Injury Warning!!!

[cabinetman]

We've read a lot about kickback, and other than using good operating sense, there can be those times that just happen. But, this warning has to do with splinters.

I'm mentioning splinters during table saw use as some of my worst injuries have come from the edges of plywood and lumber while cutting on the table saw. Just handling the sheet to the table and manipulating your hands on the sheet to make a pass can catch a loose splinter and drive it deeply into your hand. I've had it happen with chunks so large it pinned my hand to the material. They can be long and sharp. With hardwoods, they are long grain and very stiff and sharp.

Care has to be taken when sliding your hands along the edges of material. Wearing leather gloves may help, but I find that gloves can be a detraction. You may feel gloves create a doubt that they compromise your "feel" during the procedure and may not be safe to wear.
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[BobSch]

Good point. I haven't caught any large splinters—yet—but even the small ones can be a distraction—the last thing you want when close to a spinning blade.

I thought of gloves, but the idea that a glove could get caught in the blade and pull your hand into it was enough to convince me otherwise.

[leehljp]

I thought splinters was an accepted part of woodworking!

Seriously though, you are right! I have had my fair share of them, large and small.

[Gator95]

I keep a pair of tweezers in the shop for just this reason.
F'n lacewood is the worst.

[LinuxRandal]

Splinters can also be a warning that you have a void in the wood. That can make a distracting situation, worse.

[iceman61]

I just got a splinter out of my knee that had been in there for over a year. When it initially happened, I looked down to see a 3" long splinter sticking through my Levi's & into my knee. Not knowing the angle of entry I broke the splinter off & never could find the part that was below the skin. I tried to cut & clip away as much skin as I could stand but could never find it. It finally came to the surface a few days ago so I could finally get it out & boy was I glad. Dug it out with my trusty Case pocket knife.

[crokett]

If a splinter breaks off and I can't get it out, I've discovered the easiest fix is to let it fester for a few days until some fluid builds up then squeeze and it usually comes up enough to get it with tweezers.

[billwmeyer]

Good warning! I have been injured once with a miter saw, and the reason that I got hurt was that I was wearing gloves. The power was released and the saw was spinning down. The blade caught the excess glove from my little finger - I have pretty short little fingers, and it pulled my hand into the blade and stopped it. Luckily the injury was small. slight cuts on 2 fingers and a bigger cut on 1 finger. Since I am diabetic, my wife had a fit until I went to ER, but it wasn't that bad, just a lot of leaky red juice.

I will never wear gloves around power equipment again. If the saw wasn't free spinning they would call me lefty.

Bill

[RayintheUK]

If a splinter breaks off and I can't get it out, I've discovered the easiest fix is to let it fester for a few days until some fluid builds up then squeeze and it usually comes up enough to get it with tweezers.

That's my MO as well, but when I was making a two-seat conversion from a church pew, I was final sanding the detail in the top rail by hand, using a folded-over piece of sandpaper to really get into the angles.

As the sandpaper travelled along the edge, it kicked up a sliver with the leading edge of the sheet and my forward motion drove the resulting splinter right into my forefinger, which was pointing straight ahead. I bit on the end and pulled, spitting out what I thought was the whole thing.

After a couple of days, the finger was considerably more painful and swollen, so I went to the local A & E. They sent me off with some AB pills and when I went back, the nurse had a bit of a dig about and - "Voila!" the real splinter, around an inch long, which had driven in down to the knuckle!

Ray.

[annunaki]

Pain Free Splinter Removal

Assuming there is a little exposed, yet maybe not enough for tweezers
Just put a drop of quick drying wood glue on the spot.
After it dries, simply peel it off along with the splinter.

[cabinetman]

If a splinter breaks off and I can't get it out, I've discovered the easiest fix is to let it fester for a few days until some fluid builds up then squeeze and it usually comes up enough to get it with tweezers.

I wouldn't suggest waiting for an infection to set in. Some people have an allergy to some woods and don't know it. The reaction may be just from exposure or handling. Allowing wood to have access to our bloodstream can deliver some severe reactions. Then, to compound that with an infection...well I'm no doctor, but it can't be good.
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[ironhat]

A friend ih her early 60's got a small splinter and couldn't get. As in Crokett's method she let it beal and squeezed it. It didn't pop out but it did pop in (not the splinter, just the pus). Nearly a week later while leaving a visitor to a friend in the hospital she collapsed just outside the doors. Short story is that the bacterial that she squeezed into herself went into her blood, set up house on a heart valve and destroyed it. The colony was acting as a poor substitute for the valve and it began to fail. She had it replaced and she's good to go now.

[twistsol]

If a splinter breaks off and I can't get it out, I've discovered the easiest fix is to let it fester for a few days until some fluid builds up then squeeze and it usually comes up enough to get it with tweezers.

That's how I handle them as well, if that doesn't work, my nurse wife can dig them out with little pain and almost no damage.

A couple of years ago I was chiseling the tounge out of a groove for a new window sill and had a splinter ride up a chisel and stick between my index and middle finger on my right hand about an inch and a half or so long. I got most but no all of it out. After about four months, a cyst had grown around it and the tendon to my index finger. The surgeon added about $2500.00 to the cost of that window.

I nearly always wear gloves now, but I can count five different cuts on my hands at the moment so apparently I forget ... alot.

[crokett]

I wouldn't suggest waiting for an infection to set in. Some people have an allergy to some woods and don't know it. The reaction may be just from exposure or handling. Allowing wood to have access to our bloodstream can deliver some severe reactions. Then, to compound that with an infection...well I'm no doctor, but it can't be good.
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Where did I suggest that is the only way do it or advocate anyone else do this? I merely said it is what I do. I know there are better ways to handle a splinter, but that is what seems to work best for me. It certainly causes less damage to my skin and heals faster than trying to dig it out.

Oh and I realize there is a risk of the infection spreading so I should probably qualify my original post to say that I wear gloves to minimize splinters and only do this on the really small ones. If I can pull it out then I do.

[chopnhack]

As for handling large stock and plywood, would fingerless gloves do the trick C-man? Most of the weight rests in the palm area when moving ply, so, I would think these would be useful. Anyone care to chime in?