I work in a Navy aircraft metal shop, and a friend was using the shop to do some "personal" projects. I assume he did not have the table set close enough to the disc and it ate his workpiece..... and his thumb. Brand new 50 grit disc did quite a job. Removed about 3/4 of the skin from his thumb, and splintered the bone. Its a sobering experience and a reminder for us all to check the guards on our own tools. The docs ended up clipping the bone off just past the knuckle, so now he has 1 and 3/4 thumbs. And no chance of a career as a movie critic!! Just wanted to post as a reminder for us all. I know at times we hurry, take shortcuts, are unsafe, and just don't think it could happen to us! Just that quick it took his thumb, be safe!!!
Yessir...we have all done stuff that was not safe at times and it only takes once to catch up. Glad he is OK
Your exactly right. We need to pay more attention. Had a bench grinding wheel explode on me. Should've checked for cracks.
Ive seen some bad injuries as aformer Navy Corpsman..I've seen de-gloving of fingers on basketball hoops..Once its degloved , there is very little chance to revascularize the tissue, off it goes to pathology.....Guards are there for a reson. I couldnt agree more with the post. It brings the simple overlooked things to light....Good post.......
I've never seen the term degloved used to describe a finger injury, sure doesn't paint a pretty picture.
Man i can feel it just reading about it Everything thing is in slow motion when that happens. Got the tip of my finger on the bandsaw once i could feel each tooth as the blade went by. I guess we all learn the hard way.
I get sick just thinking about this, it sucks learning things the hard way. I degloved the top 1/3rd of my left index finger in spring '06 on a dry cut metal saw (the chop saws with the big carbide blades). It was most pain I've ever gone through in my life! I was lucky enough that the surgeon was able to sew it back on. Now I have a decent dent in the tip of my finger, but most people don't notice unless I point it out by comparing it to my normal finger.
The first time I ever used a belt sander the workpiece sucked into the gap between the belt and the table and my finger followed it in. Put a nice chisel point on my right index finger. At the hospital they used betadine and what looked like a toothbrush to get the grit out of the wound. Healed up pretty good though the fingernail looks a little funny.
I know the feeling. I had a 4" peanut grinder with a cut off wheel jump out of my hands. That damn thing went up my right fore arm, across my chest and down the left side of the groin. I was in luck as it was winter and had some think clothes on. By the way I was by my self and had no cell with me at the shop... Could have been real bad. Oh and by the way I was with VFA-113 till 99
Yep, exact same thing to the end of my left thumb, feel every single tooth. My thumb is tingling right now thinking about it. I was lucky, just a few stitches and I got to keep it, but a half a split second more and it probably would have been laying on the ground instead.
A finger sounds bad and it is . but i saw a medical show on discovery where a young lady got her hair caught in an industrial machine in a factory setting and degloved the whole top of her skull and half her face .... They went back into the machinery and found the scalp and re attached it as best as possible .. she lived but was horribly scarred for life ...
Man I wish you guys could get the message out there. Lost count of the number of stupid workplace injuries like that, that come into work (Emergency dept.). So far I have only cut off the end of two fingers, they sewed them back on though I'm missing half the bone in the end of my second finger L hand, its all floppy. Safety first. Doc.
One of our maintenance journeymen just did the same thing during our December shutdown. He didn't lose part of his thumb luckily. One of my techs was doing a side job outside of work with a large hand held grinder with a 8" cut-off wheel. He got distracted, and long story short, it grabbed and jerked and ended up cutting into the back of his hand, severing a tendon. He's currently out of work (6-8 weeks) following the surgery to repair the tendon so he can use his index finger. Be safe!
I have grinded a little bit of myself at times. A buddy of mine, not the best with an angle grinder won't touch them after his expierience. He didn't have the disk square and it exploded on him and hit him in the chest. He was in pain for a few days.
