Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Pub Talk). This thread is read-only.
I’ve had a few drill bits and sheet metal screws in my fingers and hand. Always just backed it out lol. Oops haha
Man I’ve smashed the sh%# out of my knuckles using a air right angle impact smashed my thumb between 2 100lb buckets of black roofing tar and a couple of sheet metal cuts which hurt like a b#%*$! Nothing serious though like driving a screw or nail thru my hand or fingers ?
This was at least 40 years ago. My dad was using a Milwaukee right angle drill while wearing gloves. He went to brush the curly cues away with his hand and the bit caught the glove. By the time the old Milwaukee wound down it pulled his pinky off.
Worst I have seen a guy was cutting wood stakes for form boards. He was palming the 2×4 and ripping off the right side and flipping it and repeating the cut again, using his thigh to brace his hand. The saw got into a bind and kicked back cutting right through his jeans, his nutsack, and his right testicle. I heard him screech and heard the saw hit the ground, turned around as he was dropping his pants and his nut fell out on the ground. He passed out instantly, landing on top of the saw (which broke one of his ribs I found out later.)
I ran away in disgust to get someone else to help him, I have a strong stomach but that was just too much man. That was 10 years ago and it still gives me the heebiejeebies. Aside from myself that as far as I can remember was the only real tool related injury I saw in commercial construction.
My uncle lost most of 2 fingers on one hand from table saw and part of the thumb tip on same hand from table saw as well.
A guy from school shot a nail into his hand. I don’t remember if it was serious or not. I wanna say it was either a roofing or framing nailer.
My worst was with a nail gum. !st time was with a framing gun. I was toe nailing a 2x had the gun in bump garbed the 2x and was not looking put the gun down and shoot a nail between my thumb and finger on my left hand and pinned to the plate. 2nd time was a finish nailer slipped off the trim and shoot a nail into my left thumb and through the bone.
I took a chunk out of the knuckle on my index finger today with a pair of side cutters.
What kind of dumbass does that? ?
First side cutter related injury I’ve ever had.
@Conductor562 just skin or bone as well?
Just skin. Not wide, but pretty deep. Thought it might need a stitch, but the liquid bandage seems to be working.
I can’t like any of these, they are all pretty crazy, especially the nut buster, @Hugh Jass yowchh!!
I like good humor in a doctor haha
I definitely am on the safe side of things, but what can get me is ladder work, or being up high and thinking i can reach for something, one of these days, it’s going to catch me off balance (literally) I’ve fallen off a 12′ step ladder and landed hard and my head slammed back into my hard hat(wow i’m so glad i was wearing a hard hat that day!!!)
Shot a roofing nail into my thigh at an extreme angle, which means it lost most of its energy on my pants and only went in a quarter of the way
I was cutting a hole in the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket with a utility knife. I was cutting into the thicker center ring and when I somehow slipped and stabbed my calf muscle and buried the whole blade. Unfortunately the concrete truck I ordered showed up at that exact moment, so I made a tourniquet and did my job. It was a bloody mess when I took it off.
There’s something really awful feeling about a razor blade cut after a while, like it’s healing too fast and keeps seperating every time you move skin in that area or something. I hate that.
I have had several close calls and minor plus not so minor work related accidents in my career, mostly due to lack of experience or related to fatigue and lack of concentration. I’ve seen others have worse incidents, and not so worse ones too. Was working on a jobsite with my father once where he was using an old D handle drill he had scrounged from some trash heap at his old job. It was an old beast with no reverse, single speed, and had a tendency to shock you due to a lack of proper ground connection to the metal casing on it, and I had several nicknames for it… Anyway, he was using it to drill a hole in the floor one day, and I was working on something on the other end of the room when I hear an odd sound, and turn around to see him hopping up and down, looking and sounding like a monkey in the zoo (Oooo Oooo Oooo). When I asked what was wrong I here this somewhat high pitched response; “Pinched me nutz!!!“. Seems that the loose fitting khaki pants he liked to wear got caught in the chuck of the beast… I had tears running down my face from the painful hilarity I was witnessing as he spent a few minutes extricating himself from that trap. No way I was going to offer a helping hand on that one. Couldn’t see straight anyways.
Smashed a knuckle with a 20 oz. framer today. F$&king bee hit me in the nose mid swing ?
The bees, wasp, and yellow jackets are awful this year!
Last year I shot myself 4 times with a framing nailer, 2 times through a finger, 1 through my wrist, and 1 through my thigh. The ones in my fingers and wrist baffle me how they happened, I’d like to think it was an unavoidable accident but to do it 3 times…………. hum…… The one through my thigh was just dumb…. was in a tight area grabbed the gun buy the grip and slid it over my leg while taping off the trigger…. that sucked ass…. damn near passed out, but a half hour later I as back working. Man that was sore for a week.
If you ever get a chance to put a 3 1/2″ spike through a body part I’d recommend that you fight the urge to do it, you’ll thank me latter.
Framing so far no problems but I have had a few close calls with the finish nailer with nails coming back out where they went in horseshoe style close to my hand. Last week I shot from overhead straight down onto 3/4″ plywood into a 2″x4″ with 2 1/2″ nails from a seated position. Fired and felt something hit my pants, and the nail was sitting in my lap. Won’t be doing that again, a warning is good enough for me.
Was using a Hilti core drill while kinda crawling in water. It had shocked me a few times. It finally locked up and lit me up like a Christmas tree and just never worked again. Didn’t realize how tight everything clenched up.
New year’s Eve two years ago. About nine at night. Was about ten below. Was wearing a ten dollar pair of leaky uninsulated PVC boots. Probably had first degree frostbite already. Was jumping in a 721. Some guys stopped me and said that the latches on the skid steer were frozen and they couldn’t get them off. I walked over. They had the bucket at chest height pointed straight down. My first thought was hey dumbasses put that down before someone gets hurt. Nope didn’t say anything because I had barely turned seventeen and didn’t have the balls to say that to a fifty year old man. They said they had been trying for hours. Wouldn’t budge. My dumbass points and says these ones? Guy inside the skid steer says yes. I was expecting frozen and so I reach over and jiggle the latch. No resistance. Just springs undone. Que slow motion oh shit moment. Throw the latch back in everything is still for an instant but I was too late. It just falls bit down right across my foot. Splits two bones and bounces off three others. Could hear the fireworks from the ER. They gave me just a brace. I wish I took a picture of the x Ray’s. I’m a dumbass so I just walked on it while I waited for a cast. Turns out that the bones were v-d down and walking on them pushed them back into place and I didn’t need surgery. Walking on them the whole time I was in a cast made that take four and a half months and never heal right. I’m pretty sure I rebroke it at least a little in a lowboy related incident the day I got it off. Still hurts like hell sometimes.