gloves are a no-no...but what do you do to keep splinters out of your fingers/hands?

I must have tough skin. I routinely remove chips, swarf, etc. with my bare hands. the secret is to treat it like hot iron. The lightest of pressure exerted. Just like happens with a bed of nails, it takes a certain amount of pressure to penetrate the skin. I occasionally will get a sliver or a cut but not often enough to change my ways. I actually have more problems with wood splinters.
 
So in *my* shop, with *my* set of safety protocols, I always use gloves when using the lathe. No, not nitrile ones, but real, skin fitting kevlar gloves with very thin gripping surfaces. (the cut resistant variety)

--- now before you guys blast me about OSHA, all safety protocols are a complete system with compromises and assumed risks and mitigated risks. I have written exception protocols for OSHA Alberta, so I've had to write in these kinds of things...

IF:
1) you NEVER have your hands closer than 6" from any moving part, and keep your hands 12" away for normal operation
1a) Your lathe files are always used left hand and are more than 14" long in OAL
2) your shut off on the lathe cannot be restarted with one hand in one operation with the other hand near the rotating parts
2a) My lathe has a start button on the headstock and then needs the lever on the carriage to start the spindle, which is more than 24" from the chuck... (yes I suppose I could touch the chuck with my left hand, but that is usually on the carriage handle)
3) the glove is a close fitting one that does not have any extra 'floppy material than can get stuck in things, I.E. like a nitrile or stretch glove that needs hand-proximity to catch.

... only then can I see using gloves on my lathe, nitrile or not.
 
When I was working as a machinist years ago I ended up getting a tiny tiny chip in my eye. We all wore safety glasses but things happen. I had to go to my Dr to get it out. He put some kind of dye in my eye and was able to find it.
 
I had a steel splinter embedded in my eye once. Because I was stupid and waited a couple days to get it cared for, it developed a "rust ring" around the splinter which had to be ground off my eyeball. Not a pleasant experience. Take care of your eyes! They're the only ones you'll have!
 
I've had a chip hit my eye before. I was wearing safety glasses, the kind that wraps around. Somehow, the chip must have hit my forehead and rolled down behind the glasses. Scratched the cornea. Wasn't 20 mins and I couldn't open my eyes because just the light was too painful. Inside of another 20 mins I couldn't open the good eye because the light was too painful.

Ended up in emerg with a blindfold on.

Dock looked at it with the dye and saw the scratch. Luckily, there was nothing in it. Some cream and drops for a couple days and it cleared up.

Do whatever you have to protect your eyes because sometimes, even that isn't enough....
 
Last edited:
jbobb1 said:
I had a steel splinter embedded in my eye once. Because I was stupid and waited a couple days to get it cared for, it developed a "rust ring" around the splinter which had to be ground off my eyeball. Not a pleasant experience. Take care of your eyes! They're the only ones you'll have!
Click to expand...
I had a similar situation, I always wear safety glasses but a chip got under and embedded in my eye lid and just kept scratching my eye. Dr had to roll my eye lid back over pretty far to find it.
 
People who work on watches and clocks are well equipped for removing splinters.

IMG_0060-dsqz.JPG


Rick “got one in my thumb right now” Denney
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top