ThomasPowers Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 The spread in the use of barrier gloves is rather noticeable these last couple of decades...often a good thing as I think back on some of my chemical and biological exposures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Little Blacksmith, you should celebrate the fact that your hands are dirty. Dirty, calloused hands are an indication of hard work. Some folks never have dirty hands. More's the pity for them. They are the ones who have a handshake like a limp fish. My right hand is always grubbier than the left, as I wear a glove on the left and the right gets the ingrained grime from the hammer handles. Industrial, gritty handcleaner works OK, but you never get total clean. I don't take any notice of criticism. Sometimes my face is dirty too, especially when you wipe the sweat with a hand that has been shoving charcoal around the forge. It's the nature of the craft. It is what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackdawg Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Don't worry about it littleblacksmith, just tell them it is totally expected that a young man of their age would have very soft and supple hands, particularly their right hand, its the "mosituriser"...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 9 hours ago, Tubalcain2 said: I seem to be the only one in my family that thinks so, though My family as well But let anyone in the family have car or small engine problems and see who they call. My brother has the same clean hands he was born with but called a couple days ago with a car problem when I started to tell him what to do he put his wife on the phone so she could X it out. When I said something her reply was "do you really want him to touch anything mechanical?" My daughter called a few yrs. ago one night and asked about changing frt. brake pads on a Tahoe when I asked where her husband was she told me "holding the light" and she was 7 months pregnant ! I got his lazy butt on the phone and tore him up one side and down the other, I did a tap dance last yr when she divorced him. I've gone to using dish detergent my wife has by the kitchen sink seems to work pretty good on grease and dirt just like the ads say. Hopefully she will not decide to run me and my cloths through the dishwasher some night! JHCC you ever considered not picking up a knife type object? Wow lucky your not sporting a Hook on that arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted November 2, 2016 Author Share Posted November 2, 2016 1 hour ago, ausfire said: They are the ones who have a handshake like a limp fish. Nothing more annoying than one of 'em! I cant stand them, although I do have to remind myself sometimes to be a little "soft" when shaking elderly women's hands, but still, I have gotten some good shakes from them too! at least better ones then I have gotten from full grown men! 2 hours ago, ausfire said: Sometimes my face is dirty too, especially when you wipe the sweat with a hand that has been shoving charcoal around the forge. It's the nature of the craft. It is what it is. that too! I come in from forging an my parents say that I look like I was working in a coal mine! they don't ever understand how I get so dirty. Getting filthy and drenched in sweat is one thing I look foreword to when I forge! some people just don't get it, and never will, no matter how many times you tell them. but then you mention that you play with hot steel and now how to swing a hammer, and they suddenly act like the understand, but mostly out of fear. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 1 minute ago, notownkid said: JHCC you ever considered not picking up a knife type object? Wow lucky your not sporting a Hook on that arm. Couple of funny stories there. That part of the hand is apparently very difficult to anesthetize, as there are a number of different nerves that all have to be numbed. With the long slice, they had to use an entire bottle of Novacaine, but I was still practically screaming in pain. Quite impossible to display my manly cool for the (really, really cute) female doctor who was putting in the stitches. On the other hand, the crescent-shaped cut got cleaned up and bandaged so well by my (Red Cross-trained) daughter that the ER doctor decided that it didn't need any stitches or other dressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 2 minutes ago, JHCC said: Quite impossible to display my manly cool Getting My last stitches I was mooning and yelling so bad my wife suggested a rubber hammer instead of Novacaine they all thought it was funny and she is a nurse. I didn't. I've used super glue on a cut a few times. My X did research on that 40 yrs ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 My crushed fingertip was due to moving a fully charred large Oxy bottle over a concrete floor that had a patch of ice on it I hadn't seen. When it hit it and started sliding out I cradled the valve stem in my hands and went down with it. Unfortunately my right little finger was under the part that hit. They gave up counting after 6 breaks in the last joint and for many years you could see the scars on the end where it split and spurted out. The Dr said that he could splint it and it would look great but never bend again or he's splint it overnight and next day we'd break open the joint and if I kept working it it might not be pretty but it would still work to a degree. I chose the path of pain and the nurse was trying to fit a multi legged finger guard on it and had bent out the plastic legs so as to not touch the finger---and then they slipped and all of them slapped it simultaneously and I burst out laughing. Freaked her a bit but her expression for what was obviously an accident. So I asked her if I would be able to play the piano after it healed and she assured me I would---"That's funny because I couldn't play the piano before this happened..." Ahhh youth.... She got her paybacks the next day..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 8 hours ago, notownkid said: Getting My last stitches I was mooning and yelling so bad my wife suggested a rubber hammer instead of Novacaine they all thought it was funny and she is a nurse. I didn't. I've used super glue on a cut a few times. My X did research on that 40 yrs ago. Mooning and yelling ??? Hopefully you meant "moaning and yelling" ds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Dave51B I didn't say where the stiches were being placed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 3 minutes ago, notownkid said: Dave51B I didn't say where the stiches were being placed! Sounds a little cheeky to me.......... