Tools/Equipment that you're afraid to use?

[ibedayank]

an IDIOT can make any tool dangerous to themselfs and you

 

[Steevo]

Sewing machine, kitchenaid mixer, curling iron, hair dryer.
And this thing:
http://www.epiladyusa.net/epclcoep1.html
That one gives me the creeps.
I leave those to the experts.
Pretty much anything else I am ok with.

 

[ndoran]

I would have to vote for any high tension cables and chains, since they are usually rigged up to solve a problem that you don't have the proper equipment for and thus, are very dangerous when they fail, which is often.
Also, any tensile metal under great strain, think curved railroad track, or spring steel fastened in a curve ... which looks solid and sturdy once nailed down, but under the right (wrong) conditions, that stuff will flop around like a thin strip of sheet metal. If something comes loose and it wants to go straight, you'd best not be in its path.
I also have a healthy respect for super high pressure hydraulics. I just have this picture in my mind of what will happen when that ****** old fitting finally breaks loose with 10 bazillion pounds of pressure on it. That could take someone's eye out.

or as happened in a local factory - the Millwrights throat. Bled to death very quickly

 

[metaleltr]

High tension chains/cables.
High pressure gas bottle.-they are fine just sitting in the corner, but I am very careful when moving them.
Any thing with the potential to cause harm in the hands of an in experienced operator.

This year in gym class (i am a sophomore) we did archery. There were a lot of thing s working against the situation, mainly the teacher didn't really even know what she was doing. Fortunately for me I have been shooting bows since I was 8. We were told to fire our first arrow and since we were far closer to the target than i have ever fired from i completely missed. There was a girl to my back who had no idea what she was doing and the teacher told her to look at how I was holding the bow. If she had fired the way she was trying I feared that I would find an arrow in my back. She didn't have any faith in me because I had missed, but my next shot was a bulls-eye.

 

[subarub4]

Metal abrasive cut off wheels bother me a bit. Doesnt matter if it's a 14" or 4" , I'm concerned about them flying apart. Handy things to have though.

I know I used my first one last year and I had one fly apart but lucky for me I was out of the way and not in it's range.

What ***** is getting hit by hot bits.

 

[theoldwizard1]

High pressure gas bottle.-they are fine just sitting in the corner, but I am very careful when moving them.

I loved the Mythbuster episode on that ! Shocked both of them !!

 

[puttsy]

Table saws come in second. Weedy the weed-eater takes the cake in first though. It's a weed-eater that has a blade, A BLADE at the end (no string here!). It was sold for a brief time in the 70's I think(I wasn't even close to being around at that time) and it scares me to the point that I won't use it. period. I just got the engine rebuilt and running but can't get myself to put the blade on it a try it out.

Nearly every power tool with a blade comes in second. I'm a pianist and live sound audio engineer (working primarily with analouge consoles. 40 channels or more) so losing a digit equates to losing my career. Anything that likes to eat fingers is pretty much something I use as seldom as possible.

 

[Grogan14]

Anyone else shy away from doing things because the tools or equipment frighten them?

Nope.

I don't really like clowns, though.

 

[colt zantop]

vertical band saws scare me for some reason....Im always worried my hand is gonna slip into the blade....

spring compressors scare me too. I feel like your rolling the dice when using them....LOL

chainsaws for sure too....but they are fun!

 

[crewchief888]

only thing that comes to mind are hi lift jacks.
ive been hit more than once with one,
:tard: and i cant say that i liked it much


i wouldnt say afraid, but a hi lift is a last resort.

 

[gte718p]

Add me on to being afraid of spring compressors, never used one that was not America by, they have to be respected. Had a friend in high school that had a bad accident with one.

Another terrifying piece of equipment is the Hi-Lift jack. You can jack something up 3-4 feet in the air with this jack that has about 4"x6" footprint. I have owned one since high school. My grandpa gave me his old one and I have used it quite a bit. I'm a tow truck operator and consider myself an expert in vehicle recovery and these Things are terrifying.

You know why hi-lifts are painted red? To hide the blood. I lost control of the handle lowering my 4runner. The pin didn't set and so it dropped a rung, handle came up with the full force of the truck and clocked me in the side of the head. Lifted me off the ground and threw me about 3 ft. I'm very lucky I escaped with a bad head ache. Couple of inchs and I could be blind or have had a broken jaw. I use my high lift all the time, but i have a healthy respect for it.

