Guys, I was just contacted by Murray and he asked me to share this "letter to the community" with everyone. He appreciates all of us over here, and felt that his letter should be shared, because he appreciates our knowledge, passion, business and support. While he's not a member here, he feels that we are all part of the same community. It reads:
To my fellow Brothers and Sisters in the Cutlery industry, and to our Loyal Followers,
Yesterday, on August 27th, 2013, I smashed the tip of my left thumb under the top 50 lb ram of my spring power hammer. This happened while attempting to replace the removable top die after grinding the surface smooth in preparation to cold forge some blades for some visiting Japanese customers. I was attempting to complete four knives in only two hours so that my Japanese guests could take them back with them to Japan that same morning.
I have changed out the top die literally hundreds of times in my 25 year career, but this time I used a much smaller piece of scrap wood for safety than ever previously. The wood was not sufficient to arrest the blow of the hammer, and because it was so small, I was holding it in place with my fingers, which placed my left thumb in the danger zone.
Luckily only the very tip of my left thumb got smashed. The finger nail lifted up from the back, the tip of the last boned chipped and the flesh for about 1/2 inch got crushed. It slit in several places under the enormous pressure.
At the hospital I was lucky to get the roughest "rookie" doctor I have ever encountered who inadvertently caused me so much post-stress and pain through his "man-handling" I will be sure to never repeat the same mistake again. I now know what it feels like to have your finger nail ripped off with a pair of pliers, because that is what the doctor did in order to sew me up (very deep stitches) and (with considerable prodding and squeezing) bandage the digit.
On a serious note, I would like to make a sincere apology to all involved in the industry. As a 25 year veteran, I know I should be trying to set a good example for new folks to the industry, and my carelessness yesterday resulted in injury. I have concluded that my perfect safety record on the power hammer lulled me into a false sense of security and complacency was the cause of this accident. I also shouldn't have attempted to accomplish so much work (4 forged kitchen knives) with such a strict time limit (2 hours). The previous day I had driven the same guests up to Kirkland, Seattle and back, so I should have factored in the fatigue factor as well.
I hope this detailed explanation of this accident will be of some value to others in helping them prevent the same folly.
Again, my sincerest apologies for the lack of better judgement and for the bad example.
Stay Sharp, Stay Safe,
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Sincerely,
Murray Carter