Top ten (or more) dangerous tools and anecdotes thereof
Discussion
I had read one of those "How to Power Tune Your Engine" books and one of the hot tips was to polish the plunger in the oil pump to make sure it moved freely. I managed to buy a NOS oil pump and decided I would get on with polishing my plunger. 
The plunger was held in place by a split pin which took some serious wrestling with, but ultimately, just as the oil pump was lined up with my face the pin pulled out and the plunger - a solid metal slug about 15mm in diameter and 25mm in length fired straight into my left eye. I could not believe the force it came out with. Both eyes closed up and I couldn't open either, but I could feel hot liquid pouring down the left side of my face and I was convinced I had lost my eye. After a few minutes I was able to open my right eye and using the car wing mirror I could see the liquid was not blood, but my eye streaming with water/tears. My eye gave me some grief for a long time afterwards, especially first thing in the morning, but I was very lucky not to lose it. Took me a long time to find the bloody plunger afterwards too.
The plunger was held in place by a split pin which took some serious wrestling with, but ultimately, just as the oil pump was lined up with my face the pin pulled out and the plunger - a solid metal slug about 15mm in diameter and 25mm in length fired straight into my left eye. I could not believe the force it came out with. Both eyes closed up and I couldn't open either, but I could feel hot liquid pouring down the left side of my face and I was convinced I had lost my eye. After a few minutes I was able to open my right eye and using the car wing mirror I could see the liquid was not blood, but my eye streaming with water/tears. My eye gave me some grief for a long time afterwards, especially first thing in the morning, but I was very lucky not to lose it. Took me a long time to find the bloody plunger afterwards too.
A neighbor at our old house was clearing trees and shrubs on his steep front garden in the Autumn and slipped sending the chainsaw into his leg spectacularly close to his femoral artery which in our fairly rural area would not have been good.
There was a lot of damage and recovery was slow.
Roll on the following Autumn and he was back at it again this time he started at the bottom of the garden and this time his son used the chainsaw, 5 mins in his son hit a highly taught strainer wire for the fence which broke with enough pressure to fracture his fathers cheek bone and he almost lost his eye! They now see the value in an arborist!!
There was a lot of damage and recovery was slow.
Roll on the following Autumn and he was back at it again this time he started at the bottom of the garden and this time his son used the chainsaw, 5 mins in his son hit a highly taught strainer wire for the fence which broke with enough pressure to fracture his fathers cheek bone and he almost lost his eye! They now see the value in an arborist!!
Three near misses/pure good luck. Two involving the car, one involving the house.
1) Scraping the walls of paper, hand slips and the metal scraper goes in behind the metal light switch while it's on. The fuse trips, the light switch is broken. For the grace of God I was holding it by the rubber handle, where as a minute before I was holding it on the metal rod. Plus we had the consumer unit changed about a month prior to it, as the one it replaced was the old school wire fuse thing.
2) Working on my Corolla, busy trying to get the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) out of the gearbox. I jacked the car up, went to get a torch and I went back to the car and I thought "Bloody hell this car is really low to the ground". The jack had failed and the car just sank. My mate never heard the jack go, neither did I. 20 minutes before that I was under the car trying to squirt WD40 on something.
3) Working on the same car, I had to cut the old exhaust off by the catalytic convertor. I was under the car, reaching over with the angle grinder and the disc explodes. I wasn't wearing glasses or any protection other than a pair of gloves which one got a tear on from the disc.
In those 3 instances I didn't get hurt at all. Which is ironic, as when I was at work (about 3 months after nearly electrocuting myself) when I stretched as I yawned and tore the meniscus in my knee.
1) Scraping the walls of paper, hand slips and the metal scraper goes in behind the metal light switch while it's on. The fuse trips, the light switch is broken. For the grace of God I was holding it by the rubber handle, where as a minute before I was holding it on the metal rod. Plus we had the consumer unit changed about a month prior to it, as the one it replaced was the old school wire fuse thing.
2) Working on my Corolla, busy trying to get the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) out of the gearbox. I jacked the car up, went to get a torch and I went back to the car and I thought "Bloody hell this car is really low to the ground". The jack had failed and the car just sank. My mate never heard the jack go, neither did I. 20 minutes before that I was under the car trying to squirt WD40 on something.
3) Working on the same car, I had to cut the old exhaust off by the catalytic convertor. I was under the car, reaching over with the angle grinder and the disc explodes. I wasn't wearing glasses or any protection other than a pair of gloves which one got a tear on from the disc.
In those 3 instances I didn't get hurt at all. Which is ironic, as when I was at work (about 3 months after nearly electrocuting myself) when I stretched as I yawned and tore the meniscus in my knee.
