Grumbles from the shop #4: Splinters

I know what you mean, I hate those little bas…rds!
The small ones are the worst. Usually after I finish what I’m doing I’ll go into the office and put on some binoculars and try to find it. My luck is they go straight in and break off under the skin and I never can find them. That’s when they just grow over unless it’s walnut or some exotic woods, then they just fester up and I can find them. uggghh mumble mumble.
The ones under the nails got to be the worst and the hardest to get out also.
Paper clips sanded to a point usually help to dig them out.

my experience is that … elm splinters sting the absolute most. After the first elm splinter, you always remember to avoid getting another.

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Hmmm, good reason to wear work gloves?

-- I love the smell of sawdust in the morning....

ouch…i have had a few in my days…and at 39 i discovered I may need the goggles soon…I am moving small print out a little further these days…

I cant imagine how bad it will be when I am your age…crap…this is depressing.

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

phew.. silver linings!! :)

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Know what you mean. I’ve got those WalMart reading glasses all over the house and the shop. I’ve got the 3x power ones with the tweezers.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

Hey Dennis – I think it was Harbor Freight that had a pair of tweezers that have a magnifying glass attached – that may help – other wise – if a little bit of the splinter is showing – use “Super Glue” let it dry – then lift it off and the splinter comes out – Super Glue – like duct tape – is a fix all – works great on paper cuts, blisters, small scrapes, stings like heck, but takes the hurt away, is a temporary band aid – and all is well after. Bye the Bye is it blowing out North of Town – ??

-- "Have you hugged your pet today?" ---------- Larry

Dang Dennis I was hopping to get uplifted today coming from the bedroom, my wife brought me some coffee, so picture me in my pajamas and robe and slippers dragging a bag of youknowwhat between my legs out to plop down in my chair in front of the computer expecting a great day listening to all you guys just telling me about all the money you’re making working away in your dusty little shops all over the world. Squinty little eyes peeking thru bushy eyebrows and bushy beards happy as little birdys in piles of dung in winter. What do I hear, You of all people Dennis whining about splinters. Heck, I used to bust my thumb every day. No kidding. It is now permanetly blue er dark brown well kinda brackish colored. Anyway, the guys at work even made me a thumb blocker they called it, from the top of a litre bottle of pop. They just cut it off at the very end so I could stick my thumb in it and it would’nt get broke any more. Do you know what plastic does in winter when it gets real cold. It shatters just like glass. You guessed it, the very first blow, I shattered that sucker into a gazillion pieces, most of which stuck in my thumb. Splinters? Naw that wasn’t the worst thing. Well I’m gonna drag er go back and lay down. It don’t hurt as much. Sorry bout your splinters Pal, but sometimes you know you should thank your lucky stars you don’t have idiots for buddys.

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

seems like jockmike just put everything into perspective for us! haha!!
thanks Mike, hope you are feeling better.

and Dennis, splinters can be an almighty b*tch sometimes!

-- www.darrylmasterson.com ~ www.darrylmasterson.etsy.com

Gosh, Dennis, I haven’t gotten a splinter for 2 weeks. It’s almost pleasant. Now I’m watching our for horse shoe nails and horns. Here’s looking at ya!!

-- Thos. Angle

Ya Mike come to think of it i might have a few of those idiot buddies. Buddy.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

The worst splinter I can remember having was from 1/4” luan. I never did get it out, no matter how much I tried pulling it out or poking a needle in, or as a last resort, using an exacto knife to slice the skin. I probably just pushed it in more. It hurt for a few weeks and I’m assuming it was just “eaten” by my body at some point. I found out I’m no surgeon.

May explain a few things about me, come to think of it.

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

Second the silver lining from Sister Debbie over in the amen corner! Can I get a witness!

If you don’t already have some, a pair of Uncle Bill's tweezers work great if you can get a bead on the sucker.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

ahhh Dennis you should just let it fester until it works its way out. Yeah I know that doesn’t work eather. And at 39 I too have all the magnifiying glasses around the house, it was real uguly when I went to the eye dr and had him perscribe me a pair of safty glasses for the shop. The tweezers with the magnifier attached are a blessing

-- wooley

I like the tip of an XActo knife and Quret to get ‘em out.

