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I haven't had the problem of getting cut on the corners of my 1963 Marples chisels. But,if I did,I'd just hone the corners a little bit. My hands are fairly tough anyway from working all my life with tools,though.
I would NOT round the edges as badly as some of the highly polished German chisels are. Some come with very excessively rounded corners.
Last edited by george wilson; 05-26-2016 at 8:01 PM.
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Mike, I don't hone the lands if the sides are already sharp. Working the back seems to keep the sides sharp enough. Bot sure if that will be true in 20 years or not, but I guess I'll find out.Originally Posted by Mike Cherry
I have several vintage mortise chisels that were restored from trash status, and on those I ground the sides and then honed them on PSA and stones. But I haven't retouched the sides since.
Contributor
Sounds like a typical day in the shop for me, and as often as it happens its still a surprise, like, where did that come from?
Contributor
Me too. I often think that most of my work has a blood mark from me on it. The CSI people would have a field day with me and my projects!
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
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Thanks Steve that clears it up!
Member
Flattening convex chisel backs as a sharpening newbie left me with a lot of those kinds of cuts, especially with narrow chisels that make it hard to keep the edges of my fingers away from the burred edges and still maintain pressure. Honing and actually using tools is less dangerous so long as I don't get fuddle-fingered, like when I recently sliced my thumb trying to catch a slipping marking knife. Using steri-strips and butterfly bandages to 'stick' the edges together once the bleeding slows reduces the pain (because the wound's edges aren't rubbing against each other) and makes for quick healing and minimal scarring (scars are more slippery than skin, so it's worth preserving the latter).
Thanks for mentioning that; cheap white athletic or medical tape is so tough and has such strong adhesive that it's the perfect defense, especially if you're like me and hate working for long with gloves on. I've used cloth tape handling rough brush, fixing all manner of back country hardware, climbing, and making mini field splints for injured digits, but I never thought about using it to avoid tool-related cuts. It's time to dig out that 1" roll floating around the bottom of the first aid box.
Member
I often super glue small cuts together. Don't let the glue go down into the wound and it will work very well. After all,wasn't super glue developed for use in surgery?
Member
Tissue adhesives (Dermabond, Vetbond, etc) are cyanoacrylate resins, but they're from different families than ordinary "super glue". Tissue adhesives last a lot longer on skin and sting less going on (the latter helps a lot with the kids).
The cheap way to go is Vetbond, which is $15 for a multi use bottle that will seal up a lot of cuts if you're careful not to let it get plugged. The "human rated" Dermabond is $20-25 for a single-use applicator. Vetbond is n-Butyl CA, which is more irritating than Dermabond (2-Octyl CA) but it's still a lot better than non-tissue CA. Unfortunately my wife won't let me use Vetbond on the kids, so I keep both on hand.
Last edited by Patrick Chase; 05-27-2016 at 11:27 AM.
Member
Thanks, Patrick, I wondered why regular superglue doesn't really work. It would be great to have something that would close a cut while blood is still present, so I might give VetBond a try.
Member
You have to at least slow the bleeding before tissue adhesive will work.
If I have a deep cut (which unfortunately happens more often than it should - my old scoutmasters would be appalled at my safety practices) I usually do initial closure with a butterfly bandage or surgical strip and direct pressure if needed, and then follow up with the CA once it slows down.
You might be able to use some of the newer anticoagulant powders instead to get the bleeding under control more quickly, but while I have some on hand I've never used them and won't for anything short of a full-on emergency. The idea of potentially introducing coagulants into the bloodstream makes me nervous for reasons that may or may not be rational.
EDIT: I learned all about the differences when I showed up at the ER with a deep cut across a knuckle that ended up requiring 6 stitches, that I had initially sealed with standard Satellite City CA. I talked the assistant into dissolving it with acetone (unpleasant) while the ER doctor wasn't looking so that they could clean and stitch it. When the Dr found out what I'd done and what I'd convinced her asst to do I got a bit of a lecture.
Last edited by Patrick Chase; 05-27-2016 at 6:51 PM.
Member
Super glues were made so water was a hardening agent. My favorite is whatever the grocery store stocks!!Really,for minor cuts,they all have worked fine. I'm not recommending superglue for BAD,DEEP cuts. The glue stops the cuts rubbing together,thus eliminating the irritating pain.
If I stocked the special glues mentioned,even in the fridge,they would have hardened up by the time I cut myself,which is just not very often.
Contributor
I should have replied to Mike as well.
My experience is the same as Steve's. Vintage mortice chisels are often a little rusty in the wild. They get cleaned up, but the attention is typically given to cleaning off the rust and ensuring the back of the bevel is flat. What is missed is that the back of the blade is used for about 2" of its length, and that the lands shave the side walls of the mortice when the chisel is worked back-and-forth. It is not advisable to restore the lands by honing the sides of the blade, as this will alter its dimensions. Some light work on a diamond plate can be done to smooth away irregularities, but mainly the work is done by flattening and polishing the first 2" of the back of the blade. This is what I do with the modern mortice chisels I have (all mine are based on the Oval Bolstered design). All I can add is that the difference between a mortice chisel with sharp lands and one with dull lands is like night and day.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Member
Derek, I agree with you that it's better not to mess with the lands too much, if it can be helped…but I've had several chisels where width was actually a bit less at the tip than up an inch or two. Obviously, a chisel like that will be bind, and has to be fixed. It's usually not that big a deal to alter the dimensions, since old pigstickers are rarely dead-on .250", .375", or whatever dimension we were hoping for! As I'm sure you have encountered!
My 5/16" mortise chisel started as 3/8 chisel. The width was tapered the wrong way, and it had a hunchback of Notre Dame-like bulge halfway up. I heated it to orange, forged it flat, annealed it, rehardened and tempered it (the tempering took two tries), then reground all four sides.
I would not recommend this course of action to anyone!
"For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert
Contributor
It's rare that I cut myself, but when I do I seem to make up for lost time! The worst are Japanese crosscut saws, they make a nasty cut!
The last one I did was so bad that my wife did not stop to lecture me. She was however very angry with me for cleaning it and taping it rather than getting stitches.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
Contributor
I keep the little Locktite Liquid Control, and Gel Control bottles all the time. They have a neat little twist top that keeps it good for a long time after it's opened, and the squeeze things on the side work well. The liquid is good for small cuts, and the gel is holding my shoes together. The gel works good on small wood assemblies too. They're on a peg in Lowes and Home Depot where all the other glues are.
Super Glue was developed for wounds during the Vietnam War.
http://www.staples.com/office/suppli...FP1hoCvv3w_wcB
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