What’s the worst you’ve hurt yourself on the jobsite? I’m bringing this up, because in the rush to get the basement converted to living space, I shot a 3″ ring shanked nail through my hand (holding cross blocking for a partition wall that was parallel, the nail ricocheted off the bottom of the joist, through my hand) At first I thought it had just knocked my hand off, and then I looked down to see it piercing through the front of my hand!
SO, tell me someone else has done something similarly stupid as me…..
P.S. I wish I’d took a picture of it before I pulled it out, but if freaked me out so bad, it’s the first thing I did after setting down the nailgun….
Replies
There are days I loathe my 9-5 sit-in-front-of-computer-in-a-cubicle job when all I can think of is getting home to play with the tools.
But then I remember I'm a clutz and would likely kill myself within one week of dealing with air guns and ladders.
In a hurry to put a window in 2yrs ago. I cut the old window out with my sawzall, and
put it down still "spooling down" somehow got my pointer finger in between the
blade mount and base. Lost the nail, and mushed my finger tip. Doh!
-D
Did the same myself. Got my pinkie fingertip in between the foot and the blade holder on one of my sawzalls and boy did that hurt. It was 3 months ago and I just now have a half-decent fingernail. It was so ugly for a while that I wore a bandaid every day on it.
That seems to be a fairly common minor injury. Maybe something about viewing the tool as being fairly straightforward to use, I dunno.
Been pinched good twice but never really drew a lot of blood. Did provide enough to usually keep a degree of caution in my thoughts whenever I pick it up.
be hurts like a dingdong when it happens tho'.
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Edited 5/11/2008 5:56 pm ET by rez
In a similar vein, I shot a 8d ring shank through my hand once as well. The nailer was jammed and after I thought it was clear I held back the safety to shoot a nail at the wall to see if it fired. I held the safety back w/ my left hand from the front and fired.
No nail? That's odd it should be clear. Look at the wall and the floor, No nail. Hmm. Look at my left hand and there is a nail sticking through the meaty portion below my pinky. Didn't feel a thing when it happened. It was just there.
Yanked it out, cleaned it up and went back to work.
Felt kinda stupid though. =-)
Ott
I haven't yet had an accident on the job but I got closer then I feel comfortable with, real real close a couple of times. Using a chop saw, I almost cut my hand off at the wrist because I was in a rush. Scared me to death just thinking of what could have just happened. Slow down! The only thing I can say is we all need to "Think" about what we're doing while we're doing it. In line with these nail gun accidents I would strongly suggest that we all wear safety glasses all the time, while on the job. If that nail can glance off the side of the stud and go through your hand, then it can just as easily get shot into your eye. With safety glasses on, at least you've got a chance to save your eyesight and live to see another day. I was standing next to a plumber's helper while he was looking up at his boss soldering a 3/4 inch copper pipe, overhead. He looked up at just the right, or wrong moment, when a little drop of molten solder came down and hit him in the eye. He lost his eye because he wasn't wearing his safety glasses. He was off work for almost 3 and a half months too while he was being fitted with an artificial eye.
My neighbor is a union welder and he told me about a guy who lost an eye and still doesn't wear safety glasses. some never learn. I tend to wear mine more and more as I get older.
When I look around I notice a lot of floaters these days. no doubt from years of getting #### in my eyes"it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."Bozini Latinihttp://www.ingrainedwoodworking.com
This wasn't a serious accident, but it was serious stupidity!! I was at a masonry supply house years ago and one of the yard guys was torching off some short (18" or so) pieces of rebar for another customer.
When the hot piece hit the ground, he picked it up, no gloves, and shouted some expletive as he dropped it. Then.....
He did it again, 30 seconds later!!
All I could do was laugh and shake my head as I got my stuff and left.
I was drilling holes for bolting together a beam with a 1/2" steel flitch plate. I got one of the holes in the wood out of line with the hole in the steel, so I got the bright idea of reaming the steel out a bit with a Milwaukee Hole Hawg and a twist drill. Very dumb idea. Of course the drill kicked and the handle got me right above the eye. Stitches and a very impressive shiner.
Although I have had my episodes with the nail guns, my stupidest was a table saw. One day I need a stop dado cut into a peice of ply. Trouble was that the table setup didn't allow me to just run it though and stop the blade when I got to the right length. Then I rememebered having seen a guy drop the piece of ply onto the turning blade and then run the piece out.
I guess that I never noticed the stop that he must have had clamped to the fence because that piece kicked back. I'm thankfull that I didn't lose any fingers but you all can guess which body part is exactly just above table height for a 6' guy!!
That was a long time ago but I remember it every time I walk up to the table saw.
Some of these are making my skin crawl.Didn't get injured on this one but it was a real bonehead. I got a 3/4" straight cut bit in my router, it's on, and I'm routing for bullet catches overhead and I'm sitting on a jc bucket, (these were cut down knee wall closet doors). I forgot to tighten the body of the router on the last adjustment. The running motor and spinning bit slipped out of the sleeve and fell right into my lap slicing through the crotch. I instinctively grabbed the end of the router (thank God it wasn't the business end), and threw it to the floor where it tore up some carpet. I yanked the cord from the wall.
