drilled through my finger - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

67Fleet · 08-17-2005, 04:50 PM

Well, this happened a few weeks ago but I'll throw it out there for giggles.
I was replacing the 6x9 speakers in the doors on my '67 and the previous owner had these long phillips-head screws with nuts on the backside holding them in. Well, they were so old that the nuts were rusted to the screws, and the head of the screws were all stripping out on me. SON-OF-A-BI$*@!!!
So I said screw it. I'll just drill the heads off. So I break out the drill and I have my right arm stuffed into the door panel with a open-end wrench to hold the nut to prevent spinning. Got a few done, no problem. I'm on the last one on the pass door-panel and it's the furthest to reach, on the bottom. My arm is stretched as far as it'll go and I'm holding onto my little wrench and start drilling away. Well, that head busts off and I was pushing so hard that when it went through the head I lost my balance ( I was on my knees) and the drill shifted and went right through the tip of my index finger about halfway to the first knuckle. OOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! I yanked back so fast that I also cut up my forearm on the way out of the door. Ok, so now my finger is bleeding profusely and I go to the laundry sink in the garage and start rinsing. It looks like hamburger meat and hurts like nothing I've felt before. (geez, it's only a finger!!) Luckily I'm not squeemish, so I go inside and call the wife. "Honey can you get me a band-aid?" her: "what happened?" me: "I just drilled through my finger" her: "What?!?! Are you ok??!!!" me: "Yeah, but how 'bout that band-aid..." So she brings it over and I show her. "OH MY GOD!! WE NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!" me: "no, what are they gonna do, give me 1 friggin stitch?? That'll be $350.00 sir." yeah, that's not happening. So I pop a few Advil, clean it all out and stuff my skin back in the hole (picture a hole in wood when the shavings get all wrapped up at the top) throw some Neosporin on it and wrap it up.
3 weeks later and the scab is gone, the bone is pretty much healed and I'm starting to re-gain some feeling in the tip of my finger. Hopefully it'll fully come back but I'm sure I toasted a bunch of nerves.

Moral of the story? Wear gloves. Preferably chain-mail gloves.....

llegos · 08-18-2005, 02:49 AM

hopefully you dont have a condition that weakens your immune system.

Pretty crazy story here. My dad dropped a sledge on his toe, and it snapped his bone right at the edge of the rest of his foot(his second to big one), and thinking that a doctor couldnt do anything, he let it be. Soon enough, the inner-bone got infected(hes diabetic, the worse type too), and couldnt fight off the infection. After failed attempts with antibiotics, he has 9 toes now.

Moral is, wear steel toed boots i guess...I know this has nothing to do with drill and the like, but yea....

ok, ill shut up now, lol

3quartertime · 08-18-2005, 04:11 PM

I got two stories to contribute...

First.

I was in A&P school. My class was taking a break and everyone was kind of milling smartly about the bathroom water fountian area. Suddenly the door to one of the labs bursts open. An instructor and student were rushing to the fron t of the building! Later we found out that the student, ( pretty good looking blonde chic!) had during sheetmetal class somehow drilled a hole in her thumb nail... I guess it was pretty comical to see. At the hospital they removed the nail incase of infections from the drill bit. Lucky for her the new nail hid the scar!!!

Second.

As a young buck in the USN I was assigned to a jet engine repair shop. When an engine would come in my department would strip all the external gear and sent it to the test bay or tear-down. Every now and then a HOT engine would come in. Meaning it was the only back-up the squadron had and they needed it back pronto. So like most poorly managed organizations mine would throw everyone at the HOT job thinking it would be done super quick. So about ten of us were stacked on top of each other trying to work without getting in the way. I was on a creeper under the engine taking a wiring harness off. Because so many people were on the same job most of the tools were being used. So I was trying to take a clamp off with a snap-on #1 phillips screw driver and small wrench. Problem was the only screw driver left was the 18 inch one. So as I'm wrestling with the clamp the screw driver slips. The tip of the screw driver hit my hand about an inch down and just outside of my index finger. I was pushing so hard on the stuck screw that the blade went thru both sides of my hand and the hilt of the handle was tight with the skin. I looked at it. The fella standing over me looked at it. He said " What did you do?" I didn't answer I just jerked the screw driver out of my hand. Then there was a trip to the base hosptial. No stitches, just a long soak in some disifectant. That was over twenty years ago and I still have an X scar on my hand!!!

Those with the scars practice saftey!!! Been there...

