Know where your fingers are---

[user 1616]

While I was active duty we were told, never ever try to catch something you or someone else drop. Let it hit the floor and come to a rest. You never know what may happen when you move quickly in a surprise and get your hand caught in a piece of equipment or knock your head on the corner of a bench. A habitual response is not easy to train yourself out of and I did see one person using a battery drill place it on the workbench where it was unstable. When it fell off he reacted by trying to catch it which he did. Unfortunately the drill landed in his hand bit down. 3/8" drill bit poking out the backside.

 

[Brian Hutchings]

My personal moment that still brings me out in a sweat happened 50 years ago. I was working at a place that made parts for Rolls Royce Aero but it had started life by making kitchen cabinets, stainless sinks (which is how they got into R-R work (they made the exhausts for R-R Merlin engines)) and pressed steel radiators, which were made in 2 halves and seam welded together.
I needed to cut a small piece of stainless sheet (for myself) and so at lunchtime I used the power guillotine near my workplace. I pushed the small piece of sheet under the trapper bar and pressed the footpedal. The trapper bar came down and brushed the top of my fingers and then retracted. Fortunately for me it had been set to trap radiator pressings at about an inch thick and so I escaped with all fingers intact!!
Brian

 

[oldCB]

Several years ago I was working on a 172 nose gear. I was going to rebuild the strut but it would not come apart due to dissimilar corrosion. I anchored the bottom on part of the hangar structure and attached a winch to the other end also attached to the structure. I put some pulling pressure on it, applied Mouse milk and went about doing other stuff. Throughout the day I applied a heat gun and more milk. I gradually increased the pulling force till she sounded like a banjo! I left and came back 3-4 days later (it was my birthday) to look at another of the 3 planes in the hangar..........as I was walking bye, it broke free........like a bomb going off!! It scared the crap out of me and could of killed me. I guess the Lord was looking out for me that day!! Be careful out there boys!*

* got another one about the same plane.....save that for later!! Be safe with the Covid-19 too!!

 

[Bentwings]

I recently gave my 40 year old son a skill saw that I had inherited from my dad. I have my own skillsaw and didn't need two of them. The advice I gave him was to "Know where your fingers are every time you turn this saw on". This is indeed a creed to live by. I'm 73 years old, and amazingly I have all 10 digits. One finger on my right hand was cut off with a trimming axe when I was six years old, but thru the magic of medical knowledge gained in world war two, sulfa drugs, and a very forward thinking village doctor, the finger was reattached, and full mobility of it was restored. The last joint closest to the end of my finger doesn't bend quite as well as its counterpart on the other hand, but I have full feeling in the finger and after 67 years I never really think of it. When I was a teenager, we were poorer than dirt and lived down an unpaved sideroad. A family with at least half a dozen boys lived in the road about a mile from where we lived. One Sunday morning the oldest son walked out to our place and asked my dad if his dad could borrow dads skillsaw. Dad gave it to him with the express warning to "Watch where your fingers are." About 2:00 that afternoon, the same boy walked back out to our place with the skillsaw in one hand, and two fingers wrapped in a cloth in the other hand, and wanted to know if dad could drive him up town to see the doctor. They couldn't reattach the fingers, too much time had gone by. Think about this story every time you flip on a lathe, a mill, a grinder, or any of the other power tools we all own. Know where your fingers are first!!!

Yeah I hear you all fingers and toes still attached at 78 yrs. brain has deteriorated so seeing them and moving them is harder.

another thing is know where your chuck keys are. I once saw a36” lathe toss a chuck key into the concrete block walls another is don’t touch rotating objects. I worked in a large machine and welding shop for a while after I retired. There were weekly saftesaftysaftey meetings. But it seemed like someone had to go to the ER at least once a week .

