Tips/Techniques Using magnets for slivers.

[jcdammeyer]

Handy to keep a bunch of Lee Valley Tools super strong magnets around along with a 10x magnifying lens. Found what was a number of very tiny metal slivers in my right hand thumb joint crease. Combination of needle and magnets managed to harvest them all. Tweezers were useless as the bits were too small to grab.

 

[WilliamR]

My Grandmother used Raisin under band aid. Sounds like BS but swelling action draws out whatever overnight. Even glass slivers. Never failed me yet when all other means exhausted.

 

[jcdammeyer]

My Grandmother used Raison under band aid. Sounds like BS but swelling action draws out whatever overnight. Even glass slivers. Never failed me yet when all other means exhausted.

Raison?

 

[WilliamR]

Thought that looked not quite right when I wrote it=Raisin. Fixed it.

 

[mickeyf]

Quelle Raison?

 

[Susquatch]

Quelle Raison?

L'autre raison et un raisin sec.

 

[StevSmar]

Tweezers were useless as the bits were too small to grab.

These are my go-to tweezers, I’ve found them far superior to the others I have:
Lee Valley Sliver Tweezers

Mind you, I dig until I’ve got a good bit exposed, so perhaps that’s why I have success. I also have some sort of sharp tool with a tiny hook on the end, it came out of a first aid kit so I don’t know what it’s called.

I’ll have to remember to try a magnet (or raisin…)

 

[Former Member]

Now any suggestions for Aluminium slivers besides an MRI as a magnet .

 

[jcdammeyer]

These are my go-to tweezers, I’ve found them far superior to the others I have:
Lee Valley Sliver Tweezers

Mind you, I dig until I’ve got a good bit exposed, so perhaps that’s why I have success. I also have some sort of sharp tool with a tiny hook on the end, it came out of a first aid kit so I don’t know what it’s called.

I’ll have to remember to try a magnet (or raisin…)

This it turns out was 4 little fragments and the tweezers wouldn't have worked well. Way back a many decades my wife stepped on a glass shard that she missed cleaning up after dropping a glass. We went to the nearest drop in medi-center (one of the first in Edmonton so you can tell this was a long long time ago). The Doctor (who it turns out I went to school with) just used a scalpel and cut out a chunk of skin around the glass fragment puncture.

Because the glass pieces are so hard to see, he said, it's safer to remove surrounding tissue along with the fragment to be sure to get it all.

Had I not been successful with the magnet I would have pulled out a scalpel too. I think for aluminum you might have to do the same thing although normally the pieces aren't as needle like and sharp.

 

[Dabbler]

These are my go-to tweezers, I’ve found them far superior to the others I have:
Lee Valley Sliver Tweezers

Mind you, I dig until I’ve got a good bit exposed, so perhaps that’s why I have success. I also have some sort of sharp tool with a tiny hook on the end, it came out of a first aid kit so I don’t know what it’s called.

This is exactly my go-to. Lee Valley used to have a far better tweezers (I still have one) but the one they now sell will do.

Also ditto on removing the area around a fine glass shard. I've removed a shard, only to find I had bbroken it during removal. still hurt and festered. Had to remove a chunk around it to get it under control.

...

Once when I was wood working I had made a stool that was a little 'rough around the edges'. literally. So while doing other stuff I moved in such a way that I got a very large splinter in my bum. I tried to get my wife to pull it out with pliers, but she refused, and we went to the ER. The doc made a 1" long incision before he would pull the dratted thing out. apparently it was through the dermis, and into the muscle.

For all other things I use tweezers - but I'm keeping in mind the magnet thing, and will try it the first opportunity.

 

[Susquatch]

The doc made a 1" long incision before he would pull the dratted thing out. apparently it was through the dermis, and into the muscle.

Now that's what I call a PIA!!

 

[historicalarms]

dont use tweezers much...just keep digging with a sharp pocket knife until I get deep enough...but once I had to do same as Dabbler, hospital for a plywood splinter in my hand, 4 stiches to close up after that. Never built a plywood top bench or table after that that didnt have an edging put on before use.

 

[PeterT]

I think for aluminum you might have to do the same thing although normally the pieces aren't as needle like and sharp.

I use end mills like this on aluminum & they make very sharp micro daggers that love to impale skin. Particularly milling along the OD like facing the edge of stock. Lately I've gotten in the habit of wearing ~ 5 mil nitrile gloves. It wont stop a direct sliver but seems to significantly cut down on the micro swarf which can be physically painful & very hard to remove as discussed. Another habit to kick is wiping my hands of oil or cutting fluid with a rag that may have this kind of swarf on it. You risk pushing/pressing the swarf into your skin.

 

[Dabbler]

Another habit to kick is wiping my hands of oil or cutting fluid with a rag

Nitrile gloves seem a great way to go!

Paintbrushes for swarf. If I have swarf on my hands, I wash under running water and lightly soap. I have disposable ammoniated hand wipes (normally used for cleaning) to grap the rest of the bits (and some of the oil) off my hands.

 

[Tom O]

Another tip is to shorten the bristles making it stiffer and the swarf won’t stick to the brush.

 

[DaveK]

Bright light, a 5x loupe and my best Dumont #5 tweezer (mostly) work for me.

 

[CWret]

That "raisin" idea sounds interesting - will have to give that a try. Often the oldtimers had smart tricks. ---wait, I'm an oldtimer, but seems I've lost most of my smarts.

I got a pair of the Lee Valley tweezers - good but not as good as medical-grade forceps. My wife was a nurse and with a bit of digging and her premium tools (tweezers, forceps, scissors) she has been able to keep me out of the ER for splinters. Example:

Stieglitz Splinter Forcep

Stieglitz Splinter Forceps are frequently used in dental procedures. They may also be referred to as fragment forceps. They are available straight, angled 45 degrees, or angled 90 degrees. They also feature a ratcheted finger ring handle for additional grip when handling objects.

www.niftymedical.ca

I like to use Nitrile gloves when wrenching on greasy stuff or painting but bare hands only around rotating machines like saw blades or drill presses. Even the thin tight fitting Nitrite gloves can pull you in and instead of a minor cut you're headed to the ER.

 

[Chicken lights]

I like those for around the shop, they used to be $1-2 a pair. They last pretty good unless you’re into a lot of oily or greasy stuff. Probably buy a pack of 10 once a year

 

[Gearhead88]

On my Sunnen machine it cost $350.00 to put oil in the tank . This time I used ten gallons , it will hold more. When honing , the swarf generated is both the material removed from the bore and some abrasive . What I did to prolong the life of the oil is to use magnets to catch the particles of ferrous material . So far it's working well .

 

[CWret]

My dirt bikes didn’t come with an oil filter but they did have a magnet on the oil drain plug. That worked well. I monitored it closely when doing oil changes. (competition bikes so changed oil every 6 or 7 hours). It was a good tell-tale and a lot cheaper than oil analisis. I plan to add a magnet to the plug on my gear head bench mill.