Matt67C10 · 08-21-2005, 04:40 PM

My dad drilled a hole through his index finger, too with a 1/8 bit. My mom said he was grey for a day before he went to the doctor. I don't remember, I was only 2 at the time. Ouch!
Don't forget your chain mail gloves, glad to hear you're doing better.

freightdriver · 08-22-2005, 09:29 AM

yeah i got to have an unexpected trip to the hospital last weekend i was opening up a laptop charger seperating it with a knife it was opening up fine and i was'nt payin attention it slipped and my other hand was holding trhe other side the knife went straight into the side of my hand idk about 1/4 in and opened up quite a big wound..but it gets even better! i called my mom because shes a nurse just to see if i should go to the hospital and she said yeah it sounds pretty deep my insurance covers it all ain't no biggie.. but anyways i walk back into my dorm to grab my keys,wallet and all that i make it up the stairs out of my apt and into the parking lot and ended up passing out and falling face forward into the dirt... got a buddy to take me to the hospital after that happened and then when i was in the hospital and talking to the nurse after i told her what happened a minute later she asks me why ae you so dirty we're you working on cars??? well no i passed out in a parking lot that'd be why im dirty... think i cut into a nerve or something though other then that it was an awesome way to spend a sunday afternoon

hobbz · 08-24-2005, 06:32 AM

here's my story:

i was helping a neighbor build some peaus(sp) for a church that had burnt down and they were hooking up main power and disconnecting the temp power line. well the power was off and we didn't know it. he was using an air nailer and i was holding the boards together. well the gun jumped because it was low on air pressure and jumped right onto my finger. so i was nailed to a board in a church so i couldn't say too much. the guy took cutters and cut the nail and then pulled it out of my finger.

i never went to the doc for it but it sucked trying to bowl the next week...

i agree with the mesh gloves idea

sarge sixty-seven · 08-27-2005, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3quartertime

I got two stories to contribute...

First.

Lucky for her the new nail hid the scar!!!

Second.

That was over twenty years ago and I still have an X scar on my hand!!!

Those with the scars practice saftey!!! Been there...

CHICKS DIG SCARS!

Kevin45 · 08-28-2005, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Moral of the story? Wear gloves. Preferably chain-mail gloves

Never wear gloves while drilling. Have you ever been running a hand drill and it catch and lock on ? We had a guy at work drilling some sheet metal, while wearing gloves. The drill cuaght, spun the sheetmetal, grabbed the glove and twisted his hand around. POP!!!! Off came the thumb. It pulled it right out of joint. Luckily they could sew it back on and he gained use of it after about two months. Now anyone caught wearing gloves while running a drill press automatically gets wrote up.

Kevin

LT4XTREME · 08-29-2005, 04:01 PM

Well at least you didn't center punch it first!!!!!

One time my brother had smashed his thumb and it had the blood under the nail some poeple will heat up a needle and push it thru the nail to release the pressure but my brother has really think nails and had the bright idea of using a cordless drill and a real small bit. Everything was going fine until the bit went thru the nail you know how they catch and pull in drilling sheet metal well thumbnail drills the same way and when it pulled in a spiral of meat climbed up the bit just like metal does. Anyway it was funny and deserves a spot on the top ten funniest things my brother has done I won't go into the other stories now.

KP1972 · 08-29-2005, 07:01 PM

MANY years ago I was trying to take the radio delete face plate and make an in-dash radio plate for my new stereo. The car was SO new that no one had made any aftermarket dash plates....so being economical and creative I removed the plastic face plate. I set it on the ground made the measurements, then took a fresh exacto knife and began scoring the plastic in a straight line, over and over and over again.....apparently my thumb was acting as a clamp and was sliding closer and closer than I had realized then WHACK!!!!!
the blade made a nice straight cut down to the edge of the top of my thumbnail. It hurt like H***, it burnt more than bled.....I ran inside stuck it under running water and flop!!! the skin just fell backwards and then the blood started flowing. I bandaged it up and fortunately it all grew back. Exacto knives still spook me now.

NO LONGER DISTURBED KONCEPTZ · 09-13-2005, 08:20 PM

Been there done that, Hurt like hell, Almost completely healed<----short version of what happened.

Matt67C10 · 10-24-2005, 01:11 PM

In college art class X-Acto knives earned the title "Blood Sticks". One guy I knew had one roll off the table and stick right into his thigh. OOUCH!
Be careful with sharp tools, especially drills!

Rod · 11-03-2005, 11:49 AM

Gloves and drills dont mix well together.

Co-worker drill on a big drill press..gets glove into drill bit...were talking drills with some horsepower here...tears thumb off and the tendons probably up to shoulder. Well he lost the thumb..but needed something. So many months later a decision is made and they remove his big toe from his foot and graft it on and attach tendons. He sits in hospital bed for 3 months with his hand sewn inside his stomach cavity to prevent chances of infection. It works and hes got a big thumb now.

It's one of two people I actually know who have toes on for fingers...another friend from high school days even lost all 4 fingers on a shear but had 2 small toes grafted onto his hand.

Both actually have functioning hands now. The toe-thumb works pretty good for him..the smaller toes..are a little lacking in lenght for the other guy.

I tell those stories to some of the younger people I work with some time. Makes them wake up some.

Did you see the OCC chopper crew fella wrap his hand up the drill press wearing those nice mechanic gloves a while back...I'm sure it will be rebroadcast....he got lucky.
Rod

Blue Beard · 11-03-2005, 10:49 PM

Didn't think you had a boring life but you got the point ....

