Your "oh ****" Moments

[Ripthorn]

I was drilling some polycarbonate and the bit got stuck in the piece, whipped it around into my wrist, broke my stainless steel watchband and sent the watch flying across the shop. Oh, and it ruined the template I was making, too.

[NotYou]

Ahh, sander injuries. I think that's a right of passage now.

Last year I sanded off the end of thumb and the side of my index finger. It was, without question, the most intense pain I've ever felt. I've never come closer to crying over physical pain (since I was a kid, of coarse). I almost went into shock it hurt so bad. There are lot of nerve endings there.

I was trying to thin a wooden humbucker ring and I didn't realize I was getting it thinner than the space between the shelf and the sanding disk. It suddenly slid through as I was pushing on it, so I pushed my hand, with my weight behind it, right into the disk (it was a coarse grit. I don't remember what exactly, though).

I'm cringing just thinking about that. Once the adrenaline wore off... holy sh*t.

It grew back though. The skin was hollow for a while, but there isn't even a mark left now (other than nail is a flat on top now instead of curved). Don't ask me how that works.

Edited June 12, 2010 by NotYou

[Prostheta]

Exactly my injury! I flatly stated to the teacher that I needed to be excused go to the medical room (he didn't see this happen) and he refused. I then held up my fingers and dripped blood in front of him. Pretty convincing argument.

[avengers63]

Early on, I was using a brand new chisel. It slipped and went right into my finger, spewing blood all over the chechen. I went wailing into the bathroom. The wife came running, wanting to help ME. I sent her in to get the blood off of the wood so it wouldn't stain it too bad. We still laugh about the priorities on that one.

I haven't had any belt sander mishaps that drew blood.

I HAVE had the cheap-a$$ table saw I have grab a chunk and send it shooting across the room like a missile. I do whatever I can to avoid using that thing now.

I hate it when I'm routing around the edge of a straight piece and the bit hits the end grain and wants to blow up the wood. I dang near load up my drawers every time.

[killemall8]

Oh man, the injuries remind me of one of my closest calls of all time.

It was on my third guitar, a Rhoads style guitar with an aluminum diamond plate top. I had the top off separately, and was using the drill press do drill a hole in it... the drill bit got stuck in it, and i let go and the diamond plate (already cut into a SHARP V shape, started spinning around while on teh drill press. the long point slashed across my chest, and ripped my shirt. about 1" close, and it woudl have slashed open my chest.

[chops1983]

Ohh injuries! John i have done the exact same thing with a brand new chisel on site, went straight up the middle of my fingernail on my right hand index finger! From the tip, through the nail and out the side about 20mm up my finger. For four years the nail grew deformed but now grows normal but i still have a faint indent scar above the nail. I have seen a guy break his wrist drilling through a steel I beam with a handdrill, it grab and had to much torque and crack!

In highschool woodwork, two mates were being silly and one was holding a stanley knife and some how manage to slash a 6 inch cut up the inside of his mates arm, it was a deep cut and he was real lucky it didn't get any major veins/arteries. It was gruesome as all hell, spread wide open!

[DC Ross]

Luckily I haven't had any major injuries yet. Mostly the common mishaps though, like drill bits slipping, the plunge mechanism on the router slipping (that was a major pisser since it simultaniously destroyed both a body and my neck pocket jig), and other minor stuff. I'm pretty safety-conscious though (i.e. paranoid), and think through every operation.

[chops1983]

I'm pretty safety-conscious though (i.e. paranoid), and think through every operation.

Good way to be!

[Mors Phagist]

Hm... I have never seen a belt sander that did not move towards the operator... Your talking about a mounted upright belt sander, right?

Its an upright one, parrellel with the floor. It moves away from you when you use it correctly, and I decided to move so it went towards me.

The wife came running, wanting to help ME. I sent her in to get the blood off of the wood so it wouldn't stain it too bad. We still laugh about the priorities on that one.

Sorry, but thats hilarious.

What kind of wood was it?

I'm pretty safety-conscious though (i.e. paranoid), and think through every operation.

Im getting to be that way now. Too many mishaps that could've been avoided with 5 minutes more of thought.

[NotYou]

Hm... I have never seen a belt sander that did not move towards the operator... Your talking about a mounted upright belt sander, right?

