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I bought a pair of those after my accident, use them mainly when handling plane blades and similar for sharpening. I have this instinct to grab when something slips, and as was said, some things you don't want to catch.
Also just today I bought a pair of comfortable trainer type safety shoes for wearing in the shop.
Dropped a wooden chopping board in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago, and it landed beautifully, corner down, right smack bang on my middle toe. Thought I'd broken it, but thankfully I hadn't.
It was not a pretty sight though, turned black all over, but at least I seem to have kept the nail.
So thanks for posting this thread, it's actively helping to promote a much needed safety attitude.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Och laddie!
Glad to see you are back in the shop...!

25 years ago my friend and I were learning to sharpen hand tools. You can guess the rest: he put a razor sharp chisel through his palm... Later, in the ER, the nurse came in and asked him how he had accomplished that particular feat. Accomplished what, he asked. She said usually when people come in with such a wound, it's dirty and the edges ragged. This one, she said, was clean and had surgical margins! When he told her how he had done it, she was amazed, and he realized that he had learned to sharpen! (Careful with that axe, Eugene...)

When we lived in New Zealand, I was sworn to not use a bandsaw or table saw without some one in shouting distance. Now in Kenya, we have security arrangements that would shock most westerners -- the way of life here in Africa.

The plus side is that I can wear a panic button around my neck while in the shop. If I press it, the alarm sounds, I have a security guard in the shop within 30 seconds, another 4 in full riot gear and a vehicle within 3 minutes, and the security team at my wife's institute waiting for a status report. My wife is happier, and it's the one time I don't mind living with security. Not a good idea to work alone.

And yes, we've had one assisted trip to the ER after pressing the button -- not a shop accident, but me falling through a glass door.


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Doug, I hope everything is healing up nicely and good on you for getting back into the shop. Reminders about safety are always good and appreciated.

Probably not a popular question, but how did your accident happen?

I was very tired but stepped into the shop to see how easy the neck heel would carve. I wasn't planning on carving it...rather just wandering around the shop, knowing I was too tired to get into anything. I held the neck with my left hand on the bench, grabbed the chisel with my right to see how tough this wood was going to feel and BAM! It happened.

It's kind of like downhill skiing. Most injuries happen soon after someone says, "Let's just do one more run before we call it a day."

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

I've always used gloves. People have always said I was crazy. But I buy baseball hitters gloves. Very thin but good protection


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I can relate. A year ago in Breckenridge, 4 hours before our flight home, my friend said the same thing on Peak 9. We had radios. After leap frogging each other down, my son and I headed for base, fully expecting the other two to follow. 15 minutes later we were heading to the emergency room to get my friend tied up so he could travel home where he'd undergo surgery to repair a severely fractured collar bone.

Mike

I had a bandsaw injury while the bandsaw was turned off! I was just tracking the wheel when I stuck my middle finger between the upper wheel and Woodmaster CT. It feels worse than it looks.

If you used bloodwood binding the blood would blend into the binding...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Doug, wow...innocent enough and wham! Glad that you are on the mend and that there will be no serious permanent damage. I hear you about skiing accidents. Most of mine have happened believe it or not in the lift line when I relax and am not paying attention (talk about an embarrassing place to wipe out).

A number of years ago I learned a valuable lesson. I had one glass of wine with dinner then went into the shop and was ripping a piece of stock that was too short for a table saw. The stock jammed and the piece of wood between the blade and the fence flew back and glanced off the side of my head. No damage other than a small bump, but a valuable lesson learned. Absent that glass of wine, my reflexes probably would have been quick enough to sense that the stock would jam and that something would come flying back.