Joe67 · 11-04-2005, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 67Fleet

Well, this happened a few weeks ago but I'll throw it out there for giggles.
I was replacing the 6x9 speakers in the doors on my '67 and the previous owner had these long phillips-head screws with nuts on the backside holding them in. Well, they were so old that the nuts were rusted to the screws, and the head of the screws were all stripping out on me. SON-OF-A-BI$*@!!!
So I said screw it. I'll just drill the heads off. So I break out the drill and I have my right arm stuffed into the door panel with a open-end wrench to hold the nut to prevent spinning. Got a few done, no problem. I'm on the last one on the pass door-panel and it's the furthest to reach, on the bottom. My arm is stretched as far as it'll go and I'm holding onto my little wrench and start drilling away. Well, that head busts off and I was pushing so hard that when it went through the head I lost my balance ( I was on my knees) and the drill shifted and went right through the tip of my index finger about halfway to the first knuckle. OOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! I yanked back so fast that I also cut up my forearm on the way out of the door. Ok, so now my finger is bleeding profusely and I go to the laundry sink in the garage and start rinsing. It looks like hamburger meat and hurts like nothing I've felt before. (geez, it's only a finger!!) Luckily I'm not squeemish, so I go inside and call the wife. "Honey can you get me a band-aid?" her: "what happened?" me: "I just drilled through my finger" her: "What?!?! Are you ok??!!!" me: "Yeah, but how 'bout that band-aid..." So she brings it over and I show her. "OH MY GOD!! WE NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!" me: "no, what are they gonna do, give me 1 friggin stitch?? That'll be $350.00 sir." yeah, that's not happening. So I pop a few Advil, clean it all out and stuff my skin back in the hole (picture a hole in wood when the shavings get all wrapped up at the top) throw some Neosporin on it and wrap it up.
3 weeks later and the scab is gone, the bone is pretty much healed and I'm starting to re-gain some feeling in the tip of my finger. Hopefully it'll fully come back but I'm sure I toasted a bunch of nerves.

Moral of the story? Wear gloves. Preferably chain-mail gloves.....

OK, I'll post it....

Luvlegs · 11-04-2005, 08:49 AM

Slipped with a "clicker" type cheapie knife (the kind you snap off end for a new tip) that broke - was on my knees cutting, the NEW edge took the right side of my right knee cap off - I was actually wearing shorts too! I covered it with my hand quickly and headed for the house. As I entered, I yelled for my oldest daughter (about 10 at the time) to turn on the bathtub, cold water. She was asking what I did as I stepped over into the tub. My hand came off and my blood pressure made a nice racing stripe up the wall of the shower! She freaked. I then had her get me my needlenose pliers, a needle, my lighter and some thread (which she gathered in about 15 seconds it seemed like) The skin on my knee was so thick I had to use the needlenose to push the needle through the skin. I put in about 8 stitches, a bandage and headed for the ER (about 20 minutes away) When the doc came in, his first reaction to the stictches, nicely closed wound and no blood, said "What the hell is this!!??" "You think you're Rambo or something?" He laughed and put in 2 more stitches on one side and one on the other - and LEFT THE ONES I DID IN! I got the ol' tetnus shot a leg brace and the next morning, drove from almost Canada to Jersey to go to work. Now when I wear shorts, I have a nice "smile" on the side of my knee to remind me of what my Mom always freaked about - "CUT AWAY FROM YOURSELF"!!! I've done stitches on myself several times (sometimes not even going to a doctor) and everytime, I have to think about the time I'm wasting because I hurried and didn't think something through. It's true - those with a scar know! If you've snapped off a drill bit and hit your hands, you KNOW what could happen - so don't lean on 'em, let the drill do the work! hahahha

Chevrolet4x4s · 05-17-2006, 05:58 PM

Angle grinders and thumbnails do not mix will go into detail later
Shane

Edit 10 posts to go till I reach 600

Chevrolet4x4s · 05-18-2006, 07:55 PM

Bumped thumbnail to angle grinder as it was spooling down they'll rip a hole through there pretty quick.
Shane

72BLAZERDUDE · 05-19-2006, 06:02 PM

Did that with my thumb. I was holding a piece of angle down with one hand and pushing down real hard on the drill with the other. Guess I pushed a little to hard as the 1/8 inch bit snapped off leaving about 3/4 of an inch still in the drill. Of course that the part I ran thru my thumb about an inch from the end and on the side between thumb and index finger. Went almost all the way thru except the skin on the other side. Got lucky and missed bone. Hurt like a SOB but cleaned it up and got it to stop bleeding. Went into the docs next day for a precautionary Tetnus. Happened about 10 years ago and I still have the broken bit just as a reminder to use a clamp and not my hand to hold down the workpiece.

As2rd · 02-23-2007, 08:27 PM

Got a few short stories...I got a scar from a razor blade on my wrist, when a shelf fell on me while i was putting my old carb. on it. Just my luck that it was a high shelf and it had razor blades on it. Crack!!! and i felt and sorts heard the the skin rip. The carb. fell and landed on my shop rag pile "luckily". but i had constant blood rushing out from the top of my wrist to my mid. forearm...

