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11:07 pm
NWBA Member
September 25, 2010
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I have several "Respect for..." moments
I used to do a lot of woodworking, so most of these are related to that.
Respect for Chisels: Building a trestle table and working the mortise on one end with a chisel, put my left hand down with fingers spread on either side of the whole I was cleaning out. The chisel came up higher than I expected and the next thing I knew, I had a slice down the inside of my index finger. When I got to the emergency room for stitches, I asked if they had a soundproof room so I could curse myself out. :banghead: After doing it, I walked a block away to my Aunt & Uncles house and asked if they thought it needed stitches. She said, if you have to ask, then the answer is YES!. :stomp:
Respect for Table Saws: Working on pegs for my SCA Viking tent, which are larger than you think, a piece jumped and knocked the tip of my left index finger into the blade. Fortunately, the blade was new and just cut a small channel. If it had been old, it could have pulled my whole hand into the blade.
Respect for Machetes: I didn't actually get hurt here, but I overswung while clearing brush last summer and the toe of my work boot will never be the same again. 😀
Of course I've grabbed black hot steel before. D'oh! and have loads of small burns from other blacksmithing.
I do know that when I hurt myself more than once in an hour in the same finger to stop for the day like last weekend. It was all innocent really. I was using my leg vise to gently hold the aluminum frame pieces of a new screen and cutting with the angle grinder. The first injury was finding out how hot that little piece that didn't quite fall was. Small shiny rectangle on my left middle finger. Then, after releasing the vise I let the bar slide down and gave myself a pinch on the same finger in the same spot. I know it was time to stop for the day. 
Regards,
Tim
Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.
Mark Twain
11:34 pm
March 18, 2010
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Yeah, some people just never learn to appreciate the way the work can jump right up, slap ya up along side the head and say: "Pay attention, fool"!
“There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot,
but then there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence,
transform a yellow spot into the sun.” ~ Pablo Picasso ~
12:25 am
March 21, 2011
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I've had a few boo-boo's over the years. Stuck a finger in a wormdrive saw once. Thankfully only went through half the finger near the tip. It healed pretty well.
I did a dumb thing just about a month ago. I didn't wait for the peanut grinder to come to a complete stop before adjusting the guard. Cut-off wheel went to the bone. Ouch!
Way too many cuts to even think about. I guess I've got off pretty easy.
2:04 am
May 13, 2010
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My two worst blacksmithing related accidents were. I adjusted a pair of tongs to fit a piece of stock, without thinking I quenched them to cool them. I then put a ring on the reins with lots of tension. As I was working on the anvil the tongs broke somehow my finger got between the reins, the force of the reins smashing together burst the end of the finger and blackened the nail. It took 3 years for the nail to grow back right. My second blacksmithing related injury also involved smashing a finger to the point of bursitng the end. I had a set of shelves in my garage that were sized that these swage blocks would just fit under the shelves https://www.blacksmithsdepot.com/page.php?theLocation=/Resources/Product/SWAGE_blocks/Trunnion_Mount_Swage_Block.xml/ It was late I was tired and didn't want to be out in the shop. I unloaded some from my truck and wanted to slide them under the shelves, they are slightly wider one way and one of the ones that was under the shelves was sitting with the wider side down. Rather than pulling it out rotating it and pushing it back in I tried to flip it over under the shelf. The corner was JUST catching so it wouldn't flip over, frustrated I slammed it a couple of times so it would roll over. Of course once the corner cleared where it was catching I couldn't stop it and the 145lb slammed onto my finger catching it bettween the swage block and the floor.
Both accidents and most minor injuries I have had were caused by trying to rush. When I find myself rushing now I try to stop myself as that is often when accidents and mistakes happen. There is a difference between working quickly and rushing.
