Shop safety advice

[Andy Dingley]

Don't catch falling drawknives

8-(

(It'll heal, but I'm now out of superglue)

[Dave Balderstone]

OUCH!

I've learned to jump back from falling knives, and screw the edge. I occasionally do that in the kitchen when chopping, and often am in sock feet when it happens. My chef's knife is always close to scary sharp.

So far so good...

[WilliaJ2]

OUCH!

I learned that as a teen trying to catch a falling x-acto knoife while building a model car. It tends to make you a real fast learner for sure.

Big John

Take out the TRASH for E-mail.

[Bill Stock]

My Grandfather did electric motor repair when I was a youngster, so I picked up a few things. Including one or two things I shouldn't have. He and my uncle were testing a motor they had put new windings in when the pulley came off the shaft. Before they could not tell me not to touch it, I had picked it up and got a nasty burn. They were amused, I was not. I also discovered that 220 gave you a special tingle compared to 110. :)

[TWS]

Just the other day a piece I was working on knocked my chisel and I watched as it started to roll toward the edge of the bench. It was amazing how much you can think about while being totally paralyzed. I knew in every bone in my body not to grab for it so I just watched it go over the edge. I heard the first hit as it struck the concrete floor and you could tell from the sound that it landed edge first. Sure enough, great dig in the floor, a chisel that would require a lot of lovin to get it back in shape, and I still have all ten fingers...

TWS

[Jim Behning]

[Charlie Self]

Big John relates:

I learned at Parris Island. Dropped my razor while shaving. Left hand shot out and caught it, almost without thought. And spent the next week supporting the forestock of an M1 with that left palm. Safety razor my patoot!

It has never happened again. I just let sharp items fall.

Charlie Self "When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary." Thomas Paine

[Andy Dingley]

I keep my steelies by the kitchen door into the workshop. I just don't go in there without them.

IMHO, plywood is the dangerous stuff. A sheet of that falling edge on will really do a number on toes.

[Swingman]

Did a lot of farrier work during my college days and after the service. A hot horseshoe, after it has cooled to the same color as the others, is indistinguishable from a cool one. DAMHIKT.

[Robin Lee]

...and don't stick out your foot to catch a dropped kitchen knife....feet bleed a LOT when punctured!

[Paul Kierstead]

Ouch.

One of my hardest learned lessons (in pain): Don't reach for a hot soldering iron without looking. If you absolutely must be stupid and reach for it, then don't just fully grip it immediately.

And chisels are the most dangerous tools in the shop. Well, OK, the ones which frequently injure me the most anyway, though patched up easily.

PK

[Eddie Munster]

It is really difficult to not grab falling things.

Chisels and gouges especially for me. Drawknifes, very scarey indeed.

Accidents are so wastefull, aren't they.

John

Andy D> Don't catch falling drawknives

[Hitch]

Also, don't touch a bare, live, 220V wire when your hand is holding the power supply switch.

With your cheek.

[Sam]

A friend had that happen with a big knife, barefoot and had a LOT of problems with cut tendons. Something I still do occasionally is grab a hot drillbit, but I at least now realize instantaneously it's a mistake.

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 01:50:01 +0100, Andy Dingley calmly ranted:

Did you use it up on what used to be fingers or what used to be toes? Condolences, bloody...,er, butterfingers.

GIF at 11 of "How not to catch a falling Scary Sharp(tm) item?

[Larry Jaques]

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 23:40:50 -0400, "Bill Stock" calmly ranted:

I was testing power supplies in the Engineering Dept. at Southcom, Int'l. when I gave them some welding lessons. About the tenth unit I checked, I forgot to power down the panel before putting the screwdriver on the terminals. I loosened the first one and when I set it to the second, the first lug hit the screwdriver. The resultant arc, which blew the 240v FIFTY AMP circuit breaker, was QUITE bright. I was red for a month. ;)

[rcook5]

Remember class, our mantra here at camp is: "It's a lot quicker to repair a munged tool edge than it is to repair a munged finger."

--RC (Who still has a scar from learning this lesson the hard way)

"You Know Things Are Weird When Arnold Schwartznegger Is Governor of California, Ronald Reagan Is One Of Our Most Beloved Ex-Presidents, And John Kerry Is Running For President On His Vietnam War Record"

[Andy Dingley]

It slid very slowly across three fingertips as it slipped off the shelf - it wasn't even falling. Still managed to cut them pretty well. Fortunately I have longish fingernails, and I'd braked it somewhat by slicing a vee down into the nail. There are two new (old) drawknives on that shelf, and of course the one that decided to slip off was the one I'd recently sharpened. I must get some more leather covers sewn up for the new ones.

Thursday is sword-fighting night. No-one believed I hadn't picked up my pointy end by mistake.

[patrick conroy]

We called that "Stockers Foot". Stocker, as in Grocery Store Shelf (re)Stocker. One of the many jobs I had as a kid. It got to be second nature, putting a foot out to block a dropped jar from a shelf.

What cured me was when I unconciously put my foot under a large, heavy, granite object to "break its fall."

[George]

I'm forever nicking fingers on the corners as I handle them. Seems to make no difference if I round them with sandpaper.

No leather for me since I began using that white closed-cell foam as form-fitting tool holders in my shop. 1" spring clamps hold it to a loose tool, and in the box it's cradled against anything.