Another story, well i can tell the two stories together because it happened right after each other. I was using a wire wheel/grinder machine at Auto Tech. Class and I was cleaning some threads and with my bare hand. The bolt got sucked down with my thumb, because i have a slow reaction and it went down faster than an eye can blink. the wire wheel was at full speed and i couldn't reach the stop button with my hand. I had to kick the plug to shut it off. Wasn't to bad but could of been worse....Same thing happened on the grinder side when i was grinding rust off of a rod, but before the whole rod went in (snapped in three places) I jerked my hand back and hit the guard. Lost part of my thumbnail and got yelled at for breaking the rod

.---Andy (I know its not really bad accidents but just think worst case scenarios)

hiridn69gmc · 02-23-2007, 10:28 PM

I had one where a friend and I were putting the bellhousing bolts back into the block. I was getting the top ones and he was underneath with the bottom ones. Well my wrench slipped and I yelled "heads up". It seemed like that Plinko game in The Price is Right. He slid over and as it bounced down it still hit him in the forehead. I laughed though when he came out with a wrench mark in his forehead though....Not that serious, but funny!!

84Custom · 02-24-2007, 06:17 AM

I'm a Tool Maker,so I've seen my share of nasty accidents.After 17 years in the trade I'd never had to make a trip to the emergency room.I had just finished my last roughing pass,and I was using a 1 1/2" roughing end mill in a horizonial boring mill.I was changing end mills and had to break 2 set screws loose to remove the rougher.I loosened the first,but on the second one my hand slipped off the allen wrench and my momentom caused my hand to slide across the flute of the cutter.The cut started about an inch above my right wrist,and stopped about 2 inches later.Luckily I didn't loose my balance,and by that I missed cutting that vien by about 1/8th of an inch.

It didn't hurt because the cutter was still razor sharp.It bled like crazy and before i could get to the front of the shop my left hand was full and leaving a nice trail of blood.I didn't get the first stitch,they glued it closed,bacause the doctor said it wouldn't scar as bad.Now thanks to that wonderful glue I've got a nastyy looking scar that draws some inquesitive looks.Getting in a hurry is the easiests way to get hurt.

**clay68c10** · 02-25-2007, 12:52 PM

I was mig welding a frame in tech school and sometimes the mig wire was just a little too long at the end of the gun for the next weld. I had gotten into the habit of just tapping the wire with my finger tip to push it back in the gun just a bit between weld passes instead of cutting the excess off. That worked great when the wire had that little hot ball on the tip. Of course, one time it didn't have that ball. The wire was still super-ass hot and it went thru my glove, my index finger, my nail, and out the other side of the glove, then right back out. It happened so smoothly I only noticed it because the wire hadn't moved down and there was a hole in the top of my glove. Then it started to hurt. My instructor had a good laugh off that one.

redneckgirl · 02-25-2007, 08:26 PM

When I was a kid, we heated solely with an old Buck woodstove. We spent alot of weekends, it seems, cutting firewood. We were out one weekend and it was brutally cold. My Dad always ran the chainsaw, my mom gathered the wood and passed it to my brother & sister, and I had the job of stacking it in the truck. (I was about 4 when this happened)
Dad had diabetes, and over the course of years had lost a great deal of circulation and feeling in his legs. Add to it the fact that we had been out there for hours and it was COLD...
Dad was making a pass with the saw and it bucked back hard enough that he almost dropped the thing, but he caught it and kept going. A few minutes later he shut the saw off and said to my mom..."Lois, come look what I did to my pants..."
Mom's near-scream had all us kids gathered around in a hurry. When the saw had bucked it came back and went through his pants and cut clear down into his knee cap. He never felt it. He only knew something wasn't right because his foot started getting warm from all the blood pooling in his boot...
He never did go to the hospital, but his knee had an odd dent in it from then on....he was just mad that he had ruined a good pair of pants....

Ole Blue 68 · 02-26-2007, 10:15 AM

I took the tip of my right middle finger off in an old-school lawnmower. Long story but I'm one of the reasons why they put those idiot bars on lawnmowers now. Dumbest thing I've ever done but luckily I didn't catch the bone.

My dad's got a couple good scars. The one I remember most is the time we were going out to dinner and, as he was closing the garage door, his middle finger got caught between two of the door panels (this was back in the day and they were heavy wood panels) as they closed and split it like a grape. Without missing a beat, he got in the car, wrapped it in some napkins from the glove compartment and took us to dinner. I don't think he ever went to the doctor's for it.

08-18-2005, 02:49 AM	#2
llegos Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: pleasanton, CA Posts: 570	hopefully you dont have a condition that weakens your immune system. Pretty crazy story here. My dad dropped a sledge on his toe, and it snapped his bone right at the edge of the rest of his foot(his second to big one), and thinking that a doctor couldnt do anything, he let it be. Soon enough, the inner-bone got infected(hes diabetic, the worse type too), and couldnt fight off the infection. After failed attempts with antibiotics, he has 9 toes now. Moral is, wear steel toed boots i guess...I know this has nothing to do with drill and the like, but yea.... ok, ill shut up now, lol __________________ -Steve

