Be careful out there...

[Gaillo]

Hey, folks...

If you use power tools of any kind in your work, BE CAREFUL!!!

I lost the tip of my right thumb this evening working in the shop... VERY, VERY stupid maneuver at the lathe while in a hurry. Tore off a little over 1/8" across the front, along with a little bit of the thumbnail. It could have been worse... if my hand angle had been just a little different, I would have lost most of my thumb (I was running the lathe at 1,200 RPM with a 80 lb. chuck). I've been machining metal for close to 20 years now, and other than once when I dropped a tool on my foot, this is the FIRST ever injury I've had in the shop.

Hurts like hell, I'm sedating myself with wine currently... dreading tomorrow's "throbbing" -which just started at a low level a few minutes ago.

Please... learn from my mistake, not your own.

[nunaem]

Youch! I'm glad your thumb was only circumcised and not castrated!

Get well soon!

[ximmy]

Thank god it wasn't worst... I've seen my brother and dad working with machinery... eek!... I'm actually amazed there aren't more people walking around with missing digits...

was it this painful??? (see vid)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKLZHK3oYqY

[Tumbleweed]

Sorry to hear about your thumb Gaillo. Those things can happen so fast. My brother in law was riding a 4whlr this evening helping me chase cattle when he hit a little ditch. He chipped a tooth and bit a chunk out of his lip. Shit happens :(

[willie pete]

pics ? :D

[Gaillo]

pics ? :D


Maybe... once the pain goes down. It's bandaged right now. When it happened, I applied pressure with my shirt, and dumped about a half cup of denatured alcohol from a nearby can on the cloth. When I got to a sink, I washed it FAST in the hottest water I could stand, gauzed it, and poured rubbing alcohol into the gauze before wrapping the whole thing in about 5 adhesive strips.

Ximmy - no, it didn't hurt - felt like it does when you bang your finger into a counter or chair... just a light "impact" feeling. I has to look at it before I realized what had happened.

[Ponce]

Lol Gaillo, I also just to be a lathe machinest before coming up with the squeeze ball..... right now I have a Webb that is the same as a Moresiky.........anyway, don't type to much and get better.

[Shami-Amourae]

We used to do stuff like that all the time in the culinary industry. I did it 1.5 years ago when I bought my first ceramic knife. I didn't know how light/sharp it would be and did it when I was cutting celery. I also did it another time while using a Japanese mandolin. After that I bought one of these (http://tinyurl.com/44kmpud), and never had to freak out while using my Japanese mandolin. I don't use it for knives, since I never cut myself with a knife again once I get used to it.

It actually didn't hurt much since it was such a clean cut with the knife, and it grew back 100% good as new, and yes I did cut off 1/8th" like you did too both times. It should grow back in a couple to a few months (depending the cut of course.) The worst part is the first week or so where you have insane pain, and skin grows over the wound. Try to get as much air to it as you can when it stops bleeding, that's for sure.


One time had a chef who claimed he cut off his fingers 11 times, and his fingers looked somewhat okay (though crooked, hehe).

Not trying to put down the severity of what happened to you, but there's a decent chance you'll make a full recovery of it, but that's also based on what I read, it could be totally different for everyone.

[Shami-Amourae]

Just thought I'd throw some alternative medicine advice to help you up with the healing process, if you don't mind:



Cayenne (http://www.bastis.org/cayenne.htm): Should slow/stop promote blood clotting. More information here (http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/cuts.html#CAYENNE_49636). Would be helpful in tea form too as described in the first link.


[YEA] 02/01/2011: Ann from Indianapolis, In replies: "I have to add my experience with cayenne. I was cutting potatoes for dinner and the knife slipped. I ended up taking a big chunk out of the side of my finger. It bled profusely.... Through at least 4 bandages. I was panicking, thinking I needed to get stitches and decided to see if there were any alternatives first.

I finally got the courage to try the cayenne pepper. I packed the wound full of the stuff--and there was a huge hole in my finger tip---and wrapped it with a fresh bandage. Now, I have to disagree with those who said it stings for a little bit. It stung like nobody's business for a couple of hours then subsided to a dull throb, but the bleeding stopped immediately. I left it alone for 24 hours. After that I rinsed it with cold water and rebandaged it. Three days later, the gaping hole has closed itself and there is only a fine reddish line where the wound itself was. It's a bit sensitive to touch, so I keep it covered at work, but otherwise it's as if the tip of my finger was never sliced off. Everyone who saw the wound before the cayenne is totally amazed that a "folk cure" worked so well and quickly. Thank you! "

---------------------

Turmeric (http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/cuts2.html#TURMERIC): Should lower overall pain.