Sometimes it doesn't even involve a tool.
I have a 5" scar on my right shin - where I was pinned to a 4 post ramp by a car door
And a 2" on the left shin where I was skinned to the bone by the handle of a metal bin, I'd been using as a platform to hang curtains
I have an impressive scar, from jumping down 4' off a steel frame extension back onto the scaffold below.
I didn't notice a flange welded to the frame that stuck out 3"
It turns out that 75kg of me turns 3mm steel into a knife
My wife saw it happen, apparently I resembled Casper, I felt no pain, just sick, I climbed down and my wife said she'd take a look
Her voice trembled and she just said "Hospital"
At A&E I was inspected by increasingly senior staff each saying things like "Oh that is a big one" - unfortunately I was lying face down.
My wife took a pic on her phone and asked if i wanted to see it - I declined as it still didn't hurt.
It went in to my gluteus maximus approx 2" and I've a 5" scar.
I don't think I can post the pic on here, it still makes me feel sick now.
Some people never learn
I have a 5" scar on my right shin - where I was pinned to a 4 post ramp by a car door
And a 2" on the left shin where I was skinned to the bone by the handle of a metal bin, I'd been using as a platform to hang curtains
I have an impressive scar, from jumping down 4' off a steel frame extension back onto the scaffold below.
I didn't notice a flange welded to the frame that stuck out 3"
It turns out that 75kg of me turns 3mm steel into a knife
My wife saw it happen, apparently I resembled Casper, I felt no pain, just sick, I climbed down and my wife said she'd take a look
Her voice trembled and she just said "Hospital"
At A&E I was inspected by increasingly senior staff each saying things like "Oh that is a big one" - unfortunately I was lying face down.
My wife took a pic on her phone and asked if i wanted to see it - I declined as it still didn't hurt.
It went in to my gluteus maximus approx 2" and I've a 5" scar.
I don't think I can post the pic on here, it still makes me feel sick now.
Some people never learn
Humble garden spade! I used to mix my own loam compost to grow Chrysanthemums. As it was raining I did it inside my garage. Mixing loam, grit, fertiliser etc using a spade I wondered why the compost mix was going a lovely shade of browney red. Looked down at hand to see blood spurting from right hand knuckle. Seems I'd neglected to see spare panes of glass stacked up against garage wall.....knuckle softer than glass pane edge! Wrapped hand in bandage and plastic bag to avoid leaving blood all over car as neighbour drove me to A & E. Nurse asked me 'was the finger in the bag?' Appears they'd had a spate of digit amputations where owners had put detached fingers etc into plastic bags in the hope of reattachment!
Few stitches sorted my problem......I use a concrete mixer now!
Few stitches sorted my problem......I use a concrete mixer now!
Think this counts as a tool. There was at least one in the room anyway.
Weights bench.
Was sawing a large panel of marine ply into two squares to make a cover for the pool table (turning it into a table for poker and sacrifices).
Rest wood on weights bench and two old alloy wheels. Mark up, laser circular saw, all good.
Finish job, pull weights bench toward me to put one half on for sanding, straight into my big toe. Nail not cut in a while, more of a talon. Intense pain.
Broke toe and killed nail, which fell off in the bath about a month later. Still growing back about 8 months on
Weights bench.
Was sawing a large panel of marine ply into two squares to make a cover for the pool table (turning it into a table for poker and sacrifices).
Rest wood on weights bench and two old alloy wheels. Mark up, laser circular saw, all good.
Finish job, pull weights bench toward me to put one half on for sanding, straight into my big toe. Nail not cut in a while, more of a talon. Intense pain.
Broke toe and killed nail, which fell off in the bath about a month later. Still growing back about 8 months on
Personally, I have been fairly lucky with tools. However, a mate had a couple of plain silly ones.
First one, came into work with a finger stool on. Asked what happened. He was using one of the safest tools in the shop, a band saw. Unfortunately, he didn’t follow the no hands past the blade rule which makes pretty much all bladed tools somewhat safer, and cut about an inch along his index finger as he pushed the wood through. Off to hospital, stitches.
About a month later, he came in with a finger stool on again. Asked what happened. Nail gun, a slightly more dangerous tool. He was nailing panels onto a frame, shot through the panel but missed the timber behind. Sadly he didn’t miss his finger. The T nail want through the wood panel completely and almost through his finger. The T head stopped after the whole thing had almost passed through butted up to the underneath of his finger nail. He couldn’t push it all the way back through. So then it was out with the pliers to wrench the T through the little bit of flesh it hadn’t got through and the way too small hole in his finger nail, and off to hospital to check there was nothing else in there, and of course a new finger stool...
