything on the sharp side of a tool that you are not happy to cut.

Using a chisel like a paint scraper to remove glue while holding the workpiece with your hand across from, but in front of the chisel is just not very smart.

It didn't even hurt, the I keep my chisels sharp, real sharp, so after the chisels arc intersected with flesh and blood the tiny nick on my thumb just bled quietly.

Just enough to let me know that if I had been less fortunate, I'd be wandering down to A&E asking the nice doctors if they would kindly stitch me back together.

Skin, tenons, ligaments, and even bones will offer little resistance to a sharp chisel moving at the speed of stupidity.

It's cold comfort that nothing more than good fortune stood between me and an afternoon in A&E.

1 comment:

Jake said...

Ouch! I have a scar in the back side of my thumb where I cut myself with an Exacto knife a few years ago. I probably should have gone to the emergency room, but I decided to just super-glue the skin together. It healed fine, but there is a thin scar about 2cm long.