3:47 am
January 18, 2011
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A guy working for me was grinding on a piece of railing oh 6' long and weighed less than 50#., on horses...........It came time to flip the rail to grind the other side and what does the moron do but wriggle under the rail with a big 8'' angle grinder and proceed to lay his leg open just above the knee, 2'' L x 1/2'' deep.....Stitches, the whole bit........Flipping a 50# rail is........not that hard
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
3:59 am
March 21, 2011
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JNewman;10763 wrote: My second blacksmithing related injury also involved smashing a finger to the point of bursitng the end.
Twice! Wow. I feel for ya. I've done that before, popped my finger like a grape. I was carrying a small piece of I-beam on to a jobsite when I slipped on some ice and fell. I nearly got my hand out from under the I-beam but the fingertip got it. Man, that was ugly. [Image Can Not Be Found]
Twice I've seen carpenters shim their skilsaw guard up while making a difficult cut overhead only to bring the saw down into their thigh when they finished the cut. Anyone who shims a guard on my site now goes home.
5:51 am
March 22, 2010
Offline8:28 am
March 22, 2010
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Got zapped on 440 AC on an injection molding machine heater, had the tool power off but unaware the heaters are always on 24-7, thank my lucky stars, never made that mistake again.
4:22 am
January 18, 2011
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While thinking about Your 25# LG Lynn, It jogged my memory about a friend who had one. He had a seemingly harmless habit of sweeping the slag off the lower die with his hand. LG"S run on a bit after the treadle is lifted as we all know. He had his timing down pretty slick when he did a quick brush....Until one day he didn't, He didn't loose the hand but it ain't the same.......
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
9:26 pm
August 14, 2010
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Quick reminder, since this thread is back near the top, I spun the vise on the drill press a couple of weeks ago and broke my left index finger. (I'll be ok, very minor, day before I was going out of town for a week anyhow.)
Usual culprit: I was in a hurry trying to get things ready on my way out the door. Went to the drill press to 'open this hole up quick". Doing the same job, but just a little different from the way I'd done it before. Going over the install process in my head. Took me a second to figure out where I was and what had happened when the vise came around and smacked my knuckle.
Stupid mistake, but there aren't a lot of smart mistakes to be made. Pay attention!
10:18 pm
March 21, 2011
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I let the knotted wire wheel take some skin off of my forearm this afternoon. I tried to use it with the handle removed. And naturally I locked the trigger. It got away from me and promptly climbed my arm. Then it jumped over the leg vise, hit the ground and finally pulled its own cord out of the outlet.
[Image Can Not Be Found]
12:44 am
March 18, 2010
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And you guys thought "The School of Hard Knocks" was just an expression. Don't worry Tom, skin grows back!
“There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot,
but then there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence,
transform a yellow spot into the sun.” ~ Pablo Picasso ~
4:55 am
January 18, 2011
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A couple here on twisting machines.............Knew some guys in Carbondale co who built a twister, they made a good strong headstock at the end of an I beam to chuck the bar in. The tail stock was kinda thrown together with odds and ends. While they were twisting something like 4 pcs of 1/2'' round to make some ''rope'' material. The I beam was on the floor (it didn't have legs) when the rickety tail stock busted free from the I beam. The pent up torque in the rope with the tail stock on the end was released and it swung to the side the unfortunate operator was standing....The tail stock was violently planted on the top of his foot....crushed! Good thing it wasn't on legs.......Overbuilding is a good thing.
Another time a friend was making 3/8'' round rings with his twister by attaching a 4''x 6' pipe between the head and tailstock. Drill a 3/8'' hole in the pipe at one end, insert the say 20' L of round and guide the steel along as it winds up on the pipe with the frame of the twister used as the break.....This all works fine and dandy cept when you get to the end and the tag end slips past the frame you've just released a huge spring.......and the end of it is going to come around and re arrange your hand if you've held on too long...like with my friend...A few weeks in a cast and he was ok.
If you ever make rings like this don't guide the rod through your hands. Like with 3/8 material get a piece of 1/2'' pipe 3' long and let it run through the pipe and you can guide it up as close as you like...
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
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