Hopefully Old Herb Lady can give you more advice, I only know so much myself, but I really think cayenne and turmeric can help you. Unfortunately cayenne helps most at the early stage of the cut/wound, but it could still help you now.

Hope you make a speedy recovery!!!

[Neuro]

1-2 days after is when you should have peak pain (throbbing), then it will slowly subside over 1-2 weeks. Shouldn't be too much of a problem after that, but look out for infection...

[boogietillyapuke]

I did the left with a dirt bike and a pine tree.

About half the nails worth and had to be bone trimmed and stiched. Tender for years after at the very tip. Didn't hurt either as I was already medicated with beer.

Worst part of the whole experience is that it's hard to pick my nose with that thumb. ;D

[Neuro]

I did the left with a dirt bike and a pine tree.

About half the nails worth and had to be bone trimmed and stiched. Tender for years after at the very tip. Didn't hurt either as I was already medicated with beer.

Worst part of the whole experience is that it's hard to pick my nose with that thumb. ;D
Isn't it better to pick the nose with your index finger anyway? For deeper richer pickings?

[Dogman]

Good reminder!

But working with machine tools it is almost guaranteed that someday the operator is going to have a accident, no matter how safe you try to be. All it takes is a freak set of conditions/momentary brain fart or loss of respect and or fear of the danger of the machine.

Gaillo sorry for your pain, you are lucky it was only a love nip, and not a bite, that got you. Heal well and quickly.

[bellevuebully]

Thanks for the warning Gaillo. It never hurts (no pun intended) to be reminded.

I think a lot of people who don't run power equipment on a regular basis don't appreciate how much power there is in this equipment. Even something as light as a drill surprises them when the bit locks up and spins out of their hands. Or how quick a 12 inch mitre saw can take off a finger.

The one peice of equipment that I run on a regular basis at home and camp is chainsaw, and for the life of me I am shocked that being a peice of equipment anyone can buy at a hardware store, there are not more serious injuries from them.

Thanks again for the safety reminder and I hope you heal up soon.

[DMac]

OUCH!

Sorry to hear Gaillo

[General of Darkness]

I wonder if it's the digit that's used to hit the BANNED button? :dunno

[mick silver]

once i hit my finger with a 24 oz framing hammer . it look like it had been in a meat grinder . you talk about hurting . dam cold chills

[Neuro]

I wonder if it's the digit that's used to hit the BANNED button? :dunno
Well you could be the one to discover? ;)

[sirgonzo420]

dayum


take it easy!

[mamboni]

Ouch! Hope you feel better bro!

Just watch for any signs of infection, like pain and redness creeping up your finger and hand, fever or swollen lymph glands around the elbow. I would soak it in colloidal silver just in case, as tools are generally quite dirty.

I remember cutting off the tip of my first finger while cutting invitations for my newborn son's Christening late at night while a resident in NY at the hospital. I was using a large paper cutting board and those things are dangerous. Anyway. I calmly strolled down to the ED, struck up a conversation with one of the residents on call and he shot me up with some local and sewed me back together. I only missed maybe an hour of work. ;D

[JJ.G0ldD0t]

Kewl...
an Ouch / Stupid thread.

Hope it heals well for you Gaillo. :)

Here's mine.

I probably don't have to tell anyone to be careful not to do something as stupid as punching a window. Normally I'm pretty cool headed but I guess everyone has their limit.

Yes it was an alcohol involved self inflicted wound.

[sirgonzo420]

Kewl...
an Ouch / Stupid thread.

Hope it heals well for you Gaillo. :)

Here's mine.

I probably don't have to tell anyone to be careful not to do something as stupid as punching a window. Normally I'm pretty cool headed but I guess everyone has their limit.

Yes it was an alcohol involved self inflicted wound.




How did the window fare?

[madfranks]

Hope your thumb heals up quickly Gaillo, and I'm glad you didn't lose your whole digit.

Once I was putting a ham through a meat slicer and my co-worker was telling a joke so I turned around to listen and while laughing I pushed my thumb right into the spinning blade, and received a vertical cut right down the middle of my thumb, cut right through the finger nail and everything. Took six stitches to put it back.

[JJ.G0ldD0t]

Kewl...
an Ouch / Stupid thread.

Hope it heals well for you Gaillo. :)

Here's mine.

I probably don't have to tell anyone to be careful not to do something as stupid as punching a window. Normally I'm pretty cool headed but I guess everyone has their limit.