08-18-2005, 04:11 PM	#3
3quartertime My Mistress the Sea Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Bradenton, FL. Posts: 412	I got two stories to contribute... First. I was in A&P school. My class was taking a break and everyone was kind of milling smartly about the bathroom water fountian area. Suddenly the door to one of the labs bursts open. An instructor and student were rushing to the fron t of the building! Later we found out that the student, ( pretty good looking blonde chic!) had during sheetmetal class somehow drilled a hole in her thumb nail... I guess it was pretty comical to see. At the hospital they removed the nail incase of infections from the drill bit. Lucky for her the new nail hid the scar!!! Second. As a young buck in the USN I was assigned to a jet engine repair shop. When an engine would come in my department would strip all the external gear and sent it to the test bay or tear-down. Every now and then a HOT engine would come in. Meaning it was the only back-up the squadron had and they needed it back pronto. So like most poorly managed organizations mine would throw everyone at the HOT job thinking it would be done super quick. So about ten of us were stacked on top of each other trying to work without getting in the way. I was on a creeper under the engine taking a wiring harness off. Because so many people were on the same job most of the tools were being used. So I was trying to take a clamp off with a snap-on #1 phillips screw driver and small wrench. Problem was the only screw driver left was the 18 inch one. So as I'm wrestling with the clamp the screw driver slips. The tip of the screw driver hit my hand about an inch down and just outside of my index finger. I was pushing so hard on the stuck screw that the blade went thru both sides of my hand and the hilt of the handle was tight with the skin. I looked at it. The fella standing over me looked at it. He said " What did you do?" I didn't answer I just jerked the screw driver out of my hand. Then there was a trip to the base hosptial. No stitches, just a long soak in some disifectant. That was over twenty years ago and I still have an X scar on my hand!!! Those with the scars practice saftey!!! Been there... __________________ *,,,they'd look alot better as beer cans...* '71 K20 350/350 Rusty but trusty... gone '70 C20... gone '88 K1500... gone '90 C1500... gone '91 C2500... gone '95 C3500 6.5L Dually love this one!...

08-21-2005, 04:40 PM	#4
Matt67C10 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Slatington, PA Posts: 536	My dad drilled a hole through his index finger, too with a 1/8 bit. My mom said he was grey for a day before he went to the doctor. I don't remember, I was only 2 at the time. Ouch! Don't forget your chain mail gloves, glad to hear you're doing better. __________________ 67 C10 LWB Stepside- 250cid 6, 3speed

08-24-2005, 06:32 AM	#6
hobbz Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: ashland, ky Posts: 632	here's my story: i was helping a neighbor build some peaus(sp) for a church that had burnt down and they were hooking up main power and disconnecting the temp power line. well the power was off and we didn't know it. he was using an air nailer and i was holding the boards together. well the gun jumped because it was low on air pressure and jumped right onto my finger. so i was nailed to a board in a church so i couldn't say too much. the guy took cutters and cut the nail and then pulled it out of my finger. i never went to the doc for it but it sucked trying to bowl the next week... i agree with the mesh gloves idea __________________ Hobbz-Garage 1987 Short Step 350/350

08-29-2005, 07:01 PM	#10
KP1972 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Mansfield Texas Posts: 645	Sliced off the end of my thumb MANY years ago I was trying to take the radio delete face plate and make an in-dash radio plate for my new stereo. The car was SO new that no one had made any aftermarket dash plates....so being economical and creative I removed the plastic face plate. I set it on the ground made the measurements, then took a fresh exacto knife and began scoring the plastic in a straight line, over and over and over again.....apparently my thumb was acting as a clamp and was sliding closer and closer than I had realized then WHACK!!!!! the blade made a nice straight cut down to the edge of the top of my thumbnail. It hurt like H*, it burnt more than bled.....I ran inside stuck it under running water and flop**!!! the skin just fell backwards and then the blood started flowing. I bandaged it up and fortunately it all grew back. Exacto knives still spook me now. __________________ 1972 Chevy Custom/10 www.PictureTrail.com/KP1972 Metroplex Muscle Car Club www.PictureTrail.com/DreamCarArt

08-17-2005, 04:50 PM	#1
67Fleet Outlandish Trends - FL Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Orlando Posts: 1,396	drilled through my finger Well, this happened a few weeks ago but I'll throw it out there for giggles. I was replacing the 6x9 speakers in the doors on my '67 and the previous owner had these long phillips-head screws with nuts on the backside holding them in. Well, they were so old that the nuts were rusted to the screws, and the head of the screws were all stripping out on me. SON-OF-A-BI$*@!!! So I said screw it. I'll just drill the heads off. So I break out the drill and I have my right arm stuffed into the door panel with a open-end wrench to hold the nut to prevent spinning. Got a few done, no problem. I'm on the last one on the pass door-panel and it's the furthest to reach, on the bottom. My arm is stretched as far as it'll go and I'm holding onto my little wrench and start drilling away. Well, that head busts off and I was pushing so hard that when it went through the head I lost my balance ( I was on my knees) and the drill shifted and went right through the tip of my index finger about halfway to the first knuckle. OOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! I yanked back so fast that I also cut up my forearm on the way out of the door. Ok, so now my finger is bleeding profusely and I go to the laundry sink in the garage and start rinsing. It looks like hamburger meat and hurts like nothing I've felt before. (geez, it's only a finger!!) Luckily I'm not squeemish, so I go inside and call the wife. "Honey can you get me a band-aid?" her: "what happened?" me: "I just drilled through my finger" her: "What?!?! Are you ok??!!!" me: "Yeah, but how 'bout that band-aid..." So she brings it over and I show her. "OH MY GOD!! WE NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!" me: "no, what are they gonna do, give me 1 friggin stitch?? That'll be $350.00 sir." yeah, that's not happening. So I pop a few Advil, clean it all out and stuff my skin back in the hole (picture a hole in wood when the shavings get all wrapped up at the top) throw some Neosporin on it and wrap it up. 3 weeks later and the scab is gone, the bone is pretty much healed and I'm starting to re-gain some feeling in the tip of my finger. Hopefully it'll fully come back but I'm sure I toasted a bunch of nerves. Moral of the story? Wear gloves. Preferably chain-mail gloves..... __________________ -Bret 67 short-fleet sold!

