Tools That Have Hurt you

[Siding Pro]

I used to do shop maintenance for a road painting company and one of the easiest ways to clean off old hardened traffic paint on equipment was to heat it up. I have the acetylene torch in one hand heating the area, scraping with the other, then the big chunk of paint came loose sending my scraping hand directly into the path of the flame burning the backside of my hand pretty good. Only a split second was enough to still have the scar to this day. Wasn't using my head that day.

Surprisingly I've never been hurt in construction though.

 

[threeputt]

Got my entire right arm caught inside a 4x4 front end loader trying to match the splines on shaft together after installing a clutch and pressure plate.

I was using a cheap jack to raise and lower the thing where it would line up. I was working alone and all of sudden I could not get my arm out of the 12 inch square hole used to do this with. The stupid jack leaked down on me and I didn't know it had happened.

Now here I am in a shop in a jam. There was no use yelling to anyway because there was nobody in site. I knew things were not going to be good because I could not reach the handle of the jack.

For the first time in my life I all of sudden loved a salesman because her come one walking in the shop. I yelled that I was back here and he did what I told him to so I could free my arm.

I was sore for a few days but all turned out well. I threw the jack away and from then on only bought quality floor jacks

I always wonder today how I was lucky enough for a salesman to walk into the shop that one day years ago. Cheers

 

[jmarkwolf]

Got my entire right arm caught inside a 4x4 front end loader trying to match the splines on shaft together after installing a clutch and pressure plate.

I was using a cheap jack to raise and lower the thing where it would line up. I was working alone and all of sudden I could not get my arm out of the 12 inch square hole used to do this with. The stupid jack leaked down on me and I didn't know it had happened.

Now here I am in a shop in a jam. There was no use yelling to anyway because there was nobody in site. I knew things were not going to be good because I could not reach the handle of the jack.

For the first time in my life I all of sudden loved a salesman because her come one walking in the shop. I yelled that I was back here and he did what I told him to so I could free my arm.

I was sore for a few days but all turned out well. I threw the jack away and from then on only bought quality floor jacks

I always wonder today how I was lucky enough for a salesman to walk into the shop that one day years ago. Cheers

Holy Cow! What a story!

 

[joeswamp]

Holy Cow! What a story!

Yeah that's one story that really could have had a bad ending. The lesson, of course, is never to rely on hydraulic pressure to keep yourself out of danger. In this case the victim probably didn't realize he was doing it until too late though.

 

[Joe From NY]

Had a couple harbor freight grinding wheels explode on me, if you've never been hit by a big piece of grinding wheel, it frikin' hurts. Been buying the good stuff ever since and no more problems.

Hear hear. I had a Harbor fright grinder disc, the one that looks like expanded cellulose foam, grenade on my while removing dried algae buildup from my boat motor prop. I was crouched down at the back of the boat under the swim platform, on the hard, grinding away with my HF cheap 4 1/2 inch grinder. After a few minutes, the disc just suddenly exploded in every direction, with several pieces hitting my face. A big chunk of the abrasive material stayed bonded to the backing, so now the tool was way off balance, spinning at whatever tens of thousands RPMs that it spins. There's no paddle switch on these cheap HF $9.99 grinders, so it didn't stop when it got displaced in my hand due to spinning unbalanced. I was crouched down to begin with, and not able to reflexively move out of the way when the unbalanced grinder, with a chunk of abrasive came towards the left side of my shirt. Luckily, it caught the unbuttoned flannel shirt and got satisfied with pulling it in and wrapping it around the shaft until the remnant of the disc was sitting loose over the spinning arbor. I stumbled back out from under the platform, and ripped the plug out of the extension cord.
I would up with a few scratches on my face. Not usual for me, but I did have on my safety goggles that day. They kind of give you a false since of security, like those full face bike helmets.
Face scratched, flannel shirt destroyed, back muscle pulled, Shjt scared out of me. Lesson learned.
I have a bunch of those cheapo grinders with no paddle, so I bought a "momentary on" foot pedal switch from amazon so I can just move my foot to stop the tool, they are great items, I have to get another. I only use Norton or Diablo or dewalt discs now. And I don't get into a physical position that I can't move out of easily if needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[davethorik]

Ran my thumb through a table saw. Had a few factors against me.
-should have stopped working when I noticed myself getting tired.
-saw was underpowered, and the blade had seen better days
-I got too “comfortable” with the saw.