Yes it was an alcohol involved self inflicted wound.




How did the window fare?


lol -
Put it this way:

Windows dont mess w/ JJ anymore :D


That was Dec 2009 BTW... Its healed up now.

Nerves aren't the same though.

I touch the scar and feel it in my thumbtip LOL

[ShortJohnSilver]

I cut a deep gash in the side of my thumb while pulling apart some metal for scrap. Let it bleed a little to be sure it was clean, then wrapped tissues around it and clamped it hard with the other hand for at least 2 minutes. As soon as I got home, used iodine tincture on the wound, stung quite a bit, then put on a band-aid. Kept up with the iodine and band-aids for maybe a week or more.

I have continued to add iodine on it every night, it is healing nicely, never any infection, AND no scarring.

[Olmstein]

I love the fact that you cut off the tip of a finger, and didn't go to the ER. Doctors are for women and wussies. Real men wrap that shit up and get back to work..

*no offense, mamboni.

[skid]

I have a wood chipper that is driven off the PTO of my tractor. It devours 5 inch thick branches. Anyways I had built up quite a pile of chips in front of the discharge chute and used my gloved hands to pull the chips away. I thought I was being careful, but somehow stuck my index finger throught the discharge screen. My index finger was knarled/mangled partway into the second knuckle. I pulled the glove off and knew things were not good.

I ran to the house and told my wife to get ready and drive me to the hospital, sat down to put some cleaner clothes on (I had been working all day in the heat of summer and was tired and dirty as hell), and fell forward onto my face (I fainted). This totally freaked out my wife and kids and she called an ambulance. I insisted I was ok but being a nurse she knew I was in shock. The ambulance eventually found our place (we are quite rural) and they loaded me up.

On the way to the hospital they asked if I wanted nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and I said sure. I tried it and sure enough I had to tell them to stop the flow because i was starting to laugh my ass off. I never did feel much pain.

The local hospital is small and and sent me to the big city hospital after taking xrays/etc. The emergency there had a plastic surgeon available and he wanted to amputate. I said hell no and told him to stitch it up.

It looked like hell for a long time, and is quite a bit shorter than it used to be but still looks halfway normal besides the tiny piece of finger nail that grew back. It sure lets me know when it is cold outside though.

Moral of the story? Don't stick your fingers anywhere near the cutting parts of a wood chipper :'(

[gunDriller]

i've had similar medium-sized injuries from using machine tools and similar equipment, and lots of minor injuries.

i've always thought of them as critical learning experiences that can help me not have a major injury.

shop tools are all like loaded guns.

but when you use them safely, if you have good enough vision etc. ... it's a lot of fun to machine metal, wood, etc.

[Libertytree]

When I was 14 working in my dads machine shop I watched a guy lose his left thumb while operating a mill, ground it to a pulp at the 1st joint, there wasn't any sewing it back on. They doused it with mineral spirits, wrapped it up, gave him a bottle of whiskey and drove him to the hospital. He kept the remaining part of the thumb in a jar on his work bench to remind himself not to lose another.

[osoab]

I was going to post this only. ;D (Ok I posted it, but I am adding a little more now)

http://thefurtiveglance.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nelson_ha_ha.jpg

Then I read this story.

Compressed air turns trucker into human balloon (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/25/501364/main20066036.shtml)


(AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand truck driver said he blew up like a balloon when he fell onto the fitting of a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock and forced air into his body at 100 pounds a square inch.

Steven McCormack was standing on his truck's foot plate Saturday when he slipped and fell, breaking a compressed air hose off an air reservoir that powered the truck's brakes.

He fell hard onto the brass fitting, which pierced his left buttock and started pumping air into his body.

"I felt the air rush into my body and I felt like it was going to explode from my foot," he told local media from his hospital bed in the town of Whakatane, on North Island's east coast.

"I was blowing up like a football," he said. "I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon."

McCormack's workmates heard his screams and ran to him, quickly releasing a safety valve to stop the air flow, said Robbie Petersen, co-owner of the trucking company.

He was rushed to the hospital with terrible swelling and fluid in one lung. Doctors said the air had separated fat from muscle in McCormack's body, but had not entered his bloodstream.

McCormack, 48, said his skin felt "like a pork roast" — crackling on the outside but soft underneath.

I have been fairly lucky on the severe injuries in the stuff I have done. The closet I came was when I almost put a 3/8 drill bit into my gut while tightening the chuck. I was 16 at the time and the first day on the job. Loose t-shirt took the momentum. I unplug all drills now. ;)

Sorry to hear about the pain. I bet you watch where the digits are from now on.

