How not to reach for your angle cube!

[Dennis Hibar]

I originally posted this on the Spyderco forums …. then today, figured you enjoy it …. or not!!

I had my WE set up and ready to touch up the edge on my Spyderco Cat Wednesday evening (the knife I normally have in the pocket of my fleece, around the house, lounging pants). The steel is 440C, sharpens nicely, but doesn’t hold an edge as long as some of the premium steels.

Anyway, went to reach for my angle cube (as that is what I use exclusively, not paying much attention to the degree markings on the WE). The angle cube was on the back side of the WE set up and I had to pass my hand over the blade to reach it. You know, I hate aging eyesight. My depth perception at short distances isn’t what it used to be, even wearing progressive lenses. Anyway, long story short … misjudged the distance between my hand and the blade! Thought I might be able to repair the damage with my standard application of super glue ….. but soon realized that would be a no go. The end result:

The thing to note here is that this was all before I started touching up the edge!! The WE does produce a wicked edge!!

The really embarrassing thing about this is that it is not the first time I have “nicked” myself reaching across the blade for something. This was the worst, however. I should have learned by now!!

PS … I’ve touched up two more knives since then …. and am keeping the angle cube in front of the WE set-up!!

[Mark76]

Oops! That looks like a serious injury! :ohmy: Hope you’re doing well… you sound not too bad.

I always had to laugh when I read the warning on the WEPS box: “Your knives will become dangerously sharp … handle with care”, because it sounds like cheesy marketing blurb. Obviously I too can testify knives get very sharp on the WEPS, but I guess we should take the warning seriously…

Recover well! Good health!

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Dennis Hibar]

Mark ..

Luckily, while the cut was very deep, I missed the major vein running up my thumb, and I didn’t hit any tendons or major nerves (I think!). On the bright side, I did give everyone in the ER a good laugh when I told them to put a rush on it because I had to get back home to finish sharpening the culprit knife!! Anyway … lesson learned …. for real this time!

[Ziggy]

Ouch!

I have not done that … yet … but have been oh so very close so many times.

Trying to avoid that, a while ago I started setting up the WEPS on a platform (the container I store it and parts in), about 10″ up from a low table I like to work on.

Everything I need is then lower and to the sides.
Think I’m gonna actually just build a quick open front box for it, so the hands have to pull back and lower and under to get the paddles, cube, towel, sharpie etc.

[Steven Pinson]

Great lesson to be learned there for all! I am moving all of my accessories to the front of my stand, just for this posting.

Thank you for sharing. Heal fast!

[BassLake Dan]

I know there are trade off in dextarity and comfort, but Kevlar gloves are used regularly in production areas where sharp knives are in use. Here is one for only $19.95. There is some controversy as to how well these things actually protect against very sharp blades, but you can always give one a try and see what you think.. There are many manufactures of these things and I am sure a Google search would reveal many options.

If anyone finds a *great* one, maybe they could report back here. Thanks -Dan

[Dennis Hibar]

I know there are trade off in dextarity and comfort, but Kevlar gloves are used regularly in production areas where sharp knives are in use.

Dan …

Still feeling quite foolish here! Interesting … the gloves are something that never would have crossed my mind. In theory, it sounds like a great idea. Never having used them, makes me wonder how they would actually be in practice. After your post, I looked around and found many types of these. Many were coated with some type of latex for grip. My first thoughts were that wearing any type of glove would make things a little more difficult (even if providing for cut protection). Guess I would need to see some first hand reports on this and then actually try a pair on to determine fit. For now, I am just trying to be “aware” of what I am doing at all times and NOT placing things I need on the back side of the WE!

[Bruce Guignard]

Sorry you had to learn the hard way. Maybe your mistake will make the rest of us a little more conscious. One thing I have noted (the hard way) is that when in the vice, a knife does not give way. I like the suggestions to keep all the stuff in front of the vice. Keep on sharpening.

[Mark76]

I know there are trade off in dextarity and comfort, but Kevlar gloves are used regularly in production areas where sharp knives are in use. Here is one for only $19.95. There is some controversy as to how well these things actually protect against very sharp blades, but you can always give one a try and see what you think.. There are many manufactures of these things and I am sure a Google search would reveal many options.

If anyone finds a *great* one, maybe they could report back here. Thanks -Dan

What do you guys think? Will a glove like this protect against stabs with a not-very-sharp knife? I was thinking of getting one for use with my oyster knife.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Scott Babineaux]

Sorry to hear about your injury Dennis. I’ve done the same thing myself reaching for my computer mouse to update my knife database. WEP was between me and the mouse with one of my kitchen knives mounted. Got a nice scar on the very edge of my hand opposite my thumb. Luckily it was shallow and did not bleed at all; super glue worked for me.

Cheers.

[Robert Nash]

Man Dennis – :ohmy: sorry to hear about that 🙁
Thanks for stepping up to share though to get the rest of us thinking about our setups so we don’t do the same thing!
Bob

[Robert Nash]

BassLakeDan wrote:

I know there are trade off in dextarity and comfort, but Kevlar gloves are used regularly in production areas where sharp knives are in use. Here is one for only $19.95. There is some controversy as to how well these things actually protect against very sharp blades, but you can always give one a try and see what you think.. There are many manufactures of these things and I am sure a Google search would reveal many options.

If anyone finds a *great* one, maybe they could report back here. Thanks -Dan

I’m curious too. I’ve had a number of folks tell me about these gloves but I’ve never tried them. Anyone out there have some experience with them. I’ve heard you can grab a blade and yank it away from someone – only hearsay though….

[Ziggy]

ONly down side I can think of on the glove idea is feeling. For instance, my fingers are always touched the edge bor bur and general smoothness, also feeling the edge after wipedowns.

On a grinder I do gloves as you have a good chance of it getting grabbed, especially when polishing.

I hate taking goves on and off.

Just my 2 cents.

[Dennis Hibar]

I’m with you here Zig. As hard as I try, I have a hard time imagining using the WE while wearing gloves … though, I would like to see some first hand reports. For me …. I can say with a good deal of conviction …. that I have learned my lesson. The minor nicks I received in the past were not enough to impact me like this last one. Now … it is everything to the front of the unit and always double check where my hands are in relation to the mounted blade! I have even take cue from someone in an older thread, where a magazine or something like that was tented over a mounted blade if it was not actively being worked on. I just uses an envelope (the flap drapes nicely over the blade) to cover the blade if I take a break from sharpening.

[Bruce Guignard]

For me, I am likely to be less careful with gloves, so the benefit would be negated.

Also, I place something like a shoebox over my WE when I have a knife in it anytime I leave it unattended.

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