Despite our collectively butter slathered fingers, having a barrel shape handle for your blade DOES give a fine degree of control that prolly benefits many other users. Ever trim a frisket for an art project?
Besides the dropping Exacto knife with a number 11 blade on it and the anticipation of spearing your foot, and then looking down and observing with relief the blade sticking in the floor between your feet the greatest disaster has come with glue. Namely spilling an almost full bottle on the workbench effectively gluing all the plastic parts spread on the workbench to the workbench. That's why today I always keep an empty glue bottle around and decant a small bit of glue into it as a working bottle, and try to remember to put the lid on the working bottle. Ambroid Pro-Weld will almost instantly melt plastics.
Was there a picture? On my last workbench I put a lip around the top of it in hopes of keeping small parts from rolling off the bench. Or things from falling off and stabbing my foot or anything else on the way down. One rule gravity will take over when nothing else does. Worked until I managed to hold the hobby knife over my foot and drop it. Now that's stupid. Oh and the gravity thing did exactly what you'd expect it to do. Never mind the nail that went all the way through that piece of wood I managed to find with my barefoot. Hurt more as I pulled my foot off of it. We aren't talking about fun things...yes...no? I thought so!
I've developed a strong habit of doing a quick wipe of the fingers across the jeans prior to ever grasping a model if I had even remotely recently handled a tube of glue or bottle of paint. Nothing like gluing you fingers to the side of your prized loco! One lesson that I'm still apparently trying to learn (as I haven't built a holder yet) is how easy it is to topple over decal setting solutions that come in the tall, skinny bottles, especially when they start becoming more empty. That collar around many paintbrushes near the tip just love to catch the inside lip of those things!
I bought a brass steam engine. It didn’t work so I bought another brass steam engine. It didn’t work so I bought another brass steam engine. It didn’t work so I bought another brass steam engine. It didn’t work so I bought another brass steam engine. It didn’t work so I bought another brass steam engine. It didn’t work so I bought another brass steam engine. It didn’t work so I bought another brass steam engine. It didn’t work so I bought a... live steam engine that burns coal and is 8’ long. I only do diesels in N Scale now.
I just found out that the heat gun I was using to remove paint from my newly acquired metal caboose can also get hot enough to melt metal....
I like that and after seeing a picture of it, makes me think I have seen a product like this at an office supply store that is made for pencils or pens. I bet it will fit an x-acto as well. Will have to see.
I can't count the number of times I burnt my fingers soldering over the years. Hate when that happens!!! Joe
When soldering overhead, LONG PANTS are required. Yes, the light on the soldering gun is replaceable.
and don't reach across a hot soldering iron trying to grab a very small part about to roll off onto the floor. You get two results, neither of which are fun.
I recently was working at my desk with a bottle of Tamiya stain. It was time to put it away, so I grabbed it by the top, which is SUPPOSED to be screwed on. Only it wasn't. I spilled the whole bottle across my office carpeting. It also splashed all over a dresser, which I was planning to repaint anyway. Fortunately, it missed my book case. Did I mention the carpet was only 3 months old? That little bottle of Tamiya cost me another $500 to re-carpet the room. Now, I have extra safety protocols in place, due to my own idiocy.
I knocked over my beer bottle at supper last night. I wonder if any of the kid's toddler sippy cups remain in the attic for me to use?
Ha, there is money making idea for ya. Beer sippy cups. The more you drink the more you need it. As for the spilled paint on the carpet, been there, done that. Results are never good. The glue spill has not happened yet. I say yet because I'm not sure I want to tempt fate.
If you get enamel paint, such as Pla enamel, on off-white jeans, it will never come out, even if you get right to it with mineral spirits. A friend told me this. Doug
Sign me up for another Purple Heart for Xacto-related injuries. No.11 blade directly vertical into one of my left fingers when I was a teenager. I lost enough blood to feel woozy for the rest of the day. I had a similar injury more recently when my needle-nose pliers slipped off of what I was working on and pinched my thumb hard enough to leave a huge blood blister. That hurt like a motha and took a while to heal. Something else I learned the hard way was to learn cutting techniques on spare shells before attempting to try them on something I intend to run. I have a gouged-up HO scale E-R Sharknose shell somewhere in storage that reminds me of that lesson when I look at it.