Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

Vaughn McMillan

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You know how you always read warnings about wearing gloves around machinery? Apparently, I didn't think the warnings applied to me. Tonight I was enlarging a hole on a last-minute gift, and wearing a glove to help hold the piece. I was pretty much done, and as I withdrew the bit from the hole, the piece of wood moved slightly and in a split second the glove, my hand, and my sleeve were caught up in the Forstner bit. The belts on the drill press started slipping, and the bit stopped turning before I could hit the off switch, which was right in front of my face.

My left hand got pretty chewed up. (I'll spare you the pics of the actual wounds, but suffice to say it wasn't a clean cut...just deep.) LOML wanted me to go to the ER, but there really isn't anything left to stitch up. I cleaned and bandaged the hand, and I'll keep a close eye on it. If it starts getting infected, I won't hesitate to go see a doctor.

Here's the glove:

Drill Press Glove 1 800.jpg

The sleeve:

Drill Press Glove 3 800.jpg

The bandage for now:

Drill Press Glove 2 800.jpg

I'm feeling pretty stupid right about now. We're getting ready for a 2-day drive starting tomorrow morning. This was not how I'd planned to start my vacation. :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:
 
Aw, man, that's the pits, Vaughn. Sure sorry you had a "lapse moment in Judgement" and got "Bit", (Looks like a pretty good Bite Too).:eek: I know we've all had those lapses, (and sometimes were lucky, and sometimes not), :rolleyes: but show me a person that hasn't EVER done something Stupid, and I'll show you a person that hasn't ever done anything.

I'm sure you won't EVER make THAT mistake again though, 'cause I NEVER forgot to remove ALL rings, watches, etc. after I forgot once while troubleshooting some Air Force equipment, and reached into a rack of electronics and watched my arm and hand oscillate up and down like a tuning fork, between two pieces of equipment that had 6,000 volts on them and managed to make several nice slices on the top & bottom of my hand & arm as I finally jerked it out of the rack.:doh:

Take good care of that wound, and I hope it heals quickly, and remember the saying an old Buddy of mine used to say; "Them Lessons we Larn ain't worth a Dern, Iff'n we ferget 'em".:D
 
OUCH!!! It only takes a split second for these things to happen. It could have been so much worse.

My pinky was similar when I tried to plane the tip of it two years ago. There was nothing to sew up. It had to heal on it's own. Two years later it's still tingly. Don't know if that will ever go away. It is a constant reminder to use all safety items at my disposal and keep my mind on what I'm doing.

Have a Merry Christmas Vaughn.

Karl
 
Vaughn hope your doing better , I've always worked without the gloves unless loading or unloading stock from the wood pile . I've always been afraid too use them around the machines , and this has opened others eyes as well as mine, hope you heal fast ........ Marshall :type:
 
Ouch for sure :doh:

I saw a guy do a similar thing when I was doing my automotive apprenticeship at a vocational school, but he did require a trip to the ER.

I very seldom use gloves for anything but loading and unloading, welding and such.

Heal fast, and thanks for sharing, as we all need a reminder now and then.

:wave:

PS, did the last minute gift survive :huh:
 
Ouch for sure Vaughn. Sorry to hear of your injury. Gloves definitely make the hands clumsy but another thing of note is how dangerous the seemingly friendly drill press can be. Long haired people also be reminded to keep hair tied up around spinning machines. I still clearly remember pictures my shop teacher showed us back in junior high of drill press injuries with rings and long hair.
 
Well Vaughn, like others have said, get well. Stupid, who knows. Lesson learned, I bet yes! Glad the belts slipped! Reminds me of an American Choppers episode when Rick got his glove snagged by the drill press. Boom, trip to the ER. I used to work for an old farmer that said men that worked without gloves were worth .20 more an hour. (does that show my age?)
 
You not the first or last to do something less then wise.;) Last year while useing the meat slicer my thumb , well lets say the blade made a clean cut and I di not feel it. For nothing better then peice of mind, I would have it checked out. Sawdust, oil and other thing can cuase infection. Hopefully it heals up quick.
 
Ouch!

I've learned to respect the drill press. I can seem like such a nice and friendly tool, until something catches and goes spinning round and round....

Heal quickly!
 
My father told me a story about a woman he was teaching to be a tool maker during WWII. He had told her not to wear gloves but she didn't listen and was using the drill press and caught the glove and hand and it twisted her arm around the bit and pulled a tenden (sp) out of it. You were very lucky and I am sure everything will heal up just fine and you are going to be much wiser now.
 
Hope you recover soonest to full ability.

I agree with Alex - no one respects the drill press as much as the tablesaw. Safety in the shop is all about risk assessment and reduction. We put on more clothing to prevent a cold injury but then we need to increase our safety distance from hand to tool.

The few times I've ventured out into the shop this week I've used clamps to hold my work piece much more often than usual. I recently invested in some of those Irwin one-hand operation quick grip clamps and they are great for this use.

As for the project you were working on, I am reminded of something I heard first at WoodNet - "No project is complete without that special red stain." With this in mind, here's to incomplete projects for all of us.
 
I am sincerely sorry. Glad it wasn't worse. That's going to spoil any strumming for carols around the tree for awhile. Heal quick. We all know that feeling of burning our fingers or cutting our hand; it happens so fast and there's no way to get a do-over.

I sometimes leave the sleeves of my jacket un-rolled but normally I have nothing from the mid-forearm down. Some of us may have seen or even voted "yes" in a poll about whether we wear rings in the shop. Rings don't tear like cloth but flesh does . . . makes me cringe. Thanks for taking one for the team as a reminder to us all to be safe.
 
Vaughn, I too hope you have a speedy recovery. When ever I've done a dumb stunt and ended up with bandages it is the inconvenience that makes me the maddest. Keeping it clean and dry and changing them, answering the same question over and over again asked by all your concerned and curious friends. The pain goes away but the bandages are still there getting in the way. Kinda just yelling at you "you screwed up" or "I told you so". :D:thumb:

Please don't hesitate to have it looked at though!
 
Hi Vaughn,

Sorry to hear this my friend. That's one Christmas present you gave yourself that you won't soon forget.

My signature line has been saying it all for some time now. I am sure you won't make that mistake again. It could have been worse, so be real thankful it wasn't.

I hope you heal quickly and completely. (Hey, do you play left or right handed?)

Here's wishing you the rest of the Christmas holiday is better that this period seems to have gone. Enjoy your trip.

Aloha, Tony
 
well who said highly educated folks dontmake mistakes just as well asd us uneducated folk,,, get well soon vaughn but do get it looked at by a doc,,if you wait to long there can be more damge that cant be repeiard becasue of time lapse..tendons and nerves are funnt parts that dont rebulid well.. that left hand needs feeling in all of it for the guitar playun.. get it looked at!!!
 
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