The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Most dangerous tool in your shop?

Loose clothing.I was using a worm gear circular saw while wearing a button up flanel shirt,unbuttoned.the front bottom of my shirt got caught in the blade and in a split second yanked the saw right up to my stomach,I was extremely lucky that so much of my shirt got pulled into the blade guard and kept the blade from making contact with me.

Well I have never seen a grinding wheel come apart. In fact I had never heard of one comming apart until today. Oh, I do use shields and guards for my safety and i stand to the side when using one.
But I still think TIM THE TOOL MAN TAYLOR is still the most dangerous thing it the shop.

I used to work with guys like him. Even missing a finger here and there they still didn't get it!

any tool that spins at a great RPM.

I dropped a grinder with a wire cup brush on my chest... sure glad i had on a sweat shirt, i got the crap knocked out of me before i got it unplugged.

One of the most dangerous tools has to be one of my Cousins. Picture this, here is a certified welder, many,many years on the job. Travelled all over the Midwest doing welding jobs. One day he asks my brother to help him on some kind of exterior house remodeling project. My brother, who was at the time a framing carpenter, thought nothing about why you use air instead of oxygen to power your air nailer. Long story short, spark ignited oxygen, blown up air nailer, short fall off of scaffolding, no broken bones but some stitches on neck & hands & a profound need for new undergarments!! My brother is just fine, BTW. He now does interior trim, cabinets, etc., for a builder out of Omaha. THEY USE AIR!!

Apparantly I need to listen to my own advise more.Today I was usind a 4" angle grinder with a knotted wire wheel when my cuff on my right sleeve got snagged on the wire.By the time I got the grinder turned off I had a crapload of pinholes in my wrist and a nice bruise where the side handle hit my wrist before snapping off.I think I also should only buy grinders with the pressure switch instead of the cheap one like mine with the slide-switch.

Interesting thread- always good to read about safety and what can happen- one guy's story may prevent 20 accidents. I think all tools can be dangerous- to me what makes them all more dangerous is lack of sleep and/or hurrying.

Dave

BEST KNUCKLE BUSTER MADE.
TAKE ONE HEAVILY RUSTED ALLEN HEAD BOLT,ADD A BOX END 12 POINT WRENCH FOR XTRA LEVERAGE ...AN YA LOOKIN FOR THE SCOOBIE DOO BANDAIDES IN ABOUGHT 5 TO 10 SECONDS ...
if ya need the xtra leverage use a pc a pipe that is somewhat close to the diamater of the wrench an you not be seein Scoobie ..LOL

I hear a lot of people saying the radial arm saw is dangerous.I have one in my wood shop and I do not consider it dangerous.I only use it for crosscutting and In am always very careful with it.Any tool in your shop is dangerous if not used properly.A simple ballpeen hammer can cause a lot of damage and hurt if not used right.

My mother -in-law is the most dangerous! On her last visit, as I was cutting plywood on my table saw, she kept flashing the shop lights on and off to get my attention. Ever try to rip plywood in the dark? I still have a bruise from the kickback.

As my dad always told me "TRY TO BE SMARTER THAN THE TOOL YOUR USING"

Im sitten here in tears from laughing at all the things mentioned that i have lived thru. scars stiches and haunting memories.
Started to make a pix frame for x mas luckly i had moved the little womans mercedes outside. The tablesaw and i had words and it spit a peace of oak back into my arm and back wall at hypr speed.
lucked out again the learnen curve goes on.
does anyone still remember where there saw gaurd is ??
the high lift jack rates up there too They can kick like mule.
be safe , remember power tools and BEER should not mix.

While one can never be too careful working in
a bodyshop, I recall cutting a damaged 1/4 panel out
of a 68 Impala hardtop when My panel cutter struck
a 12 gauge shotgun slug that went off exiting the 1/4 panel only about a foot from My head...it also
made a hole in My wall, but never exited...The chisel in the cutter had to strike it just right to
make it fire....Many years later still finds Me thinking of that incident....I am blessed BB

A bottle opener.

CJ

Dammit boy, that about tears it right there,,Brian

The one that makes me nervous of all the dangerous things is a stupid little razor blade. I use one for cleaning off old gaskets, cutting hoses etc. I always feel like its gonna flip around when I'm pushing. More of a phobia I guess.

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why I got a razor blade holder.

