Whats the worst thing you've done to yourself when working at home

[Bill Douglas]

Ummm, I was fixing a fuel pump problem on the SC and ended up with a minor fireball under the car. I had an extingisher on hand so saved the car and put cold water on my face. Big yucky sore on one eyelid and the side of my nose, plus lost the hair on one side of my head. Unfortunately I had a perfect air to fuel ratio going on under the car and when the fuel pump sparked back into life woosh. LOL.

[nynor]

a lot of you guys like playing with fire!

[Seahawk]

Chain saw to my left knee...after a hurricane, tired, last branch on the third day of cutting away the detritus.

I cut the branch, let my finger off the gas and relaxed a bit, arms very tired. The last one or two rotations of the chain cut through my jeans, right through all my skin but stopped short of cutting tendon or muscle.

I was so pissed I went into the house, got a towel and drove myself to the emergency room without telling my wife. I called her when I got to the hospital and met all the other d-bags with similar injuries.

Never cut without chaps.

[john70t]

3 in the morning(heavily sauced) finished a brake job and spun the wheel with my finger in it. Tore the fingernail right off.

Took that same fingernail off leaning on a Golf engine in the dark to check the timing. Inspection cap on the moving flywheel had popped open and my hand landed just right. Doh.

Got a few stitches but didn't cut any tendons using a chop saw with a masonry blade to grind off some welds on a bracket. That was the dummest.

Missed being blinded or loosing limbs plenty of other times with axe misses, saw kickbacks, spray chemicals/spatter, near falls, etc.
There, but for the grace of God, go I. Be safe out there.

[Tobra]

Next time you guys drop something heavy on your toe, or mash a finger and have the throbbing pain from all the blood squeezed under the nail, you do this. Take a paper clip, get it red hot, touch it to the nail, do NOT push. It will melt a hole in the nail, relieve the pressure and pain. Be advised you may get blood on the ceiling.

No significant misadventures in the garage, yet...

[nynor]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Next time you guys drop something heavy on your toe, or mash a finger and have the throbbing pain from all the blood squeezed under the nail, you do this. Take a paper clip, get it red hot, touch it to the nail, do NOT push. It will melt a hole in the nail, relieve the pressure and pain. Be advised you may get blood on the ceiling.

No significant misadventures in the garage, yet...

yep, that is exactly what i did.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Chain saw to my left knee...after a hurricane, tired, last branch on the third day of cutting away the detritus.

I cut the branch, let my finger off the gas and relaxed a bit, arms very tired. The last one or two rotations of the chain cut through my jeans, right through all my skin but stopped short of cutting tendon or muscle.

I was so pissed I went into the house, got a towel and drove myself to the emergency room without telling my wife. I called her when I got to the hospital and met all the other d-bags with similar injuries.

Never cut without chaps.

I used a Skillsaw with no guard (like all idiot framers) for a long time. I have a guard now and have for years. But, now that you mention saws, I grazed my bare leg with one slowing down. Tired, as you say.

I left a cool pattern of swirls on my skin and got thin scabs like running into a rose bush. But, this wasn't at home or in the garage. Sorry.

[john70t]

3 in the morning(heavily sauced) finished a brake job and spun the wheel with my finger in it. Tore the fingernail right off.

Took that same fingernail off leaning on a Golf engine in the dark to check the timing. Inspection cap on the moving flywheel had popped open and my hand landed just right. Doh.

Got a few stitches but didn't cut any tendons using a chop saw with a masonry blade to grind off some welds on a bracket. That was the dummest.

Missed being blinded or loosing limbs plenty of other times with axe misses, saw kickbacks, spray chemicals/spatter, near falls, etc.
"There, but for the grace of God, go I."
Be safe out there.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Take a paper clip, get it red hot, touch it to the nail, do NOT push. It will melt a hole in the nail, relieve the pressure and pain. Be advised you may get blood on the ceiling.

LOL, I wish I'd known this a month ago. A couple of fingers got crushed between logs being cut for fire wood. The nail on my middle finger is just hanging on by a thread. I've had a plaster around it for the last two weeks so it doesn't catch on anything - but believe me I'd have rather saved it doing your trick.

[Mothy]

As a kid I used to build electronics projects in the Garage. Built me a 200W guitar amp which had a power supply using two very large electolytic capacitors. When checking out a problem with the amp, I turned it off and disconnected from the power, took the lid off and reached in.

Woke up 2 minutes later resting against the wall on the far side of the garage with my brother laughing himself silly - my forearms had brushed the top of the two big mother capacitors. Learned a valuable lesson - always discharge power capacitors before you work on them.

Tim

[johnco]

does it have to be working at home related? if not, I've got a picture of 2nd worse. that would be be me vs mirror. working injuries just run of the mill crushed fingers/toes, my junk vs router bit, razor slices, etc etc. nothing out of the ordinary. well.... my ordinary

[KevinP73]

"my junk vs router bit" Oh ***** !! Game Over ....we have a Winner.

