Feet Protection?

[llc1952]

I was carving away today on my divan with a towell over my lap and my son came in and said, "Mom, do you know that you have a huge pool of blood under your foot?" I looked down and blood was kinda gushing out of the top of my foot. Guess I dropped a gouge on it and didn't know it! I padded it and stuck tape over it and it's fine--kinda sore tho. My son used 2 liters of club soda and baking soda and managed to clean the 12" diameter pool of blood on the carpet. So, if you grew up going barefoot and have tough feet, keep an eye on them while carving--or at least don't be clumsy with your gouges

[Nomad]

Re: Feet Protection?

Dang that is scary Lynn. I'm glad it was not worse. Some years back I dropped a small Pfeil gouge when I was wearing sandals and it left a perfect gouge mark in my toe. I remember moving my foot to "catch" the gouge so it would not strike the concrete floor. Duh.

[rickm]

Re: Feet Protection?

my wife always yells at me for wearing shoes in the house. Just found a good reason to wear those shoes.

[susieq]

Re: Feet Protection?

Yeah, open toed shoes, flip flops and bare feet are kind of a "no no" when you are using sharp hand tools..... I did stained glass for many years and would not even let guests into my glass shop unless they had full foot coverage...preferably leather shoes.

Quite a few years ago, I heard of an elderly woman in our area who lived alone and one day the mirror over the vanity in her bathroom, came down, cutting the top of her foot. It severed a large artery.... she had just enough time to grab a towel and sit down on the toilet lid, apply the towel to her foot and was dead within (they estimated) 5 minutes.....she bled out.

The towel acted like a wick to draw the blood out. If she had only applied pressure without that towel, she might have made it..... The neighbor, who always looked out for her, noticed that the morning paper hadn't been picked up and called the sheriff's dept for a "welfare check". They found her right where she had sat down.

We don't stop to think where all our large arteries are but we have some in the feet.

[Kadiddle]

Re: Feet Protection?

This is a wake up call for us. Check over our carving situation and take corrective action. Thanks for this Lynn, hope you heal fast. Susie, wow that was awful.
Carve On,
Kadiddle

[Brian T]

Re: Feet Protection?

Never fooled around in the shop without real shoes. I don't trust myself. I don't like the odds. Even so, my feet have been hit with all sorts of things like mallets & chunks of wood. A 30oz mallet falling less than 36" still hurts.
I have let two gouges fall on the concrete (memo to self: get some cheap matting). Wonderfully musical note as they land, bevel first. My chorus was less than musical.
Dress for success.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Re: Feet Protection?

Those of us on blood thinners and/or with diabetes and neuropathy in our feet really need to be mindful about what we wear when carving. Not only can the initial injury be dangerous but often healing that wound can be even more of a challenge.