Mr. Happy and his two boys were all ok and in check but there was a barn door torn open right in front of them.
The carpet was to be discarded, so all in all lady luck was with me that day.
"When I look around I notice a lot of floaters these days. no doubt from years of getting #### in my eyes"
Floaters are not caused by getting #### in your eyes. They're actually internal to the eye itself and increase in frequency with age. Nearsighted people seem to get them more than others. I've had floaters since I was a young kid, and they've increased somewhat over the decades. My eye doc said there's nothing to be done about them. That's too bad as they can really be a PITA at times.
For more info, here's a good link:
http://www.uic.edu/com/eye/LearningAboutVision/EyeFacts/Floaters.shtml
thanks for the info. I always figured it was fom not caring for my eyes. I am in fact near sited. Interesting."it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."Bozini Latinihttp://www.ingrainedwoodworking.com
Here is what has to be the ultimate Bonehead Work Accident story.
[A] recent number of the weekly bulletin of 'The Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors' ... prints the following letter from a bricklayer in Golders Green to the firm for whom he works."Respected sir,When I got to the top of the building, I found that the hurricane had knocked down some bricks off the top. So I rigged up a beam, with a pulley, at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels of bricks.When I had fixed the building, there was a lot of bricks left over. I hoisted the barrel back up again and secured the line at the bottom and then went up and filled the barrel with the extra bricks.Then, I went to the bottom and cast off the rope.Unfortunately,...the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was...and before I knew what was happening, the barrel started down, jerking me off the ground.I decided to hang on! And halfway up, I met the barrel coming down... and received a severe blow on the shoulder.I then continued to the top,...banging my head against the beam...and getting my fingers jammed in the pulley!When the barrel hit the ground, it burst it's bottom... allowing all the bricks...to spill out.I was now heavier than the barrel...and so started down again...at high speed!Halfway down... I met the barrel coming up...and received severe injury to my shins!When I hit the ground... I landed on the bricks, getting several painful cuts from the sharp edges!At this point. I must have lost my presence of mind... because I let go of the line!The barrel then came down... giving me a very heavy blow...and putting me in hospital!I respectfully request 'sick leave'.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
WindowsGuy,
In extreme cases they have had some success with lasers to break them up. The risks are still to high to be used for other than extreme cases. And I think the cost would be very high.
Russell
"welcome to my world"
Every couple years I ask my doc if there are any new advances that might relieve the floaters. As I have lived with them all my life, they're only really annoying when I am looking at bright fields of view... like this screen right now! I'm not willing to mess with my eyes much, so grin and bear it seems like the prescription.
I've actually had the floaters make me think something was falling on me or coming at me around a corner. My doc says that's not uncommon. Gee thanks. So far they haven't caused me to have any accidents though. I've been able to have those without much help at all. :-)
my doc told me that there is an increased risk of reteninal detach with floaters ..
funny, all mine (so far) move horizontally, like a bird flying in front of you ..
I think that floaters combined with the curtain effect (blurry in one area) is a sign of a detached retina. AFAIK floaters don't cause or lead to detached retinas, but may be a result of one.
Floaters typically move side to side because that's how your eyes typically move. ...unless you hunt and peck like I do, then you get swirling floaters, up down and all around!!
Oh yeah, and then when you add in a barber pole flash from an impending migraine, things get really pretty.
Edited 5/13/2008 8:46 am ET by WindowsGuy
I guess it is time to tell my story.
We were framing a roof, I am the cut man. A brace was i9n the way and no longer needed. I was tring to pull the nails out. Hammer tacks of the top of nail. Somehow the hammer turns, and I hit myself between the eyes with the claw of the hammer. After I stopped bleeding and crying( man does that make the eyes water), I looked up and saw everybody laughing there--- off.
I have a scar to this day!
The dumbest thing I’ve done on the job was try to blow myself up. My BIL & nephew once took a contract to get rid of about 40 gasoline storage tanks. (250 gallon to 4000 gallon) We had done About ½ of them and I got careless. (We had a 180 cfm compressor with a 3/4 “ hose blowing into one of the top bungs and exhausting out another bung. I would then take a torch and cut out one end of the tank and move on to the next tank. My BIL would then finish cutting up the tank while my nephew would use a forklift to move the debris out and bring me another tank.)I started on a new 250 g. tank, set up with the air hose, etc., and had cut about 6”’s of the end when it “burped” at me. I backed off And said to my BIL, “Reckon that’s all?” He replied “ Yeah, that should be all”. I had just started again when the tank started to “rumble” and I started back pedaling as fast as I could. I was about 4’ away when it blew out in my direction. (People heard the noise 3 blocks away)
I had on a pair of these clear goggles over my tinted eyeglasses, with rimless frames, it blew the goggles off of my head, deposited the lenses from my eyeglasses about 5’ behind me (6”’s apart), left the frames on my face, singed my eyelashes and eyebrows and peppered my face with rust from the inside of the tank. I drove my self to the eye doctor I used, he took rust out of my eyes and trimmed my eyebrows/eyelashes. They put my lenses back in the frames and I went back to work.I found out later that when they came to me and my BIL said "Wipe the blood off his face" it was because I had a sheen of blood all over my face. I knew the concussion felt like I was hit with a sandbag but didn't realize that the blood popped out on me also.We later figured out what happened. There was a small amount of gasoline in the bottom of the tank and the hot dilberries hitting finally overcame the effects of the air. (I blamed my nephew and he still blames me )
Edited 5/22/2008 9:44 pm ET by wdb45
This one could be in the "don't use the wrong tool (or cheap tool) for the job" category...