First one, came into work with a finger stool on. Asked what happened. He was using one of the safest tools in the shop, a band saw. Unfortunately, he didn’t follow the no hands past the blade rule which makes pretty much all bladed tools somewhat safer, and cut about an inch along his index finger as he pushed the wood through. Off to hospital, stitches.
About a month later, he came in with a finger stool on again. Asked what happened. Nail gun, a slightly more dangerous tool. He was nailing panels onto a frame, shot through the panel but missed the timber behind. Sadly he didn’t miss his finger. The T nail want through the wood panel completely and almost through his finger. The T head stopped after the whole thing had almost passed through butted up to the underneath of his finger nail. He couldn’t push it all the way back through. So then it was out with the pliers to wrench the T through the little bit of flesh it hadn’t got through and the way too small hole in his finger nail, and off to hospital to check there was nothing else in there, and of course a new finger stool...
The usual cuts, scrapes, scars and stitches over the years, but the worst and most scary was getting severe arc-eye in both eyes some 35+ years ago.
I'd been welding my (un)trusty Cortina in an attempt to rid it of at least some of the floor's holey rusty metal. (Batman*)
Unfortunately the mask I was using had a crack in the glass so after a couple of hours of buzzing away with the arc welder I was starting to get sore eyes. I put it down to getting some grit or debris in them and carried on a bit longer but called it a day eventually. Drove home in the now almost watertight car and my then girlfriend expressed concerned at how swollen and red my eyes were. They were starting to close up by then so she took me to A&E.
Lots of washes, tests and concerned comments by a handful of medical types later and I was sent home totally sightless looking like a very bad pirate complete with painkillers and follow-up appointments. It took the best part of two weeks before I could start to make sense of the blurred shapes I was "seeing".
No permanent effects thankfully, but quite possibly the most scary injury I've ever had. I still don't like welding.
*5 internet points if you get that reference.
I'd been welding my (un)trusty Cortina in an attempt to rid it of at least some of the floor's holey rusty metal. (Batman*)
Unfortunately the mask I was using had a crack in the glass so after a couple of hours of buzzing away with the arc welder I was starting to get sore eyes. I put it down to getting some grit or debris in them and carried on a bit longer but called it a day eventually. Drove home in the now almost watertight car and my then girlfriend expressed concerned at how swollen and red my eyes were. They were starting to close up by then so she took me to A&E.
Lots of washes, tests and concerned comments by a handful of medical types later and I was sent home totally sightless looking like a very bad pirate complete with painkillers and follow-up appointments. It took the best part of two weeks before I could start to make sense of the blurred shapes I was "seeing".
No permanent effects thankfully, but quite possibly the most scary injury I've ever had. I still don't like welding.
*5 internet points if you get that reference.
blueg33 said:
My dad cut off half his finger polishing a silver bracelet on a polishing wheel. He was holding the wire bracelet, the wheel snagged it and twisted it ripping it right through his index finger.
My Dad used to work as a hand engraver for Boosey and Hawkes musical instrument makers and one of the most dangerous jobs (best paid and the dirtiest) in the works was being a polisher. One chap lost the sight of an eye when he was polishing a chain (the job was a foreigner) and it caught in the mop and flailed around with the loose end smacking him in the eye. Tip: to polish a chain safely fix it to a wooden board at both ends.Sheet metal garage roofing panels, the most dangerous substance known to man. Had a number of 6x4 sheets delivered to replace my old garage roof, place them on the floor in garden next to the garage ready for the weekend when I would do the job.
Come Saturday, good nights sleep, check, shorts on, check, sunscreen, check, walk outside into the sunshine to get cracking and brushed my leg against the stack of sheets, ouch... that's funny..... Look down and I've literally take the entire skin off my ankle bone like I've peeled a vegetable and its now flapping when I walk!!! I know have a perfect circular scar round my anklebone
Remember - sheet metal roofing... lethal to man.
Come Saturday, good nights sleep, check, shorts on, check, sunscreen, check, walk outside into the sunshine to get cracking and brushed my leg against the stack of sheets, ouch... that's funny..... Look down and I've literally take the entire skin off my ankle bone like I've peeled a vegetable and its now flapping when I walk!!! I know have a perfect circular scar round my anklebone
Remember - sheet metal roofing... lethal to man.
Chap I worked with used to work at sectional building makers. His mate managed to chop the top off his right index finger on a circular saw, after a few weeks he's back at work Harry asks how he'd managed to do it, "Oh I was just doing this, like this" and chopped the top off the next finger.
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