Guitarists and Tormek - Cutting Yourself a Regular Occurance

[jobewan]

I am a woodworker and a guitarist. One of the problems/concerns I have with sharpening is the high liklihood of cutting the tips of your fingers.  I am careful, and I try and focus on my work as much as possible.  Dealing with these tools that we want razor sharp inevitably leads to a multitude of minor cuts.  I need to minimize the amount I am cutting myself - it is interrupting my guitar playing. 

Does anyone have a method or device that avoids these little cuts and slices that we seem to get?  Tormek provides a stock of Band Aids with many of their tool packages.  I now see why.  Are there gloves that people wear?  But if you wear a glove how do you check for burrs etc?  Should I just live with it, or is there anything I can do to minimize these cuts.  I have two currently from this past weekend. 

Sorry to be such a whiner - but its a pain - especially when the string on the guitar gets caught in the slice and rips it open again.  Anything?

Thanks in advance folks.  I appreciate any suggestions.

Joe

[jeffs55]

Me thinks he doth jest. Seriously though, are you serious?

[RickKrung]

I completely think he is serious and not joking and that his question should be taken seriously.  I am not a musician, but I get what he is saying.  I do not have that much of a problem with cuts on my fingertips, but I sure wouldn't want the strings ripping into my cuts, if I was doing something like playing a guitar.

I do not have any solutions or suggestions on avoiding the cuts, other than the lame "be more careful".  I think it is a matter of attention and keeping in mind what you are doing all the time.  A year and a half ago, I had a momentary lapse and I tried to move my T8, which was on an 18" high stool, while a knife was on the stone/USB.  It fell off and stabbed me in the wrist, requiring a solo run to the ER and 3 stitches. 
https://forum.tormek.com /index.php?topic=3606.msg24259#msg24259

Some may note, I did not get any sympathy...

Rick

[jobewan]

Hey Jeff,

I wondered if people would think I was yanking their chain a bit.  Unfortunately I am serious - I have a good slice out of my middle finger on my left hand, and another on my thumb where a thumb pick rides.  It sounds really lame, I know, but my wife suggested that I try filleting gloves, but I just dont see them working in this situation.  So I am wondering if any other guitarists/woodworkers have encountered the problem?  I know the two hobbies are often tied together. 

One thought was that liquid band aid stuff - not a preventative,but possibly a short term fix.  I am not aware of a good enough one to protect when those strings hit my fingers.  I have been playing for close to 50 years, and have built up the callouses needed to play effectively.  Cutting through a callous is no fun.  It means basically starting from scratch building it up again.

So, yes its a serious question.  I understand why you might think otherwise, but I am not "taking the piss".  I dont understand that phrase btw...  :-)

Joe

[Ken S]

Joe,

I was never amused by Tormek including the band aids; it seemed like a marketing trick in poor taste to me.

I think being careful and using light pressure will carry the day.

Ken

[Stickan]

Hi,
I am a bassist and guitarist too, the first 6-7 years I worked at Tormek I had gigs more or less every weekend.
I was never concerned regarding the sharpening process since the Tormek sharpening process is very gentle. As Ken wrote, don't stress. Its not the tormek products that would be the isue, its how you work with the tools.

Best,
Stig

[Rob]

I'm also a guitarist and I've been using the Tormek for circa 10 years.  I'm sorry to be a party pooper but......."pilot error" springs to mind.

if you're that ham fisted then actually wearing those thin workshop style rubber gloves that you buy in packs of 6 from Costco would probably help.  Just find another means of thinking through your burr.  in fact, thinking about it, I never "touch" the burr along the length of the edge, only across it.  it sounds like your technique is dangerously off.

[Ken S]

Joe,

As a musician, you know that focused practice and experience develop skill. You also know that they develop self confidence. Using the Tormek is no different.

When I was working as a telephone man, one of my every day carry tools was a "blue knife". (The name was from the color of the handle. They are now sold at hardware stores with orange handles. They are designed to remove the outer insulation of telephone and electrical wires. I still call them blue knives.) We were also issued one kevlar glove, the theory being that we only needed to protect the hand not holding the knife.

I would suggest that you get a pair of kevlar gloves. I don't think you will need them most of the time when using your Tormek, however, they are nice to have in reserve and useful for other activities.

Work carefully and build your skill and self confidence.

Ken

[Twisted Trees]

Quite simply do not test the pointy end with your fingers! there are many ways, my preference is letters from the tax man, if I don't have any of those then a piece of straight grained wood will do. or a piece of fruit for kitchen knives. Please be aware that the point of sharpening is to make things more able to cut so keep fingers off those bits!

In truth you are better off with small cuts from a slow wet stone than accidental contact with a high speed grinder, so stick with the Tormek, and don't test the sharpness with your fingers.

[cbwx34]

I am a woodworker and a guitarist. One of the problems/concerns I have with sharpening is the high liklihood of cutting the tips of your fingers.  I am careful, and I try and focus on my work as much as possible.  Dealing with these tools that we want razor sharp inevitably leads to a multitude of minor cuts.  I need to minimize the amount I am cutting myself - it is interrupting my guitar playing. 

Does anyone have a method or device that avoids these little cuts and slices that we seem to get?  Tormek provides a stock of Band Aids with many of their tool packages.  I now see why.  Are there gloves that people wear?  But if you wear a glove how do you check for burrs etc?  Should I just live with it, or is there anything I can do to minimize these cuts.  I have two currently from this past weekend. 

Sorry to be such a whiner - but its a pain - especially when the string on the guitar gets caught in the slice and rips it open again.  Anything?

Thanks in advance folks.  I appreciate any suggestions.

Joe

Hey Jeff,

I wondered if people would think I was yanking their chain a bit.  Unfortunately I am serious - I have a good slice out of my middle finger on my left hand, and another on my thumb where a thumb pick rides.  It sounds really lame, I know, but my wife suggested that I try filleting gloves, but I just dont see them working in this situation.  So I am wondering if any other guitarists/woodworkers have encountered the problem?  I know the two hobbies are often tied together. 

One thought was that liquid band aid stuff - not a preventative,but possibly a short term fix.  I am not aware of a good enough one to protect when those strings hit my fingers.  I have been playing for close to 50 years, and have built up the callouses needed to play effectively.  Cutting through a callous is no fun.  It means basically starting from scratch building it up again.

So, yes its a serious question.  I understand why you might think otherwise, but I am not "taking the piss".  I dont understand that phrase btw...  :-)

Joe

So, I read both your posts, and I'm either missing it or don't get it... how exactly are you cutting yourself?  During sharpening? Checking the edge for sharpness?  Using the blade after it's sharp?  In use after sharpening I can see it, but how you took a "good slice" out of a finger (other than a one time accident?), I don't really understand, especially if it happens as a "regular occurance".

If it's testing the edge for sharpness, get a "Razor Edge Edge Tester"...



...once you learn how to use one, you can easily tell if a blade is sharp, still has a burr, etc. with pretty good accuracy.  Combine it with a paper slice, and you'll know all you need to, without ever touching the edge.  (And quicker easier and cheaper than a BESS tester that someone will undoubtedly mention....  ).

If it's during sharpening, I'd like more info on how... it's pretty hard to do on a Tormek IMO.  Maybe just a little "course correction" is needed?