I was helping one of the elders in our Church load some new trees at a tree farm for use on the Pastor’s property. We placed a board on the back of the trailer to hold up the trailing end of the trees and I got a large long splinter in my finger. I have not had a good splinter in my hand since I used to do lots of framing. I dug it out this AM with a nail clipper, skimming the covering skin and accessing the splniter. It felt good upon exit.
How do the carpenters here on BT get splinters out?
Replies
A few months ago, I got a large splinter in the fleshy part of my thumb. The splinter was longer than an inch, and extended past the joint ... so I could not bend my thumb without a lot of pain.
I tried pulling it out. Couldn't even begin to take the pain. I tried digging it out with a razor blade. In too deep; hurt too much.
My solution was to ignore it, and not bend my thumb for a couple weeks. Finally, the skin around it died and dried out, and I cut it out.
I am a wimp when it comes to pain.
Allen
New razor blade, done soon enough that it's all still numb.
Xacto knife with a new blade, cuts so clean you have to be careful to not overdo it. And the sharp point helps with persuading the splinter out...
Then antibiotic salve...them splinters can be realllll dirty.
Exactamente !When my kids were little, every kid in the neighborhood would come to me to get splinters removed, because I could do so, painlessly.I use the new x-acto to get to the splinter, and to coax a bit of it proud of the wound. Then use a re-filed set of tweezers to grab the splinter. Then cover the wound with triple anti-biotic and a bandaid. Next day you don't even know you had a splinter.The tweezers are refiled so they close evenly, and they have more of a point than what the factory gives them. I use the ones with an angle on the end, not just a point. That way, you can use just the point, or you can use the broader, angled face.
Tremble before me puny humans!!!!
but first I need a nap... ~MisterT '06
How do the carpenters here on BT get splinters out?
I'm not a carpenter, but if I can't pinch it out on site, I usually use a needle and tweezers when I get home. Dig it out. Maybe widen the hole or make a new exit hole for it.
jt8
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success." --Albert Schweitzer
Edited 9/12/2006 9:34 am by JohnT8
i second the x-acto blade procedure
occasionally make models for work. Already have the x-acto, tweezers and hemostats for them. They make great secondary emergency surgical devices . . .
I have a toolkit (of course!) - 'eyeshade' style magnifiers, dissecting tweezers, needle, antibiotic ointment -
dissecting tweezers perchased from a college bookstore - very sharp, pointed, and accurate -
Utility knife. If it's really dirty or dull, I change blades. I try to pull the sliver out, but I cut it out if that doesn't work.
For some reason, after many scrapes and cuts on jobsites and it the wilderness, I've never had an infection.
zak
"so it goes"
Luka has it.
Either purchased razor sharp tweezers or make yer own by grinding and antibacterial ointment are a must for every firstaid kit behind the truck seat.
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. A bird sings because it has a song.
Woodworking stores (like Rockler and Woodcraft) sell a tweezer specifically designed for wood splinters, and that thing works better than any other tweezer I have found (including one I bought at a medical supply place that docs use for splinter removal).
I keep a sewing needle tied to the tweezer above (with thread), and that combination will work on just about any splinter.
Sterility is really important, so I fire them with a match or light before I start digging. Use soap and water to wash out the wound if it's available, triple antibiotic cream if you can't wash.
I have found that splinters are not to be trifled with. If they become infected, the infection can spread to other parts of your hand, and then you are in a world of trouble.
********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Wife's grandfather was an eye sugeon at Boston Memorial. He left her this 'tool kit' when he died. We use it for removing splainters, ticks, etc. I've found a lighted magnifying glass mounted on the workbench works great when in the shop.
Otherwise, dig it out with tweezers and a needle.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Go to Lee Valley and look up tweezers. They have a couple nice ones. I've used the first one. Very handy for splinter removal.
Magnifier Tweezers
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To remove those bits that you can't see but know are in there.
Hinged joint lets you adjust magnification as necessary. Very handy in the garden, shop, or anywhere else.