Was cutting a hole in the floor with a hole saw and didn't have my right angle drill I normally use with me. So I decided to use the POS 1/2" hammer drill that I had in a pinch. Forgot that the trigger sometimes stuck (remember, it was a POS). I started the hole as I kneeled on the floor. The hole saw stuck, twisted the drill out of my hands, and of course the trigger stuck on.
The hole saw ripped my upper leg open right above the knee, had to go to the e-room and get 16 stitches. It barely missed the kneecap...felt like a dipstick after that for sure, and I'll have the scars on my leg to prove it forever. :)
Jamie
and what became of the drill????
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
HA, the freaking thing got TOSSED.
By the time I got back to it (when I left the house it was still going round and around), it had unplugged itself and was laying on the bloody floor. If my leg didn't hurt so bad, i would have jumped up and down on it. Irrational, but it makes me feel better usually. :)
Jamie
if ya had done that...
you could have posted again...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I drove a 2" drywall screw through my finger and out the fingernail and dropped the screwgun, all while on a 10 ft. ladder. Had to rip it off, like a rasp.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
dropped the screwgun, all while on a 10 ft. ladder. Had to rip it off, like a rasp.
Oooh, man, just reading that makes me wanna shriek.
Stupidest bonehead accident for me was the time I damn near sawed off my left middle finger trying to pretend that an upside down circ + a Workmate = a table saw.
Man, that was a while ago, in my young and stupid youthful stupidity....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
note to self: when screwing ones finger to the structure remember not to drop the drill despite excruciating pain thereby eliminating the possibility of unscrewing oneself.
thanks ruffmike, thats filed away in the old hard drive now.
I was 17 building a fence surrounding a church. It was 5000 lin feet of fence, post every 8 feet 2x4 top and bottom rails. It was a shadowbox style w/ each 1x6 individually screwed to the rails. After many many long hours with 2" screws, somehow I had mixed in some 3-1/2" screws in my pouch. I was in the bad habit of placing my left hand behind the board that I was attaching to the fence. Well, next thing I know I screwed through the board, through the rail and through my hand. I tried to pull it off but we all know how that worked out. I thought is was painful when it went in. It was 10 times more painful backing the screw out.
"It is what it is."
Not the worst I have been hurt on a job but one of the MOST boneheaded move I ever made that resulted in an injury.
Working late just before Christmas punch listing framing out in a large house. Done for the day and tool cleanup was underway . We had been all over the house so I was checking each room for any left behind tools. Headed up to the second floor via the dark stairway at a run.
I came nose to scaffolding against temporary scaffolding I had erected earlier that day to access the ceiling overhead. I had completely forgotten about the 2x across the stairway in my haste and didn't see it in the dark.
Knocked me out and broke my nose.
Someday I will tell about damn near chopping my left thumb off with a shingling hatchet while falling off a barn roof, or maybe the one about getting my wrist caught in a wrap of barbed wire while standing in the back of a moving truck and unspooling it. Seems fair I leave that one hanging out there, I was.
Ok, here's what I wanna know.
How the hell do you guys sit here and read this ? I made it to the ninth post and I feel like just going back to bed and leaving my tools in the trailer where they can't hurt me.
Thanks for nothing...........lolNaive but refreshing !
My accident was not nearly as bad as some of those just described but it certainly qualifies as "bonehead". I was mowing the back yard a couple of years ago when the muffler on the mower fell off. Knowing it would be hot, I put on a heavy leather glove to pick it up. Well, in a split second, the muffler burned right though the glove and scorched my hand.
Angry at myself and jumping around holding my hand, I threw the mower into the back of my cargo van to take it to the repair shop. As I took off, the mower went sailing to the back of the van crashing into the back doors. I put on the brakes and, you guessed it, it came sailing back at me, the handle clipping me in the head. I now place mowers sideways in the back of the van and never ever touch a hot muffler.