Always respect your tools, and don’t forget what they can do to you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same here, plus I got distracted by a dog almost getting hit by a car on street in front of me. I got really lucky. Left thumb. Only 6 stitches, no bone or nerve damage. It bled like a stuck pig, tho.

 

[classic70]

Kobalt slip joint pliers popped out of the grove and smashed up 3 knuckles. Threw that pair as far as I could in the woods. Last time I ever used cheap pliers.

 

[bepjrfan]

Was using a Milwaukee m12 oscillating multi tool to cut siding for my garage, set it down blade up(first mistake), on the ground(2nd mistake), after cutting a piece. Attached the piece to the garage, went back and proceeded to trip on a box walking back into the garage and landed my calf right on the damn blade. Dumbest thing I have done with a bladed tool. Took months to heal up, left a gash about an inch deep in my calf.

 

[Bretny]

OK, this is kinda, sorta tool related. I was driving through a Home Depot parking lot 10 years ago and saw a small yellow kitten in the bushes that some ******* had dumped. I had half a sandwich with me, and got out with a chunk of turkey and went up to the bushes, held out the turkey and called him. He was scared but came a little bit closer. I held the turkey out to him and finally, after much "here kitty kitty kitty", I got him to smell it and then take a bite. And I grabbed him. My plan was to take him home with me. He couldn't have been more than about 8-9 weeks old. He bit ALL THE WAY THROUGH MY THUMBNAIL AND MY THUMB. He ran off and wouldn't let me catch him. Don't know what ever happened to him, but I tried. My thumb didn't get infected.

That was prob a lion not a cat.

I had a friend who was working under a car. Breaking a large nut loose by pulling on a wrench. Well that nut came loose, knocked him out cold. His wife found him there a short bit later. Hes ok now but didnt learn.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Die grinder cutoff wheel cut loose cleaning up some welds... Until the I was pretty lax about safety glasses, but (for some reason) I was wearing them that afternoon...

The line of wheel started at my lower right chin, ended at my hairline directly above my left eye... across the right lens of my safety glasses. Which is why I've been a safety natzi about eye protection ever since...

 

[Bessy]

Believe it or not I snapped a 30" (maybe 24"?) el-cheapo prybar attempting to separate two rail ties that had been nailed together with 6 or 8" spikes. When it snapped I was pulling backward on it bracing my feet aganist the top tie. Still amazes me that I broke it. I was probably 19 at the time. Landed flat on my back and luckily managed to hang onto the piece that broke, no injuries short of a few bruises and maybe some grass-rash.

 

[BikerDad]

I'm pretty paranoid of wrenches slipping and the like, so between that an me not being a mechanic, I've avoided any injuries from failed wrenches/ratchets.

I did get smacked by a bicycle wheel and almost dumped on my keester when the vise that held the cluster tool I was using to remove the cluster from the wheel broke.

I can't, offhand, think of any other incidents where the failure of the TOOL resulted in injury.

The vise, btw, was a Chinese import. Replaced it with an American made vise....

 

[Lelandwelds]

I was splitting a large rock ledge with a series of greased feathers and wedges. One shot into my shin and I managed to jackhammer my foot just above the steel toes.

I have had two HF wrenches fail when I was pulling as hard as I could. The adjustable one had the worm fall out. The large combination wrench had part of the open end snap off.

I had a shockingly powerful borrowed HF hammerdrill bind up drilling a 2 inch hole in concrete. I couldnt use an arm for almost two weeks. It wasnt the tools fault but that hurt.

I had a High Lift jack handle hit the trailer so hard it broke a trailer piece off. It bounced back so hard, I saw stars and heard bells.

A name brand chop saw wheel bounced a chunk off the table and cut my scalp.

A cardboard and steel drum of stampings gave way. Took a dozen stitches in the heel of my hand.

I lost sight of a co worker I knew was dangerous for like two seconds. We were making embed plates and he managed to hold a rosebud to my *** while I was bent over. Again, not the tools fault.