[johnco]

yeah, it's never a good idea to set a router with a straight bit down in your lap until it completely stops spinning. or least until it slows to a couple thousand revolutions

[rfuerst911sc]

When I was 16 in the middle of winter my car wouldn't start. So I decided to pull the battery and bring it in the basement and throw it on the battery charger, it was very cold out. This was back when batteries had individual caps on each cell. After the battery was on the charger for about an hour I remembered my dad told me once that when charging the battery crack the caps open to relieve the pressure. I had just come in from shoveling snow so I had a wool cap and heavy jacket on. I bent over and was directly over the battery with my head/neck/torso and I started unscrewing the caps. All was good until my pinky finger hit the alligator clip of the charger causing a spark. All I remember was a huge bright flash and an explosion so violent it knocked me on my butt. My mom came running downstairs and quickly figured out what happened. She dragged me to the slop sink we had in the basement and started dousing me with water. I was covered in battery acid. After getting me washed up she walked me upstairs as I could barely see and couldn't hear. I took a shower and got cleaned up. The eye sight came back in about two hours but the hearing took a full day. When my dad came home from work he went in the basement and started pulling the copper plates out of the overhead flooring ! The copper plates went zinging by my head/neck and NOTHING hit me besides the acid. I kept that winter jacket for a long time as it had acid burns from one wrist to the other and all over the front. Ever since that day I am VERY careful around batteries, they are bombs waiting to ignite.

[fred cook]

I reached into the engine compartment of a Fiat 124 coupe to put a wire back on the starter solenoid on a very hot engine. Before I knew it, I had given my wrist a major burn from the exhaust header. It took months for the scab to come off and I still have a major scar on my left wrist and that was 37 years ago!

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by KevinP73

"my junk vs router bit" Oh ***** !! Game Over ....we have a Winner.

+1 When someone's junk gets hurt, we have a winner LOL.

[pete3799]

As far as at home incidents I guest falling of a ladder had the most lasting injure's (aside from ripping off my finger, but that happened on the way back from Ca.) My a$$,back,legs,feet
and arms were all skun up and bruised. Least I didn't break anything. No chainsaw accidents to report. And my junk's fine thank you.

[mikester]

I was building a model airplane when I Was about 16 or so. It was basically a box assembly of balsa and light ply formers. It had triangle stock in the corners that you were to carve the round shape of the fuselage into. I put a new #11 blade in my xacto and start carving...like any good Eagle Scout, toward myself. I was holding the plane with one hand and the razor sharp knife with the other. I didn't feel a thing when it slipped through the wood and into my hand, wrist and forearm.

There was blood all over the work bench. I grabbed one of the many towels in the laundry area right next to my work space and wrapped myself up good. Went inside to get my dad to take me to the ER. He was napping so I sat on the chair and watched some TV for a bit (since it didn't hurt and the 'A' team was on). He wakes up when I turn the TV off because the A Team is over and says 'what did you turn it off for (sleepily) I was watching that! Hey, why the towel?'

"I cut myself."

"Let me see"

"Not in here over the carpet."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Again?"

"Yeah."

I go to the kitchen and show him and he turns white, (20 year air force veteran with combat experience and he turns white over an 8" gash in my arm) I ask him if I need to call mom to take me to the ER. He snaps out of it and says 'Nobody likes a smartass, get in the truck.'

We walk out through the garage to his truck and there is blood all over the bench and my airplane. He says, "Hmmm, another red airplane eh?"

Bunches of stitches - no permanent damage. Chics dig scars.

[avi8torny]

About 13 years ago, I had a brush in one hand, a power washer nozzle in the other and basically walked off a 2 story roof to the driveway below. I knew I was losing my balance and instead of falling on my side or my head, I chose to just step off. Landed on one leg and crumpled to the ground thinking my femur was about to snap in two. Suffered no injuries and haven't been on the roof since.

[Tobra]

It is totally different when it is your own kid

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

LOL, I wish I'd known this a month ago. A couple of fingers got crushed between logs being cut for fire wood. The nail on my middle finger is just hanging on by a thread. I've had a plaster around it for the last two weeks so it doesn't catch on anything - but believe me I'd have rather saved it doing your trick.

It would still probably fall off, that relieves the pressure. Lots of sensation in your fingertips, hence it hurts like a MFer.

Where it is lifted off the nail bed by the blood is all done, will When it starts getting loose, cut off as much as you can easily remove. I generally tell folks to use a bandaid to hold the nail on and keep it from getting snatched off when you catch it on a sock or sweater.

Another hot tip is that if the nail comes off(actually even more likely if the nail does not come off really), you lacerate the nail bed and you fracture the bone, you are EXTREMELY likely to get osteomyelitis in the fractured bone if you don't take some anti-biotics.