08-22-2005, 09:29 AM	#5
freightdriver Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: oakdale,ca Posts: 51	yeah i got to have an unexpected trip to the hospital last weekend i was opening up a laptop charger seperating it with a knife it was opening up fine and i was'nt payin attention it slipped and my other hand was holding trhe other side the knife went straight into the side of my hand idk about 1/4 in and opened up quite a big wound..but it gets even better! i called my mom because shes a nurse just to see if i should go to the hospital and she said yeah it sounds pretty deep my insurance covers it all ain't no biggie.. but anyways i walk back into my dorm to grab my keys,wallet and all that i make it up the stairs out of my apt and into the parking lot and ended up passing out and falling face forward into the dirt... got a buddy to take me to the hospital after that happened and then when i was in the hospital and talking to the nurse after i told her what happened a minute later she asks me why ae you so dirty we're you working on cars??? well no i passed out in a parking lot that'd be why im dirty... think i cut into a nerve or something though other then that it was an awesome way to spend a sunday afternoon

08-29-2005, 04:01 PM	#9
LT4XTREME Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: MINERAL WELLS WV Posts: 143	Well at least you didn't center punch it first!!!!! One time my brother had smashed his thumb and it had the blood under the nail some poeple will heat up a needle and push it thru the nail to release the pressure but my brother has really think nails and had the bright idea of using a cordless drill and a real small bit. Everything was going fine until the bit went thru the nail you know how they catch and pull in drilling sheet metal well thumbnail drills the same way and when it pulled in a spiral of meat climbed up the bit just like metal does. Anyway it was funny and deserves a spot on the top ten funniest things my brother has done I won't go into the other stories now.

09-13-2005, 08:20 PM	#11
NO LONGER DISTURBED KONCEPTZ Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 257	Been there done that, Hurt like hell, Almost completely healed<----short version of what happened.

10-24-2005, 01:11 PM	#12
Matt67C10 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Slatington, PA Posts: 536	Re: drilled through my finger In college art class X-Acto knives earned the title "Blood Sticks". One guy I knew had one roll off the table and stick right into his thigh. OOUCH! Be careful with sharp tools, especially drills! __________________ 67 C10 LWB Stepside- 250cid 6, 3speed

11-03-2005, 11:49 AM	#13
Rod Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Eastern - Manitoba Canada, Winnipeg Posts: 4,369	Re: drilled through my finger Gloves and drills dont mix well together. Co-worker drill on a big drill press..gets glove into drill bit...were talking drills with some horsepower here...tears thumb off and the tendons probably up to shoulder. Well he lost the thumb..but needed something. So many months later a decision is made and they remove his big toe from his foot and graft it on and attach tendons. He sits in hospital bed for 3 months with his hand sewn inside his stomach cavity to prevent chances of infection. It works and hes got a big thumb now. It's one of two people I actually know who have toes on for fingers...another friend from high school days even lost all 4 fingers on a shear but had 2 small toes grafted onto his hand. Both actually have functioning hands now. The toe-thumb works pretty good for him..the smaller toes..are a little lacking in lenght for the other guy. I tell those stories to some of the younger people I work with some time. Makes them wake up some. Did you see the OCC chopper crew fella wrap his hand up the drill press wearing those nice mechanic gloves a while back...I'm sure it will be rebroadcast....he got lucky. Rod __________________ Senior active founding member. 70 3/4 ton GMC Suburban 4x4 250/4 spd. 71 1/2 ton Suburban Chevy 4x4, 350/350 72 Chev 1 ton tow truck 402BB w/Holmes 440 wrecker on propane 2005 FLSTSCI Harley Springer 85 FXSB Harley Lowrider 72 Triumph 650 Bonneville 5spd "Poor people don't have hobbies" Quote from wife.

11-03-2005, 10:49 PM	#14
Blue Beard Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Washington State Posts: 8,834	Re: drilled through my finger Didn't think you had a boring life but you got the point .... __________________ 1970 Chev CST 2003 Harley Fatboy 1975 Chevrolet Step Van 1956 Chev Bel Air 1977 Blazer 2WD For Sale $3000.00 1978 Blazer 2WD For Sale $7000.00 1978 Silverado 2005 Monte Carlo