 

[gatewaysysop]

You know why hi-lifts are painted red. To hide the blood. I lost control of the handle lowering my 4runner. The pin didn't set and so it dropped a rung, handle came up with the full force of the truck and clocked me in the side of the head. Lifted me off the ground and threw me about 3 ft. I'm very lucky I escaped with a bad head ache. Couple of inchs and I could be blind or have had a broken jaw. I just my high lift all the time, but i have a healthy respect for it.

That's pretty much what I was talking about earlier. They are notorious for doing that to people.

 

[bgott]

How do y'all like the way Hi-Lift jacks like to drop the instant you let the weight off of them?

Best investment I've made for my Hi-Lift, a plastic retainer for the handle. I got it at a Four Wheel Parts sale for $14 or so, it sure makes it easier to tote around!

 

[Ryze]

Any sort of Spring compressor for vehicle suspensions. If it lets loose. you better be out of the way.

Broke my hand with one also. Doing everything I could to be safe around it. Spring decided to unload and turn and crushed my hand between the spring and compressor.

 

[IndyGarage]

One I would list is a forklift.

No tool I own makes me feel like I can do more than a forklift, it makes you feel invincible - until you screw up. Then you feel really, really stupid in a hurry.

I was putting a Sea Doo 12 feet up in the air with my little Clark lift. Mast at maximum Sea Doo hovering over the edge of a rack - need to tilt just a bit - bump the tilt. That's when I realized 900 lbs of Sea Doo crashing down from 12 feet wouldn't be pleasant. Bought a bigger forklift.

By the same token a front end loader can get away from you in a hurry if you put too much weight on them.

Not really a tool, but I use my heavy trailer for many projects, and you have to respect the loading and brakes on it.

 

[Xavis00]

I regularly have to use a cutoff wheel at work, but one day a couple months back I had a disk explode and leave a gouge in the concrete floor about a foot from where I was kneeling. Been a little sketchy of them since, but still gotta use them regularly

 

[blue dog]

How about a winch. Some years back watched a winch snap on a truck winched to a different truck, Needless to say it was not pretty. Cable came back and went threw the windshield and out the back window of the truck. No one was hurt, but it was an eye opener for sure for those guys. Needless to say, on the few occasions i use a winch, i use a 3 lb sandbag shaped like a snake thrown over the cable so if it does snap, it drops to the ground.

 

[GarageEnvy]

Actually, I like the winch. At least it lets you get out of the way (somewhat). For years I used a come-along. I still hate using one. I listen to those cables ping and feel the tension and think, "this is sure going to look stupid in the obituary."

Another vote for large angle grinders. I watched my father instantly cut his arm to the bone as a kid and have decided I have the patience to use a 4 1/2" grinder. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned routers or shapers. They can be full of surprises if you're not careful.

 

[anodyne33]

Car jacks.

I'm surprised this hasn't come up more. I don't hesitate to get under a car (always on jack stands) but it does give me pause nearly every time.

And floor jacks can be frightening enough, but I just had to use the POS scissor jack that came with my Mazda 3 for the first time a few weeks ago, and while I wasn't exactly under the car, I couldn't get the spare on and set it back down fast enough.

 

[WVBrady]

...And floor jacks can be frightening enough, but I just had to use the POS scissor jack that came with my Mazda 3 for the first time a few weeks ago, and while I wasn't exactly under the car, I couldn't get the spare on and set it back down fast enough.

Did you put the wheel under the car while you were working with the other one? One of the two is always available for that.

 

[gmwelder86]

those of you who do not like hi lift jacks try what we call rail road jacks, works on the same princaple but will easly lift 5 tons and will do more if you put a cheater on it, like lift one end of a 26,000 pound chiller up so you can put multitons under it. Thats another scary tool, the multiton is a small tracked piece of a equipment to roll large heavy objects. Think a mine tank with a swivel pad on top that you put large objects on. Now large is in the 2k up to 20k pound range.

 

[Skyline]

Another vote for the Hi-Lift jack. My Jeep is lifted to the point where my floor jacks barely get it off the floor. If I don't want to lift it by the axles, my only option is to use the Hi-Lift. Or take to to a friend's shop and use a lift. I had one incident that was really terrifying using that jack. No harm done...just scary.