My local drug stores have Quret, I don’t mail order it. The link is only for demo purposes.

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

The best thing about getting a splinter is when you pull it out, Oh what a feeling.

-- Ron Central, CA

That looks like some pretty good tweezers Doug.

This isn’t related to wood, but Years ago, over 50 years ago, I was rebuilding diesel engine cylinder heads.

I used a wire brush wheel to clean the carbon off of the valves.

I developed a bump between my knuckles that kept getting larger..

There was no pain, just a bump that looked like another knuckle.

One day, I notice a black dot on the top of the bump. It was a piece of wire starting to poke through the skin.

I pulled out a 1/2” long piece wire with a tweezers, & in a few days the bump disappeared.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

I keep a proper medical kit in my studio and a smaller one that I carry when out in the woods gathering materials. My kit is based upon my experiences with the military (Medical Corp, 101st Airborne) and in various jungles around the world. To that I add some home-brew medicines.

I’ll add thorns to this list, since they seem to seek me out when I’m in the woods. Black locust and wild briar are plentiful in this part of Kentucky. I love to use black locust wood and their thorns love to embed themselves in my flesh. Good tweezers and a native poultice made from sassafras leaves, spice bush and goose grease seems to help when modern medicine offers nothing better. My grandparents “injunuity” is priceless knowledge.

Lumber is a many splintered thing…

-- Randy, Rustic Artisan, a family tradition. (No PM's - auto-deleted.) - "I am a seeker, not a follower."

I tried planting a Black Locust once, but it winter killed in our cold climate.

I’m glad it died, because I don’t like thorns.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Dick:

Black locust is plentiful around here. It is very hard and rot resistant. It’s popular for building fences that will outlast their makers.

I like to use it in rustic creations because of its colorful and wild grain. Although it is hard to work with, the results are worth the effort.

And like its thorns, black locust can produce some very nasty splinters.
Local natives have used it to make bows and darts for rivercane blow pipes.

-- Randy, Rustic Artisan, a family tradition. (No PM's - auto-deleted.) - "I am a seeker, not a follower."

Randy,
I guess I won’t be able to make any poison darts then. <(:O}#

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Once when I was at the Frank Miller Lumber Co. the salesman told be that he gets splinters from just walking past a stack of Wenge.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

When I’m rough cutting and milling my material i use the rubber coated gloves from Home Cheapo the blue or yellow. They fit nice and tight and actually help a LOT when it comes to splinters. I hate those monday morning splinters around 6:15 AM, yeah you know. The one that gets in the crease of your finger at the second knuckle…...
I know they say gloves are a danger but I feel it’s the loose “work”gloves that can cause a threat. These are a tight fitting, no hanging parts glove. I’m no salesman but I am a happier typer at night because of them….

Splinter on

-- Woodshop supplies at bulk discounts. www.getneds.com

The gloves are a good point.

I like the tight Bucket Boss or Mechanix (new, non-greasy <g>) gloves for ripping, and the grippy gloves for jointing.

I keep make up finger and thumb cots, from carver’s or hockey tape, that I keep at the table saw for ripping stock that’s been jointed. The tape keeps that sharp edge from slicing my thumb and fingers. If I make the cots a tick loose, I can use them many times before I need to replace it.

I recently bought a bunch of QSWO plywood that gives NASTY splinters when the face veneer is crosscut.

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Splinters, splinters, what would us woodworkers do without them? I don’t think I have a week go by that I don’t have one or more of them b_’s to deal with. That’s just part of woodworking my friends. I don’t mean this in a bad way, just part of the job.

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

awhile back I was working on something and didnt have the time to search for all the splinters I got.
After I was done staining, I noticed that the splinters were stained also.
Sure made it easy to get out

-- At the end of my life...When I meet my Maker...Will I be seen as...a giver or a taker