11-04-2005, 08:49 AM	#16
Luvlegs Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Smith Mountain Lake Virginia Posts: 1,537	Re: drilled through my finger Slipped with a "clicker" type cheapie knife (the kind you snap off end for a new tip) that broke - was on my knees cutting, the NEW edge took the right side of my right knee cap off - I was actually wearing shorts too! I covered it with my hand quickly and headed for the house. As I entered, I yelled for my oldest daughter (about 10 at the time) to turn on the bathtub, cold water. She was asking what I did as I stepped over into the tub. My hand came off and my blood pressure made a nice racing stripe up the wall of the shower! She freaked. I then had her get me my needlenose pliers, a needle, my lighter and some thread (which she gathered in about 15 seconds it seemed like) The skin on my knee was so thick I had to use the needlenose to push the needle through the skin. I put in about 8 stitches, a bandage and headed for the ER (about 20 minutes away) When the doc came in, his first reaction to the stictches, nicely closed wound and no blood, said "What the hell is this!!??" "You think you're Rambo or something?" He laughed and put in 2 more stitches on one side and one on the other - and LEFT THE ONES I DID IN! I got the ol' tetnus shot a leg brace and the next morning, drove from almost Canada to Jersey to go to work. Now when I wear shorts, I have a nice "smile" on the side of my knee to remind me of what my Mom always freaked about - "CUT AWAY FROM YOURSELF"!!! I've done stitches on myself several times (sometimes not even going to a doctor) and everytime, I have to think about the time I'm wasting because I hurried and didn't think something through. It's true - those with a scar know! If you've snapped off a drill bit and hit your hands, you KNOW what could happen - so don't lean on 'em, let the drill do the work! hahahha __________________ "A cat will almost always blink when hit between the eyes with a ball peen hammer" (you don't always have to state the obvious) Wear your PPE! You can eat with false teeth but you can't see with a false eye. 1959 Studebaker Silverhawk 350/400 1972 C10 L6 3OTT 2005 F350 - Built - whew! Last edited by Luvlegs; 11-04-2005 at 08:50 AM.

05-17-2006, 05:58 PM	#17
Chevrolet4x4s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: WV Posts: 227	Re: drilled through my finger Angle grinders and thumbnails do not mix will go into detail later Shane Edit 10 posts to go till I reach 600 __________________ 1993 K1500 350 5 speed 1985 K10 Silverado Vortec 406 5 speed (in body shop) "I been drivin' this '85 pickup truck Them buddies of mine call it a bucket of rust She's a little beat up but she still runs like the wind Yeah, kinda like me I been banged and bruisedBeen around the block a time or two But I'm runnin' like new goin' places I never been No, I ain't broke I'm just broken in" 1963 Dodge Townwagon(its amazng what 30 years and zero miles will do to a vehicle ) Member#20327 Last edited by Chevrolet4x4s; 05-17-2006 at 05:59 PM.

05-18-2006, 07:55 PM	#18
Chevrolet4x4s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: WV Posts: 227	Re: drilled through my finger Bumped thumbnail to angle grinder as it was spooling down they'll rip a hole through there pretty quick. Shane __________________ 1993 K1500 350 5 speed 1985 K10 Silverado Vortec 406 5 speed (in body shop) "I been drivin' this '85 pickup truck Them buddies of mine call it a bucket of rust She's a little beat up but she still runs like the wind Yeah, kinda like me I been banged and bruisedBeen around the block a time or two But I'm runnin' like new goin' places I never been No, I ain't broke I'm just broken in" 1963 Dodge Townwagon(its amazng what 30 years and zero miles will do to a vehicle ) Member#20327



Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.

05-19-2006, 06:02 PM	#19
72BLAZERDUDE Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: WATAUGA,TX Posts: 660	Re: drilled through my finger Did that with my thumb. I was holding a piece of angle down with one hand and pushing down real hard on the drill with the other. Guess I pushed a little to hard as the 1/8 inch bit snapped off leaving about 3/4 of an inch still in the drill. Of course that the part I ran thru my thumb about an inch from the end and on the side between thumb and index finger. Went almost all the way thru except the skin on the other side. Got lucky and missed bone. Hurt like a SOB but cleaned it up and got it to stop bleeding. Went into the docs next day for a precautionary Tetnus. Happened about 10 years ago and I still have the broken bit just as a reminder to use a clamp and not my hand to hold down the workpiece. __________________ 72 2wd 307/AT/AC/TILT WHEEL 78 JIMMY HIGH SIERRA

02-23-2007, 08:27 PM	#20
As2rd Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lexington Park, MD Posts: 47	Re: drilled through my finger Got a few short stories...I got a scar from a razor blade on my wrist, when a shelf fell on me while i was putting my old carb. on it. Just my luck that it was a high shelf and it had razor blades on it. Crack!!! and i felt and sorts heard the the skin rip. The carb. fell and landed on my shop rag pile "luckily". but i had constant blood rushing out from the top of my wrist to my mid. forearm... Another story, well i can tell the two stories together because it happened right after each other. I was using a wire wheel/grinder machine at Auto Tech. Class and I was cleaning some threads and with my bare hand. The bolt got sucked down with my thumb, because i have a slow reaction and it went down faster than an eye can blink. the wire wheel was at full speed and i couldn't reach the stop button with my hand. I had to kick the plug to shut it off. Wasn't to bad but could of been worse....Same thing happened on the grinder side when i was grinding rust off of a rod, but before the whole rod went in (snapped in three places) I jerked my hand back and hit the guard. Lost part of my thumbnail and got yelled at for breaking the rod .---Andy (I know its not really bad accidents but just think worst case scenarios) __________________ 1972 Chevy Truck 350ci/th350 Auto. Daily Driver

