No need to strop this one.

[TarHeelBrit]

So I went through all my kit still packed from the move and found my WCF tomahawk striker. It lives in an old leather wallet with a small piece of flint and some charcloth. My intention was to strop it to give a shaving sharp edge. So after putting on a video on bushcraft from YouTube I settle down to strop the edge. It slipped out of the wallet and the edge brushed against my finger...didn't even feel it and didn't notice the blood until I felt the striker was sticky. Certainly not my most interesting hobby related injury but I think it proves it doesn't need stropping as it came this sharp from Lisa at WCF.



My hobby wound with the offending article after I cleaned the blood off of it. Guess I need to make a mask for this one.

 

[backpacker]

Ouch! I've done exactly the same only last year and to be fair I didn't feel a thing and mine was quite a deep cut, it just shows you that we need to be extra careful as this could have been far worse if out in the wilds miles away from any help even though it was only a minor cut this time!

 

[Robson Valley]

Yup = that's what I call carving sharp. You're cut before you realize it. I have masks for all my carving adzes.
Not for when they are in storage but for when they are out on the bench.
Even the simple back-sweep of a bare hand would become a world of grief.

Got myself right to the bone (thumb) with a double edged planer knife.
Just complacent. Lack of attention. Glanced the other way as I picked it up and whacked the other hand.

backpacker is correct = out in the back of beyond, damage like this is a big deal.

 

[mick91]

Nice sharp edge at least you know! I once sent a number 11 swan morton through my thumb, didn't hurt for a few seconds till I looked at it!

 

[TarHeelBrit]

Ouch! I've done exactly the same only last year and to be fair I didn't feel a thing and mine was quite a deep cut, it just shows you that we need to be extra careful as this could have been far worse if out in the wilds miles away from any help even though it was only a minor cut this time!

I guess it's true. The sharper the blade the less pain. To be honest if it hadn't of leaked I wouldn't have know about the cut.

Yup = that's what I call carving sharp. You're cut before you realize it. I have masks for all my carving adzes.
Not for when they are in storage but for when they are out on the bench.
Even the simple back-sweep of a bare hand would become a world of grief.

Got myself right to the bone (thumb) with a double edged planer knife.
Just complacent. Lack of attention. Glanced the other way as I picked it up and whacked the other hand.

backpacker is correct = out in the back of beyond, damage like this is a big deal.

I have some Flexcut carving knives and I've come close a few times. So while I make a mask for the steel I could make some for the knives as well. Good idea, thanks.

Both you and backpacker are right even a simple cut while out can turn nasty. One reason I've always had a decent FAK with me, the last thing anyone wants is a simple cut getting infected and we all know how easily that can happen.

Nice sharp edge at least you know! I once sent a number 11 swan morton through my thumb, didn't hurt for a few seconds till I looked at it!

Same thing with a number 10 blade into my thigh. One single moment of inattention and oops!!

 

[Robson Valley]

I've hafted both elbow and D adze blades from Kestrel Tool. Far more useful wood carving tools for shaping, not finishing, than I imagined.
Cold rain outside, adze day in the shop. Probably the most important consideration is to plan where the edge goes if & when I miss a strike.
2 western red cedar poles 5" x 5" x 64" need another 36" rounded off. Finish carving ain't always the most tedious part.

Those plus the Stubai 7/75 on the bench, I need protection from myself. The Stubai lives in the remains of a leather glove.

 

[TarHeelBrit]

where the edge goes if & when I miss a strike.

Still being new to wood carving and learning as I go I'm supremely happy my wife bugged me to get a carving glove and thumb guard. If she hadn't I'm pretty sure my left hand would look like a map of the London underground with multiple criss crossing scars.

 

[mrcharly]

Hmmm - you should still followRobson Valley's advice.

 

[Robson Valley]

My three adzes are carving sharp = the Kestrel elbow Baby Sitka and the D adze. The Stubai is ready for the gate.
If I miss a strike with any of those, the only thing which which will stop them is a bone in my leg.

Tonight, I trim 8 corners on each of two 64" story pole carvings in western red cedar. Couple of thousand strikes unless I miss my guess.
I wear gloves for many reasons, safety isn't one of them.

BUT, if you're of the tribe who carve such intricate things as to hold them in one hand and carve with the other, a kevlar glove
and whatever for a thumb guard = mpre power to you.

 

[TarHeelBrit]

I wouldn't say I carve intricate things yet I received the knives as a Christmas present shortly before we started packing for the move and at the moment all I've had a go at was making a few try sticks. Certainly not front page news but with each stick my cuts are getting better.

 

[Robson Valley]

THB: that is a fact. The very best that you can do is also the best that you can do.
Experience and practice are the long mile to making the cuts that you hope to see.

I am enveloped by my visions of what I see in the wood. I can't buy a pattern and hammer that into a log.
Just never worked that way.
Most of the time, what I see is what I carve. Some still fail. So be it.