Tools That Have Hurt you

[Zewnten]

I keep reading about cheap tools ending up with the user being hurt. Out of curiosity does anyone have a first hand account of a tool failing and you ended up hurt, serious or not.

I'm not looking for my friend used such and such or I heard of a guy, but your story. Nor am I looking for tool brand bashing or worship, just your stories. In fact if tool brand was left out that'd be fine too. Personally I haven't had an injury resulting from a tool failure so I'm curious.

And if I've posted this in the wrong area please feel free to move it to the correct one thanks.

 

[Strouty]

Our old Black and Decker mag drill hurt me pretty good once. Back them, no one had straps to keep them in lace and the cord was not so great. It lost power just long enough to let the magnet go, but the motor decided to keep going. It wound my arms up, then broke the cutter and fell on my foot.

 

[BuffettFan]

I had a 3" PSA sanding disc come off of a die grinder and hit me just below my bottom lip.
opened up about a 1" wide gash clear through to my mouth.
Long enough ago that I don't remember how many stiches I got, but I do remember getting the Novocain shots inside the cut.
I don't use PSA discs on die grinders anymore.

 

[PugetDude]

Do blade/bit/disc failures count?

 

[metaldad]

doing a hot tap, on a 8' ladder, in a new office space.
hot tapping is using a hole saw with a special adapter, to drill into live piping.
anyhoo, the saw bit. the hole hog spun, and hit me in the jaw.
i was stunned. saw stars. surprisingly, i didnt fall off the ladder. my partner, on a ladder next to mine, held my trigger hand, backed the drill out, and closed the valve.
and then helped me to the ground.

 

[Empty Pockets]

I've never been injured by a tool if I was using it properly

 

[dsp1]

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.

 

[Farmall 1066]

Any combination of air ratchet + radiatior - gloves = blood.

 

[Indy125]

Hammer, 10 months later I had a brand new nail!

 

[Tenex]

I had a Kobalt 1/2" x 3/8" adapter that snapped when I was trying to remove the lug nuts on a Ford Focus and I landed on my ***.

 

[rmanrman]

Table saw without splitter or kickback pawls ( I know now Stupid move)
Was ripping a short 2x4 and the rip fence must have moved a 1/32 inch
The 2x4 shot back at my left wrist breaking and gashing it Have 12 stitches
For a reminder to always stand to the side of the blade!!!

 

[larry_g]

I had some cheap import vise-grip like tools. They kept popping open when used to clamp things together for welding. The second or third time this happened I ended up getting cut. They are now in the field near the shop.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[txvwnut]

Hammer, 10 months later I had a brand new nail!

And if done correctly you the smashed digit at least one more time after the first hit.

 

[Hpozzuoli]

I usually slice myself with the utility knife once a month and shoot a finger with the finish gun once every couple months.

 

[DGersic]

Hammer + thumb = pain, but I assume everybody has done that at least once, and you can’t really blame the hammer.

When I was younger, I was setting up a dado blade cut on a table saw. Checking to make sure the blades would clear the insert edge, i was rotating the blade by hand. Got a finger between a table edge and a blad tooth, drove the tooth in to the end of my finger. Probably should have gone for stitches, but I was young and stupid, so kept pressure on it for a few hours until it stopped bleeding, bandaged it with a piece of shop towel and masking tape, and dealt with it. Took weeks before it finally stopped bleeding. Still have a scar there to remind me that new carbide saw blades are sharp.


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[PugetDude]

91 stitches to repair a fractured skull, split eyelid, and broken cheekbone when a 12 ton hydraulic jack came off a post I was using to raise a beam in a lake cabin I was building... wearing glass eyeglasses, the ER doc called in an eye surgeon who pulled a couple of dozen glass shards out of my eye and eye socket. I was lucky; no loss of vision -followed up with a good Plastic Surgeon after the accident, almost impossible to see the scars today.

I also sawed the tip off my right thumb in High School Shop Class with an 18" bandsaw 40+ years ago. ...another story for a different thread..

 

[nbruno]

Couple pretty good ones. Removing mower blades from a 60" deck a cheap socket split and my knuckle hit the blade next to the one I was working on and cut down to the bone for 8 stitches.
Bandsaw blade broke at the weld joint and took half of my left index finger completely off through the joint. Couldn't be reattached unfortunately.
Have a few other very serious injuries related to mechanic work but not related to sub par tools.




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[Zewnten]

Those are definelty the stories I was interested in, especially that last one on the socket that split. Question for you, nbruno, was this a cheap cheap socket or cheap like you got it from autozone?

 

[Hiball]

18" cheap extension all wound up and when it broke, I just about ate the pointy part...

 

[PelicanPines]

24" breaker bar ... under a rider mower ... stuck blade nut ... freakin 12 pt socket slipped...

Tore my rotator cuff... rolled out from under the tractor and got bit by a cow killer wasp that was crawling on my driveway...

Quickly learned the rotator cuff is important for holding your arm on... and there is a reason they call that wasp a cow killer.

 

[Swingpress]

Working with a meat band saw. We kept it in a large processing area that stayed around 40F. Cutting smoked chops, thin gloves, hands numb from the cold and trying to work too fast was just the right combination needed to allow for the removal of the tops of 3 knuckles just above the bone. I never felt it and didn't even notice until a co-worker ran up freaking out and asked what happened. Then I realized my left arm felt warm....

 

[notlob]

Not really a tool failure, but explains why I now only use angle grinders with paddle switches.

1. Large scar on right wrist (I'm a lefty) from when angle grinder w/ knotted wire wheel cup got away from me and removed ~ 3x4" section of epidermis, dermis, and other underlying tissue.

