What I worry about

[Anonymous]

What I worry about is people not knowing how to respect a really sharp knife. I’ve been on this earth for 70 + years, and not until recently have I known a really sharp knife. After sharpening my first knife using the WEPS, I cut myself… I never even knew it until the blood started gushing. How did I do it? Simple.. the same way most people feel the edge of a knife , you gently rub your finger across the edge.  I did that with my first WEPS knife, I never felt anything… but the blood would not stop gushing until I applied enough pressure… I only nicked the surface, but for what ever the reason it would not strop bleeding.. when I looked at the cut. the minute I removed the pressure and the bandage, it would start right up again.. So a word to the wise.. Have some respect for what this machine can do.

It took me 70 years to see what a really sharp knife is all about. I now look at my knives with the respect that they deserve.

Bill aka ET

3 users thanked author for this post.

dulledge, cliff58, Alan

[jumpstat]

I too learn’t it the hard way. Due lack of concentration, I dropped a PM2 after it was sharpened on the WE. It was probably about a foot and a half away when it struck me leg on the side. Man, it was a small nick but I think it went in tip first. Blood was every where. Put pressure on the wound and thought after a few minutes it would stop, but alas it did not. It seems that the cut was really deep. Anyway, it subsided after awhile. No major issues luckily. From that point forwards, sharpening works on the WE do have my full attention.

1 user thanked author for this post.

dulledge

[Alan]

I totally agree.  I stopped doing the “three finger test” awhile back, after sharpening knives on my Gen 3 Pro.  I would quite easily, without even feeling it, receive a cut.  Very little blood, but those cuts, that are I guess 1st degree, the ones that don’t bleed much, the ones that just barely cut into to the red.  Maybe slightly more than a paper cut. These cuts seem to hurt the most, and demand a band-aid.  And I’m seriously barely even touching the edge, as lightly as possible.  No more “three finger test” on WEPS sharpened knives for me.  New respect for sharpness.

 

Alan

1 user thanked author for this post.

dulledge

[tcmeyer]

jumpstat tells the most serious story.  A bad cut on your hands and arms may cost you the use of a finger, but it ain’t going to kill you.  That femoral artery running down your thigh will, however, turn the lights out in minutes or less.  Next time you’ve got a muley or whitetail propped between your knees for disassembly, pay attention to where that blood-covered, slippery gutting knife is pointed.  If the worst happens, keep your wits about you, and as fast as you can, rip your belt off, wrap it around your thigh and crank it tight using your camp saw or a piece of wood, just above the cut.   Then pray that your buddies (you do hunt with buddies, don’t you?) can get help quickly.

2 users thanked author for this post.

dulledge, jumpstat

[Colin]

*medic here*
hands, feet, and anywhere on your head will always bleed the worst when lacerated due to the large number of capillaries in those areas. If you’re on a blood thinner like warfarin for atrial fibrillation or even take baby aspirin daily, if you have an underlying clotting issue, even nosebleeds can exsanguinate you and be dangerous. When injured, do not remove the old dressing if it soaks through, add more dressings and direct pressure until it stops. If you’re prone to nicks here and there and take blood thinners, there is a coagulation powder that can be found at any drug store called “woundseal” and is essentially civilian quik-clot. It’s only about six bucks and a single package can stop a major laceration. Hurts like hell, but works great, we use it in the field.

As for home made tourniquets, a belt works well, but any cloth will do, just wrap it around you, two inches above the top of the incision towards your body, and get a stick, put it under the cloth and twist it to increase torque on the wound. If that doesn’t stop it, add another tourniquet two inches above that. If that fails, add another!

Got a call, gotta go. But everyone here should have a package of wound seal, and stay safe!

1 user thanked author for this post.

CliffCurry

[Mark76]

You don’t want to know how many pics of injured people have come by here in the past few years. Be careful!

And it’s not just sharp knives. If you don’t take care it’s also possible to hurt yourself while the knife is clamped in the vise. Maybe this can help you: https://moleculepolishing.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/554/

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Colin]

Fish monger/butcher gloves. Good idea!

[Mark76]

Yeah, only be aware that it doesn’t help your control over the knife or the WEPS. They’re mandatory for any newcomer who wants to use my WEPS, but I don’t use them anymore. They’re Kevlar gloves, by the way, and I think I only paid EUR 10 or so for them.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Anonymous]

My worry is that people, in general, do not know what sharp can be… I’m an old guy, been a hunter for 55 years, have been sharpening knives for the same amount of time. IM familiar with single edge razors, and box cutters, and factory edge knives of all varieties. I’ve never been in the position to whittle a single hair into three strands, but a WE edge can do that. When your life experiences are factory edges and general sharpening practices, you have not experienced a really sharp knife. LIke I said, being fairly experience with knives and at my age , few things surprise me…

The edge of the very first WE edge did just that.. it surprised me… I now respect my knives in a much more focused way. I could never wear gloves when using my hands to handle a knife sharpening chore. using the WE system.

[tcmeyer]

I’m in the same boat as Bill – couldn’t wear gloves while working on my WEPS.   Partly due to a neurological deficit (poor sense of touch) and partly because I can’t find gloves that fit me.  I’ve got XXL hands, but only L finger length.  Any glove I can slip my hand into will have overly long fingers.   Mittens fit.

I seem to be wearing at least one band-aid at any time, but very few are caused while working the WEPS.  The most frequent cuts on the WEPS are to the outside base of my left thumb, where I catch it on the tips of very pointy knives during my return stroke.  Luckily, that’s an area which heals very quickly.

Right now, I’m wearing a tiny band-aid on the far end of my left index finger.  A small cut, but in an area which is constantly bumped and therefor slow to heal.   I had picked up a very small folder I was using to trim the film weather seals on my windows.  When I applied pressure with my index finger to what was supposed to be the spine of the knife , I was very quickly made aware that it wasn’t.

[Josh]

Tom, could you cut the left thumb off of some cut resistant gloves and just put that on your most prone thumb? lol. May work!!

[Author]

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