How much damage can a drill press do to a finger?

[Damn Potholes]

It was one of those times when you look back and know that you knew better, that you"ve told other people not to do it but you got lazy and did it anyways.  Last night I was drilling backrests for endless hours and decided I"d rather wear gloves than have them coated in oil.  In addition, our son finally went to sleep so the air compressor had to be turned off so no air to blow away the shavings.  I for some reason that it would be a good idea to sweep them away with my finger...and then we went to the ambulatory.

The drill bit grabbed the glove and started wrapping my finger around it.  I grabbed my hand and tried ripping the glove but it didnt work so I had to let go to turn it off.  Thats when it started tearing me a new one.  15 stitches and tendon damage later.

...and yes, those bits in red on the bottom of the drill bit is me.

[tweeter55]

Looks nasty.  In the fall of '74' I caught my class ring on a bolt while jumping out of a grain truck. PULLED the meat off the bone clear down to the knuckle.  Trust me, I can feel your pain right now.

[snarf]

Ugh  I witnessed a very similar incident in my machine shop.  After that I started putting foot swithes on all the equipment that requires two hand operation. Step on the sw drill press turns on, left off and the press turns off.
What person really needs in this instance is a rectal Emergency stop switch.  I have found from previous personal experience that  the muscles in you a$$ clench WAY before your brain has a chance to say OH SH!T

I tried to stop my table saw with my thumb. Didnt work out so well for me either

[Boomer]

Chain drive bikes are also dangerous.
A friend was lubing his chain with the bike on the centrestand and the motor running in 1st.
You can see what is coming can't ya......
The chain started to drip lube onto his driveway so he went to catch the drip with a rag.
A fraction of a second later the bike is on it's side and he is minus half a finger.
So, these days, when he plays Charades, he holds up his hands and everyone shouts "9½ Weeks". 

I like the sound of that rectal emergency stop button. <ROTFLOL>
It would need to be a TimeStop button though.

[Caffeinated]

 

[Conrad]

Wow, that sucks! I'm sorry to hear about your mishap. Thanks for posting, it's always a good reminder not to get complacent when using power tools. No matter how experienced you are with them.

I have a story too about a bad decision with a band saw, you can imagine how that went... 

[snarf]

Wow, that sucks! I'm sorry to hear about your mishap. Thanks for posting, it's always a good reminder not to get complacent when using power tools. No matter how experienced you are with them.

I have a story too about a bad decision with a band saw, you can imagine how that went... 

Pics or it didnt happen LOL

[Conrad]

Pics or it didnt happen LOL

Well, this happened MANY moons ago when I was a teen and in Junior Achievement. I almost cut the lil finger off of my left hand using a poorly maintained band saw, it was close, the blade went partially through the bone. I don't have any pics of the injury (cameras weren't invented yet back then lol) but I sure still have the scar and the nerve damage!

[Damn Potholes]

Owww.  What have I started.  I had the doctor wait to wrap it till I got a picture.  I knew you guys would enjoy it. 

I don"t know if you guys remember Tool Time but Tim Allen should have lost all his digits by the end of the series.

[Conrad]

Heck yeah I remember Tool Time, there's a couple of things that I remember better than others...   






More power!!!!

[MAN OF BLUES]

Pics or it didnt happen LOL

heheheh
I just ran across this one, I digitized it and the color got futzed up, but you get the jist of it....

yeah, thats my leg, and the chainsaw, and I stiched it up while my pals watched...using a needle and red cotton thread..... so you guys going to the emergency room for sterile stiches are all wussies......

[sherob]

*OUCH*  Glad it wasn't worse.  I had Woodshop in HS when I lived in Hawaii.  I was taking a test, heard a *bong* on the glass window... looked up and saw a blood stain on it.  A friend of mine was using a stationary router... took his thumb right off, flung it across the room and hit the window. 

That was just one of many lost digits in Woodshop... geez! 

[Nosmo]

Ya got off lucky, man.  NEVER wear gloves around power tools, they always get caught somehow. 

A couple of years ago I was testing out my brand-new Makita PowerPlane, and got my left hand down below the base to "guide" it along the baord, and managed to plane off the fingerprints of three fingers.  Brand-new carbide knives at 33,000 RPM,  Never felt a thing.  Same fingers are in the pics below, Memorial Day, two years ago.  A little string hanging from the cuff of my work coat got into my table saw blade, sucked my hand over the top and got those same three fingers, down to the bone on the index and middle.  Didn't hurt a bit until I was 1/2 way to the hospital.  The ER doc said it was the LEAST damage he'd  ever seen from a table saw.

finger pics below:

[Damn Potholes]

Man of Blues is a freakin' animal.  Remind me to never get in a brawl with that man.  He'd take all you can dish then tie up his wounds with the laces from his work boots laughing the whole time.

[Conrad]

heheheh
I just ran across this one, I digitized it and the color got futzed up, but you get the jist of it....

yeah, thats my leg, and the chainsaw, and I stiched it up while my pals watched...using a needle and red cotton thread..... so you guys going to the emergency room for sterile stiches are all wussies......

There you go Rich! That's what a real man does, stitch himself up. Either that or just rub some dirt on it to squelch the bleeding till you finish up with the saw.

[Conrad]

Ya got off lucky, man.  NEVER wear gloves around power tools, they always get caught somehow. 

A couple of years ago I was testing out my brand-new Makita PowerPlane, and got my left hand down below the base to "guide" it along the baord, and managed to plane off the fingerprints of three fingers.  Brand-new carbide knives at 33,000 RPM,  Never felt a thing.  Same fingers are in the pics below, Memorial Day, two years ago.  A little string hanging from the cuff of my work coat got into my table saw blade, sucked my hand over the top and got those same three fingers, down to the bone on the index and middle.  Didn't hurt a bit until I was 1/2 way to the hospital.  The ER doc said it was the LEAST damage he'd  ever seen from a table saw.

finger pics below:

Just reading that made me cringe!

[VirginiaJim]

I stuck an ice pick through my finger and didn't handle it well at the emergency room.  My wife was wondering where all the screaming was coming from....  Afterwards I asked the doc if I could play the piano afterwards.  He said sure, it wasn't that bad.  I said good cause I could never play one before...  I don't handle pain well.  Meds on the other hand, I do fine with.

[DeansZG]

Looks nasty.  In the fall of '74' I caught my class ring on a bolt while jumping out of a grain truck. PULLED the meat off the bone clear down to the knuckle.  Trust me, I can feel your pain right now.

ALMOST did the same thing 30+ yrs ago, only with the wedding ring finger.... Good thing my feet were able to touch the ground & I was able to "unhook" my finger off the bolt. Took darn near two weeks until I was able to remove the ring the normal way.

[Damn Potholes]

I stuck an ice pick through my finger and didn't handle it well at the emergency room.  My wife was wondering where all the screaming was coming from....  Afterwards I asked the doc if I could play the piano afterwards.  He said sure, it wasn't that bad.  I said good cause I could never play one before...  I don't handle pain well.  Meds on the other hand, I do fine with.

You're not the only one.  The nurse was actually making fun of me because I refused to watch the stitching process.  I told her its in everyone's best interest that I look at the curtain for the duration.

[VirginiaJim]

I was actually told I could stop screaming as they had it out....  My wife was ashamed of me, but then she has a higher pain threshold than me.   I tend to be overly dramatic in those situations.