Chip
Now that's funny ... the van part. Three stooges."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
the worst bonehead accident i ever had on the job was rolling a rough terrain extendable boom forklift (gradall)
i was foreman, and we were setting forms for the wingwalls for a bridge. there was a fairly steep slope with a road cut in front of the wing walls for access.
as is typical the wing walls are short at the top and very long at the bottom. the stepped foundation was already done, and my layout was perfect.
we started setting forms at the top, and they kept getting progressively longer as we went. the last one was so long i didn't have the clearance to back down the slope (the proper technique) as i had done with all the other panels, and anticipating that i might be at the limits of what the machine could handle, i wisely called the group together for a mini safety meeting to discuss the attempt.
i told everyone to stay way back, keep a close eye on everything, and to be ready in case anything bad happens. then we started, rigged and picked, and started crawling down the hill with the boom extended all the way out and almost straight up.
when the wheels started to come up on the right side i tilted the the forklift to the right as smoothly as i could with my heart in my throat, when it became apparent that the tilt was not helping (it came up ever so slowly amazingly enough) i began to fear for my life, and i got out and ran as fast as i could to get out from under the darn thing.
as i watched it crawl on down the hill (again ever so slowly) it set itself right back down on all four wheels, so again moving as fast as i ever had in my life (adrenaline, my co-workers attested to the fact afterwards at the bar they didn't think it was possible for a human to move that quick) i ran back to the thing and jumped back in and procedded down the hill.
the second time the wheels started to come up on the right side it was happening a little faster now, the road was steeper, and this time I needed every bit of the superhuman speed to get out from under the thing as it came crashing to the ground, bounced, and continued to roll into the creek.
the superintendent came running out and asked what happened, and is everyone OK? I explained everything, and super said that the whole crew should probably take the rest of the day off. i stood right there and said out loud, "you mean I'm not fired?", "you actually want me to come back tommorrow?" he said yes and away to the bar we went.
next morning, a brand new crane (boom truck) for me to complete setting the panels with. (what we should have had in the first place)
I was over at Hubcap's, helping Jeff Buck build the deck.
Buck was wearing his tutu, and dancing with a broom.
He distracted me as I was using the chopsaw.
I slipped and fell against the saw.
Cut my head completly off.
Buck superglued it back on in a jiffy, but Hubcap docked us both half a day's pay, for horseplay.
Politics: the blind insulting the blind.
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You opened the Sphere's insanity Hot sauce I sent din't ya?Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
We had pizza and beer.No insanity sauce to be seen anywhere...
Politics: the blind insulting the blind.
Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern
I am always in a hurry so I have screwed up and hurt myself over the years a lot. So one I can think of was explaining to my son why not to hold two pieces of 2X4 close when nailing with a framing gun. After the explanation I moved my hand back as I had told him to do. Fired the gun. The nail came out and my hand, while it was back a ways, was not back far enough and the end of the nail went into the end of my thumb about a 1/2".
Painful as hell and bled some but not the end of the world. The next day we started again and he teased me a little. We both laughed. 15 minutes later I did it to the other thumb. It was a rough couple weeks till those thumbs stopped being sore. DanT
Walking around on some walls and joists nailing in drywall nailers while the helpers stacked decking.
turned to yell at them for something and lost my balance.
Finger on trigger, put hand with gun down to catch myself before I fall. tip of gun hits boot. 3 1/4 nail goes thru big toe.
Not the worst I have been hurt but ego was trashed.
I dropped my brandy new Bostitch narrow crown stapler on a concrete slab, broke the safty nose depresser doo hicky.
I found that a leg of a staple could be wedged in JUST right to keep the stub back, and make it work maybe..
So , as I looked directly at the nose pointing at me, I pulled the trigger...yup. Shot a 1.25" staple through the pad of my index finger..which was a GOOD thing, else it woulda shot me in the eye.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Just told Piffin this story this morning.
One of my first jobs, I was hanging a fascia board that was just a little twisty. I figure no problem and push up on the board while getting the Paslode ready.
Of course the Paslode was at the wrong angle. After I shot the gun, the board moved but my hand wouldnt. Turns out I nailed right through my pinky nail.
I've only dont that once (thankfully).
I did have another nail glance off a board and hit my legs with just enough power to stick in straight. It was funny cause it didnt really go in it just hung there.
worst - Hmmmm...I'll have to think on that for awhile
The almost gotcha ones tend to be more entertaining though.
Like the time I was building a log cabin with swedish D-coped milled 8" logs. once it got about 5' high, it was harder to run the bead of glue, so I was sitting astride the wall with leg on either side, running a bead for the next ten foot log and backing up as I squeezed the trigger. I didn't know somebody else was 'helping' me out and that there was already a bead back there about 7-8 feet heading to the opposite corner.
So I sat right in it and never realized it until i got along and stood off to place the log. So I took a shim or scrap to wipe up and went on the the day's work.
What I also did not realize until I got home that night, is that the glue had oozed right through the fabric of my pants and that it sticks pretty darn good to crack hair. Try pulling your britches down with that impediment!
;)
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ROAR!
Don't know what else to say to that one.
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Like with adhesive bandage - you have to stop and think - do I do this slow, or rip it all at once
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Similar glue incident.
Had a pair of work boots that were very old and very comfortable - had a hole in the toe of the left boot from too much crawling on asphalt shingles.
Wearing the boots while laying sheet vinyl flooring for H4H. Stuck toe of boot in some vinyl adhesive - never knew it.............
until I tried to take the boot off that night - sock glued to boot toe -- very tough to get off.
JimNever underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
Well, now you know what to use to repair your boots.;o)
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So, I have to admit that I have a had time picking out my worst injury to myself. I guess I'll settle for introducing you to my left index finger, which has two of the top contenders.
