Who has NOT REALLY burned yourself?

[khan]

A few days ago i was trying to get a rod long wise in the flame and i stuck my thumb in the flame (not the hottest part but just in the outer part). I smelled something ugly and realized my thumb was burning. Well, all that got burned was the nail... my nails are nice and thick and knarly so it didnt even burn my skin... but damn it stinks and the nail was melted.

Khan

[Eileen]

I was looking at a scar from Oct or Nov, can't remember, and couldn't remember how I got it for a while... but then remembered it was putting my arm down on the beauty supply place "rod warmer" I got at the thrift store.
I showed the burn to the doc when I was there for something else back at the end of the year when it was finally healing up, and she gave me a preventative prescription for Silvadene

[hyperT]

Or Cuts? Or thin strands of glass you leave sitting around stuck in your hand? Hard to get out aren't they. Ask my how I know lol

[Dragonfly Queen]

Yeah, several popping glass attacks. I also had one 2nd degree on my index finger, I sneezed my finger right in the flame and wow, instant grape on the top of my finger! Amazing how quickly that can happen.

I also got 3rd degree on my arm but not from the torch it was from hot oil. I was helping my Mom in the kitchen frying some food goodness and up pops the hot boiling oil and lands on my forearm.

The only tip I can give it always be aware of what you are doing and I know this is hard but stay focused don't let your mind drift or become too tired. Oh and keep the fire extinguisher really handy within arms reach in your shop and in your home, baking soda and a good lid for grease fires.

The burns aren't that bad and they do go away and you will go back to the torch.

[Dani]

I am going to stop trolling and here seemed a good place to start.

I have had several minor burns, touched the torch head when it was still hot, shocky glass, one time I knew glass had flown around but could not find any that might do damage, I smelled something so I kept looking, still no luck so I went back to torching. When I finished up, turned everything off and went upstairs, went into the restroom to take my hairband off and found where that glass had gone, a big bunch of hair fell on the floor! ( now I anneal all my shocky rods, just throw a bunch in the bottom of my kiln when I start working) Since then I have also put that metal mesh Chinese handcuff like stuff on the hoses near my torch (I don't know what it is called) if you watch the video a Corning w/Kristina Logan, I think you can see it if you keep an eye on the torch close ups. I think that stuff is a wonderful safety addition.

I have burned myself worse on curling irons and glue guns

[dsglass]

My worst hot-glass scar is a little stripe on the back of my hand from 10th grade chemistry - my first attempt at melting glass, and I learned the hard way to always pay attention to which end was just in the flame.

Worst burn, however, was the day before I left for the seattle gathering a couple of years ago: while scrambling to finish my entry for the silly bead contest, I stuck my fingers in the flame:



Finished the repairs (because of course it hit the table) with my hand soaking in cold water; had to drive to the nearest CVS one-handed (the burned fingers still stuck in a mug of water) because I was out of second skin... Wonderful stuff, I went through boxes of it over the next week (and it was nearly impossible to find in seattle, for some reason - only found a couple of stores that even carried it, and they didn't have enough), it healed cleanly and didn't leave a scar. (I lost the nail, but it grew back pretty quickly )

[Eileen]

Ouch!!!

[anxious1]

I have been torching for 10 years with a few years off and no burns yet. I am super careful though as my day job requires that I do not get injured being a business owner and responsible for the care of others horses too.

[Sbaddley]

Originally Posted by anxious1

I have been torching for 10 years with a few years off and no burns yet. I am super careful though as my day job requires that I do not get injured being a business owner and responsible for the care of others horses too.

Not even a burn from popping glass? I'm impressed.

[28676bhe]

Let's not talk about where I've been burned by popping glass.....

[anxious1]

Nope not even by popping glass, I have certainly had my explosions but none has ever landed on me. I did have one scare where I was blowing a vessel and the end dropped off and fell on the carpet (I know no carpet in a studio, it was a mat) and it caught fire. Fortunate....

[jillybead]

Lucked out yesterday, when i made a marble that ended up in my lap. Whew!! I was wearing my leather apron, taught me to never forget it! It was a moment of of Crap!