Its an upright one, parrellel with the floor. It moves away from you when you use it correctly, and I decided to move so it went towards me. \

Mine was one of these (the disk):

Good times...

[Mors Phagist]

/\ Our school has one of those. Its nice.

Mine has the main sander flat, Parrellel to the floor, and is around 2 feet long.

[Fliski Guitars]

Injurys!!

The worst Ive ever seen (by far) was actually on a drill press

A guy I used to work with was just drilling a bunch of ply sheets like he did everyday, however this time he somehow managed to get the drill caught under his wedding ring. The force of the drill snapped his wrist, threw him round the back of the drill and finally ripped most of his finger off.. Ever since that day there is VERY strict no rings policy in my shop.

Worst injury that happened to me was an ancient spindle molder shear the top bolt that holds the blade down come off, the thing wobbled on the axis then flew off the shaft, I got a gash on my leg (near my jewels) that needed 10 or so stitches- Im still not sure if a blade of just a bit of shrapnel actually hit me when the thing shat the bed on me. Never used one since - Evil machines even when they're working fine!

[supplebanana]

Its an upright one, parrellel with the floor. It moves away from you when you use it correctly, and I decided to move so it went towards me.

The wife came running, wanting to help ME. I sent her in to get the blood off of the wood so it wouldn't stain it too bad. We still laugh about the priorities on that one.

What kind of wood was it?

Bloodwood???

[Prostheta]

Injurys!!

The worst Ive ever seen (by far) was actually on a drill press

A guy I used to work with was just drilling a bunch of ply sheets like he did everyday, however this time he somehow managed to get the drill caught under his wedding ring. The force of the drill snapped his wrist, threw him round the back of the drill and finally ripped most of his finger off.. Ever since that day there is VERY strict no rings policy in my shop.

Worst injury that happened to me was an ancient spindle molder shear the top bolt that holds the blade down come off, the thing wobbled on the axis then flew off the shaft, I got a gash on my leg (near my jewels) that needed 10 or so stitches- Im still not sure if a blade of just a bit of shrapnel actually hit me when the thing shat the bed on me. Never used one since - Evil machines even when they're working fine!

That's the thing about routers and spindle moulders. If you consider that it is a regular occurrence to have bits up to 1" diameter running at up to 24,000 RPM (400 revolutions per second) the outside edge of the bit achieves speeds of up to 75360"/1914m per minute or more digestibly 1256"/31.9m per second. A bit of metal designed for cutting materials harder than body parts flying across the room and spinning at high speeds is dangerous to say the least. Those are speeds comparable to that of a Cheetah. I would rather have a blunt Cheetah try to run into me - at least you would have more chance of avoiding it.

[avengers63]

Its an upright one, parrellel with the floor. It moves away from you when you use it correctly, and I decided to move so it went towards me.

The wife came running, wanting to help ME. I sent her in to get the blood off of the wood so it wouldn't stain it too bad. We still laugh about the priorities on that one.

What kind of wood was it?

Bloodwood???

It is now!

It was chechen. Fortunately, with all of the vibrant colors in chechen, what little blood remained was well camouflaged.

[NotYou]

Injurys!!

The worst Ive ever seen (by far) was actually on a drill press

A guy I used to work with was just drilling a bunch of ply sheets like he did everyday, however this time he somehow managed to get the drill caught under his wedding ring. The force of the drill snapped his wrist, threw him round the back of the drill and finally ripped most of his finger off.. Ever since that day there is VERY strict no rings policy in my shop.

Holy crap! I leave mine at home because they get in the way sometimes and I'm always afraid I'll scratch something (Nothing worse than re-sanding due to a new scratch), but I think having my finger ripped off and my arm broken might be a little worse

This isn't about guitars, but it's related to the no rings in the shop rule. I have an uncle who rebuilt a Olds 442 a few years ago. He was working on the wiring or something and got his wedding ring caught. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but he said it got so hot it was glowing. He couldn't take it off because he couldn't touch it and he wasn't near water. He just had to sit there with his hand out until it cooled.

That's another reason I don't like wearing rings while working.

[Prostheta]

I'm completely the opposite. I spent half an hour or so debating with a police sergeant who wouldn't let me into (wait, I didn't want to go in by choice!) a cell with my wedding ring on, that it was contrary to my personal beliefs to take it off. They don't like you challenging them, but they can't legislate on what your personal beliefs are or are not. I won. Plus no charges were filed because I didn't do anything. What an embarrassing waste of time, money and resources. Never taken the ring off my finger since I got married, and yes - I have scratched windscreens before with the diamond trying to get rid of a little fogging.