Watch out for wedding or other rings. They are the leading cause of finger injuries. Thats how the forementioned degloving happen on the basketball hoop... Google degloved finger. They're graphic so if your queasy probably not a good idea...Worst of all they are horrific and life changing for the patient....At least the Navy guy will get disability for his injury since he is on active duty.That wont bring his finger back but at least it didnt happen in his home shop and then he'd be shit out of luck....Wear safety glasses too.......Doc Breckon
I did that once, took off the tip of my finger but not nearly that far down. Always wear gloves now i go through a set of gloves about one a month mostly welding burns and cutoff wheel slices Being as my hands are my living i don't take chances now, wish i could say the same for my eyes
Gloves and fast moving machinery scare the crap out of me. I only use gloves for welding. I trimmed my thumb nail the other day on the belt linisher. I think if I had gloves on I may have trimmed a little more. Pete
I did the same thing in high school, but the gaurd was broke and some dumb ass welded it on with a giant gap. Pluse i had to yell for help cause the kill swicth was on the ground, luckly my finger and the plate i was working on biended up the old ass sander but every time i would try to get my thumb out it would rotate again. torture! So ya i feel his pain. check your tools!
Wrecked my right thumb and index finger in a.. joiner woodshop way back in high school took the ends clear off..now am very careful around any power tools lol remember the ride to the hospital shop teach made me hang my hand out the window wrapped up in clean rags ..lol it was in a white on white caddy..made a mess of the outside of his car at least his interior didnt get it ..remember you can always do without a finger or 2 ...but protect your eyes at all costs lose them and you dont drive anymore That would just kill me
mmmeaty! i have had few close calls with hand tools and machinery. gloves are a bad idea! they get caught and drag your hand in. years ago, i was putting a fresh milled windsor head back onto the motor, and with an audible pop, snipped all the finnger tips off both hands, about 5mm worth, they looked funny as the red really stood out against the greasy black of my hands. it stopped being funny when i used laundry powder to wash the grease off .
Sorry to disagree...... never wear gloves when using a machine such as stationary sander/grinder..... or band saw for that matter.
A year or so ago, I switched daily drivers as was trying to take my satellite radio setup out of the old car. The antenna is stuck on with self adhesive to the back windshield. SO I try the ole razor blade to get it un-stuck. The tip of the blade wedged itself inbetween in such a manner that I couldn't budge it, so I just pulled on the cord to the antenna. The self adhesive let go and for some reason the blade flew out backwards and towards me. I am lucky the dull end hit the corner of my eye. I definitely put safety first now...not everyone gets a second chance.
True a glove can pull your finger into a machine, but i tend to keep my hand as far away from the sanding surface or cutting blade as possible while still maintaining control of the piece, and if it does get away from me it'll rip the glove before my flesh.
My father was welding under the '47 Merc last fall when a small piece of slag fell off and landed on his wedding ring. The ring instantly became red hot, burning into his flesh. The ring ultimately had to be cut off (he did it himself) as it had melted into his finger and the flesh was wrapped around it. When in high school...I had just gotten my class ring. I was running down the hall, slapping the doorways (fire break) as I went. Suddenly, my hand stuck, and I was pulled off my feet. My class ring caught on the top mounted striker plate, causing the ring to cut to the bone. It only takes a moment!
I have a bad habit of getting to close to the wire wheel with an unbuttoned flannel shirt, 3750 RPM's. Stupid is as stupid does!
I'd like to see what percentage of guys use gloves. Personally, gloves have saved me a lot of angle grinder cuts/burns/abrasions, but I dread that one accident that mangles my hand. Maybe I'll learn from your mistakes and stop wearing them.
Oh man this thread really picked up after awhile!! The guy that had it happen lost the tip of his thumb. The docs had to snip off what was left of the bone. We found his thumb nail 2 days later behind a trash can about ten feet away from the sander! In his case, his only mistake was holding the workpiece at an angle to deburr it.... Thats how it got sucked into the machine.
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