I was making a sales call at a graphite processing plant. A forklift with no operator started up and ran itself off the dock.

That was fun. Bet I missed a bunch.

 

[Al Borland]

Another angle grinder victim.
Way back, many years ago...
We were cutting open a metal skin on a boiler, and the guy doing it was too damn fat to get his last bit...
So the boss says "Can you get in and help the fat F@#$ out?"
I laughed and said "You just want me to bleed."
30 seconds later, the wheel exploded and blew back into my knuckles. guards were on/in place. Came out with both index fingers and a few knuckles hacked thru my leather gloves, and told the boss "Told you so."
Worst part was the Tetanus shot. Cleaning the wounds (debrading/debreding?) sucked too.

 

[4x4gearhead]

Ive had cheap tiny bit sockets snap and send pieces into my face. One time very close to my eye, it stuck in like a needle and i bled like a stuck pig. Definitely the every once and awhile pieces of 4" grinding wheels that come apart. Hit myself in the face with a 1/2 torque wrench in a hard position in a machine tightening head bolts because the pawl let go. Im sure theres more i dont recall. Its always important not to underestimate any tool, especially power tools and tools that apply a lot of force on objects. There are many more ways than you could think of that the **** can go wrong. Just gotta keep it in the back of your mind even when working in your home shop.

 

[Al Borland]

Things I've seen that didn't injure me:
Compressed air hose coupler (Big hose on a tow-behind with Chicago couplers) popped apart and the hose hits the guy who was straddling it right in the family jewels. Supposed to use whipchecks and pins on those couplers, but, someone didn't.
Another guy had a framing nailer jam, and smacked it against his thigh in frustration. That unjammed it. Also got us an OSHA inspection...
Torches are always fun. Demo guy turned to ask his firewatch a question (with a cutting torch in his hand) Firewatch leaned in close, to hear and got burned across his face.
Another guy (We will call him Mr. Greenteeth) went to scratch his head while holding a torch and caught his hair on fire.

 

[joel63]

Things I've seen that didn't injure me:
Compressed air hose coupler (Big hose on a tow-behind with Chicago couplers) popped apart and the hose hits the guy who was straddling it right in the family jewels. Supposed to use whipchecks and pins on those couplers, but, someone didn't.
Another guy had a framing nailer jam, and smacked it against his thigh in frustration. That unjammed it. Also got us an OSHA inspection...
Torches are always fun. Demo guy turned to ask his firewatch a question (with a cutting torch in his hand) Firewatch leaned in close, to hear and got burned across his face.
Another guy (We will call him Mr. Greenteeth) went to scratch his head while holding a torch and caught his hair on fire.

My god, I don't whether to laugh or cry. I know it's not funny, especially if it happens to you.

As far as right angle grinders go, I've never owned one, and have no plans to get one. I will continue to try to get by without one. I have seen what havoc and injury they are capable of causing. There is usually blood shed.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have a typical looking 1/2" corded drill. Except that it has triple gear reduction ! I was using a 3/4" Silver and Deming bit to drill holes in studs for Romex. It was worked great and was way faster than a spade bit ... until I hit a knot. The bit stopped but the drill motor and my wrist did not ! I did not have the assist handle attached and I swear I thought I broke my wrist !!

 

[threeputt]

I installed a 350 Turbo transmission one day for a friend of mine.

I had the car on my twin post lift. The top bolts were a little hard to get to so I put a few 1/2 extensions together with a 9/16 swivel impact socket and used my air wrench.

The friend was impressed that I could almost sit in a chair under the car and use all these tools to remove that one hard bolt.

Well the socket flew off after I pulled the trigger on the air wrench. It landed on my friends head right above his right eye.

He laughs about this to this day that I bent over and picked up a very greasy rag and told him to stick it on his head to stop the bleeding and start looking for my socket.

He went to the doctor and had 8 stitches put in his head above his eye. I told him being I was doing it cheap that he could pay the doctors bill.

When he tells this story today he adds a little to it saying I had at least 15 feet of 1/2 extensions to get that bolt out. That old swivel socket flew a long way across the shop but I did finally find it. Tom

 

[Beemie]

Wire stripping knife every time.

 

[Fanetem]

6 points socket used on a long breaker bar cracked and my fingers got smashed.
Knife blade broke and slash trough to the bone. See the scar.

