# Cut through nail



## Bryan

I recently cut straight through my finger nail with a freshly sharpened Takeda 240 Gyuto. I was wondering if others have incurred such injuries and how I should change my cutting technique to avoid a repetition.

http://s20.postimg.org/v5t4879ql/finger.jpg







Thanks in advance for your feedback..


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## franzb69

been there =D

not fun.


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## tk59

I haven't done that in a while, knock on wood. You just have to be more mindful of tucking your finger tips back.


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## knyfeknerd

Claw hand baby! Claw hand!
But it still happens to the best of us!



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I might add that a Takeda 280 was responsible for this one too!


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## Lefty

Only once, but I have taken big chunks out of my knuckles, and recently got my right index knuckle, then a day later got my right middle finger knuckles. Maybe two days after that, I nicked the tip of my finger while thinning a knife and my hand slipped. But wait, there's more - I got higher up on my index knuckle on my grinder while working on an axe...sometimes you go through bad spells, and I think I'm done mine, since they're all virtually healed.


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## GlassEye

I took off the tip of my thumb right through the nail, they had to remove the rest of the nail to reattach it.

I have had those days/weeks as well, Tom.


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## chinacats

Reminds me of this thread...


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## Dream Burls

chinacats said:


> Reminds me of this thread...


Thanks for remembering Chinacats.


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## Patatas Bravas

Yep, only once. Felt absolutely nothing as the knife was sharp, and then that oddly exposed feeling a moment later and plenty of rouge. Ironically, this was at home and never in the restaurant. 

In my case it wasn't my normal technique, as I wasn't set up properly and not paying attention, one finger extended out, guard down. I imagine with most people the problem might be raising knives too high and losing contact with the middle finger, and then coming down somewhere into that finger. Or maybe the index isn't back where it should be. Or maybe finger tips aren't properly bent out of the way.

In any case, hacking a finger is pretty much par for the course at some point.


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## ThEoRy

That's weird, I don't see any injuries in this thread.....:scratchhead:


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## Lucretia

Read the title and thought some knucklehead thought he had a ginsu knife and tore up a blade on iron nails....

uke:


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## DSChief

doesn't anybody other than me wear Kevlar? a while back I worked at JDS Uniphase, In their glass cutting shop where we fabricated
the precision Mirrors for large format projection displays. Every-one was required to suit up, chin to toes. hi collar aprons & spats.
I managed to accumulate about 12 pair of TUFF COAT III gloves. For sharpening & thinning ops I wear one on the off hand.
{ the one Not on the handle }. for sanitary considerations just keep a box of the throw away nitrile gloves to go over the kevlar


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## Twistington

This one sucked...


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## ejd53

I never cut through a nail, but I did slip with a scalpel when I was a grad student and cut a chunk of my finger off. Strangely enough, I stuck it back on and put a bandage on it and it reattached. Unfortunately, I did not think to align the grooves on my finger and so the whorls in that section are upside down compared to the rest of my finger.


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## ThEoRy

DSChief said:


> doesn't anybody other than me wear Kevlar? a while back I worked at JDS Uniphase, In their glass cutting shop where we fabricated
> the precision Mirrors for large format projection displays. Every-one was required to suit up, chin to toes. hi collar aprons & spats.
> I managed to accumulate about 12 pair of TUFF COAT III gloves. For sharpening & thinning ops I wear one on the off hand.
> { the one Not on the handle }. for sanitary considerations just keep a box of the throw away nitrile gloves to go over the kevlar




I have one in my kit but only use it when dealing with scalloped potatoes on a brand new mandolin. Fool me 3 times shame on...... whoever invented this masochistic contraption!!!!


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## boomchakabowwow

oh..i done this twice. both times cutting herbs. once chives (i use scissor now) and cilantro. 

hard to hold herbs knuckles out. i got careless. tough wound to heal, no?


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## xuz

Definitely shaved some knuckles.

People always say how it's much more dangerous to have a dull knife than a sharp one,
but they don't tell you that the one time you do cut with a sharp knife,
it goes straight to the bone.

Thanks for the pics.


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## EdipisReks

i've gotten my left index finger nail twice (once very badly, and half the tip of the finger is now permanently numb), and my left thumb a few times, though not as badly. it always comes down to being distracted, for me.


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## boomchakabowwow

ouch! this thread did NOT need pics 

i do however, have a pic of myself..after a tablesaw "event".


