Stupid injuries

[throbscottle]

Last night I cut the end off the little finger of my dominant (left) hand. I did this using the only tool which I can use well with my right hand - scissors. I was anonymising a small bit of paper with my name and address on it. The scissors are very sharp. My finger was hidden by the paper. I am stupid.

It may have only been the outer skin I cut off but it bled a lot and still hurts a lot and I think it still might be bleeding under the fat dressing my wife put on. Definitely worse than the last time I cut the end off a finger (1984 I think) and I went to A&E for that one, which at least was my right hand (kitchen knife, sweet potato, middle finger).

So, it's a well known fact that there's nothing worse than paper cuts. right? Nothing! Well, since for comparison I did get a paper cut earlier in the evening, I can now refute this! Injuries obtained whilst cutting paper, can potentially be actually worse than paper cuts.

Anyone else care to share stupid injuries?

 

[johna.clements]

I was racking up grass in my garden and stopped to do something else.

Something hit me with no warning in the face, it took me a few seconds to realise what had hit me. All I had was a bruise but it could have knocked out my teeth or hit an eye. I have treated rakes with more respect since.


At a site I was working on we were knocking in steel H piles and one got stuck in the hammer. The foreman stopped by and wanted to know why the men were stood. They told him they were waiting for the mobile crane and man riding cage. He did not want them to wait so climbed the pile with the burning gear. When the pile got warm he let go and fell breaking both legs, his pelvis and one arm.

 

[D_W]

making some little junk offcuts for my son with a rip saw (none of my saws are dull) I had one thin piece of stock that was vibrating around and behaving poorly in the vise, so I grabbed the wood below the cut and instantly sunk the saw into the back of my hand below the thumb. It made like a zig zag cut due to the rip teeth. It's long ago healed now. There was a tiny bit of skin holding in between the teeth "gouges" so it wasn't totally open end to end. I did what I normally do - hold the cut shut and put CA glue above it and continue on.

 

[Spectric]

The majority of injuries are the result of stupidity, lack of concentration or as the result of someone else doing something stupid. One of the most stupid things to do is to admit to doing something stupid but on a brighter note you have learnt a valuable lesson which may well save you cutting a finger off completely.

 

[throbscottle]

I have cut my fingers/hands so many times I sometimes wonder if I've secretly got something against having any!
I don't it's stupid to admit to doing something stupid though, because maybe someone else can avoid doing the same thing.

 

[Spectric]

because maybe someone else can avoid doing the same thing.

Some people are just accident prone, you may explain how you cut your fingers so they avoid doing the same but they will still cut theirs but using a different method. Most incidents are completely avoidable if more thought and less haste was put into the task, before actually doing the task STOP and have a think about what could go wrong. Examples are: that cable you will trip over, that pile of work you are working round, working in bad lighting, distractions like what do I fancy for diner will all lead to potential mishaps.

 

[throbscottle]

This is also true. Also, not waving fingers around that one is not actually using, should go on the list!
But I was snippimg up a label like I've done dozens of times, ffs.

 

[Geoff_S]

I actually once slashed my hand open with a Stanley knife. But it was the hand that was holding the Stanley knife! To this day I haven’t a clue how I did that.

 

[Inspector]

Get one of these 7" Soft Grip Lefty Scissors (14774) : Amazon.ca: Home and you can get even with the right hand finger. They will be the same length again too.

Pete

 

[clogs]

a young freind of mine was never allowed a pocket knife........
so after he left home he bought one.....
you guessed a trip to A+E shortly after......hahaha......
teach em young I say.......

 

[sneggysteve]

Many years ago my 7 year old son had his bike postcode stamped under the frame . That afternoon he had it standing upside down to look at the code and decided to whiz the wheels around. Tried to get hold of the spinning pedal, mised and finger tip went between sprocket and chain - left his finger tip hanging by a thread. Healed up after surgery leaving his finger tip at a 60 degree angle to the finger - he says makes picking his nose much easier!!

