I was working with a striker early this month. At one point a tiny piece of slag shot into my finger. Naturally it burned as it cooled. It hurt a little and of course I tried to dig out what I could and kept working. Well three weeks later it still feels like there is something in there. I have dug some tiny bits out 2 or three times now but it just swells back up and feels like there is still a splinter in there. I've gouged around with a needle and just can't seem to find it. It's not a big deal but does anyone have a secret to locating these little devils and getting them out for good? This is also in a spot where a hammer callous has developed.

Has anyone else ran into this elusive slag projectile annoying sliver problem and has a solution short of gouging out the affected area?

If you had access to an MRI, you could let the super magnet pull it out. I don't have a serious answer though. Sorry!

Slag or schrapnel?

the magnet idea is not so silly, if you bought a rare earth magnet of a small but reasonable size you may feel the attraction and know there was something there at least

One of my cousins had something similar happen, but I think it was machining chip. He ended up going to the doctor, who took an x-ray, located the offending objects, and did a local on his hand and opened him up in the office. A few stitches later and a week or two of light duty and all was back to normal.

I remember the story because the doc used a regular office rubber band as a tourniquet on his finger so he could work, and my cousin was not too impressed by that even though the outcome was excellent.

Phil

Just stick the finger in an induction coil. As it heats up it will melt it's way out! Gravity is your friend.........and your enemy.

Well, metal not slag.

Go to the drug store and buy a can of Prid. I open the area with a needle put some
this Prid salve on a band aid put on the finger, most times the offending object
( wood, metal whatever) will be on the surface the next morning, Some times takes
a couple days. I have had my can for 20 years and wouldn't be without it.

Leave it to Grant to find more uses for induction heating!! Maybe a market in the medical field??

And don't forget your tetanus shot.

Last time I pulled a steel splinter it was out of the back of my hand after a striker hit a glancing blow.Took a pair of Vice-grips and clamped them on the end and yanked it out only to find it had hit an artery. The striker fainted and I had to go to the ER. I`m always surprised by arterial bleeding. Who woulda thought it`d shoot that far? :o

It is simple, but could take some time. Good to have a helper available too. Find a suitable container to soak the finger. Fill it with very warm but not uncomfortably hot water. Give it a few squirts of dish detergent. Watch T.V. Be patient. Change the water whenever it gets cool. It may take hours, but eventualy the splinter will come shooting out.

kinda like the wire from a wire wheel I had stuck in my side. I didn't think it would ever come out. eventually it worked its way to the surface,,I think havin the lil woman pull it out hurt worse than it bein there. It'll fester keep it clean and it will work to the surface.

1 more thing,,,your stiker should feel so bad,,he keeps you supplied with beer for the next month :)

Go to the drug store and buy a can of Prid. I open the area with a needle put some
this Prid salve on a band aid put on the finger, most times the offending object
( wood, metal whatever) will be on the surface the next morning, Some times takes
a couple days. I have had my can for 20 years and wouldn't be without it.

Prid!! I second this! It works wonders on slivers, splinters and the like.

If you had access to an MRI, you could let the super magnet pull it out. I don't have a serious answer though. Sorry!

One day at the old job I was lacking sleep and had a foggy head and got a metal sliver. So I asked one of the mechanics if he had a fine pair of needle nose pliers to pull it out with. Anyway he told me just to use a magnet to bring it out. He had me there for nearly ten mins before I was able to work out just how much he was BSing me. Not one the brighter moments but it made that Monday go by faster for everyone else

Wow, that story about the artery was pretty scary. Bob, what if you were at a hammerin in the middle of nowhere? I would be just tempted to immobilize it and leave it in. Gotta watch out with those errant strikes. I almost had a catastrophe happen. Missed by mere inches. Good thing the striker was an EMT.

One of my bicycling buddies was hit by a truck and took a branch right through his wrist. It healed over the branch, and 3 months later the bump erupted and a rotten old stick came out. Good thing he did not get infected, since he did not have healthcare. Couldn't go see a doctor either.

I'll have to look into that Prid. That plus pine tar sounds good for self care. Careful of those soft parts.

I have a cool little mild steel piercing in the fingernail of my left ring finger as a result of a missed lick with the hacksaw. It didn't go deep enough to hit the quick, so I left it in. For the past month I have had a tiny steel burr as an integral part of my body; now it's about to grow out.

Closest thing to a piercing I'll probably ever have.

Go to the drug store and buy a can of Prid. I open the area with a needle put some
this Prid salve on a band aid put on the finger, most times the offending object
( wood, metal whatever) will be on the surface the next morning, Some times takes
a couple days. I have had my can for 20 years and wouldn't be without it.

We used to use mutton tallow but it's hard to find these days. If Prid works anything like that, it is a miracle drug. It will draw slivers when all else fails!

I had a co-worker that picked up a lot of shrapnel in Nam and years later little bits were still working their way out.

The new rare earth magnets are actually powerful enough to give a pretty good tug on magnetic materials and the magnifiers with the light around them an really help too.

I'm more of an excavate until you can get the splinter out type of fellow cause open trenches seem to heal faster and better than well holes!

Arterial bleeding? PRESSURE! Then Hie thee to professional help! Tourniquets are generally not suggested these days---except for when they are mandatory of course...

Thank you all!
I believe there has been some good advice given in this post that will be useful to me because I needed to hear about it.
Usually buy the end of the summer my hands and forearms (under arm) look like an African porcupine.
On occasion I collect a goodly number of steel splinters that imbed in my fingers tips from working with steel.
But I am more likely to accumulate wood splinters that imbed in my hands and under-arms from working with rough cut timber.

In addition to splinters, I fight dry skin cracks that usually form outward from around my fingernails, especially on my thumb and pointing finger.
So over the years I have used Tweezers, Tape, Glue, Magnates, Band-Aids, and Lotion to draw out the slivers and heal up the cracks.

So now due to this post, I will buy some “PRID” (drawing salve for slivers) for only about $4.00 dollars.
I will also soak my fingers and hands in warm soapy water.
All of that being said; I am a little weary about putting my finger in an induction coil as Grant suggested.
I will just wait until Grant demonstrates just how it works so I will do it correctly

And don't forget your tetanus shot.

Don't be daft, once it's been in the coil it will have quaterised the wound
safe as houses like!

Hope it heals soon Ted.

Ian

I think Ted T summed it well. Thanks for the help all!

Ian; actually I think that method could result in severe damage to the ear drums so be sure to put on your hearing protectors before trying it!

I know this topic is an old one but its helped me too!
I have had a splinter in the palm of my hand and the heal of my left foot ( how it got there? God only knows) for what seems like weeks now and have tried everything to get them out.
The littleXXXXXXX must be of a high carbon content to get through my skin esp. my heel and also barbed cause till now they have resisted needles, craft knife, band aids and numerous soakings in hot water.........................
Induction heating coil big enough for my foot mmm after you Grant!!!

Amputation! Yes that wil solve the problem. And right before you keel over you place my name as beneficiary to all you blacksmithing tools.

That will make it easier on the survivors as they would no longer have to look at that wasted equiptment.

Carry on