 

[rico23zin]

I was drilling a hole using my Dewalt 24V drill on a wood beam in my basement for an access to a garage electrical wiring & all of a sudden the bit got stuck and drill spun onto my head. Felt like a boxer punched me and blood squirted all over my face. Luckily no stitches is required but darn that hurts!

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

 

[Firebrick43]

Lassen forge reminded me of one.

Using a pistol grip air sander with sanding disc. Was wearing a face sheild and one of the disc broke in half. One half hit my face shield splitting full length right in the center and the half stopped with one tip at the end of my nose. Scratched just enough it bled a few drops. Couldn't imagine how messed up I could have been not wearing a helmet.

Second I was really going to town with a t post pounder. Moving right along when I lifted it a little to high off the post and on the way down it caught the edge of the tube and post. This made it violently pivot and come down on my forehead. Don't really know how long I was out but had quite the cut and a lot of blood in my hair when I came to.

Not really a tool but an animal. I have a Belgian draft horse. Very gentle but big. She has feet the size of dinner plates. One day I was trimming her feet, the fronts when a horse fly bit her on the belly. She kicked at it with her rear foot and it caught me over the eye. Wife said I was delirious for 30 seconds or so and some blood to. I now wear my forestry helmet while trimming and spray them down well with fly spray.

 

[xjfish]

I seem to stab myself with picks a lot...

Otherwise... another HF related injury : 21mm impact swivel socket ejected the pin right into my hand with gun at full tilt... left a big hole in the webbing between my fingers. Gross.

 

[jwalk2c]

Got to be careful with those inexpensive ratchet straps that have such a short release mechanism.
I was using one to put pressure and help inflate a tubeless front tire on one of my trusty Wheel Horse garden tractors.
The tire was old and stubborn, like me I guess. It would not take air, so I kept ratcheting and applying more pressure, and finally the tire did seal and began to inflate.
So you know that satisfaction you get when you feel like you just mastered something that was kicking your ****, and I just keep inflating that tire to an ridicules amount of pressure.
if I would have been smart my next step would have been to release the air in the tire, but instead I reached out with my right hand and grabbed the shorty release handle of the ratchet strap.
And of course this released all that stored energy the ratchet strap had pent up, and sent the handle of the strap exploding through through my 1st finger.
It happening so fast I did not feel anything but warm blood flowing down my hand.
And to make matters worse it was the day before Thanksgiving, my family just arrived to stay for the holidays.
Should have gotten a stich or two but its healing.
Could have been much worse. However if it had been a quality ratchet strap with a handle that keeps your hand out of harm’s way this may not have happening. Ultimately though if I would have use my head for more
than a hat rack, I would not have this band aid on right now.
Johnny Walker

 

[nbruno]

I know I've posted a comment in here somewhere but let's see a pic. Broken Bandsaw blade. Cut right through the joint, didn't touch any bone. Happened April 2017.


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[crewchief888]

I don't need a tool to hurt myself.

And power tools aren't a necessity either.

I can damage myself with a simple screwdriver!!!

Bill

yea, probably the worst injury was a self inflicted screwdriver stab into my palm... and out the back of my hand....

i fall down enough on my own without a tool in sight

 

[Crazyjake8493]

On a job once, I had a big Hilti Rotary hammer without a clutch up in the drop ceiling drilling through a fire wall, caught rebar or something and spun the gun around and pinned my arm against a pipe. Thought I'd broke my arm but luckily just some bad bruises.

At home my most frequent injury is being an idiot and burning my fingers on hot sawzall or jigsaw blades.

Had a close call with an angle grinder several years ago, caught a hoodie string and walked right up in until the built-in fuse tripped about 3 inches from my chin. Since then I immediately take the hood strings out of all my hoodies as soon as I get them.

I feel like an idiot saying this, but the worst cut I ever had was from a freak incident with a spilled soda can.

 

[Joe From NY]

I know I've posted a comment in here somewhere but let's see a pic. Broken Bandsaw blade. Cut right through the joint, didn't touch any bone. Happened April 2017.


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Ouch! At least it was as a clean cut. Are you lefty or righty?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PelicanPines]

Do you get a 10% discount on manicures?