[ihocky2]

More non guitar related, but one is shop safety. A machinist I used to work with was missing one of his fingers. I found out many years before I worked there he was running a drill press and had work gloves on, reached to clear metal chips off the bit while it was running and the chips caught the glove and ended up ripping the finger off at the top knuckle. In the process it pulled one of the tenons completely out of his arm, all the way to the elbow.

I referee ice hockey and never wear my wedding ring on the ice. There is a picture from a guy who wore one working a game, got caught between players or a stick and crushed the ring as it pulled the ring off. It ended up pealing everything down to the bone, about half way up his finger.

[Prostheta]

Nice. Ours are Titanium anyway because Gold is uBer cheesy, plus being so soft it'll do things like that....he says having just strung up his 7-string with Optima 24ct Gold strings :-\

I remember someone on here mentioning that "once you are no longer afraid of a power tool you need to re-learn respect for it" or something along those lines. Very true.

A tendon ripped out to the elbow? Yeee-owwww...gruesome!

[masterblastor]

Worst injury was taking some steel wool/wd 40 to some rust on an old iron bench vise I picked up free at a yard sale. It sliped out of my hand onto my toe. Should have lag-ed it down first, I guess.

I dropped a finished body the other day. I need a padded shop.

[Mors Phagist]

Bloodwood???

Real blood on Bloodwood? You just gave me a really brutal idea...

A tendon ripped out to the elbow? Yeee-owwww...gruesome!

Thats messed up.

I dropped a finished body the other day. I need a padded shop.

I tried to carry too many things at once and dropped a partially finished neck. Tip of the headstock chipped, and I had to superglue it back on.

Also, I need padded hand clamps. When applying the FB to a neck, after I removed all the clamps, One of the clamps left some indents just before the first fret on the neck side. FB was fine, but Neck was indented. :|

[NotYou]

Worst injury was taking some steel wool/wd 40 to some rust on an old iron bench vise I picked up free at a yard sale. It sliped out of my hand onto my toe.

That one made me cringe

Since we're talking about injuries now, my runner up was done with a Dremel. I was trying out their router bit (I didn't have high hopes, but I was pretty curious). I didn't stop to check the direction the blade was spinning and it ran down the wood and down the length of my finger. "Shredded" is the best word to describe the result.

I drove home covered in blood (with one hand, obviously) and greeted my wife like that. I wouldn't let her see it for a couple weeks. It was a big gory mess for a while. Surprisingly, though, there wasn't much scarring, just a little where the skin grafted itself back together.

Edited June 15, 2010 by NotYou

[John Abbett]

I've got one for ya.

I made a panel jig for the table saw, the cabnet panels sit on end and run with a sled to give the edges a nice angle for inset panels. I cut a notch in the top and slipped a clamp in the notch holding the panel to the jig. I ran about 20 of the doors through, and all of a sudden BAM! The metal clamp popped loose because it was worn and dropped into the blade. It removed the carbide from the blade, stopped the 3 HP saw cold and deposited the carbide tips in my stomach. After I turned off the saw, I had to get pliers and pull the carbide tips out. They were about 1/4 inch in the meaty (Fat) part. I had 8 little round holes in a smily face on my stomach for a few days. I think I was lucky.

Saw was ok, just needed a new blade. Clamp was almost cut in 1/2.

[Buter]

Rings and watches not allowed on big-game (sport fishing) boats either.

Use your imagination.

B

[Tim37]

one of the first things i learned in votech was no rings, no necklaces, no metal watches, and no loose fitting clothing; that was a electronics coarse in highschool but i have found it very useful in a lot of other physical jobs.

my worst injury was playing basket ball in PE back in Jr High i fell and broke my elbow no i got a couple of pins and a left arm that wont go all the way straight. one of my closest calls was working on a car i had it on a rack with a post jack holding the lower control arm while i was doing ball joints, any way the jack sliped and the spring came flying out hit me in the shoulder. all it did was give me a sore arm and some brusies, i was pretty lucky i wasnt standing directly infront of it when it came out could have been a lot worse.