Share your accidents and close-calls so others can learn from them?

Read somwhere that a lady was knitting sweaters ought of dog hair, wouln't that be a hoot!

Reply to
bob
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I used to spend more time setting up a cut than actually cutting, pissed of my foreman du-jour but I almost never had a re-do, and in twenty five years only had one accident. I was cutting a patch for a bathroom floor that had rotted out from around the toilet, a complicated shape that I was cutting with a porter-cable top handle circular saw (77s were too much for my old, arthritic hands, etc) and dur to the lack of space I was cutting freehand, well to make an unpleasant story short my saw opened up a sloppy ragged gash on the thick part of my right hand (where the thumb meets the wrist) and I wrapped it in my bandanna tightly and drove to the emergency room. I finished up the next day with 10 stitches and an ace bandage.

And yes I took the time to pack up my tools before I left.

Reply to
bob

Ah, Real Manly Men.

In this country you can see them standing in a field, next to their tractor with a big spraytank, putting poison on their pastures clad in nothing but ankle high boots, shorts and a sleeveless undershirt; hat is optionial.

Of course you find them on our building sites as well, but since our OSH has started to come down on the employers Really Hard, most cowboys find they have to buck up or butt out. Those guys of yours would mend their ways or find themselves to be unemployable here pretty smartly.

-P.

Reply to
Peter Huebner

Sounds like you were ripping the wrong direction, maybe? My RAS spits things out when I rip, and doesn't suck them in. Just as important to have the fence parallel to the blade as on a table saw, using a very robust 'featherboard' I find ripping on the RAS to be extremely unpleasant due to lots of detritus in the face, but never had a problem. Generally I use the bandsaw for ripping, but I've had to do some weathergrooves in vertical cladding and did that on the RAS.

What I have had a problem with was the RAS chucking stuff when crosscutting wet timber. In the days before drop saws were readily available I used my RAS on a couple of building sites. Had two or three 4x2 offcuts flung 10-30 metres across the paddock (out the back of the saw). Just as well nobody but me on the site. Same in my workshop once: 'Whoomp' into the wall behind the saw.

The other day I had another RAS incident. I was checking out a shoulder for a joint on a board, and I had the board standing on edge against the fence on the RAS. The saw grabbed the board and sucked it between saw and fence (in other words, the fence was too low for the job, less than half the height of the board I was cutting. Nothing got close to my body or extremities, but the board was shattered needless to say. Lesson learned.

The last one is close to your 'kids' one, and shows that this should also apply to (certain) parents. I was working on the bandsaw one day when my father walked in, grabbed a piece of timber and, slapstick fashion, turned around with it and hit me in the elbow from behind. The bandsaw blade went through my thumbnail but did not quite nick the skin. I felt it though. Phew. I am not sure he even saw I was there, he's that non-perceptive and narrow focussed. Close call, indeed. Well, both my parents are people who have never been around powertools and have no sense of self-preservation at all. When they get within 15' of me working the chainsaw I now turn it off and stand and wait. They're in their 80ies, and sadly not the most sensible people any more. (The above incident happened around 15 years ago, mind).

But in general I have become very very leery of having people walk behind my back when I am wielding anything sharp edged or using powertools since. I even stop cutting bread when my wife crosses behind my back, which she just can't understand the why of ;-)

-Peter

Reply to
Peter Huebner

Apparently, that is not new. The Scots used to use the shed and brushed fur from their collie dogs for jumpers. As I own a Collie I can attest to fact that she sheds enough to make a three piece suit every year :)

A Scottish breakfast

  1. Porridge
  2. Glass of Scotch
  3. Collie Dog

The dog eats the porridge

regards John

Reply to
John B

I was using a can of spray paint and didn't point it in the right direction...you can guess the rest.

THis was when was about 20. I've used eye protection when painting ever since.

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Reply to
mail3277198

To be honest, I have seen more accidents in my 20+ years of commercial construction that were caused by careless "old timers" who were confident that they were in complete control. I have corrected safety issues with the younger guys on the site, but the seasoned vets believe they know more than I do and continue on doing it however they want.

Charlie

Reply to
Charlie

I haven't found that to be a problem.

Reply to
Doug Miller

After it has been on a few moments, the dust seems to disappear.

ill

Reply to
BillinDetroit

The interesting part is when you haven't done any ww for a few weeks, and then put the facemask on without checking it first. Bloody spiders.

Reply to
Dave Gordon

...[rip]...

I believe both sides. But this reminds me. For what it's worth, when I was becoming certified for scuba, the instructor pointed out that she was not the slightest bit worried about the inexperienced divers such as us at the time. It was always the experienced divers becoming overconfident, and especially the experienced divers who have not dived in a long time and jump right back into it, that too often get hurt. Or die.

