Flops n Flubs...

HMF

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Let's discuss mistakes we have made, and how we could have operated more safely here...
 
Most folks are aware of the injury I had last year. The original post about it was destroyed when we had that virus that took us down for several days so, I'll re-cap it and post the photos. WARNING: The images are graphic.

I disassembled my cross-slide because it got really gunked-up with brass/bronze dust. The slide is heavy and has a dovetail cut into the bottom. After removing the piece, I set it on a stool behind me while clearing a spot on the workbench and my gloves were removed. I backed-up into the stool and the piece was going to fall. I reached for it and tried to capture it with my hand and against my leg. It slide by anyhow but, I broke it's fall -but suddenly, something wasn't right. I had to look twice to realize what happened.

After a lifetime of doing shop and mechanical work, I long ago learned never to instinctively grab anything that's hot or heavy or sharp etc... -best to let it fall and deal with the consequences. This one time, I faltered in that behavior and it cost me big-time. At the time, I remember feeling hurried since I needed the lathe up & running the next day.

At the onset, this was no picnic. The first week was downright painful and the stitches had to remain for over a month. I was on antibiotics for a month and that was no fun either. Anyhow, two of the fingers now have limited feeling but my brain has adapted to how things are now.

I never lose sight of the fact that terrible injury can happen. I have medical kit and tourniquet in the shop. In this case, one tip of the finger was completely peeled-back and the bone was sticking out. I sat at table and rinsed it with alcohol as-is then put the tip to cover the bone. Wrapped with a towel and ice pack, put my hand under my armpit to apply pressure and drove to the hospital. They took a quick look and got me in the back room right away. 32 stitches.

How could it have been prevented? -Never have a weak moment. -Never!



F7-side2.JPGF7-side1.JPGFingers_7days.JPGfingers_4days.JPG

F7-side2.JPG F7-side1.JPG Fingers_7days.JPG fingers_4days.JPG
 
I would never have thought the cross slide would have any edges that sharp. Gag!

It also bears repeating to never, ever try to pull stringy swarf off with your fingers. It can be to the bone before you even realize you did something stupid. But a band-aid took care of mine fortunately.

Did I mention GAG! (And yes you did warn us!)
 
When I was in high school, working on a project on the lathe, I completed a cut and had to move the to toolpost or change the tool, I don't remember exactly what. I shut off the lathe, placed the square box end of a combination wrench on the tool post bolt, knocked it loose and gave it a spin in the 'loose' direction. The wrench very briefly engaged the still spinning chuck and immediately became airborne. Within a split second, the 1/2" open end of the wrench met the lower front of my jaw, making two nice little bloody spots on my chin.

The results in this case weren't too bad, but could have been much worse. To this day, hiding under my beard, there are two scars on my chin, exactly 1/2" apart.
 
A couple of weeks ago, I was cleaning the oil off a new set of reamers I'd ordered. Moving a bit too fast and I slid my thumb up one of the flutes. Hoodathunk these things were sharp? I got a nice clean 3/4" slice on my left thumb. Pretty much healed up now.
 
Forty or more years ago I was cutting a piece of 1/2 inch think aluminum on a bandsaw that had a dull blade. It was just before lunch and I didn't feel like taking the time to change the blade. I pushed...and pushed...and it cut slowly. I pushed a little more and it cut the last half inch of aluminum super fast, along with the meat from the back of my right thumb right up to both edges of the thumbnail.

I went home, bandaged it up, had lunch and went back to work. It took a few weeks to fully heal, and almost four years for the feeling to come back to the tip of the thumb. I still get a tingling feeling in the thumb tip at times, and it get cold very fast in the winter.

Lesson:
ALWAYS USE A PUSH STICK
ALWAYS CHANGE A DULL BLADE
NEVER HURRY
 
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I acquired a dedicated drill sharping machine and when a friend said " they aren't worth the time to grind" ,I opened my mouth and got a coffee can full to sharpen. When I was done. I dipped them in tool dip to make them look professional and "to play with the dipper".
I took said sharp bits, mills and a couple of reground screwdrivers to his business. He wanted a receipt so I was scribbling one out. He unscrewed the coating and slid his finger along an edge on the 3/4 ? bit. Instead of across the edge he ran it at a low angle down the VERY sharp edge. I grabbed the finger and applied pressure. Alcohol and a bandage solved the problem, No Dr. required but he will never forget that lesson. This was years ago and he still reminds people to be careful with sharp tools.
 
I was drilling cross holes in a 1/2" diameter pin, holding the pin in a makeshift fixture. of course I was holding it between my thumb and first finger until the drill bit caught in the pin and spun the whole assembly around soooooo fast and took the complete top of my thumbnail clean off, dang that hurt, for many weeks. . . never did grow back proper.
lesson learned? ? ? :nono: workstop workstop workstop. . .
 
Ok mine does not result in blood lose but is more of a flub. I think a lot of us get complacent in labeling chemicals in our shops. Come on admit it how many of you have stored cutting oil or coolant in a drink bottle? Or worse how many have altered the continence of a container to make some special home brew and never changed the label? I have a container that I store a mix of grease and 200 grit carbide power to do jeweling on parts. No label (of course) just an old plastic container. I took it with me to class one night to demo jeweling for the class and left it in my tool cabinet. About a week goes by and I have a student asking me to look at the bearings on a belt sander he is building. We take the shaft out and it is about worn trough the bearing comes out in pieces and there is damage to several other parts. After scratching my head for a bit about how the grinding dust from the sander could have gotten in there and done that much damage so quickly I asked the student how he assembled the part. He went trough the process up till the point he talked about putting grease on the bearings and shaft. You guessed it he had (borrowed) some grease from my tool box. I just laughed at him and said he had better hurry to re machine the parts before the project due date. So the lesson here don't store unlabeled chemicals and don't borrow things without asking.

Jeff
 
We can ALL go on and on about moments we just weren't thinking and got hurt. I worked over 23 years on heavy equipment. Mainly in mines and have PLENTY of injuries to talk about. Many unfortunately were fatal injuries on others.

Now I work in a level 1 trauma facility. I see stuff like this routinely. Some of it horrific. Some of it fatal. It happens to all ages and all levels of skill, experience and maturity. The ONE thing common to all of these events...........Taking a short cut for whatever reason. I'm not even talking about alcohol related injuries. I'm talking about sober unimpaired people.

Got in a hurry, had to have it now and I didn't have time for the proper.........whatever. Pressure to get it done. Excited about my new gun, tool, motorcycle, etc.

When I'm taking X-rays of severed fingers and limbs or trying to locate a bullet in someone and I have the opportunity to talk to the patient (Not unconscious) they ALWAYS say, "I knew better". I always tell them they were lucky. Unlucky that it happened but, lucky they are conscious and able to talk to me about it. Lucky they are able to feel embarrassed or angry at themselves for what happened. They got another chance. Many do not.

I've got plenty of examples but the bottom line is EVERY TIME you feel like you have to hurry, DON'T. EVERY TIME you have that tiny moment in time, where you think, I probably shouldn't do this but..........DON'T.

You all know the moment I'm talking about. Your sub conscious trying to warn you. Your internal voice of reason. LISTEN TO IT!

And if you don't, and you get bit...........................THANKS FOR THE JOB SECURITY!!!!!!!!!
 
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