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 I wear a glove on my left hand, it's actually my forearms that are more scarred, including a dandy of a scar suspiciously shaped like a bottle opener, along with a couple zillion teensy scars from hot metal flakes. All the more remarkable because I'm still very "young" at this, haven't been doing it that long. Maybe OLD skin scars more easily..... Whatever, I'm not entering any beauty contests anytime soon, my scars are like my gray hairs - they have tales to tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 I attend an old farm area church and I'm proud that my hands don't embarrass me when I hold them up to receive communion, they fit right in with the cotton farmers and ranchers on either side of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubalcain2 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 16 hours ago, littleblacksmith said: Nothing more annoying than one of 'em! I cant stand them, although I do have to remind myself sometimes to be a little "soft" when shaking elderly women's hands, but still, I have gotten some good shakes from them too! at least better ones then I have gotten from full grown men! I have big hands that have been strengthened by milking cows twice a day and being used for everything u can imagine. None of my friends will ever shake hands with me anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 My father, at one time a baker, reconed kneading dough was the best way to clean your hands....! I often use washing up liquid without water initially as I find swarfega tends to dry the oils out of my skin. if the grime is ingrained, I pat the soapy damp palms in sand to make a scrub, washing up liquid and washing powder work well too. As for my nails, I keep my right hand nails long if I can for guitar playing and a tip I came across to make them easy to clean is to scratch a block of soap before commencing work. The soap can then be easily scrapped out at hand wash time and brings the crud with it leaving nice clean nails. I only tried it once, worked well enough, but I couldn't stand the soap under my nails but the oil, grease, filings and swarf don't bother me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 If you want a "grit" less hard on the plumbing get your 20 mule team borax Flux out and add it into your hand soap. Or just get Boraxo hand soap; the original unscented is still around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 6 hours ago, Tubalcain2 said: I have big hands that have been strengthened by milking cows twice a day and being used for everything u can imagine. None of my friends will ever shake hands with me anymore. What friends? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubalcain2 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 you, dork. i'm in the chat room, pop in. 1 minute ago, C-1ToolSteel said: What friends? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 " ,,,Boraxo hand soap..." Long, long time since I've seen any of that in the UK..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 I was surprised to find it was still available in the "original formula" instead of the "new and deproved" version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Hands should be dirty and scarred. No shame in that - it's a sign of having actually accomplished something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Is that one of the 12" landscape timber nails? If so; I once bought a bucket of used ones at the scrapyard and made cubical wall hooks and sold over 25 of them at work...people would walk by and see my jacket hanging on my cubical hook and wanted one themselves. I need to source another batch of nails... They were much better than the plastic cube hooks sold commercially. (I also have one of my dragon headed cube hooks made from 1/2" sq stock; but the price on them is *much* higher!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 21 hours ago, VaughnT said: Hands should be dirty and scarred yes they should be! something people just don't understand though! here's a poem I wrote, posted it earlier on another part of the forum, but thought I would also share it here. It seemed rather fitting for this topic. Hands By: Mark Ling (me) Too many people don't know the feeling you get from working with your hands Won't know Can't know will never get them dirty will never do anything more than type text and feed themselves will never feel the joy using a draw knife in fresh cut cedar Will never hear the beautiful song created at the anvil the feel of hot steel under the hammer Unforgettable Will never have memories of helping fix moms car or working with dad to fix the barb wire fence will never know the satisfaction you get after eating a meal cooked over a wood fire the wood split with the axe you made the Dutch oven hanging on a hand forged tripod eating the food you just killed and cleaned unforgettable people say my hands are dirty disgusting unclean scarred I tell them they are a book a book that tells a story a story of hard work a story of dedication a story of passion a story of the times when sweat was pouring off of you and you kept going even though others said it was impossible The callouses from swinging a hammer swinging an axe making hand drill fires a story a story that's unforgettable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 13 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Is that one of the 12" landscape timber nails? It sure is. I get my 12" nails from Ace hardware because they're they only place I've found that deals in non-galvanized nails. I used to got Lowe's and Home Depot when I needed some, but stripping the galvanizing off was a bear of a job. You can also get the same shank diameter in 8" and 10" nails. Sometimes the 12" is too long and I hate cutting off the ends.... so buying the shorter versions is a good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 I have never seen nails longer than the standard 6" variety. A 12" nail would be a great starting piece for any number of forgings. What I really want are some of those 100mm duplex nails to make little swords for the kids at demos. There is one company here that makes them but only in buckets of 15kg or so. Can't get just a few. Seems no-one uses them much anymore as builders use easily removable screws for formwork nowadays. Anyone willing to send me a dozen if I pay the cost and freight?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.