02-23-2007, 10:28 PM	#21
hiridn69gmc Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Rochester, MN Posts: 107	Re: drilled through my finger I had one where a friend and I were putting the bellhousing bolts back into the block. I was getting the top ones and he was underneath with the bottom ones. Well my wrench slipped and I yelled "heads up". It seemed like that Plinko game in The Price is Right. He slid over and as it bounced down it still hit him in the forehead. I laughed though when he came out with a wrench mark in his forehead though....Not that serious, but funny!! __________________ 1971 Chevy C-10-sold 1969 GMC 4x4-sold 1997 Chevy Z71 2003 Grand Prix

02-24-2007, 06:17 AM	#22
84Custom Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Henderson,Ky. Posts: 80	Re: drilled through my finger I'm a Tool Maker,so I've seen my share of nasty accidents.After 17 years in the trade I'd never had to make a trip to the emergency room.I had just finished my last roughing pass,and I was using a 1 1/2" roughing end mill in a horizonial boring mill.I was changing end mills and had to break 2 set screws loose to remove the rougher.I loosened the first,but on the second one my hand slipped off the allen wrench and my momentom caused my hand to slide across the flute of the cutter.The cut started about an inch above my right wrist,and stopped about 2 inches later.Luckily I didn't loose my balance,and by that I missed cutting that vien by about 1/8th of an inch. It didn't hurt because the cutter was still razor sharp.It bled like crazy and before i could get to the front of the shop my left hand was full and leaving a nice trail of blood.I didn't get the first stitch,they glued it closed,bacause the doctor said it wouldn't scar as bad.Now thanks to that wonderful glue I've got a nastyy looking scar that draws some inquesitive looks.Getting in a hurry is the easiests way to get hurt. __________________ Scott C. 84 Custom Deluxe(under Construction) 87 Buick Grand National 91 Gmc Sierra daily driver

02-25-2007, 12:52 PM	#23
clay68c10 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Centennial, CO Posts: 2,905	Re: drilled through my finger I was mig welding a frame in tech school and sometimes the mig wire was just a little too long at the end of the gun for the next weld. I had gotten into the habit of just tapping the wire with my finger tip to push it back in the gun just a bit between weld passes instead of cutting the excess off. That worked great when the wire had that little hot ball on the tip. Of course, one time it didn't have that ball. The wire was still super-ass hot and it went thru my glove, my index finger, my nail, and out the other side of the glove, then right back out. It happened so smoothly I only noticed it because the wire hadn't moved down and there was a hole in the top of my glove. Then it started to hurt. My instructor had a good laugh off that one. __________________ ClusterTruck: 68 C10 Bought in 89, wrecked in 03. Slow low $ rebuild started '17. 6.0 & TKO http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=788602 93 K1500 Short Step, 350, NV4500, EBL flash ECU. Vortec heads & roller cam someday... 05 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. 3” lift & 6-speed 02 E320 the insurance total “free car” 13 Tahoe LTZ Last edited by clay68c10; 02-25-2007 at 09:52 PM.

02-25-2007, 08:26 PM	#24
redneckgirl Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bel Air, Maryland Posts: 4,853	Re: drilled through my finger When I was a kid, we heated solely with an old Buck woodstove. We spent alot of weekends, it seems, cutting firewood. We were out one weekend and it was brutally cold. My Dad always ran the chainsaw, my mom gathered the wood and passed it to my brother & sister, and I had the job of stacking it in the truck. (I was about 4 when this happened) Dad had diabetes, and over the course of years had lost a great deal of circulation and feeling in his legs. Add to it the fact that we had been out there for hours and it was COLD... Dad was making a pass with the saw and it bucked back hard enough that he almost dropped the thing, but he caught it and kept going. A few minutes later he shut the saw off and said to my mom..."Lois, come look what I did to my pants..." Mom's near-scream had all us kids gathered around in a hurry. When the saw had bucked it came back and went through his pants and cut clear down into his knee cap. He never felt it. He only knew something wasn't right because his foot started getting warm from all the blood pooling in his boot... He never did go to the hospital, but his knee had an odd dent in it from then on....he was just mad that he had ruined a good pair of pants.... __________________ The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there... and still on your feet. Stephen King Last edited by redneckgirl; 02-25-2007 at 08:26 PM.

02-26-2007, 10:15 AM	#25
Ole Blue 68 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Philly Posts: 1,140	Re: drilled through my finger I took the tip of my right middle finger off in an old-school lawnmower. Long story but I'm one of the reasons why they put those idiot bars on lawnmowers now. Dumbest thing I've ever done but luckily I didn't catch the bone. My dad's got a couple good scars. The one I remember most is the time we were going out to dinner and, as he was closing the garage door, his middle finger got caught between two of the door panels (this was back in the day and they were heavy wood panels) as they closed and split it like a grape. Without missing a beat, he got in the car, wrapped it in some napkins from the glove compartment and took us to dinner. I don't think he ever went to the doctor's for it.

Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.