I once owned a specialty wood stove store, and was setting up a display at the county fair. Pulled in with my freight trailer loaded with heavy wood stoves. The jack stand had broken and schedule did not allow time for repairs, so I had a hydraulic under the tongue while I was placing a wood block over a concrete block to support it. Instead of sliding that wood block into place with two hands and fingers alongside. I handled it with my hand spread above it,and under the 800# tongue load.
You guessed it, the jack slipped out, and the tongue slapped down 4" onto the whole back of my hand with just the tip of that finger over the edge of he wood block. Then the tongue bounced up and I reacted, both yelling bloody murder, and yanking my hand back while the tongue was suspended. But that full load came back down too quick, and the only part left of me stuck between was the tip of that finger.
I took it to the hospital without too much pain, but knew from the colour that the fingernail had to be removed. It was kind of just floating on the hamburger there. They took X-rays and the doc came back in, tapping on my finger with his pencil while saying, "This one is broken" I think he was trying to convince me, because it was about then that the pain kicked in.
Damn maasochist took the nail off and sewed it up with no pain killer either, THEN he asked if I wanted a prescription to take home!
Then the next item was when I was holding a door between my legs and using a nice sharp chisle to worry out a spot to set a hinge. Door wobbled, chisle slipped, and the thing sliced into my finger to the bone. It was so sharp, I never felt it, but I could see a faint line in the callous, so I thought, "Hmm, that's interesting, think I'll take a look..."
So I squeezed things and the cut openned up and blood started spurting all over the place. I was glad I was not on good carpet. As I washed it, that was when the pain started too. That's been over 30 years ago, and still is one of my most obvious scars. Electrical tape took care of it that time. didn't want to chance seeing the same Doc again.
Then a couple of years later, I was trimming out a place and running 3-1/2" baseboard and cutting a 45 miter of outside corner with th ebase standing up on the chopsaw. This was before sliders. I think the saw was my old 9" Delta.
Apparently, there was an invisible fracture in the top edge grain of the base piece. When the blade hit, the top 1/4" or so splintered off and spun my finger into the back side of the blade where it spins back up into the shroud.
I still remeber the sound of a Diiinnnngggggg! ringing as I saw the blade spinning backwards, and looked down to see that I was clutching my paw to my chest. I was thinking,"I probably...no, I couldn't have...But there's blood on the wall over there, so you must have...You gotta look...No, I don't really wanna see it..."
Whell, remember when the trailer broke that finger tip into five pieces? The way that bone healed, the tip was really big and gaumy like ET fingertips. My chop saw did a nice job of taking all that nasty scar tissue out of the way! The top half inch was folded back and hanging on by just the skin on one side.
I folded it back into place, ( twenty minutes later before it started burning really) and wrapped it up and didn't trust myself to drive. Had heard of guys passing out after something like this. SoI walked down to the nearby Sheriff's dispatch to ask for a ride top the ER. A buddy happened to be in the office and said sure, just don't drip blood on my car seats, willya!
I did not want to alert the wife, because she was running a child care center with half a dozen kids. But after the local Doc took a look, he said you gotta go to Steamboat Springs to the bone guys over there. I called the wife and she still talks about the time I asked if she would like "to drive me and my finger over to steamboat hospital". I guess the terminology painted a pretty good picture for her.
Then maybe another 8-10 years before I was using a utility knife to cut cedaar shingles at angle for a sidewall. The knife hit a knot and skipped up over the metal straightedge, and right down the middle of that fingernail, parting it in two.
Well, that about does it for that finger. It still works - just ain't so pretty as it was when Mamma gave it to me.
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""Damn maasochist took the nail off and sewed it up with no pain killer either, THEN he asked if I wanted a prescription to take home!"" BTDT!! Shattered the end knuckle on the ring finger on my right hand.
I knew it was broken because I could rotate the end of the digit 360 deg. so off I went to see the docs. "Family Care" doctor tries to set the end of the digit (with no anesthesia) telling me he thinks it is simply dislocated. 4 tries but because the knuckle socket was in three pieces it kept sliding off sideways. Finally defeated he turns to another doctor who had been standing watching and calmly asks her if she would like to try , he just can't seem to get it!! She tries 5 more times!! They then agree I should go see an ortho doc after I get x-rays. Like you said friggin masochists!!
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Bonehead accident?
Spent a 1/2 hour alone sawzalling and removing nails from a deck kneeling down.
Stood up, leg asleep lost balance and steped on newly freed nasty deck boad.
10 stitches to the chin. It made me feel a little better when the doc who I assumed was smarter then me asked if I passed out???? Ah, how would I know?
Had the board been an inch longer I'd have new teeth, an inch shorter and I wouldn't be posting today.
Classic 3 stooges manuver.
