# Hand Protection While Whittling



## LeahR (Oct 10, 2015)

I've recently taken up whittling and am very much enjoying it.

My first project was with cedar and it went well. However now I'm working with macrocarpa and have cut myself twice already.

I'm hoping that time and experience will help me get a better at preventing mistakes like that, but until then I'm looking into hand protection.

I've done a little bit of reading on it and it seems that thumb guards are popular, but so far my thumb has been fine and I've cut my two middle fingers instead. 
I've looked into protective gloves a bit, but it seems that the more protection you have, the less flexibility your hands have. As I'm working with reasonably small bits of wood, flexibility is important to me.

Any advice, experience or information you can give me would be very much appreciated.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

I got a great deal on kevlar gloves, they protect my hand and are very flexible. Have you looked at wood
carving vises and holding fixtures, they help to keep your fingers a little farther away from the blade. One
more thought, the sharper the blade, the better it cuts the wood, not the hand.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

Depending on what I'm carving I use Kevlar gloves or just a leather thumb protector.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## BasementShop (Nov 3, 2014)

Those that carve wear the glove on the holding hand and a thumb guard on the carving hand. It will save your thumb when pulling the knife to it in a paring cut.

You won't lose dexterity wearing a glove. And you get to keep that red dye running through your veins inside where it won't stain your work inappropriately.

And - learn this lesson early - sharp blades make carving and whittling a pleasure while dull ones make it a chore.

Here is a great place to get your carving and whittling goodies.

Basement Shop


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

When I was taught to whittle I was told: "Wear a Band-Aid on your thumb now or for a week after whittling" Your choice Just put on finger guards over your cuts and keep them there while whittling.


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## paratrooper34 (Apr 27, 2010)

There are some really nice (and reasonably priced) gloves out there that are cut resistant. We use them at work. They are very thin, thus you have very good dexterity, and they really work. They have a rubberized coating. One day, I took one and slashed it with a razor knife with a brand new blade. Zero penetration into the inside. Below is a link to one type.

https://www.nationalsafetyinc.com/Terminator-Abrasive-Cut-Resistant-Gloves-P168277.aspx


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

Black pepper will coagulate your cut faster so you can get back to whittling.Just sprinkle a little on before the bandage.


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## LeahR (Oct 10, 2015)

Sorry for such late replies. I've been sick and busy, which is really not a good combination.

Thanks so much for all your input!

BluePine
I haven't thought about them at all. It sounds like they could be useful, thanks!

BasementShop
Thanks! Unfortunately Treeline's overseas shipping costs are quite prohibitive. I might look for something closer to where I live.
I'm trying to keep my blade sharp, but I have a lot to learn about that. I have an oil stone, a steel, and a leather belt/strop. I've been sharpening kitchen knives for a year or so, and I'm slowly getting better. I'm finding my whittling blade more difficult to sharpen (it's this) as it's thinner, shorter, and has a strong curve. Any advice on this would be great!

helluvawreck
Thanks!

Jim Finn
Thanks! I've heard that several layers of duct tape works too. I might try something like that while I work on a longer term solution.

Mike
Thanks! I see lots of different types of gloves, but it's really hard to tell how well they hold up. It's great to hear from someone with first hand experience.

Aj2
Thanks! I'll have to try that. I'm not so much worried about the cuts themselves, but rather the idea of accumulating a lot of scar tissue on my fingers.


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