There’s certainly some truth to the old adage that it’s the dull knives that will cut you. A dull knife can slip off whatever it is you’re trying to cut and end up embedded in your flesh.
It’s for that reason, and because my dad was a doctor and always stressed the importance of having sharp knives, that I keep every knife I have razor sharp at all times. Since I use them to cut bale strings twice every day, though, it means having to resharpen them on a nearly daily basis.
But sharpen them I do, and I always have an extremely sharp knife on me. But that’s where we get to the addendum to the old adage. Dull knives may be more likely to cut you, but sharp knives will cut you better.
I was installing a TV bracket in my wood shop, and I needed to cut open the packaging holding the hardware. I was holding the TV in my dominant hand, which only left my weak hand free to wield the knife. When the knife went through the packaging much easier than I expected it to, it kept swinging through the air until it hit the only thing in the way to stop it – the middle finger of my other hand.
It could have been worse. It would have been deeper, but the bone stopped it.
I spent the next two weeks with a waterproof bandage holding the last knuckle of my finger on, and a finger splint to keep me from bending it and popping it open again. But the good news is that because the knife was so sharp, it made a very clean cut, which healed up pretty well.
The moral of the story is that you should always keep your knives sharp, but more importantly, you need to be careful when you use them. Both dull and sharp knives can cut you. The biggest danger is not how sharp the knife is, but how clumsy the wielder is.
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