Made of stainless steel, with a quartz glass lens. 3-1/2" long.
Magnifier Tweezers 86K98.05 View Image View Image View Image View Image
$5.95
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Corneal Tweezers
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Designed for delicate corneal excisions, these surgical stainless-steel tweezers are tipped with notched teeth that intersect for an extraordinary grip.
Ideal for delicately removing elusive slivers, plucking errant debris from fine finishes or retrieving small things from near-inaccessible places, they are manufactured with finger grip holes along the flex-steel arms for outstanding control. 4-1/4" long.
Corneal Tweezers 81D40.21 View Image View Image View Image View Image
$8.95
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jt8
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success." --Albert Schweitzer
I have found that redwood splinters are the worst. Out here (SF bay area) you can get "uncle bill's tweezers", good sharp point for a coupla bucks. Sometime I have to dig around with a needle to get a good grip.
Sawduster got the one I was recommending -- "Uncle Bill's Sliver Gripper."http://www.slivergripper.ca/********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I can get 99% of my splinters with a utility knife and finger nail clippers.
If the splinter is sticking out, I grab it with the clippers.
If its imbedded, I dig it out with the knife, and then grab it with the clippers.
I don't get splinters.....I give them.
A different approach here. It would depend on the severity of the splinter. One is to apply duct tape, and rip it off slowly toward where it protrudes the skin. The second is plain old white school glue. let it dry and peel it off toward where it protrudes the skin.
The first method was excellent for the fine hair like spines you might get from pulling a weed. In fact, regular transparent tape did that job with immediate relief.
For bigger splinters, it couldn't hurt to try duct tape, done very carefully, if some of the splinter protrudes, but you may have to go the other routes mentioned on the big boys.
- Tip from a Mom and Gardener, not a professional carpenter.
Razor knife (can get deeper with a hook blade) and pliers.
Squeeze to make it bleed (or pressure to get it to stop gushing).
Duct tape (or as in Nascar - 200mph tape).
Back to work, damnit.
http://grungefm.com
My teeth, clean with paint thinner and wrap with sanitary painters tape(blue). Wash hands after. stinky
Whenever I get them, which is often, I go home and soak them in cider ;-)
My teeth, clean with paint thinner and wrap with sanitary painters tape(blue). Wash hands after. stinkyDoesn't the paint thinner leave a bad taste in your mouth. Also think that tape wouldn't stick to teeth unless they are really dry :)
Edited 9/14/2006 9:59 am ET by jcornell
Been too busy for BT lately. Thanks for the responses.
Sorry not much from me. It seems to me that I gave a party and then after everybody got there I left.
pay attention! we are talking about planting tomatoes.
Utility knife with a fresh and clean blade usually works. My worst splinter came from a piece of oak molding I was planing to scribe, it had a split edge that caught a finger tip. That baby went deep, I thought I dug it all out, but after a few days it started throbbing like hell. Had to see Dr. Doctor, real name, a hand surgeon to do the deed. That finger tip was numb for a few years. Don't leave any foreign matter where it don't belong.
Recalling the maple floors in the house when growing up.
Mum use to wax them and wooeee would we have a partytime then sliding around in stocking feet. Use to get back and run thru the living room till you hit the hallway and slide baby slide.
Up until that one time the sock caught the rough edge of a flooring piece and jammed a big hunk of wood into the sole of a foot.
I believe that was the end of the good sliding times.
be the end
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. A bird sings because it has a song.
utiliity knife and tweezers
My wife was an Esthetician, and had beautitians tweezers...needle sharp could dig and pull at same time. they look like some of the others shown.
What a buncha flippin' babies here..I LOVE gettin' splinters...specially CCA ones. Feels almost as good as when you get your hand slammed in a car door. I'm a real man. I love when that stuff happens...Boo hoo hoo...I got a splinter...wahhhhhhh
How bout' when ya slam the thumbnail with a 28 oz waffle head hammer...way cool dude. Then ya get to pop the nail with a hot paper clip and watch the blood spurt out. Awesome! or when...
