Elbows

[caskwith]

Every now and then I get a mild case of tennis elbow which I am sure is caused by filing stems. Cut 4 stems this week and tonight my elbow is really rather sore. This used to be a rare occurance but it seems to be getting more regular. Before I cause myself any permanent damage does anyone else suffer from this, any tips to prevent further problems? I already rotate my work so I never do one job for too long if I can help it.

[jogilli]

Chris

I don't get it in my elbows..but when I spend too much time sanding, I do alot with sandpaper wrapped around a nail file when doing the finer work and after a bit my hands cramp up... normally when working on mouthpieces.. magnesium should help.. I normally just stop for a bit and continue later

James

[Sawdust]

Hi caskwith,
I had the problem with cabinet making. Using a cordless drill to drive screws would put a lot of torque on my elbow. As jogilli said, magnesium helps a lot. Also, a neoprene elbow brace that you get a drugstore worked well for me.

Good luck,
Jim

[SimeonTurner]

Chris-

You're doing it all wrong! First of all, you shouldn't be using your elbow to work on your stems....even if you have extremely rough elbow skin, that's just not going to be as effective as using your hands.

Secondly, I would guess it has something to do with the scrumpy you've been drinking. That stuff'll rot your bones, or so I'm told.

Try switching to a decent cider like Magners, and try using your hands. If that doesn't work, send me all of your tools and briar and retire.

[Sasquatch]

I hate to say it, but I had about 10 pints of Scrumpy once, about 20 years ago.... and I think it DID rot my bones! Certainly fucked my brain up.


Chris - most of these repetitive stress sorts of injuries are helped tremendously by stretching and relaxing the area in question. Get a massage once a month too - it's amazing what a good masseuse can tell you about muscle use and the sorts of things you can do to reduce strain and fatigue.

[JHowell]

Problem with repetitive motion injuries is that unless you can quit doing what causes them they often don't just go away, and if you could quit what causes them you wouldn't have them in the first place.

Are you holding the stem with one hand and filing with the other? If so, find a way to immobilize the stem so that you can use both hands on the file. I use a vise; Trevor posted a while back about a Taig or some such that he modified as a filing jig.

Are you doing as much stock removal with a wheel as possible?

After that, are you using a coarse rasp? I use a Nicholson #49 rasp, random set teeth. Not cheap, but removes rubber quickly and easily. Cutting as close to the line as possible with as coarse a tool as possible is the essence of saving both time and wear on your body. After that I use a big double cut bastard file. Maybe make nice big handles for your files. Sometimes the elbow pain comes from exertion in your hands, and keeping your hands as relaxed as possible may do the trick.

Analyze how you work and look for places both to save work and to change how you work. Four stems a week shouldn't be enough to injure you.

[caskwith]

Thanks for the tips there Jack. I was thinking the same thing, I should be able to make 4/5 stems in a week without issue so its clearly not the stems thats the problem it's me or rather my working practices. I am done with filing for the week but next week I will put effort into looking really hard at how I am working and what procedures hurt the most, then try and improve on it.

[Sasquatch]

[quote="JHowell"] Maybe make nice big handles for your files. Sometimes the elbow pain comes from exertion in your hands, and keeping your hands as relaxed as possible may do the trick.

quote]


This too.

[JHowell]

Maybe make nice big handles for your files. Sometimes the elbow pain comes from exertion in your hands, and keeping your hands as relaxed as possible may do the trick.

quote]


This too.

Sometimes it takes enough repetition to hurt to make you find a better way to do things. I'm working on this batch of 40-something pipes at the moment. Production-style, I'm doing the same operation to all of them at once, both to increase speed and ensure uniformity. Last week I was opening up the slots in the stems, and after about 20 my hands were really pissed off at me. Sore, blisters starting. Which made me realize that the handles I'd made for my ground-down saber saw blades were too small, and the needle file I use didn't have a handle at all. Stoopid. So I made some nice flared handles that spread the pressure in my palm out nicely, took almost all the strain out of the finger grip I'd been using, and allowed me to use more big muscle strength than the old fingertip grip would take. The result was a much faster process with none of the previous pain. The inadequate handles never really bothered me before, doing maybe a couple stems a day at most, but adding the handles saved me roughly five minutes per slot. That's an hour saved every 12 pipes, which will continue to accrue. There have been a few discoveries like that.

[RadDavis]

Maybe make nice big handles for your files. Sometimes the elbow pain comes from exertion in your hands, and keeping your hands as relaxed as possible may do the trick.

quote]


This too.

Sometimes it takes enough repetition to hurt to make you find a better way to do things. I'm working on this batch of 40-something pipes at the moment. Production-style, I'm doing the same operation to all of them at once, both to increase speed and ensure uniformity. Last week I was opening up the slots in the stems, and after about 20 my hands were really pissed off at me. Sore, blisters starting. Which made me realize that the handles I'd made for my ground-down saber saw blades were too small, and the needle file I use didn't have a handle at all. Stoopid. So I made some nice flared handles that spread the pressure in my palm out nicely, took almost all the strain out of the finger grip I'd been using, and allowed me to use more big muscle strength than the old fingertip grip would take. The result was a much faster process with none of the previous pain. The inadequate handles never really bothered me before, doing maybe a couple stems a day at most, but adding the handles saved me roughly five minutes per slot. That's an hour saved every 12 pipes, which will continue to accrue. There have been a few discoveries like that.

Club pipes will do that for you.

Rad

[caskwith]

Maybe make nice big handles for your files. Sometimes the elbow pain comes from exertion in your hands, and keeping your hands as relaxed as possible may do the trick.

quote]


This too.

Sometimes it takes enough repetition to hurt to make you find a better way to do things. I'm working on this batch of 40-something pipes at the moment. Production-style, I'm doing the same operation to all of them at once, both to increase speed and ensure uniformity. Last week I was opening up the slots in the stems, and after about 20 my hands were really pissed off at me. Sore, blisters starting. Which made me realize that the handles I'd made for my ground-down saber saw blades were too small, and the needle file I use didn't have a handle at all. Stoopid. So I made some nice flared handles that spread the pressure in my palm out nicely, took almost all the strain out of the finger grip I'd been using, and allowed me to use more big muscle strength than the old fingertip grip would take. The result was a much faster process with none of the previous pain. The inadequate handles never really bothered me before, doing maybe a couple stems a day at most, but adding the handles saved me roughly five minutes per slot. That's an hour saved every 12 pipes, which will continue to accrue. There have been a few discoveries like that.

Wow i never realised it could make that much difference! Do you have pictures of the handles? I have some nice beech 1.5" doweling and a wood lathe, might have to make up a bunch of handles for some of my tool

[JHowell]

Hi, Chris, I'm not home and don't have pictures, but if you think of a drawer pull, that flares to a rounded end, you'll have it. The length was made as short as possible without getting my fingertips in the way of the business end. Something like an engraving tool might be another good image. The rounded butt gives support on the push stroke (shut up, Ernie), the flare eliminates much of the need to grip for the pull stroke. You have to learn not to break the tools, for slots anyway, but you can remove much more material with each stroke when you're not limited by what your fingers will take.