Trimming some siding and thought if I pull utility knife to me this way I would cut across my forearm and would cut real bad. Moved arm and just stabbed that sucker right in like it was planned!!!Couldn't find the spot in the elbow to stop the bleeding and it spurted like a fountain. So I stuck my thumb in like the Dutch boy. Worked like a charm. Helper drove me a half hour into the ER. Quite the scene.Everyone wanted to see the guy with the thumb stuck in his arm to stop the bleeding, and every time I took it out spurt, spurt, spurt!Many stitches later, dumb me, dumb me, dumb me!!!Welcome to my world of scars.dan
Drs are sadists - masochists are the people who let them do it....
DUH!!! I knew that !
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Just try not to let them do it any more...
Well in that particular incident the Ortho was not pleased with the way the knuckle healed and wanted to pin it and remove the flex from the knuckle. I told him I would be better off if he would simply remove the last part of the finger then and there because if he pinned it I was going to end up removing it on a jobsite someday when I got the end caught between some heavy objects. I walked out and started flexing the end of the digit everyday , kept at it for a year or so and now, other than a slight sideways appearence when bent it is fine.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Dauntless Dovetail Defies Digit Doctor...Develops DIY therapy...
oops!. My faux pas
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Just one of those picky English major-librarian thingies...
I can share a seriously close call (I hope my insurer isn't reading this). On a 2 story house above a concrete walkway I set up my ladders, jacks and 16' plank so the plank is cantilevered, only way I could reach what I had to reach. I clamped the plank to both ladder jacks but like a dumn a$$ I didn't think to secure the jacks to the ladder. Well, I walked out onto the extended end of the plank and suddenly it started sinking. The other end lifted up off and away from the ladder. Whats more, the ladders were at slightly different angles, so the jack that came loose also cocked about 10 degrees, so it wouldn't slip back onto the rungs.
When I felt it moving I grabbed the gutter, mostly for ballance as I knew if I fell there was no way that gutter was going to hold my weight. At first I tried yelling for help but there wasn't anyone around. The only hope I had of not taking a 2 story fall to the concrete walkway was to somehow get at least one of the hooks on the jack back onto the ladder rung. All the time thinking the jack at my end may be over stressed and could collapse at any time, I used my weight and ballance to swing the loose jack up and over to let it drop back onto the rung. It took 3 tries, but I finally got the bottom of the jack hooked. Whew!
I climbed down, up the other ladder, re-secured it, tied it with some heavy twine, went back up and finished the job. That was my closest call to date and I plan on keeping it that way.
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See some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
This last winter I climbed up a ladder that was set in the snow...bad bad bad. long one short, I shattered my tibia and had to have extensive orthopedic surgery. Install 9 bolts and a 3x6" permanent steel plate holding the cadaver bone they had to graft on to the top of my tibia about an inch below my knee..
I like to think that none of these accidents(at least mine) weren't from stupidity, but rather from the simple fact that our jobs are dangerous and have a huge risk of really messing ourselves up..I have seen old old timers hurt themselves and I have seen young young green horns hurt themselves...It just happens
I hope you heal up well
g luck
All I ever wanted in life was an unfair advantage...
"I like to think that none of these accidents(at least mine) weren't from stupidity..."
Nope. Mine was pure stupidity. :D
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Edited 5/11/2008 8:52 pm by Ted W.
SO, tell me someone else has done something similarly stupid as me.....
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=87511.1
Well i guess this thread proves you're not alone in a boneheaded move! Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
Luckily wasn't hurt....but I once walked beyond the support of a catwalk scaffold two stories up.
I laugh about it now.....felt like I was in a cartoon at the time......all happened in slow motion.
Realized I was out too far....turned to go back as my end of the catwalk went down....tried to scurry toward the end going up....too late.
Came down with alotta noise on a concrete slab. Scared the #### outta the boss on the other side of the house.
I just started hollerin', "I'm a-alright.....I'm a-alright" (ala It's a Wonderful Life)
First and last time I ever did that.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Pp, Qq
"I'm a-alright.....I'm a-alright" (ala It's a Wonderful Life)
I LOVE THAT LINE!! I say it all the time, I thought I was the only one. It was said by the uncle as he was walking drunk down the street. Just before it he said "Just point me in the right direction."
"It is what it is."
That's the one!
I use it all the time as well, although I don't think anyone ever has any idea what or why I'm saying it.
Have a buddy who used to use it in context when we were younger. He'd take a drunken spill, and we'd all laugh while he pulled himself up saying it.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Last summer, whilst working on my own house, I managed to, in the span of about 8 weeks:
1) Cause a kickback w/ my Bosch SCMS, which banged hell outta my left middle finger, bent a brand new Freud blade, and bent the motor's shaft, rendering the saw useless;
2) Shave a bit off the index finger of the same hand with a power planer;
3) Just as (2) had completely healed, I took a chunk outta the same frickin' finger with a table saw;
And, for the capper (though not work-related):
4) Received several 2nd-degree burns from a multi-shot firework that I thought wasn't lit discharging all 12 shots directly into my left palm. Thankfully it was a small one - no circumferential burns, but it still was the worst pain I've ever experienced.
Amazingly, my right hand survived the summer more or less unscathed.
Later, I concluded I shoulda just cut my left hand off and hope I'd regenerate like starfish do. At the rate I was going, I'm surprised I didn't cut it off by accident.