 

[Marshall2u]

I live on a small lake, where the shoreline was obscured by a vast overgrowth of plant life. I figured I would buy a Bobcat and clean it up (along with some other projects). I did (an older 843), but when I was working with the backhoe one day, it broke free and I was tossed off as the machine toppled over. I was freaked out. I could have been crushed underwater. It was my fault, as I did not have the backhoe coupled properly to the Bobcat. My entire property is on a considerable incline, so I never felt comfortable using the machine, as it always seemed "tippy." Although I did a few jobs afterwards, I sold the machine, as I felt I would never be comfortable using it again. If I ever buy another skid steer, it will be one that has (in my mind) a more stable platform.

 

[Hurricane_Whisperer]

I'm scared to use the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, dishwasher...

A chain saw gets the most respect. No matter how cautious you are the unexpected can always happen.

I was at a Sears in the early 90's when they came out with their batch of incredibly noisy, but inexpensive and powerful shop vacs.

I was skeptical of Sear's huge hp claims, so I wanted to make sure the damn thing worked. I eventually ended up with a crew of three young salesman and the most experienced one was sort of cocky. I asked if we could plug it in and try it and they all agreed. The one young salesman plugged it in and had the car nozzle on it and turned it on. The thing screamed like a banshee and the young salesman got the nozzle end too close to the cocky salesman's tie. It sucked that tie right up and the cocky dude was frantically beating the vacuum hose away and then started beating the young salesman. Me and the other uninvolved salesman were laughing our asses off. When I finally caught my breath, I turned to the young salesman and told him, "Do that again and I'll buy it." The uninvolved salesman started choking from laughter and the cocky dude was pissed. I bought it and still have it and it still works and it screams louder than ever before. I don't wear ties around it.

 

[muibubbles]

spring compress is a good one. i almost ended my life with one.. as i was helping out buddies WAYYYYY before i knew ANYTHING about cars and was about to unscrew a strut without a spring compress and my face over it......

now my cheap hf spring compressors are scary as hell as they flex. i really should stop using them............

and oddly, routers scare me.. i hate when it bits and kicks back. freaks me the eff out. table saws scares me JUST enough to stay cautious.

 

[flyingw]

The one machine that scared the **** out of me was the Aqua Miser. That is a super charged power washer. I was using it to remove sealant in an aircraft wing. This thing was putting out 15k pressure from a cable driven rotary barrel. We took an oak pallet and turned it in to dust in about 5 seconds. So here I am laying inside of an aircraft wing (confined space) blasting sealant. One of our guys on the other wing somehow managed to drag the barrel acoss his left hand. It made his fingers look like julian fries. He lost his fingers and he at the time was 19 years old. We still dont know how he did it.

These machines are used for removing paint and **** off big boat hulls among other things. A very serious machine. After that accident, I didn't want to play with it any more. Some models put out 40k pressure at the nozzle.

http://www.aquamiser.com/

 

[anodyne33]

No, but good point. I didn't even think of it at that point. I was just pissed and wanted to get back on the road.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

See those Shopsmith's on CL by the dozen out here, maybe that's why?

As for me, probably really large angle head grinders. Not really forgiving of slip ups and pretty easy to mangle yourself (or someone else) with one if you're not paying attention. Seen it happen more than once, never pretty. Wire wheel accidents are no fun either.

x2 - that's the one and only tool I can think of that I stay away from. worked in abigg fab shop when I was younger and it seemed like the big grinders where throwing broken discs / hurting guys more often.
The boss gives me a hard time when he sees me doing some heavier grinding with the little 4 1/2" tool, but I sill refuse to pickup that heavy, flesh chewing, ******* as long as there's another way to get he job done.

 

[GrizzlyAdams]

Shop presses make me pucker and cheap strut/spring compressors. Nice ones i still have a healthy fear over. Watched someone get there gord split pretty good from one. Anything with a lot of pressure or tension tends to keep me on guard.

Not a tool but i also have a healthy fear of split rims. Thank god i havent been near any in years.

