dubious tips for removing .003" or .004" boron splinter

From: Mark F1diddler <f1diddler_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2010 23:22:26 -0000

--- In Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com, "Lotus 14" <lotus_14us@...> wrote:
>
> If you ever had a Boron fiber splinter you would not be so cavalier about its effects.
> It may not be toxic, but it is very painful and almost impossible to get rid of it.
> Boron fiber is brittle, and fractures, its mechanical characteristics usually require it be part of a matrix with other fibers such as carbon.
> I worked, as an engineer, on the composites and molds for the B-2, and have had a lot of experience with advanced composites.
> Regards


I've had maybe 10 "bad" splinters over 12 years of indoor, and if one knows the nature of the splinter, I wouldn't call it "almost impossible" to get rid of, even if the fiber is seemingly invisible and broken off at or below skin level. However, if someone didn't know what the problem was--that's a bigger problem.

If the boron was clean, skin will not set up an local infection site (such as expected with a buried wood splinter). A skin infection would be actually useful for finding the darn thing. But rather, seems given the matrix of our skin nerves, it's possible to have radiated pain 1/8th inch or more away from where the boron is actually buried and not necessarily much pain exactly where it is. So, I've had to scrape skin from several directions, using something thin and hard (such as thin 6" metal ruler) in order to find ground zero. A strong light and magnification are necessary. I then dig around with a clean needle, pulling up just enough skin to get a better subdermal view. The worst scenario is when the splinter is so deep that blood seeps into immediate search zone before anything BLACK can be noticed.

Might help someone, not officially endorsed by Yahoo Groups, Indoor_Construction, or Homeland Security.
Mark F1diddler
Received on Thu Dec 30 2010 - 15:22:35 CET