[jaci]

My torch finally bit me! In 15 years I've never had more than a line from picking up a hot tool, or moving mandrels in the kiln, and never from the flame directly. But alas.. A stupid small frit bead, and I nano ceded my hand under the flame somehow and it bit me!! It looks almost just like Becky's pic above but on my right! I'm so not a lefty I'm discovering!! I have been using a&d ointment and a homeopathic burn cream, more so a&d with gauze. Good news is it seems to be healing quite faster than I thought it would, without much swelling, and no pain! Musta burned the nerves right off!! It was very Kentucky fried!!! It's been 2 weeks, and it's starting to get itchy.. That's the first feeling I've had in it at all leg me tell you though, the tendons in my hand hurt the next two days at the office, and I was so afraid I was going to over so it and make it worse because I really had no feeling of it. I just kept it well lubricated and sorta seemed up with the a&d. Bartending was a bitch last weekend! Waterproof bandages are great but don't flex and don't stick... I looked weird, and I'm sure some people didn't want me touching their drinks! Lol

[Eileen]

Ouch!

[Nighthawk]

I have never burned myself.....nok on wood. Been at it for 30 years (three as a job for a spun glass bell place) and never got it. Lets hope for 30 more

[KJohn]

The biggest reason I didn't want to upgrade from a hothead. I have torching gloves too!



I had cleaned my torch and the angle was too low when I put it back. I usually reach under a little for some stringers, (I know, that probably isn't a good idea either) and...right into the flame. It's already been a week.

[28676bhe]

Sigh....the worst burns I have had were from the Hot Head. That was probably due to being a beginner as much as anything. I still screw up every now and then....maybe to keep my no-no words active?

[AnArtistontheInside]

My blisters have blisters.
I don't think molten glass and hot flame are for the faint of heart.
The way I see it, if I wanted to play it safe I would have taken up finger painting rather than lampworking.
I figure its just a matter of time until my blisters' blisters have blisters!
I'm doing my best to see them as a badge of honor instead of a reminder of my stupidity.

[LynieG]

ooooo Kristin - yours looks like mine did before a couple of days of healing! My skin is still peeling back from the burned area!

You would think that after torching for almost 8 yrs - the first 4 off and on and seriously for the last 4 yrs I would know better but I broke my record of no serious burns with this one! UGH!

[Nighthawk]

32 years with hard glass and have never gotten a burn, cut.....YES

[snoopdog6502]

This can be said of any situation but applies here.

There are two types of lampworkers those who have been burned and those who will get burned.

As a machinist and welder I got burned, smashed and cut every day, A happy little glass torch is a day at the beach in comparison.

[nevadaglass]

I don't remembering ever posting to this poll but it didn't come up so I must have LOL

I can't remember ever burning myself in 13 years ( knocking on wood) and then in the past week have done it twice......first time was on wrist , about 8 days ago, when a glowy rod swung back because I knocked it on my shield and stuck to my wrist.....yesterday when I set a rod down on my graphite then touched it as I was trying to pick the rod up next to it. Both blistered instantly but neither of them were, or looked as bad as the ones I see photo'd here....little 2nd degree burns that don't really hurt - wrist and knuckle - wrist one is already healed but left a little 1/4 inch red mark/scar LOL - NOW wearing all my protection charms so as NOT to tempt fate by saying NEVER

[Katia]

Not yet, but managed already to seize a hot bead (do not ask me what for, I don't have a reasonable explanation, probably wanted to marver it this way ). Thanks to SG practice, dealing with small pieces of a lampshade makes the fingers less sensitive to cuts and burns. And guessed to grab a piece of "someting deeply frozen" from the freezer and to hold them for several minutes. So, can not consider it as a burn. But please, never ever try to shape a bead this way (you won't but just in case)

And I would add an emergency recipe if you can not find your burn gel or whatever - raw potato. Grab one, take a sharp knife and make a slice not less than 1/8" (does not really matter, 1/4 will do, do not spend your time for measuring - just take a thick slice). Put it on the burn and fix somehow (do not press too strong, just fix). It is completely safe if you can put it on the burn. This is a "grandmom" emergency method, does not substitute medical assistance in heavier cases.

