a clay roller with a brush causes injury

[welder_one]

i was asked to take a roller that is used to roll clay for clay tennis courts, and put a brush on the front. they want the brush to float but have springs pushing it down. also the driver has a hard time with running over stuff and i was asked to make it where it didnt break easily. so i put the brush in front of the lower leg of the angle frame, so that if it got hit it would only go as far as the roller frame would allow. it only took about 2 hours and 12 dollars in materials. i dont have any before pics only after.sorry. i have an old gear drive dewalt drill, i had to drill the holes out in the frame to 1 3/16. i am now returning from the hospital with my fingers in a splint from the drill "biting" and ramming my hand into the frame...yeowch!!! here is the dumb part, not once nor twice did this happen, but 4 times. i should have learned from the first one..

[SignWave]

the morbid side of me wants to laugh...Like watching a kid fall off his bike and skin both his knees... But hey...

Get well soon!

[Steve]

Sorry bout your injury injuries? 1 3/16 holes are rather large for hand drilling. I don't think my Dad's trick of easing up on the drilling pressure as the bit tries take the last bite would help you there. I'm thinking torch the hole close and die grind to size. But then I hate those metal shavings a lot too. Get well soon.

[SkidSteerSteve]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I did something similar a couple of years ago. I had a new clamp to put on a welding lead. The lug on the cable was too small, though. It was late, I was tired and should have just gone home, but you know how that goes. The brilliant idea was to firmly clamp the lug in the drill press vice and bore the lug out to the right size. Sounds logical enough, huh? Well the cable kept getting in the way so I decided to take the pressure off of the cable by gently holding it in my left hand. I say gently in case some happened, it would just pull out of my hand. Well......I thought I was the only one in the shop, but ol Murphy was there as well. The lug (even though it was in the vice an backed with a wooden block spun out and started winding the cable up. I'm not really sure what happened next, but somehow a loop of the cable spun around and grabbed my hand (it did pull loose like I thought it would, though). When it was all over, I found out that you can stall a 1/2 hp press with just your index finger wrapped backwards around the bit. Broke twice, five stiches and a couple hours in the ER. Like I said, should have just gone home.

SSS

[welder_one]

no stitches only broken fingers. i wanted to get the job done. i think i will pass on the next one that i will have to drill the holes in. man, this is going to put me behind, but i guess i needed a reason for a break anyway...lol

[SkidSteerSteve]

It just goes to show that even someone that has been around equipment since before they could walk is still capable of making bad decisions and paying the price for it. I consider myself lucky, it healed just fine, but could have been a lot worse. Sometimes I think complacency is one of the most dangerous things in the world. "it'll never happen to me! I know what I'm doing". When it comes to any kind of equipment, most situations escalate from normal to injury before we even know what happened. I guess we all need a wake up call every now and then. Fortunately, that is the worst injury I've every had, so I can't complain. So far, so good.

SSS

[monte55]

more dumb stuff

Check this out...............I have a three wheeled belt sander on a pedistal
stand.........2x48" I think with a very long cord and no belt guards. I needed to move it. I saw it was plugged in but the path was congested to unplug it so I grabbed it and started to slide it across the floor when my shoulder hit the power switch. Over $600 and 13 stiches to my arm convinced me to be more careful in the future. Being lazy causes accidents. The side of a belt cut very well. Trust me! Dumb and expensive decision.

[welder_one]

maybe i should rename the thread to: injured from stupidity...lol i have alot more stories to tell about injuries, like i was removing a torque hub from a case bulldozer out in the field, and had a big pry bar wedged into the frame to split it. i got it close to apart and the bar slipped, and sticking itself through my left forearm. it didnt do any damage except stitches and pain. i should have taken the proper tooling to the job. whole thing could have been avoided