Reply to
Thomas G. Marshall

put the facemask on

spiders, that's my welding helmet ... I have to scrape the spider crap off the glass at times when I haven't used it for a year or so ;-)

But the face shield thing has never worked for me. After half a mo' it used to be so full of [muck] from the outside and so full of fog from the inside that it became more dangerous working with it ON than OFF. So I stick with safety glasses. The new ones have inserts with lenses for close work, which is even better. Damn, but my eyes are going downhill fast.

-P.

Reply to
Peter Huebner

THIS is a safety thing I'm HORRIBLE at following. What could paint possibly do to me? Thanks for telling me.

Reply to
Thomas G. Marshall

My diving instructor had us all play underwater rugby the first night. The idea was for someone to get, hold, and deposit a 5 pound block of rubber in a bucket at one end of the pool. Other than that, there were no rules. Now 8 feet of water isn't very deep, until you're near the bottom - with the "ball" - almost out of air and four or five guys allegedly trying to take the "ball" away from you but actually trying to drowned your sorry ass to eliminate some competition. The macho guys were the first ones that had to be pulled from the pool and resucitated after pushing themselves WAY passed their limit (or being held under well passed their limit).

The lesson taught - when you're in or under the water - NEVER get even close to what you think is your limit. When your tank tells you it's time to surface - do it.

Other lessons taught

When a current grabs you go with it, fighting it will kill you. It WILL let you go after a while and the ride can be quite exilerating.

If you don't know for sure that it's edible, don't shoot it.

If you're not sure you can kill it - don't shoot it.

At or below 60 feet, if you see a liquid in your mask that ain't water clear but rather sort of green - DO NOT CLEAR YOUR MASK - that's blood - the water filters out red first. Head up and out and find out why your nose is bleeding.

Always dive with at least one partner - and keep him/her on the "blue water" side - cuts your chances of getting shark bit in half, even lower if you're on the shallow water side.

NEVER get out of the water with a loaded speargun.

DO NOT point a loaded spear gun at your instructor and show him how you bent your spear point on a rock with your last shot. ( I actually saw a student do that. He spent a two day trip sitting on board while the rest of us were out for grouper and lobsters) .

If you're dumb enough to shoot a Parrot Fish, don't show it to your diving instructor or brag about the BIG fish you got. Parrot Fish are the puppy dogs of the reef -and they put a lot of blood in the water if you poke a hole in them.

Unless you absolutely know what's in a hole - DO NOT STICK YOUR ARM IN IT.

If you aren't sure the opening in the other end is big enough for you to get through DO NOT SWIM INTO A CAVE / TUNNEL.

Back to woodworking

If that little voice in the back of your head is saying "DON"T DO IT!" - then don't do it, whatever "it" is.

An often overlooked danger - you've just milled up a board and it now has nice square corners and nice square edges. They WILL cut you if they have a chance to slide against your tissue. So if you grab that freshly milled Four Square board, make sure you've got a good grip on it - or have BandAids readily available.

DO NOT move cut offs away from a running bandsaw blade with any part of your body.

If something doesn't sound right - find out why.\

When a chisel or anything else with a sharp cutting edge is falling off your bench DO NOT TRY AND CATCH IT.

If your jaw is clenched or your shoulders are tight your body is trying to tell you something. Find out what that is ASAP.

If you work alone in a detached building, or even a basement, keep a portable phone or cell phone on you. You may be the only one who can call 911 in time.

A full sheet of 3/4" MDF is heavy and slippery. If you're lifting it off a table or bench to get it vertical for carrying, and it slips, all that weight and all that momentum will usually land on one or both of your feet. Get help or cut it down to manageable pieces.

Nail guns, and even pin nailers may not drive the nail like you think they will. Shooting a nail - even a pin nail - into your finger and thumb is not a good idea. Keep fingers and thumbs well away from where the nail MIGHT go.

charlie b

Reply to
charlieb

My diving instructor had us peel and eat a banana while under water.

Reply to
spebby_92

Snip

When I was in the Army, we had a recruit point an SLR at the Instructor saying "It's jammed I think Sarg". Well I think he got the "Sarg" bit out just before the barrel was pushed to one side and a bunch of fives caught him on the chin. He sure learnt a lesson and the rest of us watching did to.

Sometimes Words just ain't enough :)

regards John

Reply to
John B

I think the word you are looking for is "snip" ;-)

Reply to
Dave Gordon

I think the word you are looking for is "mega" ;)

Reply to
Thomas G. Marshall

ooops!

Reply to
Dave Gordon

When I was taking a CCW class, one of the participants, not paying attention to the muzzle, pointed a loaded pistol at the instructor. The instructor very politely asked him for the gun, asked him to leave, and then told the rest of us that that guy was not going to get his CCW, not now, not _ever_.

Reply to
J. Clarke

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