Injured....again...

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Skye

Skye

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Joined
Jan 3, 2006
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Location
Rock Hill, SC
Just a word of caution: When using a Wolverine sharpening system to sharpen your scraper... stop.

I was doing this for the first time with my FIL's setup. Its attached to a high speed grinder for some reason. Meanwhile his beautiful Tormek sits unused. My scraper is normally about 60 degrees and it seemed way too horizontal to be safe but i figured its designed for this so let her rip.

Well about 5 seconds later the scraper caught the wheel and the scraper was forced down a million miles per hour smashing my finger between the tool handle and the V shaped arm. Unsure if i broke my finger tip but i can tell you thats about the worst pain to a finger that i've ever felt. Its purple, fat ad wouldnt doublt if the nail is lost. sucks!
 
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Sorry to hear that.
Probably Karma's way of telling you not to let the Tormek sit idle! :wink:
High speed grinders and sharpening are often a recipe for burned tools -- DAMHIKT :frown:
 
Wow that sucks! Glad it is only a nail you may have lost and not the whole finger!!

I use the Wolverine system all the time...I just use the platform attachment. No where to go then. (I learned this lesson the hard way too, didn't break me, but I did destroy a wheel)
 
Hmm -- My understanding is that you were not using the platform but were using the long arm -- and got the arm extended (or slipped) far enough that the scraper went down past the center of the wheel mach 1 -

A few thoughts -- and in pain it is hard to do an after action evaluation.

You would have been better with the platform - that is exactly what it is for (skews and scrapers)

You were probably taking much too heavy a grind. Only takes a few thousand of grind and that is capable with "light finger tip pressure"

Keep fingers out from underneath -

Tormek sounds really good for scrapers --
 
Hey Skye,

You're a pretty sharp guy, mentally.

When your "inner voice" tells you, "DON'T do that!!!" LISTEN to it---the older you get the more you will HEAR this voice. Also the fewer trips to the hospital you will make.

Sorry to hear of your painful lesson. But pain DOES serve a purpose--act smart===listen to your voices!!
 
Skye,sorry to hear about it but thanks for posting. We can always use a reminder to, as Ed said, listen to that inner voice!
 
OOUCH! as ET said. Please be more careful. Like stated above, whether on the grinder or a saw, when that little voice talks, step back and give the whole set-up a good second look. If you still have questions, find another way to do the job. What we do for fun is dangerous by anyone's diffanation.

Heal quickly and completly and get back to work.

Oh, by the way, you are not the first to be on the recieving end of the grinder bite.:redface::eek:
 
seamus7227 said:
I guess i'm not old enough to have the inner voice thing talk to me like that:biggrin:. Sometimes I wish it would:rolleyes:
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Then pay SPECIAL ATTENTION when you read threads like this. It is MUCH LESS painful to read about than it is to EXPERIENCE!!

Don't worry, every small pain you inflict upon yourself will allow you the chance to learn. IF you learn WELL, you can make it through the hobby for decades with all your digits!!! If you don't learn, it can be VERY painful.
 
KenV said:
Hmm -- My understanding is that you were not using the platform but were using the long arm -- and got the arm extended (or slipped) far enough that the scraper went down past the center of the wheel mach 1 -
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Yep. Although oddly enough I wasnt past the center of the wheel. I figured I'd be able to pick the tool back up later, put it in the rest and it should have cleared the wheel and fell down because it should have pushed the arm out a bit. Nope, I sat the tool back in the rest and it rested on the wheel like it did when I started grinding it. My only guess is that the tool bent and rocketed out and sprung back to shape or something. Very strange.
 
Skye,

Check a few things:
1) Is the wheel cracked now, or is there a "divot" taken out of it?
2) Did the tine of the metal section of the scraper seat further into the handle (in other words, is the tool shorter)
3) Does the tool handle have a crack that "'resealed" after the shock was over?
 
Little Consolation

In my judgement, what you did was not the dumbest thing I've heard of in handling rotating power tools. Thank the Lord that you still have the finger. Personally I have three fingers on my left hand that I thank God for everytime I look at them.
 
Ed good, questions. I havent looked at the tool real well since it happened. I'll check it out tonight. Last thing I need is the friggin thing flying apart when I try to use it next. I'll tell him to check his wheel too.

Smitty, you only have 3 fingers?! ;)
 
Skye said:
Just a word of caution: When using a Wolverine sharpening system to sharpen your scraper... stop.

I was doing this for the first time with my FIL's setup. Its attached to a high speed grinder for some reason. Meanwhile his beautiful Tormek sits unused. My scraper is normally about 60 degrees and it seemed way too horizontal to be safe but i figured its designed for this so let her rip.

Well about 5 seconds later the scraper caught the wheel and the scraper was forced down a million miles per hour smashing my finger between the tool handle and the V shaped arm. Unsure if i broke my finger tip but i can tell you thats about the worst pain to a finger that i've ever felt. Its purple, fat ad wouldnt doublt if the nail is lost. sucks!
Click to expand...

That smarts... been there done that.... only I was resetting the headstock on my lathe after a repair job..... it weighs about 75 or 80 lbs and I knew that... but was handling the weight okay... problem was I had a finger under the head stock and didn't realize it ---- until I set it down on the ways.... you're right likely you'll loose the nail, but that's better than losing the finger. It's been about 5 months and the nail on my middle finger on the right hand has almost grown back in... another month maybe... problem is the old adage... "sticks out like a sore finger (actually is thumb but won't work for my joke)".... looked like I was giving everybody the finger until it healed enough I could bend it again. It was ugly for about a month though.

---
I'll venture to say your scrape slipped down and got perpendicular to the wheel... I did that on my friends sharpening system, then we realized we should have been using the table attachment for the scraper... I didn't mash a finger, but mangled an edge until we did the right set up.
 
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