Thread: A sad day

Originally Posted by Grumpy John

...if all you have is a rubber mallet, everything looks like a ...

... cam lock lever.

[QUOTE=
I'm 60 years old now and grew up in a time when "safe work practices" were not as prevalent as they are now. Quite a few people say that we're living in a nanny state, and to a certain extent I agree. However if I had my time over again I'd be picking up that hammer every time, I'd also be wearing my ear muffs as I'm pretty hard of hearing as well.

.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for all of the info John, it is interesting how these things develop. I will have to rethink hitting the camlock lever on the big metal lathe, as I do use the heel of my hand to do up and undo it repetativly. Lets hope the doctors can give you some relief. I am 58, so can mirror your bit about ear muffs, I have had both my ears repaired, but the left one has gone down over the last year, so I toddled off to a specialist, and he said he cant redo the repair, it is a one off, it is now nerve damage, so a hearing aid for me.
regards,
Crocy.

It's not just cam-lok levers but spanners, allen keys, banging a hubcap on with the heel of your hand. Constant use of the heel of you hand can/will over time cause damage. The thing is when we're young we think we're invincible and none of these things will affect us in later life. At work I'm always going on to the "young ones" about safety and the need to think about the consequences of your actions, I've seen too many lives ruined as a result of workplace accidents.

Hello John,
Sorry to hear that and I hope that not all is lost. I know of 2 woodies in our club (Eltham) that have had CTS and had their operations and after many hours of execise are back into general wood work and turning again. Lets hope things will look better after you have seen the specialist.

Joevan.

Hi John,

Hope things improve for you shortly and you can
get "back to the front".

Best wishes.

Allan

John, CTS surgery is a very minor affair these days requiring only one or two sutures. You'll be home again the same afternoon and recovery is very speedy. There's no reason why you can't be back turning in a week or so.

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

I keep a rubber mallet next to my lathe & use it on my cam lock levers.

What an eye-opener! I read the post above the quote, about thumping machine vice handles with the heel of a hand, and immediately thought "Whew! I always used the big copper mallet for that", and never thought about thumping the woodlathe camlocks (which I used to do, regularly, up until about 3 seconds ago).

So, John, best wishes for your hands, and thanks to this thread (& Cliff), my hands are now a bit safer!

My Dad was a DLI safety inspector (Dept of Labour & Industry - predecessor to WorkCover), I worked at WorkCover for 4 years, I have my kids trained to grab safety glasses if there's a machine or tool running in the shed or garage when they enter, I still have all my fingers, toes & eyes, yet I never even considered that thumping camlocks could be A BAD THING.

Cheers,
Andrew

There are "right" spots on the heel of the hand. The meaty bumps rather than the middle of the palm. Or the side edge of the hand, like a karate chop. But it is prolly still best to have a hammer of some sort cos you really need a black belt to do it proper like. Or just do up tight not super tight.

Rotten news John. Let's hope for a good outcome.

Originally Posted by tea lady

...Or just do up tight not super tight.

I have one that slips if I don't give it a thump.

No good Grumpy

You will just have to concentrate on that photography whilst on the mend and hopefully in time and a few mods will come good.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and wishes. Neil, I have been concentrating on the photography lately and the slippery slope re. accessories and gadgets is just as steep as the one for wood turning .

Was wondering today if it was sanding that did it. If I try and sand with a little bit of paper in a clenched fist my whole arm cramps up. (from a previous injury ) I have to use a big bit and ...... Its hard to explain. Anyway, no clenching the hand.

Originally Posted by tea lady

Was wondering today if it was sanding that did it. If I try and sand with a little bit of paper in a clenched fist my whole arm cramps up. (from a previous injury ) I have to use a big bit and ...... Its hard to explain. Anyway, no clenching the hand.

I have that problem also, even with no injury. Make yourself some sanding paddles like a wooden spoon, rounded one side, flat on the other, with a big fat handle, get some double sided foam tape and stick on sandpaper torn to size. Use the rounded side for inside bowls, and the flat for outside.

Recently I acquired an angle drill and 1, 2, and 3 inch sanding disks and holders in grits from 80 to 320.

I can now go from a split 1/2 log to ready to finish in 2 hours. Assuming an 8 to 10 inch bowl.

I think you recently also discovered power sanding.