 

[Richard Hed]

Yeah I hear you all fingers and toes still attached at 78 yrs. brain has deteriorated so seeing them and moving them is harder.

another thing is know where your chuck keys are. I once saw a36” lathe toss a chuck key into the concrete block walls another is don’t touch rotating objects. I worked in a large machine and welding shop for a while after I retired. There were weekly saftesaftysaftey meetings. But it seemed like someone had to go to the ER at least once a week .

I learned this: when someone asks how deep the sawblade should be adjusted, the repl;y is "how many fingers do you want to have left when you are done?"

 

[L98fiero]

I learned this: when someone asks how deep the sawblade should be adjusted, the repl;y is "how many fingers do you want to have left when you are done?"

Along the lines of stupid stuff that happens, I was 3 machines down from a machinist that had 3 feet of 2½" diameter brass sticking out the outboard end of the spindle, unsupported, he started the machine at about 350 rpm, it made about three revolutions and bent at 90° lifting a 36" lathe off the ground before it was stopped.

 

[Richard Hed]

Along the lines of stupid stuff that happens, I was 3 machines down from a machinist that had 3 feet of 2½" diameter brass sticking out the outboard end of the spindle, unsupported, he started the machine at about 350 rpm, it made about three revolutions and bent at 90° lifting a 36" lathe off the ground before it was stopped.

Whoa! Just reminds me that "fool" rhymes with "cool".

 

[peterl95124]

I've been a hobby machinist for nearly 30 years now and still have all my fingers, but..., one time I was wiping down my mill, power was off and everything was still, but I left a cutter in the spindle, and it sliced my wrist open as I pulled the rag over the vise. Ouch (except that the cutter was so sharp I didn't feel much, just bled a lot !). Funny thing was at the ER where they put me into a room and then ignored me for a hour or so, I'm thinking they either had me on suicide watch or were waiting to see if the police had any bulletins out for knife fight victims, but I did get to explain it when the doctor that finally stitched me up asked if this was "work related".

 

[Richard Hed]

I've been a hobby machinist for nearly 30 years now and still have all my fingers, but..., one time I was wiping down my mill, power was off and everything was still, but I left a cutter in the spindle, and it sliced my wrist open as I pulled the rag over the vise. Ouch (except that the cutter was so sharp I didn't feel much, just bled a lot !). Funny thing was at the ER where they put me into a room and then ignored me for a hour or so, I'm thinking they either had me on suicide watch or were waiting to see if the police had any bulletins out for knife fight victims, but I did get to explain it when the doctor that finally stitched me up asked if this was "work related".

Those kinds of things are very likely to happen. I cut a great piece of my thumb just by touching an edge of a cut I had just made. I'm too embarassed to tell about some of my other cuts.

 

[Master]

Air pressure. Had to replace a cylinder on a R-2800 radial engine. New cylinder came with piston. The protective rust prohibitive coating had the piston firm in the cylinder. We soaked the cylinder for several hours in solvent. No luck. Put a spark plug in one hole and an air hose pigtail in the other. Then applied air pressure. 35 psi. No luck. Got a cup of coffee and suddenly an explosion. Piston went across hangar, tore a chunk of wood out of a C-135 chock and went another 25 feet. Fortunately there is a Patron Saint for dumb sailors.

 

[Ken I]

Something similar - we couldn't get a pair of racing slicks to bead onto the rim - eventually we decided on more pressure.
With safety in mind we moved the wheel into the yard and applied pressure from inside the shop - eventually reaching the maximum of 7 Bar on the compressor and still the bead wouldn't jump the rim. (deflate / apply lashings of lubricant / try again / repeat)
In desperation we bypassed the compressor shut off and figured we would run it to the safety valve pressure of 12 Bar (nearly 180 psi) - it was either going to go on or blow up.
We were just over 10 Bar when there was a helluva bang and the hose jerked and started snaking around blowing air out.
We figured the tyre had blown and three of us rushed out to have a look - expecting to see bits of tyre etc. we looked about the yard - nothing.
Then the rim and tyre assembly fell out of the sky and landed between us and bounced back into the air.
We were lucky not to have been struck - the tyre survived the abuse.
Strangely enough the remaining tyre went on will a lot less pressure although still troublesome.
There's always some aspect of doing something dumb that will bite you in the ass.
Regards - Ken I