2. Large linear scar from when angle grinder w/ cutoff disk cut through round stock unexpectedly and buried itself in my left thigh. Not sure a paddle switch would have helped here.

Both of these happened decades ago. I doubt I am smarter, but certainly wiser, slower, and more careful, now.

 

[stercorarius]

Cut up my hand a little replacing a high pressure fuel pump on a machine on the side of the highway. Open end of a 15mm Pittsburgh wrench snapped apart and like an idiot I switched around to using the box end and every time it turned the nut a little it dug a little deeper into my hand. Had a good cross hatching of cuts on my hand by the time I finished at like 10:30 that night. One of those situations where the good tools are worth it.

Also kind of from a tool. News year Eve working two years ago had a skid steer bucket dislatch and come down on my foot. Was in crutches for a few months and still hurts in the mornings.

 

[lbhsbz]

Cheap HF 12" adjustable wrench...was using it to tighten a hitch ball. I'd just started leaning into it when the adjuster scroll failed, sending me onto my ***

 

[mrpizza]

I hit the knuckle on my thumb with an estwing hammer shank, the kind thst is real skinny on the thing. Still have a big lump in my knuckle. Missed a nail.

 

[dscheidt]

I was using a tool-truck brand 1/2 ratchet, with a piece of pipe as a cheater to undo a bolt on a tractor. I was standing on it, sort of bouncing on it, when something in the ratchet mechanism let go, and the ratchet turned a lot. I slipped off, and cut my head on the side of a slow moving vehicle triangle. The other people present found this hilariously funny. I did not share their opinion.

 

[Snakebyt]

broke a ratcheting wrench causing me to basicly punch a lower control arm..

 

[CJM8515]

Friend got an old ford van and the floor was caved in. Out infinite wisdom we took a bottle jack, some wood and a pipe and pushed it up. Pipe and wood slipped, the truck and its hitch smacked into my hand and cut me somewhat deep right above a tendon. Just bandaged it up after cursing for 20 mins and kept working. I can still see the scar and its been 10 years.

 

[JohnDeere1]

Angle die grinder with wire wheel had a bristle fly off and stab me in the corner of my eye right in the red it blacked my whole eye but eye is fine it was so very close to popping my eye ball I would have been blinded. Safety first I'm an idiot for forgetting my safety glasses.

 

[Kaizen]

Worst was chisel I was using as a prybar. Freshly sharpened so cut like a scalpel. Probably should have got stitches. Used butterflies and barely can see the scar


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[WittHay]

Funny: slipping off the 5 foot cheater pipe, attached to the 2 foot Crescent Wrench

Dangerous: Getting hit with the handle of a Jackall (farm jack) after a couple of times you figure out the right way to use them

Stupid: using a 9" angle grinder without the side handle and guard. Shut it off and turned away, in a split second I had a hole in my knuckle.

 

[Certified Drunk]

Hit thumb with a 21oz hammer
Shot my self with an air nailer
Socket came off my Craftsman intact gun, got a nice black eye...

 

[PelicanPines]

Oh yea... almost forgot the finish nailer... 2+" nails... too long but what the hell... doing baseboards... finish nail went in... hit a framing nail... vectored back at my thumb that was holding the board... went right thru and came out the fingernail...

To this day ... that fingernail doesn't look like the others.

Odd part... didn't really bleed that bad.

 

[Wamsutta]

DeWalt DWE494

 

[Kaane]

I was using a Large Kobalt 1/2 Flex Ratchet one to remove a stuck bolt on an engine. I put my entire weight on it and the rubber handle slid off and the rebound hit me right in the orbital bone and split skin hard. Had to go to ER to get a MRI, but other than a cut it was ok.

I stopped using that stupid ratchet and will never own another kobalt one.

 

[2oolhound]

I wuz bangin peg woods in the ole barn, a few days later tool gits dat stingin and had to git some meds. Always used a rubber wit 'er after dat.

 

[L.Cheapo]

Got my pinky caught in the blades of a B&D electric hedge trimmer. I had released the trigger, but it slipped out of my hand and apparently took quite a while to spool down . Deep cut, bled like hell, didn't lose anything, probably should have had stitches. That was 25 years ago, still have the scar, and still hurts when applying pressure to it!

 

[southalabama]

Under pinner. It's a stationary v nailer for picture frame shop. Put frame in. Left hand fires piston that comes down holds hit. Foot switch throws two arms that sink into the back of the frame and pulls the joint together. Right hand fires switch that shoots nail. I leaned over to slide joint together manually. When I did my foot triggered the arms. Instead of sinking into the frame it sank into my thumb and pulled a chunk out of the center. Bled like a stuck hog and doctor did needlework on the end of my thumb.

 

[mbshop]

You mean besides not using yer brain ? Worse I suffered without it kinda sorta being my fault was breaking a nut loose while pushing towards an object. When the bolt broke loosd my finger was between the breaker bar and a cotter pin. Head of the pin want through the nail and bent over when it hit bone. I litterally had to pry my finger off. The scar under my nail finally disappeared 40 years later.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

My red welder lit me on fire. I had my safety hoodie on, but apparently there was lint in the pocket. It was a real exercise in patience to climb down the ladder and set the stinger down before **********. No lasting damage.

Drilling a hole in the side of a post, leaning into it a bit when the drill grabs my beard, and 0.2 seconds later, I'm inspecting the post all up close.

Good squeeze on a Chinese vice grip when the handle folds up mincing the part of my palm. Happened twice, and those things go straight in the trash now.