Cheap grinding wheels also. i am deathly afraid of those. Watched my buddy get his ********* split open well doin some fab work backhalfing a car and the disk blew up and split his bag open. Pretty disgusting and had to lose one of his boys from it. Luckily he had all the kids he wanted anyways but he was sore for a long time.

 

[rocco]

m torches, i'm pretty much scared to touch them.

 

[mooseracing]

An Old Gear drive chainsaw, in the 90cc class or larger. They can and will take you for a ride.

I'm not afraid of the Hi-Lift anymore, it has knocked me out and now I respect my positioning when using it.

 

[contactme_11]

As long as you have a "slight" fear of ALL woodworking or metalworking machines, you're probably not going to get injured. It's when you have no fear and get careless when the accidents cause lost fingers!

This is very true. I grew up using equipment that many people would consider very dangerous. My grandfather had me running his radial arm saw when I was 8. My father had me clear cutting wooded lots with him at 10 (ran a chainsaw with an 18" bar sometimes 4-6 hours at a time even at that age). I've seen some crazy injuries and they were almost all because someone was doing something stupid.

 

[Arne73]

Any older all metal power tools that are not double insulated or are w/out a safety ground. I've inherited quite a few from my Dad and I've been adding 3 conductor cables with a ground as I need to use them.
Oh and the 3/4 hp Thor power drill with a maintained on-off switch. That thing could be an arm breaker or worse.

 

[ihredo4]

Chain saws. I know a guy that was nosing the saw into the bottom of a log when the blde caught and jumped. He was able to stop it before it hit his shoulder but on the rebound he nearly took his ear off. Imagine having the blade come in behind your ear and cutting a 3/8" slot thru your ear right next to your skull. The meat and skin in front of his ear between his eye and cheak was all he had left holding his outer ear to his head. Never liked a chain saw bafore and sure as hell dont like them now. I will pay someone to use them for me.

 

[Kaervak]

Wood Chipper.

The first time I ever used mine, I didn't bother with gloves. That was a mistake as it ripped the branch out of my hands. Didn't cause any gashes or cuts, but it hurt like hell. Later that same session, it decided to get funny and hit me in the face with a chunk of shredded wood. Thankfully I was wearing safety glasses.

They're incredibly handy to have, but the very design is just terrifying. Lets take an engine, bolt some metal fingers to it that can rip apart trees and sell it to people. I have an old Craftsman one from the 80s. It doesn't have any sort of ignition interrupt on it, you have to turn the throttle all the way down and let the engine starve itself of fuel to get it to shutoff. Points and condenser setup, WOO!

 

[Michael Bryce Winnick]

I am scared of my roll away tool chest. If it ever learns to talk and tells my beter half how much the stuff inside costs, she will feed to to the radial arm saw, put my junk in the shopsmith, and cremate me with the plasma cutter.

 

[countryroad82]

I live on a small lake, where the shoreline was obscured by a vast overgrowth of plant life. I figured I would buy a Bobcat and clean it up (along with some other projects). I did (an older 843), but when I was working with the backhoe one day, it broke free and I was tossed off as the machine toppled over. I was freaked out. I could have been crushed underwater. It was my fault, as I did not have the backhoe coupled properly to the Bobcat. My entire property is on a considerable incline, so I never felt comfortable using the machine, as it always seemed "tippy." Although I did a few jobs afterwards, I sold the machine, as I felt I would never be comfortable using it again. If I ever buy another skid steer, it will be one that has (in my mind) a more stable platform.

Reminds me of when I was learning to run a Bobcat. The foot controls confused me slightly and I was loading a truck with gravel in a hurry one day. I got the bucket up as high as it would go and went to dump into the bed..... I pushed in the wrong direction and wound up buried in the cab with about a half ton of gravel. The guys I work with got a good chuckle out of that one

 

[WVBrady]

I am careful with all of my tools, but table saws freaked my out since I was a kid and noticed that when the blade is sticking up only the depth of the teeth they are invisible when it is running. At least, when my radial arm saw is running, I can see the blade turning.

 

[littletoes]

double quote...somehow

 

[littletoes]

The only thing that scares me, when I show up on a job, where we have to lift something very heavy, several ton's that is, and the "owner" shows up with some kind of chain fall/come a-long/pull a-long etc. from Harbor Freight.

THAT scares the Hell out of me.