Let this be a lesson to you ~ It was to me.
Discussion
Nearly took the end of my left index finger off a few weeks ago. Not nice.
Hate working under a car and had set it up with plenty of access underneath on three ramps and one axle stand. Perfectly safe set up. Safety Fast as the old MG advertisements used to say.
After about half an hour on my back carefully working with an angle grinder fitted with thin metal disc, at last I was finished and so switched the grinder off and moved it away from the job.
Dropped my guard for less than a second and even though switched off, the disc was still spinning down as I slipped in trying to get out from under the car and the disc came in contact with my stout gloves covering my left hand.
I was horrified by what I saw. I carefully removed the glove to see a wide, deep cut ~ no pain or blood yet ~ but, I knew that would come and then some. Much pain and blood everywhere after three or four seconds with the fleshy tip of my finger hanging away ... sickening ....
Really worried now blood streaming out of the deep cut. What to do. A real mess and a drive to A & E for a few stitches must now be on the cards. Cannot drive like this and home alone.
What to do...
... took one of my blue Nitrile examination gloves out of the box and carefully put it over my left hand. That helped but, the fingers were filling up .. 
Sat down and had another think. Looked at my hand and took the glove off and put a fresh one on. Now about ten minutes after the cut, needed to put my tools away before a trip to A and E. That took a few more minutes carefully moving about try to not use my left hand as much as possible. Right, all tools away and so another change of glove needed.
Very carefully removed the glove to observe blood flow now next to nothing. Put a fresh glove on with the left index finger held more tightly closing the cut up. Sat still like that and was pleased to see it was starting to heal. No blood flow at all. Amazing because I did not expect that to happen so quickly.
Long story short, wore those gloves for a day or two longer by which time the deep wide cut had closed nicely and was healing. For the next few days used some strips of band aid type dressing cut to size to protect the healing finger. Did not go to A and E despite strong protestations from my wife when she got home at the time.
Anyway, close to a month on my left index finger tip looks almost as good as new with little trace of any scar tissue but still a little sore when pressed.
Moral, even when the job is done, NEVER switch off dropping your guard even for a millisecond when using any tools, power or hand. That's when things can really go wrong.
Hate working under a car and had set it up with plenty of access underneath on three ramps and one axle stand. Perfectly safe set up. Safety Fast as the old MG advertisements used to say.
After about half an hour on my back carefully working with an angle grinder fitted with thin metal disc, at last I was finished and so switched the grinder off and moved it away from the job.
Dropped my guard for less than a second and even though switched off, the disc was still spinning down as I slipped in trying to get out from under the car and the disc came in contact with my stout gloves covering my left hand.
I was horrified by what I saw. I carefully removed the glove to see a wide, deep cut ~ no pain or blood yet ~ but, I knew that would come and then some. Much pain and blood everywhere after three or four seconds with the fleshy tip of my finger hanging away ... sickening ....
Really worried now blood streaming out of the deep cut. What to do. A real mess and a drive to A & E for a few stitches must now be on the cards. Cannot drive like this and home alone.
What to do...
... took one of my blue Nitrile examination gloves out of the box and carefully put it over my left hand. That helped but, the fingers were filling up .. Sat down and had another think. Looked at my hand and took the glove off and put a fresh one on. Now about ten minutes after the cut, needed to put my tools away before a trip to A and E. That took a few more minutes carefully moving about try to not use my left hand as much as possible. Right, all tools away and so another change of glove needed.
Very carefully removed the glove to observe blood flow now next to nothing. Put a fresh glove on with the left index finger held more tightly closing the cut up. Sat still like that and was pleased to see it was starting to heal. No blood flow at all. Amazing because I did not expect that to happen so quickly.
Long story short, wore those gloves for a day or two longer by which time the deep wide cut had closed nicely and was healing. For the next few days used some strips of band aid type dressing cut to size to protect the healing finger. Did not go to A and E despite strong protestations from my wife when she got home at the time.
Anyway, close to a month on my left index finger tip looks almost as good as new with little trace of any scar tissue but still a little sore when pressed.
Moral, even when the job is done, NEVER switch off dropping your guard even for a millisecond when using any tools, power or hand. That's when things can really go wrong.
matlee said:
Similar scenario as the OP but when i was underneath the car with an angle grinder in my hands (not switched on) i just didnt feel safe at all. Put the angle to one side and used a small hacksaw blade instead.
You Sir are no mug. Decided on that alternative many times.Not this occasion as late winter afternoon. Light quickly fading and not lasting much longer.