 

[graham88]

Probably about 12 years ago I was trying to drill through a bit of wood with a spade bit, I was holding the wood in my left hand and the drill in the right, stupidly I was holding the wood so that once I finally broke through the drill bit would move unimpeded into my left palm. I've also managed to cut fingers with a bandsaw and a mitre saw, although both times with the machine unplugged, lucky I guess.

 

[Torx]

I was carving a bowl, gouge and mallet, hollowing it out held between my legs. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination, but it’s all still there. Pain level, similar to trapping it in your flies.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I frequently .. constantly … have cuts on my left fore finger. These come from guiding a chisel (held in my right hand). Last weekend, however, I came the closest I ever have to a significant injury with a power tool, my Hammer bandsaw. Simply, I forgot it was running (a 1” carbide blade), and waved my right hand near the blade (I am always sooo careful with machines). It was a faint touch, and the shock instantly caused me to withdraw my hand. The resulting damage was a light cut to two fingers. This really smarted and there was some blood. I kept this from my wife, and will never tell her how close it was to losing two fingers.

More watchful than ever before in Perth

Derek

 

[Scruples]

The majority of injuries are the result of stupidity, lack of concentration or as the result of someone else doing something stupid. One of the most stupid things to do is to admit to doing something stupid but on a brighter note you have learnt a valuable lesson which may well save you cutting a finger off completely.

The majority of injuries are the result of inexperience. They happen a lot in the early sstages and, hopefully, we learn to become more experienced.

 

[Beatsy]

The one I *felt* stupidest about was doing the cliche "step on a rake" thing. I stepped on the tines and caught the handle full on the nose. No break, but lots of blood and swearing. The stupid part was doing it right in front of two "mates". Sympathy was *not* evident. They both nearly suffocated, laughing...

 

[sawtooth-9]

Multico mortiser.
Someone used a poor rope to hold the counterweight - it broke.
OK, so just lower the machine to the ground and replace the rope with something a little more robust.
Good idea, but I REALLY did under estimate the weight .
Was OK until the machine was about 30 degrees to the ground.
I could not hold it !
It crashed down on top of my ankle.
OUCH OUCH Sh@t bugg@r etc.
It was a nice hospital visit, but six weeks of pain taught me a lesson I should have learnt long ago.
I have recovered, but my ego remains bruised.

 

[MCTWoodwork]

A bloke I work with, lovely man, very clever and highly skilled maker of 40 plus years experience in joinery and cabinet making.... He was wearing gloves on the surfacer (normal thing to do in the workshop at the time... They are now banned) did something stupid (a moment of madness... his words) lost the ends of three fingers of his right hand. Bang. Bloody everywhere. Luckily he can just about work, can't lift heavy timber or sheet material etc anymore... Gutting hey? It can happen to ANYONE. Just pray it's not you.

 

[Chris70]

Silly billy me. As a relative novice I'm learning - woodwork, not how to cut my fingers!

I managed to cut my thumb two weeks ago on my table saw and it's still quite sore. The cut wasn't deep enough to go to A&E, but certainly deep enough to make me stop working there and then and consider what went wrong. And I'm so pleased I learned on YT that the best practice is to raise the blade by only a few mm above the stock.

Truth is, I was tired and trying to hurry. Don't work when you're tired!

So, I can now appreciate why the De Walt DWE7485 comes with a guard. But here's a question - many people seem to have dispensed with that guard, especially when using a sled. Is that right? I need to make a sled...

Chris

 

[stuart little]

The one I *felt* stupidest about was doing the cliche "step on a rake" thing. I stepped on the tines and caught the handle full on the nose. No break, but lots of blood and swearing. The stupid part was doing it right in front of two "mates". Sympathy was *not* evident. They both nearly suffocated, laughing...

My dad taught me to ALWAYS stand a rake up on it's handle - I still do!
I heard that Joseph stood on a rake, got smacked in the face, & let out a profamity 'J C!' - "Ooh, that's a good name for the baby!" ~ said Mary!