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Happened night before last. I was cutting some purfling lines with a 1/2" chisel and it slipped and went completely through my left index finger. Luckily it went in through the side and came out the top, so it missed the bone and all ligaments.

Lesson: BE CAREFUL OUT THERE EVERYONE!

Ouch! Looks like it was nice and sharp!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwch!

Hope it heals up no problem man.

Battle scars!! Hope u heal quickly.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

pshhhh. I've had worse cuts on my eyeball.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Ouch. That sucks.

I can't tell you how many times I have this thought... "you know, I really shouldn't be doing this..." a split second before it bites me.

Heal quick.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

. I was just eating

i just did the same thing, but luckily the bone stopped it from going too deep.

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It is better to try and fail, than never try at all

welcome to the luthier scar of the month club . split thumbs up

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I've thought for years that one of the most dangerous tools in my shop is a chisel.....ever since one bit my finger pretty good. They seem so benign. I'm sure it'll be your last chisel accident (that's the good news). Hope you heal fast.

Awesome! I haven't seen a cut that cool in a while! Thanx for sharing!

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Here was my latest injury..... friggin chisels....

Seriously though.. nasty cut on the finger. And finger cuts suck! So sensitive and used all the time.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

"I can't tell you how many times I have this thought... "you know, I really shouldn't be doing this..." a split second before it bites me."

that's exactly how it was for me the night the chisel slipped and I went to the ER. That cost me over $500. Next time I'll just glue it up myself with a little CA.
Walter

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Walter Lay
"It's taken me so long, but now that I know
I can see. All that I do or say, is all I ever will be"
- Billy Joe Shaver

You got a good repair. I'm guessing you learned something about what to put in front of a chisel, too.

And yeah, it's surprising how often there is a little voice saying that what we are doing isn't really cool, just before something bad "happens."

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Todd - I cut the same place in late June - using a pocket knife to open some packaging - you know the tough plastic packaging that no one can open without getting hurt - the knife was sharp - thanks to your sharpening videos on YouTube, the knife slipped past what I was cutting and the gash was a deep straight line - I managed to stop the squirting of blood and it closed up in a matter of minutes under running water. The clean cut was basically painless ! so painless in fact that an hour later I was cycling, and went to lock up my bike and hit the front wheel with my palm to remove it - I started walking to the door and noticed that my shorts, shoes, and shirt was covered in blood. I decided even though it was painless, and closing nicely, to get stitches - since it was prone to reopening. I got 4 stitches. Not a fun way to spend a few days at the beach.

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

Eek!! I hate pics like that. This weekend I was using a 1/2" pattern bit to shape molds and cauls. The waist cauls are small meaning I had my hand too close to the bit. One time, the bit grabbed wrong and put me in danger. Nothing happened, but I SWEAR I could smell the scent of blood (iron). I stopped immediately (completely freaked me out) and spent an hour or so comming up with a safe technique.

Hope u heal fast. Hand tools are every bit as dangerous as power tools... It's all a matter of how fast the damage can happen. Anybody who owns a simple hammer can attest to this.

John Mayes is THE MAN!!!!! That looks like quite a story behind it.

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Wisdom is justified by her children

Lol... it wasn't a shop related injury. This was post lung surgery. I was just showing off...kinda.

But I've cut myself plenty. Never with a chisel, or power tool, but exacto's always seem to have my number!

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

WTF! I'm sitting there trying to figure out how that was a finger!!! Threads like this gross me out. You are all too funny. I will never post a pic of my mistakes simply cause I can't look at them!

Well I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who's made such a mistake! Hopefully it will be healed up within a couple of weeks. Luckily I can still carve out the neck of the guitar I've been working on, but it's a bit difficult to grab a guitar and try to play a tune. Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

P.S. John, I hope you have a speedy recovery from your surgery. That doesn't look like too much fun.

Thanks. It was over a year ago. I'm all better now. But it wasn't a fun time then!

Hope your finger feels better soon.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I used to be a butcher . thanks for sharing. We are all lucky that we have parts left after playing with sharp toys

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

You laugh.. but I do that all the time. It kind of burns when it hardens, but it stops the bleeding.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Yep, stitches are over-rated. Unless it's a plastic surgeon, chances are that you will heal better and with less of a scar if you can get it back together well with band-aids and/or tape (never tried super glue). And presuming you clean it well right away, chances of infection increase dramatically the more time you leave it open. And there's nothing worse than an already busy ER doc sewing up your hand and finding out half way through that several serious trauma patients (car wreck) are 5 minutes away by ambulance.

If it's a clean cut with no muscle, tendon, or ligament damage, I save myself the time and money.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

Thanks for posting this....
While not a pretty picture, and I'm glad I've already had lunch, every time I see one of these it gives me a healthy reminder to think twice in any of my activities with sharp tools.