I made the mistake of watching a medical emergencies type programme during an ad break...
This guy had done similar except he'd put a circular saw down too fast and the guard hadn't shut...
As the blade hit the floor it ran toward him, up his leg and embedded itself in his groin.
He got his workmate to check that his P&J was still intact (it was)
I make very sure that everything has stopped rotating before putting it down after watching that.
As an aside I would ALWAYS go to the hospital the consequences of a deep infection can be horrific
This guy had done similar except he'd put a circular saw down too fast and the guard hadn't shut...
As the blade hit the floor it ran toward him, up his leg and embedded itself in his groin.
He got his workmate to check that his P&J was still intact (it was)
I make very sure that everything has stopped rotating before putting it down after watching that.
As an aside I would ALWAYS go to the hospital the consequences of a deep infection can be horrific
There's a lesson there somewhere - more haste less speed as my old man used to say!
Mine is nowhere near as bad, but any excuse for pics!
In my case - mowing the lawn, height of mower set too high, went to turn it over (god knows why i stuck my hand underneath) and, well nearly lost the end of my finger!
Mine is nowhere near as bad, but any excuse for pics!
In my case - mowing the lawn, height of mower set too high, went to turn it over (god knows why i stuck my hand underneath) and, well nearly lost the end of my finger!
One of the guys I used to work with in the RAF very nearly killed himself with an angle grinder....
He was on his own in the scrap metal compound, cutting some old box section steel up to make a car spit, for his 944 restoration. From what he remembers, he thinks he caught a blob of weld, which made the grinder kick out of his grasp. He thought he had punched himself in the face, but as he put his hand up to check for blood, he realised it was already totally red....
Turns out the angle grinder had jumped into his face, and cut horizontally straight through his nose, then followed the line of his safty goggles across his cheek/ eye socket until it exited at the side. He was very lucky that he had taken a van, which he jumped into and drove to the station medical centre holding his face together with one hand, steering with the other. The receptionist who first saw him fainted!
Luckily, after being taken to a proper hospital, they sewed him up & actually did a pretty good job as the scar was noticeable but a thin clean line, docs said that the goggles saved it from going through his eyeball/ top of his head!
The irony is that during the investigation afterwards, the heath & safety officers photos of the angle grinder disc showed the words " not for face grinding"
Great tools, but they don't take prisoners...
He was on his own in the scrap metal compound, cutting some old box section steel up to make a car spit, for his 944 restoration. From what he remembers, he thinks he caught a blob of weld, which made the grinder kick out of his grasp. He thought he had punched himself in the face, but as he put his hand up to check for blood, he realised it was already totally red....
Turns out the angle grinder had jumped into his face, and cut horizontally straight through his nose, then followed the line of his safty goggles across his cheek/ eye socket until it exited at the side. He was very lucky that he had taken a van, which he jumped into and drove to the station medical centre holding his face together with one hand, steering with the other. The receptionist who first saw him fainted!
Luckily, after being taken to a proper hospital, they sewed him up & actually did a pretty good job as the scar was noticeable but a thin clean line, docs said that the goggles saved it from going through his eyeball/ top of his head!
The irony is that during the investigation afterwards, the heath & safety officers photos of the angle grinder disc showed the words " not for face grinding"
Great tools, but they don't take prisoners...
I had a little accident with an angle grinder a few years ago.Im a builder and use one regularly and never had any accidents but on this occasion I was using it on my van to grind off a bit of surface rust on one of the arches.
I was sat on the floor,legs crossed when the grinder snagged causing me to drop it in my lap! It landed just above my knee on the inside of my leg,going through my trousers and working its way up my leg.Somehow,by the grace of god I managed to grab the cable and yank it away before it went any further.
Luckily it was a stone grinding carborundum blade I was using which only left me with a nasty 7 inch burn/graze on the inside of my leg.
A lucky escape as if I had dropped it a little further up it could've been a completely different matter entirely!!!
Another lesson learnt not to sit down cross legged when using a grinder.
I was sat on the floor,legs crossed when the grinder snagged causing me to drop it in my lap! It landed just above my knee on the inside of my leg,going through my trousers and working its way up my leg.Somehow,by the grace of god I managed to grab the cable and yank it away before it went any further.
Luckily it was a stone grinding carborundum blade I was using which only left me with a nasty 7 inch burn/graze on the inside of my leg.
A lucky escape as if I had dropped it a little further up it could've been a completely different matter entirely!!!
Another lesson learnt not to sit down cross legged when using a grinder.
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