Life Is Tough,But If You Insist On Being Stupid, It Is REALLY tough

Kasy

I live in Houston. We do Marine Machine Shop related work. We specialize in propellor shafts for Inland Tugboats, but will tackle anything that comes out of a Shipyard.

We machine shafts from those that weigh a couple of hundred pounds, all the way up to ones that weigh 25,000 pounds. We also do a wide range of fabrication.

I know a lot of welders, 99 9/10 percent of them in Houston are Hispanic. But then, 99 9/10 of anybody that works in a Shipyard in Hoston is Hispanic. Many are great friends I have known for thirty years.

I lost about 1/2 inch of my left hand middle finger back in the mid 80's, on a Coast Guard Boat. About the same circumstances, I stuck my finger into a place it should not have been.

We were working on the steering system on a 250 ft Coast Guarde Cutter. The Jockey Bar that connects the two rudders would not go down on the sphericle bearings. It was almost lined up, and I was going to ask the Machinery Officer to hit the manual jog to see if it would fall on. Before I could get the words out, it fell into place. Unfortunatly, my finger was between it and the ledge it sat on. It chopped the end right off, and it fell into the bilge.

A great plastic surgeon rebuilt the finger, and it is now quite normal, only short. I even learned to adapt it to my guitar playing........jackie
 
I nearly cut the end of my thumb off with a very sharp knive inside a deer while trying to sever the windpipe. Didn't hurt much at the time, the knife was very sharp and very thin. I know that I got some deer DNA in me that time but no oil or chips.
The bad part was that it took a number of years before I got the feeling back to about normal in the tip of my thumb.
I've had stiches a number of times on my hands and fingers but so far have not lost anything.
It happens so darn fast, too.
 
Best of luck and rapid healing. I managed to cut the extensor tendons on two fingers while lathing a few years ago. The injury itself didn't hurt as much as the hand did after the surgery to put them back togeather and the six weeks in a splint.
Bob
 
sorry to hear about that jackie. ship yards are hard on flesh. i've been wounded, got scars, but still in one pc. you just needed another challange to your shooting!
good thing medicine has improved so much.

hope to get down to your neck of the woods one of these days.
mike in co
 
Jackie,

Hope your injury heals quickly,reminds me of a joke/saying my grandfather used to tell to myself and a mate as the mate is a machinest on plant equipment and I a diesel mechanic......"Son never put your finger where you wouldn't place your d*ck"......................geeez that restricts things a bit doesn't it,not real practical and was said in jest but made us laugh at the time.


Regards Chris.
 
Hi Jackie,
Sounds like, you have a hard time, keeping your fingers out of the way.
I got the same problem. I am 2 for 2. First one in the Shipyards.
Hope it heals up. Might get lucky. The end of my thumb grew back.
My left hand is not too bad. Bone graft worked. Most people don't notice.
Be safe. :)
Tim
 
sorry to hear that!
I've been blessed with keeping all of mine uptill now, but things can change quickly!
keep the wound clean, and practise your middle finger; i've known a great pistolshooter who had same problem; he always got in trouble with the referrees because they thought he was always holding a finger on the trigger...untill he showed the missing fingertip...
Maarten
 
Sorry to hear that Jackie

I wish you of course speedy recovery and hope your finger will be back to be usable again as it definately was.
Fingers for some reason seem to be very accident prone I have broken three of them in various insidents and have a nail in my trigger finger and can just only bend it enough to use it on the trigger.
On a lighter note look at the bright side of things, after this nobady can accuse you of having 10 thumbs your maximal number is down to 8 :D
 
Al...

Al Nyhus said:
It's a sad but familiar story, Joel. Working over my head, bad angle, standing on one tip toe, tongue out the corner of mouth, just this one last nail to go.......

S@%!*&+^$@f*@%G*!@D()&^%!!!!!!!! :mad:
Click to expand...

pneumatic nail guns...rent or buy....your choice :)! Hope the digit comes around before the shooting season. --Greg
 
Ouch! I hope it heals ok.

I received this in an email yesterday...seems like a good time to share it.

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of ligh t. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, 'Oh sh -- '

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age.

SKILL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent to the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

DAMM-IT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling 'DAMM-IT' at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.
 
Hey Stonewall

Which town was that in Alberta was it that you got hurt?

As I used to live in Alberta, I am would like to know.

Last month while in Mexico, I met a chap who lived in the Peace River area all of his life and did his hunting and fishing at the same places where
I once hunted and fished. A small world eh?

Franchi
 
I remember hearing an older worker who was a native of Scotland explaining the dangers of a table saw to an beginning apprentice. He said with a stern Scottish voice and face, "This blade will suck you in." "You are neither quick enough nor stout enough to stop it." "Always know where your fingers are and where the blade is."

Wise advice.

Hope you quickly recover, Jackie. I know that if it can happen to you, it can happen to anyone of us.

Concho Bill
 
Bill Wynne said:
..."This blade will suck you in." ...
Click to expand...

A surface grinder will do the same thing.

Jackie good luck with your recovery and I hope your finger works well when it's healed. At least you have a little bit of time before benchrest season starts back up.
 
Any one who works for a living is going to have a little scuff now and then. Hopefully it won't be a major problem. Mother Nature is pretty forgiving. Look on the bright side. Maybe compensation will set in and you will have to take a month fishing. Seriously we wish you well. Kenny
 
jackie schmidt said:
I started a align boring job out at a Shipyard this morning, and just after I got things set up and running, I stuck my hand where no hand should go, and almost lost about 3/8 inch of my trigger finger. It cut completely through the finger nail, and about 2/3 the way around.

jackie
Click to expand...
I really worry about these new guys. Buy a lathe and here they go. I am reluctant sometimes to suggest or correct them. At least when I was teaching, I had the students there where I could whack them on the head, and did sometimes. Do that now and the Communist that run this country (ACLU and such) will put you in jail.

Tea time, or should I say tea wet time.
 
jerry...
ya gonna get them texass boys after your butt.......
they aint gonna take lightly to you funnin' on thier boy jackie....


mike in co
 
glp said:
pneumatic nail guns...rent or buy....your choice :)! Hope the digit comes around before the shooting season. --Greg
Click to expand...

Greg: I have a couple of them. I just didn't want to fire up the air compressor in the garage and drag 100' of air hose through the house to do a small job. Pretty smart, no? :eek:

I'm also installing some tongue and groove oak flooring in our daughters house using a mallet driven nailer. Gawd only knows what's in store for my digits before this deal is over.....
 
mike in co said:
jerry...
ya gonna get them texass boys after your butt.......
they aint gonna take lightly to you funnin' on thier boy jackie....


mike in co
Click to expand...
Mike them texass boys are there because they came from Tennessee. We's home folks.
Jackie is just bringing up a caution that should help to keep us all more focused on safety.
Us Tennessee German stock is what populated most of the Texas farm country.
 
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