Following in his old man's footsteps, my son (6yo) broke his left arm and right middle finger within 3 weeks of each other last summer.
Needless to say, we met our family medical insurance deductible last year.
Cutting the top off a small roll of carpet I had standing on end with a stanley knife.
Knife slipped and I got the blade just under the kneecap. 3 days before it would bend properly.
Doing something stupid with needle nosed pliers and scored them between the eyes. Inch either way and I woulda lost one.
Holding a bit of timber I was ripping behind the circular saw I was pushing. Saw kicked back right over my thumb. Luckily it was just torn up and nothing was missing.
Free hand cut on a radial arm saw. Mind went walkies and came back to reality just as my pinky got truly smooshed between the fence and the bit off wood. Couldnt figgure the blood out cos my hand had been so far away from the blade......until I saw the end of my finger was damn near off.
20 minutes of swearing and kicking stuff around the shop before I trusted myself to go to the house and bandage it up.
Not an accident but......cornered a strange cat that was coming in an beating up ours. As it went past I pinned and grabbed at the same time. Cats have got reflexes like greased lightening. It spun, wrapped around my arm and sunk all its teeth into my hand.
I shook it off and as it ran past...................................I did it again.
cat was faster than ever......more biting. Man did that hurt.People talk about insanity like its a bad thing........
Didn't hurt myself, but I did something similar with an 18 ga pinner. Was nailing in a very tight blind space, pulled the trigger and felt my other hand jerk. I'd shot the 2" pin through the back of hand. With great luck, it went through a fleshy part between the bones of my fingers and I just grabbed it with my teeth and pulled it out.Hardly even bled.
Also, a very stupid move while dismantling my way down a site-built scaffold on a siding job. I was up 7' standing on a plank on the first tier, bent over and knocked out the crossbar supporting the plank. Landed on my feet but shaking my head.
The other day a new client had a problem with his gutters overflowing and told him I'd stop by and have a look.
Someone had placed the short extension downspout lengths between the elbows inside both elbows and twigs and leaves ended up catching on the inside lip successfully plugging the flow so the clean gutters would overflow during rain.
Of course one corner of the old two story had a fir growing tall next to it and when adjusting the ladder close to the trunk so I could access the elbow the owner shows up and alters my attention.
Now I kind of pride myself on some matters of detail and farting around with this builder/handyman stuff for 20-30 years of being fairly injury free outside of the norm bruises, blisters and splinters kind of thing, meaning no known broken bones or hospital trips.
But when I let my attention waver when adjusting the height of a fiberglass extension ladder with nylon pull rope in right hand
and left hand on a rung pressuring back on the ladder so the top doesn't ride on the siding
hearing the slide and clink as the latch mechanisms ride up each rung and I set the latches each time I regroup my hand position on the rope preparing for another pull,
I think the latch has secured on a rung when what has happened in not having a clear view of the rungs up there being secluded by the fir
I fail to see a small branch has kept the latch from closing on the rung so when I release the rope to prepare for another pull the dang top extension ladder begins to slide back down in to it's position within the bottom ladder
by what must have been four rungs or so and catches the backside of my left hand which stopped the slide.
For once I'm glad I hadn't yet applied any wax to the ladders or the slide could just as easily have broke the hand instead of merely cutting the skin if the unlubed friction hadn't slowed the speed enough.
And I couldn't blame anyone else as it would have been my fault for being inattentive
and I'd be sitting here with a cast on. It doesn't sound that bad hearing this compared to the others here but that mofo move could have messed me up big time for the summer season.
Ya, we've all heard it before and heard it again but
be careful out there.
Edited 5/21/2008 12:37 pm ET by rez
Sounds like everyone gets a turn huh?
Well I was drilling 3" holes in old solid soffit to compliment the new ridge vent in in the roof we were putting vented soffit over the previous solid stuff. On the last step of an 8 foof ladder- I really did take care to position my head away from the drill if it caught and spun
Except for the last hole there was a tree in the way and I couldnt get the ladder where I wanted it, just wanted to finish and of course it caught and hit me in the temple saw HUGE stars- dont remember the fall only the other guy standing over me -aw @#$%$ holy @$%# U ok?
Same week was on a scaffold grabed a roll of Ice and water to set on the roof filleted the back of my hand on the corner of the dripedge as I swug it up there 4" wide about 2" deep fillet of skin just flopping there untill the blood came man thats an ugly scar
Few years back I was shingling with Oak shakes. Splitting them was a chore so my trusty half hatchett was Razor sharp, I had to shave them more than just whack and split them..all in all a bitch of a roof due to the materials.
I had finished a section and had the hatchett in my hammer loop, right side, and as I scooted my butt down to get the next set of jacks to set, the blade had rotated out and in plane with the roof..my right hand was planted and I scooted my butt downa foot or so, and the blade layed the meaty base of my thumb open about an inch deep and 5'' long..oh, it was NOT pretty.
I got down before it spurted too bad, I had a hankie to wrap it, hold it, but scaling the 5 tier of scaffold was tuff.
