I've been playing with the alcohol inks again!

But before I get into that, I'd like to remind or enlighten people who work with gourds about some safety things you need to adhere to if you are working with gourds.

If you don't follow these few simple steps you could very well end up in the hospital at some point unable to breathe and very sick.

Whenever you are cutting or carving on a gourd and even when you are wood burning on a gourd you need to wear a respirator. If you're not willing to do that then you need to know you're playing russian roulette with your lungs and health. If at all possible you need to do your gourd cutting and carving outdoors, unless you have an industrial dust collector like wood turners use. You may not have a problem for years and then suddenly you're having a hard time breathing and have flu like symptoms. You've waited too long and should seek medical attention before you end up in the hospital and on oxygen for who knows how long.

Whenever you wood burn you don't necessarily have to do it outside but you should at least open a window and use a fan on low to blow the fumes away from your face. Different companies sell small smoke/fume removers that even set on the table.

If you have long hair make sure that you have it pulled away from your face. The last thing you want is your hair wound around a carver or drill and pulled out of your head!

Also, you don't want to wear rubber gloves while using a drill or carver for the same reason.

You actually want to keep all of the gourd dust off of you and your body as much as possible while you're working and take a shower and wash your hair when your through so that the gourd dust that's in your hair doesn't end up on your pillowcase which you just then breathe in. I have seen people wear shower caps and long sleeved smocks etc. while working on gourds. Then all you need to clean is whatever has been exposed to the dust.

These are just a few safety tips but ones well worth telling everyone about.

Whenever you are working with your tools, please read the safety instructions that come with them and following those instructions.

Now head on over and see the latest gourd bowl that I made with alcohol inks and a woven rim.
Tiny Tool Time Blog

Barbara