Hmmmmm...reminds me of an old SNL bit : )~
What a buncha flippin' babies here..I LOVE gettin' splinters...specially CCA ones. Feels almost as good as when you get your hand slammed in a car door. I'm a real man. I love when that stuff happens...Boo hoo hoo...I got a splinter...wahhhhhhhHow bout' when ya slam the thumbnail with a 28 oz waffle head hammer...way cool dude.
OK, cowboy....I bet you don't worry about pullin them splinters...just leave em in and let em fester up....then you can have more fun squeezin puss.
Those are some awesome tweazers with the mag glass though.
How bout' when ya slam the thumbnail with a 28 oz waffle head hammer...way cool dude.
When I started framing in 1971 we used 32 ozs. Nailguns? What is a nailgun? Crack your thumb with one of the 32s and you'lll have fun for three days or more reaching into your pouch for nails with the wacked thumb. Been there, done that.....loads of fun.
I thought this was a thread about diesel vans...
I thought this was a thread about diesel vans...
Reading through all of the splinter extraction methods and them I come across your post...it had me LOL.
You just HAD TO bring this up, didn't you??????????????
Today, I was milling out fir handrail with my helper.
handling pieces and flipping one when it happened. One of my biggest sliverss ever right through the web between thumb and first finger. Nice 6" piece of kindling with a great sharp point sticking an inch out the far side . The second inch of it was hiding under the skin, but not quite in the muscle.
I let out one of those silent screams and then remembered this thread. I figured on getting a sharp utility knife blade to excise the demon sword, but it was hurting sso bad, I didn't want to wait tht long.
So i worked up an intense htred for the thing, grabbed the back end in my other fist, and yanked it out.
Hurt so good but by the time I remembered to breathe, it was all over and didn't feel too bad.
With mot splinters tht don't leave a tail to pull out with, I just let it fester for a day or two, then go in after it. The flesh is soft and #### by then aand probably dead cause it doesn't hurt to dig around
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A few that I did not get out right away reappeared weeks later, covered in a weird foamy slime as if the body was busy digesting them.
In the days of wooden warships, incoming cannon fire would sweep the gun decks with huge oak splinters, big enough to skewer a man. No tweezers required.
While we're talking about Piffin's vampire-slaying-sized sliver, Pierre's wooden warship shish-ke-bobbing and other such hazards, does everybody keep up on their tetanus boosters? Kind of curious, actually--once I got out of school and it was no longer mandatory, I didn't much think about it myself (until of course I gashed myself but good).
On the bright side, if one does skewer oneself, the next morning's after-effects of the ten-year booster really takes the mind off whatever silly little injury sent one into doc's office in the first place.
:^)
sojourner
"It's just a flesh wound!"
All wimps, every last one of you.
3 months ago I drove a nail set through my finger and it got stuck in the wood behind, just a glancing blow off the bone.
Screw the doctor, I jerked it out, caulked it up and continued on working,,,
Swell up like a sob, coulda been da caulk, or da bone. I don't know.
Anyway, 3 months later, it still hurts to touch (and do this typing).
http://grungefm.com
I put an Ardox nail through my finger when I was 13, to this day it's a large lump on my finger.
Ardox nails hold wood together great, pulling one out of your finger is just as hard.
You'll always know it's there, pain or not.
What the problem is?
Edited 9/14/2006 6:14 am ET by Stilletto
Wow KF- haven't heard that one in years. The old timer at the body shop taught me that one and you just brought back memories. Whenever I get a boo boo on my finger (or other places), I like to soak them in cider too ;)
you used the wrong kind of caulking probably...I was working with epoxy all afternoon today. Had surgical gloves on of course. Then went to clean up when finished, swabbing tools etc with the alcohol.Rinsed my paws with it after all the others and got reminded where every one of those splinters were from milling stuff the other day. WOW!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!