Wrapped er up REAL GOOD with gauze and duct tape, and worked the rest of the day, throbbing. I was pretty far out from any medical assistance. Finally got to the ER on the way home, and the nurse askked when did it happen, I said about 1030..it was 600 when I rolled in..she was really PO'd at me for not coming sooner. A bunch of stitches and a scowl.
A year later same nurse, when I rolled an ankle into oblivion, I quickly said " Hey!, It JUST HAPPENED!" LOL
Hand is fine, ankle is still giving me problems, and that was 2 yrs in Jan. or maybe one yr. I forget. Have a steady case of Planters Faciitis going on, and the brace ain't helping, by 300 PM I can hardly walk.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Do not click here what ever ya do
Bad things happen to those who click themselves
Years ago i was working doing a cedar shingle roof on an huge old barn. Gambrel roof and we had finished up so I was cleaning the cleats off the roof. Each 2x4 cleat was wrapped with plumbers tape and then the tail tucked up and nailed under the shingle. One cleat had the last wrap of tape 3-4' in from the end and I didn't notice as walked along, hit that end and the cleat went down and so did I. Being a bright guy I swung my hatchet hard to bury it in the roof as there was only one cleat left below me before the edge and the farmers pile of old metal fence posts and barbed wire about 30' below.. A minor problem occurred when my left thumb got between the hatchet and the roof. Damn near amputated it on the spot.
Fortunately for me the hatchet wasn't sharp so it just peeled the skin down , and pushed everything else aside or bruised it. Scar runs about 60% of the way around the thumb .
I did catch that last cleat as I spread eagled myself (while wearing cutoffs only ) on the fresh cedar shingles. Picked cedar out of my chest and legs for weeks.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Buried the Estwing 28's claws once sliding off a 1/2" plywood roof..the next day I was nailing along and the blue plastic left the shank ..LOL
Whew..Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Click away from here
Do not click here what ever ya do
Bad things happen to those who click themselves
That one scares the #### out of me!
I have fallen 2x's of roofs when the nail in each jack pulled out, yep you heard me right it took me 2x's to learn!!! Always wondered why there were 3 holes?
Good thing you learned to count to three by looking at those nail homes/slots instead of counting three times falling of the roof!My nuts went into seizure reading his story of going off almost with shorts and legs spread-eagled.. I think I'll go have a drink and relax them now.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
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WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Here is one of my bonehead moments that involves no blood. I had a crew excavating a trench around a house that had a leaky basement. It began to rain like crazy and it was at that point somebody realized that all the downspouts pointed into the trench. Course it was coffee time so they waited 20 minutes or so to tell me and then they sounded the alarm like it was the end of the world. I came running out of my truck without having laced up my nice Timberland boots. I jumped down in that trench without thinking and hit a truly nasty pocket of soft wet clay nearly up to my knees.When I finally got free, I walked out barefoot with all my guys laughing themselves silly. My boots and socks are still under that damned house.
Do you hook your toes over the end of the bed when you sleep ?Or just "point" them downwards ?I used to have Plantar's, really bad.Just changed the one habit.Always sleep with my feet relaxed, or toes pointing up, instead of down.Haven't had that pain for over a year now. Only took a couple months after I changed the habit.
Politics: the blind insulting the blind.
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I sleep on my side, and my feet are usually off the bed, too tall, for a too short bed.
I have a Plantars brace from footsmart.com, trying to see how long that takes. And, doing the stretching execise, "toe ups" on a stair nose. Arnica cream, vitamin I, and rest seems most helpful.
Standing on narrow ladder rungs and digging, seem to be bad things. when I buried Ed, I really messed up any healing, I shovel left foot it seems.
I'll try to monitr my sleeping pos. Thanks.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Click away from here
Do not click here what ever ya do
Bad things happen to those who click themselves
Well... this is truly a bonehead accident...
I was building a deck with my father when I was 17.
I love to hit things with the hammer.
I was standing in the frame. Joists about chest-high.
I was whacking a joist in place from underneath--tight.
My arm got a little tired, I missed and the hammer carried up and I hit myself in the face, right above my left eye, knocking myself out cold.
I woke up with my dad pressing a bandana against my face.
8 stitches.
MC hammer was big back then and once the drama was over, my dad would sing, "Stop... hammertime.." under his breath... Funny.
Changed the blade on a saw that had the guard chocked up. Trigger was stuck, plugged it in and cut off one toe, mangled another, zipped open my leg, back,shin and ripped my pants, shirt and shoes. I was stuck in a octagon shaped shower with this damn thing bouncing off me and the walls. Looked like a murder scene. First thing I did that a.m.
You win.
Did the shower walls get badly damaged? That's the important thing."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I have very selective memory about such things -- part of my survival strategy. Heck, I've had to glance up a few times to be sure I didn't write some of these! Suffice to say that all paired parts of my anatomy that once were symmetrical now look as if they belong to two different people. But it all more or less works and I can still count to ten without taking off a shoe.
The one that always makes me cringe happened to someone else. He was straddling the top of a ten-foot stepladder, putting up crown with a 2" pin nailer. Had to use both hands to tweak the piece, and so held the gun between his legs. I don't even have to finish that story, do I?
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