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## Miles

Been there. Thankfully not for a long time. Also have been bitten by a circular saw, nail guns, and cordless screw gun. Hmm. Maybe I should rethink some of my hobbies. :shocked3:


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## Bohan

I was searching for talk on glass cutting boards and found this. I know it's old.



xuz said:


> Definitely shaved some knuckles.
> 
> People always say how it's much more dangerous to have a dull knife than a sharp one,
> but they don't tell you that the one time you do cut with a sharp knife,
> it goes straight to the bone.



Yes, I'm afraid of that. Half of the time when I come down on my finger with dullish knives I don't even cut myself. The only scar I have from a knife is from trying to plunge a butter knife into a frozen bagel to separate the halves.


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## toddnmd

Please don't feed the troll.


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## Bohan

toddnmd said:


> Please don't feed the troll.



What are you complaining about? That I'm lying about my lack of scars? People need to know that the theory that very sharp knives are safer is just someone's theory that I don't believe is based on observation of injuries and I don't believe is true. The idea of pressing harder being more dangerous ignores the fact that it's harder to get cut by the blade.


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## knyfeknerd

Dude, you need to go to some other forum and leave us all the hell alone. You aren't going to convert anyone with all this dull knife glass cutting board $2.99 knife crap. I know I speak for 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of KKF members by saying that your opinions are not respected or needed here.
Start your own dull knife forum. See if you can get I guy named Ken Schwartz to back you.


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## chinacats

knyfeknerd said:


> Dude, you need to go to some other forum and leave us all the hell alone. You aren't going to convert anyone with all this dull knife glass cutting board $2.99 knife crap. I know I speak for 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of KKF members by saying that your opinions are not respected or needed here.
> Start your own dull knife forum. See if you can get I guy named Ken Schwartz to back you.



Exactly This! Though I have spit coffee at my monitor multiple times this weekend.


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## lucabrasi

I do love that you think you're selling some revolutionary idea. As though just about everyone here hasn't used a garbage knife to cut food at some point in their life, and consciously rejected it as inadequate and moved onto things that, you know, lead to the rise of enthusiast forums.


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## ThEoRy

If you've never driven a high performance car before, you may in fact think your own car is good or fast as well....


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## erickso1

People that cut their knuckles off with butter knives rarely report it do to embarrassment. They usually claim the "knife was razor sharp". Therefore the scientific theories you are claiming are skewed, and incorrect.

People that cut their knuckles off with sharp knives usually brag about it, linking it to their superior sharpening ability, and "some hot server" they were talking to.


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## Dardeau

I cut myself, not really a lot, but some, and a couple of times that needed the super glue, for the first few years I was cooking professionally. It has literally been years since I cut myself on a knife (other than the yanagiba I dropped, tried to catch, then hit the floor and chipped the **** out of anyway, really stupid thing to do). At this point in my kitchen life I have to be doing something dumb, sloppy, or both to get cut (like catching a falling knife, derp). 

And a long time ago I cut myself distracted by an attractive server. Not anything to brag about, bleeding everywhere does not make you look cool.


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## pjotr

Right handed fool trying out his left handed knife skills.


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## benichka

Ouch...


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## mhpr262

I cut off a slice off the nail on my left index finger last year, and I suspect some meat, too. It hurt like hell as the knife wasn't too sharp (240mm Tojiro DP with OOTB edge). Caused by stubborn strips of bellpeppers that wouldn't stay flat on the board, and seduced me to use an improper bear claw, with the wrist held low ...


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## lobby

wrong thread. delete.


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## MAS4T0

I've done it loads of times (removed fingernails).

I've got 2 gyuto which get used often and they have very different personalities. 

One (Mizuno) is like a Masamune sword, it cuts everything I want to cut but it doesn't want to cut me; there's been lots of times when I thought I'd cut myself but it's never actually drawn blood. 

The other (Marko) is like a Muramasa, it's an even better cutter, but it cuts me if I look at it wrong; it's cut me while washing it, drying it and in almost every imaginable cutting motion. The cuts it makes are so clean though that they usually reseal almost as good as new so it's only really a problem when I lose a nail.


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## Charon

I've only done it once (removed fingernails), but I got 2 with one swipe and not a really sharp knife either, Tojiro DP. 
The most terrifying one was when the blade (a Tanaka blue 2) bounced on a cork as I tried to deburr holding the cork in my hand. Since then I deburr only with the cork on the board.


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## aboynamedsuita

It was about time I have something worthy of posting lol :viking:










It's hard to see but the cut is a good distabce up into the nail


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## spoiledbroth

tj !? did you do that with a knife? looks like you got the top and the nail with perpendicular cuts?