[mightymanx]

So your cover story is:

The Yakuza punished you for complacency.

Or you were hitchiking in a rough neighborhood.

The other 1/8th is up your butt so you can sit around all the time.

[Bullion_Bob]

Friend of mind snapped his wrist using an impact drill on a job site a few weeks ago (hit a nail). Said it made a nice distinct cracking sound. Ripped up the tendons too.

On another power tool note.. would you believe they sell saws-all adapters for sex toys now?

I told a girl at work about it, and she said she wants me to get it, hook it up, and use it on her...no kidding. Ima pass on that, but wow...

http://www.kenstwistedmind.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/KTM-117.jpg

[sirgonzo420]

Friend of mind snapped his wrist using an impact drill on a job site a few weeks ago (hit a nail). Said it made a nice distinct cracking sound. Ripped up the tendons too.

On another power tool note.. would you believe they sell saws-all adapters for sex toys now?

I told a girl at work about it, and she said she wants me to get it, hook it up, and use it on her...no kidding. Ima pass on that, but wow...

http://www.kenstwistedmind.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/KTM-117.jpg



Start a new thread for it if you change your mind!

:D

[Bullion_Bob]

Friend of mind snapped his wrist using an impact drill on a job site a few weeks ago (hit a nail). Said it made a nice distinct cracking sound. Ripped up the tendons too.

On another power tool note.. would you believe they sell saws-all adapters for sex toys now?

I told a girl at work about it, and she said she wants me to get it, hook it up, and use it on her...no kidding. Ima pass on that, but wow...

http://www.kenstwistedmind.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/KTM-117.jpg



Start a new thread for it if you change your mind!

:D


Lol...seriously this girl is a bonafide nympho. For example she has given me a rundown on all her sex toys, told me she needs it 6+ times a day, and is very interested in getting together outside of work...oh man....I can see this one slowly unfolding before my eyes...no pun intended :o

[sirgonzo420]

Friend of mind snapped his wrist using an impact drill on a job site a few weeks ago (hit a nail). Said it made a nice distinct cracking sound. Ripped up the tendons too.

On another power tool note.. would you believe they sell saws-all adapters for sex toys now?

I told a girl at work about it, and she said she wants me to get it, hook it up, and use it on her...no kidding. Ima pass on that, but wow...

http://www.kenstwistedmind.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/KTM-117.jpg



Start a new thread for it if you change your mind!

:D


Lol...seriously this girl is a bonafide nympho. For example she has given me a rundown on all her sex toys, told me she needs it 6+ time s aday, and is very interested in getting together outside of work...oh man....I can see this one slowly unfolding before my eyes...no pun intended :o


Well?

What's she look like?


:lol

[Bullion_Bob]

Friend of mind snapped his wrist using an impact drill on a job site a few weeks ago (hit a nail). Said it made a nice distinct cracking sound. Ripped up the tendons too.

On another power tool note.. would you believe they sell saws-all adapters for sex toys now?

I told a girl at work about it, and she said she wants me to get it, hook it up, and use it on her...no kidding. Ima pass on that, but wow...

http://www.kenstwistedmind.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/KTM-117.jpg



Start a new thread for it if you change your mind!

:D


Lol...seriously this girl is a bonafide nympho. For example she has given me a rundown on all her sex toys, told me she needs it 6+ time s aday, and is very interested in getting together outside of work...oh man....I can see this one slowly unfolding before my eyes...no pun intended :o


Well?

What's she look like?


:lol


Unfortunately, and I really really mean unfortunately, she's a little heavy for my liking. I'd say about 45-50lbs overweight for her height, but it would be a definite go if she trimmed down a bit. She's not fat, or obese though, I'm just really particular on body types.

I'm starting to think I need to see her naked before finally making up my mind. I'm good for once a day, but this girl would be a workout! I might have to man up , and step up to the challenge, as I'm thinking about it far too much throughout the day lately for some reason. ;D A freaking saws all....lol

[gunDriller]

part of the machine shop lore at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center ... one of the biggest best machine shops i've ever seen, they machine high nickel content steel to make enormous magnet parts the size of hot tubs ... is about a scientist who went down to pick up his metal.

it was a piece of steel about 1/2" thick, maybe 12" x 12".

he picked it up and said, "is this mine ?"

it wasn't de-burred ... it slid out of his hands ... razor sharp blades across the palms of both hands ... cut down to the bone.