 

[BaronJ]

I've been a hobby machinist for nearly 30 years now and still have all my fingers, but..., one time I was wiping down my mill, power was off and everything was still, but I left a cutter in the spindle, and it sliced my wrist open as I pulled the rag over the vise. Ouch (except that the cutter was so sharp I didn't feel much, just bled a lot !). Funny thing was at the ER where they put me into a room and then ignored me for a hour or so, I'm thinking they either had me on suicide watch or were waiting to see if the police had any bulletins out for knife fight victims, but I did get to explain it when the doctor that finally stitched me up asked if this was "work related".

Many years ago, I'd be about 16 or 17 at the time and I sliced the top of my first finger on the left hand between the nail and the second knuckle. The skin just folded off. So just flipping it back over and wrapping it a rag, with blood running all over I walked the five or six hundred yards to the local A&E.

The nurse got me into a cubical, unwrapped my finger and then proceeded to lift the top off the wound off folding it back. I passed out at that point. When I started to come round, I was laid on my back on the floor and this nurse was stood over me smacking my face and saying come on wake up.

I did to the most horrible sight I had ever seen. I was treated to the view of white passion killers and knobbly knees. The doctor injected my hand with anesthetic and stitched the wound. Removing the stitches later hurt more than the original cut did.

 

[goldstar31]

I was building a Mirror dinghy one cold November. OK the plywood and woodwork were cut out-- etc etc.

But I wanted TWO. One for here in the UK and one for use in my little villa in Menorca in the Baleares, Spain. I'been given Honduras Mahogany ex bank counter, I had a good sawbench and- a Myford PR11 planer/thicknesser. So what was stopping me?
So with my wife and the young kids( then) at a Newcastle Museum, I got started. I think that I was planing the flat nosed prow and 'cocked it up' with my left palm being planed.
So I was technically alone. Dripping with blood and shavings , I found a white dress shirt, wrote a message in blood-- RVI- Royal Victoria Infirmary, got into my little car and 'changed gear with two fingers'.
Happily, my wife had nerves of steel- she was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and took it all calmly. Even more happily, the surgeon on duty was simply waiting for rugby players- with skin kicked off in the Saturday match- and ws going in a day or so to East Grinstead where the Late Archie McIndo had patched up wounded airmen in the war.
How good was I at having the procedure being done- without anaesthetic? Ouch- planed a strip of skin from my left forearm- put it on my palm and bound it up.
I was put to bed, with my left hand suspended on a frame above me- and I fell out of bed- with my arm like a hangman's rope.
I used to ski but using a ski pole was a definite out. So I could ski- as some call it 'Rouade' or Bloody Rotation to turn without sticks.
I gave up sailing seriously and white water kayak-ing in case the graft was damaged.
Feeling and mobility? Fine but I never could face eating minced steak for years.

 

[Richard Hed]

Alledgedly, there was a king in India, probably a city-state king, who had a son and never wanted the child to experience pain, so he ordered that the child was never to fall or get hurt thus he was never let out of the palace. so the child eventually grew up and turned 18 whence he was allowed to leave the palace. He immediately set out the doors and went into the street in wonder and was promptly run over by a carraige and kilt! Sounds like a story, eh? Well, Nobel prize winner Pierre Curie did almost exactly that. He was walking in Paris, I thimk, not paying attention, stept off the sidewalk and was run over by a carraige! 1906, head crusht.

So my story has a point, what do we do with our children and our children's children when they are obviously being trained that there is NO HARM in the world, everything is covered, protected, nothing is left for any danger?! A century ago, industry could care less how many fingers you got cut off, it was "Get your damned fingers out of here! What? I don't care about your wife and children, get gone! And take your fingers, we don't want maggots around." So eventually dangerous, open parts were rightfully covered. But if peeps are not allowed to get hurt (a little, not like their heads chopt off), they will grow up mentally/kinesthetically stunted. This is the trend in education. Has anyone read John Taylor Gatto?

