# i think Murray's out for a bit



## sachem allison (Aug 27, 2013)

I saw on facebook that Murray Carter smashed his digits with the power hammer. Guess, he is going to be slowing down on the knives for a bit.


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## Baby Huey (Aug 27, 2013)

Ouch...... I mean.... Ouch.....


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## CrisAnderson27 (Aug 27, 2013)

Ouch...that's one monumental freakin eff up.

Seriously.

How the hell do you even do something like that??


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## don (Aug 27, 2013)

Damn.


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## Gravy Power (Aug 27, 2013)

Sad to here. He's made enough pairing knives to supply us for a good few years, according to his wesbsite, for right now.


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## Dave Martell (Aug 27, 2013)

sachem allison said:


> I saw on facebook that Murray Carter smashed his digits with the power hammer. Guess, he is going to be slowing down on the knives for a bit.




Holy crap....that's awful to hear. Did they say how bad it is?


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## CrisAnderson27 (Aug 27, 2013)

Dave Martell said:


> ....that's awful to hear.



Absolutely :l


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## sachem allison (Aug 27, 2013)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...69956196421403&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf


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## sachem allison (Aug 27, 2013)

looks like he popped his thumb.


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## Dave Martell (Aug 27, 2013)

Yikers...could have been worse though.


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## sachem allison (Aug 27, 2013)

betcha it hurts like hell.


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## cookinstuff (Aug 27, 2013)

ouch, that thumbnail looks real painful, glad he is ok. He is already joking about it, so that's a good thing I guess, and not missing any fingers either.


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## bahamaroot (Aug 27, 2013)

None of his digits looked to flat so I guess he got lucky! Glad he's OK!


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## Baby Huey (Aug 27, 2013)

Yeah the pics definitely paint a different picture than my imagination upon first reading this thread. I am glad he is better off than some of us thought. Still Ouch, just not completely debilitating Ouch.


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## CrisAnderson27 (Aug 27, 2013)

Baby Huey said:


> Yeah the pics definitely paint a different picture than my imagination upon first reading this thread. I am glad he is better off than some of us thought. Still Ouch, just not completely debilitating Ouch.



Agreed. That would definitely put a cramp in hand hammering style for at least a few weeks though.


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## Don Nguyen (Aug 27, 2013)

Holy cow, that's bad 

A lot of makers get their hands close to the hammer when cold forging, maybe that's what happened.


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## mpukas (Aug 27, 2013)

OWIE!!! Damn that must have hurt. It could have been so much worse. Glad he's OK.


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## Lefty (Aug 27, 2013)

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,


-- 
Sincerely,

Murray Carter


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## Zwiefel (Aug 27, 2013)

Pretty darn honest letter...good for him. I recently lost a toenail from a MUCH more boring mistake, so my toe throbbed a bit when I saw those photos.


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## Dave Martell (Aug 27, 2013)

50lb hammer blow to the thumb - not something I'd want to experience.

I wish Murray a fast recovery


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## swarth (Aug 27, 2013)

Meh...just a thumb.

Hattori pricing to follow?


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## Benuser (Aug 27, 2013)

All my wishes for his prompt recovery. The guy depends on his hands after all.


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## Justin0505 (Aug 27, 2013)

Damn! 
That seems like how accidents always happen, not doing something that requires a lot of skill and most people would think is super dangerous (like speed forging w/ fingers inches from the blows), but doing something routine and relatively straightforward but not thinking , and operating on too little time and sleep. 
I suffered an almost identical type of injury once when my thumb got smashed between a trailer hitch and a steel truck bumper. I've had some nasty injuries in my day, but that was far and away the worst pain I've ever felt (it really peaked at about 2am) and took like what felt like forever to heal. 

Thanks for sharing the letter Lefty, it's classic Carter: sincere, gracious, and obvious that he holds himself to a very high-standard. Nice that he shared his own pain and embarrassing f-up as a teachable moment and safety reminder for the rest of us. He's a rightfully proud-guy, but clearly not unjustly arrogant. 

My thoughts are with him.


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## CrisAnderson27 (Aug 27, 2013)

I just saw the letter...very respectable of him. I absolutely wish him the speediest of recoveries, and hopefully his follow up visits won't involve such rough treatment by rookie doctors lol.


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## bahamaroot (Aug 27, 2013)

All the best Murry and hey, your only human like the rest of us. Shite happens!


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## dough (Aug 28, 2013)

first of all i looked at the pictures and EW and geez that must hurt.

second I really hope Mr carter is back at it again soon. lefty if you are passing a message back to him tell him its probably life's funny way of forcing him to take a break because I am sure that guy is hard to get to stop working.


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## Lefty (Aug 28, 2013)

You are very likely right! I'll tell him. He told me he hopes to be back at it soon, and with
Murray, that could be "rub dirt on it and get back out there".


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## Johnny.B.Good (Aug 28, 2013)

Get well soon, Murray.


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## Crothcipt (Aug 28, 2013)

I hope for a quick recovery. I hope the hammer wasn't hurt while making this production.:rofl2::lol2:


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## chinacats (Aug 29, 2013)

Justin0505 said:


> Thanks for sharing the letter Lefty, it's classic Carter: sincere, gracious, and obvious that he holds himself to a very high-standard. Nice that he shared his own pain and embarrassing f-up as a teachable moment and safety reminder for the rest of us. He's a rightfully proud-guy, but clearly not unjustly arrogant.
> My thoughts are with him.



+1


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## harlock0083 (Aug 29, 2013)

I saw the picks. I hope I never experience anything like that. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.


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