MAS4T0 said:


> I've done it loads of times (removed fingernails).
> 
> I've got 2 gyuto which get used often and they have very different personalities.
> 
> One (Mizuno) is like a Masamune sword, it cuts everything I want to cut but it doesn't want to cut me; there's been lots of times when I thought I'd cut myself but it's never actually drawn blood.
> 
> The other (Marko) is like a Muramasa, it's an even better cutter, but it cuts me if I look at it wrong; it's cut me while washing it, drying it and in almost every imaginable cutting motion. The cuts it makes are so clean though that they usually reseal almost as good as new so it's only really a problem when I lose a nail.



hey that's a really good analogy (masamune muramasa). I like it!


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## aboynamedsuita

spoiledbroth said:


> tj !? did you do that with a knife? looks like you got the top and the nail with perpendicular cuts?



Yep, my Takamura R2 150mm petty is by far the most blood thirsty knife I have. It was all one botched motion while washing; next time it can fall lol. I kinda dropped it but thanks to my cat like reflexes managed to catch the handle with my left hand almost instantly, but then continued bringing my right hand towards it. I also got my thumb but not as bad, tip of my finger between the cut and nail is pale and numb. 

I called that health links # and they said I should actually go to the ER, so five hours shot in the middle of the night and yet no stitches. Pics were taken at VGH before/after cleanup


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## Pensacola Tiger

tjangula said:


> Yep, my Takamura R2 150mm petty is by far the most blood thirsty knife I have. It was all one botched motion while washing; next time it can fall lol. I kinda dropped it but thanks to my cat like reflexes managed to catch the handle with my left hand almost instantly, but then continued bringing my right hand towards it. I also got my thumb but not as bad, tip of my finger between the cut and nail is pale and numb.
> 
> I called that health links # and they said I should actually go to the ER, so five hours shot in the middle of the night and yet no stitches. Pics were taken at VGH before/after cleanup



Did you just do that?


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## aboynamedsuita

Nope it happened Saturday evening, Pics were from about 3-4AM earlier today. Couldn't get a good pic at the time because it wouldn't stop bleeding, plus the priority was to get it dealt with.


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## Pensacola Tiger

tjangula said:


> Nope it happened Saturday evening, Pics were from about 3-4AM earlier today. Couldn't get a good pic at the time because it wouldn't stop bleeding, plus the priority was to get it dealt with.



As they say, "Day-um!". May it heal quickly.


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## aboynamedsuita

Thanks for the kind words, also hoping my sleep schedule will get back to normal. Feels weird going to sleep at the time when you usually wake up


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## spoiledbroth

tjangula said:


> Yep, my Takamura R2 150mm petty is by far the most blood thirsty knife I have. It was all one botched motion while washing; next time it can fall lol. I kinda dropped it but thanks to my cat like reflexes managed to catch the handle with my left hand almost instantly, but then continued bringing my right hand towards it. I also got my thumb but not as bad, tip of my finger between the cut and nail is pale and numb.
> 
> I called that health links # and they said I should actually go to the ER, so five hours shot in the middle of the night and yet no stitches. Pics were taken at VGH before/after cleanup



blech. Yeah I have always had the presence of mind to just let it drop honestly, I would take just about anything over a cut hand.

Re: health links, I have always been advised against hospital trips for fairly simple cuts (no tendon involved, so essentially fingertip cuts) it is best to just patch it up yourself. Some people use superglue, while I think it's probably non toxic I would advise against that particular remedy. I have cauterized a few on the fly with chemicals or heat, again, would not recommend. Took my fingertip off on a meat slicer one time, just 2mm off the tip so no need for hospital.

Anything past the fingertip is dangerous because if tendons are involved you can eventually ruin your other fingers by not going to hospital. You will know when you catch a tendon though, I have been pretty lucky over these 9 years. Such an injury will require surgery and potentially some therapy (usually hand exercises to be done at home). I have seen one guy leave a tendon cut and ended up having to have 2 fingers amputated several years later when his hand began to permaclaw. Horrific.


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## Pensacola Tiger

This one is from two years ago, after it had healed a bit. As I recall, a Gesshin Ginga cleaver and a sloppy claw were the culprits.


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## Smurfmacaw

tjangula said:


> It was about time I have something worthy of posting lol :viking:
> It's hard to see but the cut is a good distabce up into the nail



Lol, only on KKF would someone say "it's about time I lacerated my finger!" Wow, you really did a number on it there. Oh well, the fingertip will heal - the tip of the knife wouldn't have. I've always heard that really sharp knives don't hurt as much but that hasn't been my experience.....I bet that smarted a bit.


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