 

[Ken I]

Richard, you have a point.
Whilst I would not point to unusual events as altruism's - I have seen dangerous machinery that ran for decades without incident - but once they were "made safe" and suitably guarded accidents happened.
Whilst I don't want to go back to the "good old days" I think the dynamic at work here is that everyone knew the machinery was dangerous and gave it a wide berth. Operating staff were well aware of the dangers and were careful.

So we "idiot proofed" the machinery an then put idiots in to use them. Lulled into a false sense of security that they couldn't possibly hurt themselves, promptly went about finding ways that they could. I can trot off a string of examples.

Simple guarding is never enough it has to be built to withstand a weapons grade idiot.

"“Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and higher education positively fortifies it.” – Stephen Vizinczey

Regards - Ken I

 

[mfrick]

Well I have a good lesson for all. While serving my apprentice back in the 60's I observed one of the machinist running a horizontal mill with a large slitting saw reach between the overarm and mandrel to adjust the coolant hose, the cutter caught his coverall sleeve pulling his arm in running his wrist through the cutter leaving his hand hanging by the skin on the back of his wrist, his hand was reattached but was not very usable after the gentleman took early retirement and disability, to this day I'm very aware of what I wear in the shop.

Mike

 

[Richard Hed]

Richard, you have a point.
Whilst I would not point to unusual events as altruism's - I have seen dangerous machinery that ran for decades without incident - but once they were "made safe" and suitably guarded accidents happened.
Whilst I don't want to go back to the "good old days" I think the dynamic at work here is that everyone knew the machinery was dangerous and gave it a wide berth. Operating staff were well aware of the dangers and were careful.

So we "idiot proofed" the machinery an then put idiots in to use them. Lulled into a false sense of security that they couldn't possibly hurt themselves, promptly went about finding ways that they could. I can trot off a string of examples.

Simple guarding is never enough it has to be built to withstand a weapons grade idiot.

"“Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and higher education positively fortifies it.” – Stephen Vizinczey

Regards - Ken I

You put it so much better than I could and in fewer words and concisely. Thanx.

 

[Richard Hed]

Well I have a good lesson for all. While serving my apprentice back in the 60's I observed one of the machinist running a horizontal mill with a large slitting saw reach between the overarm and mandrel to adjust the coolant hose, the cutter caught his coverall sleeve pulling his arm in running his wrist through the cutter leaving his hand hanging by the skin on the back of his wrist, his hand was reattached but was not very usable after the gentleman took early retirement and disability, to this day I'm very aware of what I wear in the shop.

Mike

I even refuse to wear a ring after finding out about a truck driver who wore one. One day he was getting off his truck, which you understand is a very large transportation machine, and he caught the ring on something just as he was jumping the last step--. Needless to sey, it ripped his finger off. My daughter once had a solid brass neck wire. I told her to neveer wear stuff like that as it could be used to strangle her or even by accident get caught on something.. She took the advice. (A rare thing for children to do! But when you realize your LIFE is at stake?)

As for long sleeved cov eralls, we were taught "short sleeves, no jewelry".

 

[Master]

Cutting a board on a table saw. Had a safety feature with pawls that prevented wood going backwards. Needed the board just a bit narrower. Part being cut off about 1/2 wide three feet long. Off cut was too narrow for pawl and shot back like an arrow. I happened to be off to the side. The (arrow) penetrated a fire proof garage door about two inches in.

 

[Richard Hed]

Cutting a board on a table saw. Had a safety feature with pawls that prevented wood going backwards. Needed the board just a bit narrower. Part being cut off about 1/2 wide three feet long. Off cut was too narrow for pawl and shot back like an arrow. I happened to be off to the side. The (arrow) penetrated a fire proof garage door about two inches in.

Yikes! Is that the Soviet of Washington? I live in Moses Lake