[nevadaglass]

I just got a vision of lampworkers with potato wedges duct taped all over their hands and arms - - or better yet - I see an outfit for Lady Gaga in the works hahahaha - BUT seriously - I am going to have to try this one..... always have a tater or two around lol

Originally Posted by Katia

Not yet, but managed already to seize a hot bead (do not ask me what for, I don't have a reasonable explanation, probably wanted to marver it this way ). Thanks to SG practice, dealing with small pieces of a lampshade makes the fingers less sensitive to cuts and burns. And guessed to grab a piece of "someting deeply frozen" from the freezer and to hold them for several minutes. So, can not consider it as a burn. But please, never ever try to shape a bead this way (you won't but just in case)

And I would add an emergency recipe if you can not find your burn gel or whatever - raw potato. Grab one, take a sharp knife and make a slice not less than 1/8" (does not really matter, 1/4 will do, do not spend your time for measuring - just take a thick slice). Put it on the burn and fix somehow (do not press too strong, just fix). It is completely safe if you can put it on the burn. This is a "grandmom" emergency method, does not substitute medical assistance in heavier cases.

[Katia]

You can add some aloe leaves to this setup (one more nature's gift for those who like to hurt themselves - some people have it home as a pot plant - a fat good leaf rinsed in water and splitted with a sharp knife in two juicy stripes is another option).

Can not replace professional therapy and medicines, of course, especially in heavy cases but helps to relieve this initial annoying pain and rehydrate the damaged skin in a natural way until you get something more professional. And what is important - it can not harm further, comparing to hand cream or face lotions people grab sometimes that may contain alcohol, fruit acids, silicon and other stuff that can further spoil the picture.

But all these hints are good for the minor cases and just in case there's nothing better.

[judydoell]

My glass hits my arms (I wear sleeves now), my cleavage (high t shirts now), face (I definitely wear glasses!!), and sometimes I just shove my hand in the flame for no other reason than stupidity. The Chinese burn cream works great, but in a recent class I stuck my finger through the flame and it was crispy white. A gal gave me mustard to apply. It dries and clings to the burn and I had NO pain or blistering!! I'll carry little mustard packs with me now when I travel.

[ccaronn]

I am embarrassed to say that I have already been burned to the point of significant scarring a number of times in my short 3.5 months of lampworking. Last week, the mandrel slipped between my index and middle fingers and badly blistered both fingers.
The weirdest burn though was when I stuck my hand in the flame reaching for something. I'm an idiot.

[lindacw]

Originally Posted by Beadzz

Nothing interesting here (burning wise), only touched a hot mandrel or still hot rod at the wrong end but without a blister or some shocky glass that burned a hole in my sweater or pants.......... BUT.........

I managed to do something you won't believe, this happened about a year ago. Was torching and mandrel in left hand, rod in flame in right hand. I was about to put glass on the mandrel when all of a sudden my head started to itch, so what did smart me do?? Without having a clue i started to scratch my head and suddenly it smelled like something was burning, like really burning, i tried to get my "hand" out off my hair but it was stuck. Yeah right, i had to pull really hard and finally got the hot mandrel out off my hair ( ) , lots of hair sticking on the mandrel, yuk, i didn't know how fast i should put it in water and run to the kitchen (next to my studio) and put water on my head, dabbing with my hands, feeling with my hands where the big bold spot was, i already could see myself walking down the street being partially bold.... When i calmed down i walked into my studio to look at the mandrel again, that really looked gross and there still was the burning smell. I don't know how it is possible but i wasn't partially bold, i only lost some hair and my the skin on my head was only red (DH looked at it when he came home). Every time i tell the story i have to laugh so hard cause i think it's funny but also cause i'm so happy i didn't get burned really bad. So if your head is itching, be careful what you do

OMG Tam, I am laughing with tears streaming down my face. I could so see myself doing this!

[larrybrickman]

I had a point break and dropped a 2" gather of boro glass on my forearm. That was 12 years ago. After several weeks it healed well but it took the pigment out of my skin, after all these years I still have a white spot on my forearm.