 

[nbruno]

I'm right handed. No manicure, but it's 10% less time scrubbing grease from under my nails.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[apollo11]

The only tool that has injured me were a pair of off-brand vise grips that pinched me and cause a blood blister
The didn't break, they just sucked and I swore and have lived by, never using anything but vicegrip brand vicegrips.
They did "break later when I took a blowtorch to them to prevent them from ever hurting me again.

 

[ozyborn]

Oh yes. Years ago, when I was a teenager with all the patience of one. Working on my car trying to get a motor mount free and the dang hammer kept not doing the job. So ticked off .I whipped that hammer into the corner of the garage. Yea, tossed with the power of Thor. Felt better. But.....I heard a "boing". Boing? So I turned to look. Hammer came straight back and nailed me in the forehead knocking me out for a minute. My old baseball pitching net was in the corner, to bounce the balls back. Last time I threw any tool.

 

[Handyfarmer]

i got a nice mark on my hand, from my grinder, and one time I had a 7" grinder catch my shirt tail and my belly was black and blue for some time,

many a blood blister, in the last 60 years, been caught on fire many a time with the grinder or welder/ cutting torch, more burns over the years then I can count.

when I was young I was nailing some walls up, and the claw of my hammer touched a nail box and the hammer over shot the wall plate and caught me in the knee, ( I think I cracked my knee cap). it was a waffle faced framing hammer.

still have all my limbs and digits.

 

[WVBrady]

...Hammer came straight back and nailed me in the forehead knocking me out for a minute. My old baseball pitching net was in the corner, to bounce the balls back ...

Sorry to laugh, but I laughed out loud at that. Glad you learned your lesson.

 

[skruft]

I have never been hurt in any serious way by a failing tool.

I have cut myself with a small circular saw, and I hurt myself once by wearing a loose garment that was caught in a big rotating wire brush.

While I was young and foolish, I dropped a 1966 Lincoln on myself by being careless with a jack. That could have been very serious but was not.

Other than these things, minor stuff.

 

[Bigwheels]

Worst was table saw accident took the end of three fingers off. Another one was when a 6 ft bolt with 2 guys on a hydraulic drill tightening it down on a beam jig caught my brand new carhart shirt and wrapped up my arm before they could shut it off.

 

[geartow]

stitches to the back of head . using a 3/8 snap on breaker bar and socket on a gm front wheel bearing bolt on a 4x4 pick up . broke the breaker bar pulling so hard lost balance straight up I went into the plastic/fiberglass fender flair broke it with my head . boss was made as i went to hospital plus he had to buy paint and install a fender flair .

 

[hangfirew8]

Too many to list. I'm primarily a self-taught home mechanic. The early days were rough.

Smashed hand when chrome socket split- multiple times. Had a set of Craftsman "new thin-wall design" sockets that split regularly. Also had a set of HF Metric sockets that were soft as butter and mushed out when leaned on. Both banged up my hands (slow learner). Finally learned on my own to pull not push. And, to buy quality.

I replaced both socket sets with SK, learned to set up my pulls and consider the consequences of something breaking before I tried. Also got impact tools. Things go much better now. (I still have some Craftsman; some batches were good, some, not so much).

 

[Bronson]

I was building a custom aluminum airbox for a Beech Bonanza, and while shaping an aluminum 3" tube that goes into the airbox, the large-flute die grinding bit caught on the inside of the tube, walked around the inside edge ,and hit my right thumbnail.
At 28,000 rpm, the bit just exploded my thumbnail, all the way across and down to the bone.
There was thumb-meat splattered all over the white liner panel where I was working.
It took the whole nail, except for a tiny sliver under the base of the nail, and as I said, down to the bone.
I got up and wiped the mess off the wall and headed to the Men's Locker room, where there was a First-Aid kit.
My Boss came in to see what happened and I asked him to help me clean and dress the wound.
When I extended my hand, he saw the wound and fainted.
I had to get him off the floor and into a chair and I doctored myself.
About the only thing a Doc could have done was give me a tetanus shot and pain pills.
It bled a lot and hurt like hell.
The worst part was not having the use of my right thumb for about six months.
I had to learn to button my jeans with my left and right index fingers.