WORST TOOL IN ANY SHOP IS A HUMAN WITH A TOOL OF ANY KIND AN ...NOT PAYIN ATTENTION !
more weird S*@T happpens than you can ever write here !
Ive seen more Stupid Human Tricks in 20 yrs in a 500+ employee wood shop than i can even say !
NOT PAYIN ATTENTION IS THE #1 UNSAFE TOOL !

the "TABLE SAW, TABLE SAW, TABLE SAW"

That's easy....me

I have to agree with other who say, 'myself'.

I forgot to add that this includes any tool that may be in my hand or within 20' of me at the moment as well.

Well, I certainly can identify with a lot of what's already been said but I didn't see any mention of a high speed cut-off wheel. A lot of guys I've talked to say "it's just a matter of time before it gets you". Now, that's something to look forward to, eh?

i would say the lift at the muffler shop were i work people jus cant pull the cars up right they have bout an 1/2 inch of tire on the ramp jus waiting 2 fall

Yep, I've been called a tool often enough to say I'm the most dangerous tool in my collection.
Fact is regardless of what you are doing, & what you are using, the vast majority of accidents are caused by human error, usualy associated with a svere case of crainial rectumitis (head in yer arse disease).
Being in the Navy tho, they are all kinds of anal about using PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). Some of the safety posters they have around here will make your stomach turn, but I'll still see some dumba$$ doin exactly the wrong things & not using the gear they supply to us. I use it all, and make sure it all works well. It's a small price to pay to keep all my parts.
I'm a big proponent of wearing eye protection and well fitting gloves at all times. Esp. workin on/around old bolts I have nearly destroyed my eyes too many times, & the gloves have saved my hands more times than I can count. Loose bulky gloves have thier uses, but around power tools they are just as bad as loose clothes.

I can say power tools are easily the most dangerous tho. Any hand held tool without a momentary switch is a bad thing.
My angle grinder is easily the most dangerous. Have zinged myself a few times, each of those times my gloves saved me a trip to the hospital, but keeping the guard in place, replacing even slightly damaged discs, & taking my time reduces that. I did manage to set my crotch on fire with the spark plume once tho, woooooo! :o

Bench grinders are extremely dangerous, I see people using damaged wheels and have to ask them if they have a death wish. I've heard of exploding wheels many times, never with good results. I didn't have one for the longest time, have an olllllld clamp to the bench grinder that you have to crank by hand. No danger of explosion using that beast, just hard to be accurate!

The table saw has always scared me, ever since I saw the hole in the wood shop wall in high school. It was made by a piece of hard wood, maybe a 1/2" square, chucked it a good 15 feet & passed all the way thru a cinder block wall.

Drill presses are a good one too. Have been beaten by items a time or two, bruised ribs will remind you to use clamps. The amazing falling chuck trick will get your attention as well, always love that one!

Comes down to anything used incorrectly, or inattentively, opens the door for Mr. Murphy to walk in & kick ya in the nads. :p

Very outstanding post this. I grow more cautious with age. Just as I stopped driving so crazy I grow safer in the shop. Many close calls. There's a cutoff from my tablesaw that I have yet to find from 10 years ago. The miter saw is definately not designed for making tiny little cuts with tiny little pieces of wood. Trust me on that one.
In junior high school we saw a film about a guy named "Primitive Pete". He used screwdrivers for chisles and stuff like that. Pay attention, pay attention, pay attention. Shop is not for people with ADD!!!! And don't be a Primitive Pete!!! (That's what I tell myself.) Still have both eyes and all my digits...

Happy Birthday thread!! My newest dangerous tool is a bargain angle grinder from sears.It has the lockable "on" switch and has reeled in a shirt tail or two.My milkcrates still out there to waiting for me to let my guard down some day.

Most of the time I can see it coming right before it hits me, that’s about the time, “Dummy, you knew better” enters the picture. This usually comes from my taking a short cut or being in a hurry. But this one last week caught me off guard.
Many years ago when I was a Chevy parts man, I learned from the garage mechanics that the easiest, or rather the only way to get shocks off is with an impact wrench turned up full power. I had finished the fronts and while pulling the rear shocks off my ’50, 3604, I encountered a problem getting lined up with the lower through bolts. Center section one way and spring u-bolts the other way. Solution was to add a ½” universal between the socket and extension. I closed my left fist round the extension to keep the socket centered on the nut and that did the trick. However, when the nut spun off with a full 100psig applied to the ½” impact the socket whipped around and whacked me on the wrist splitting it open and badly bruising the bone, I thought I had broken the wrist by the pain and partial paralysis that followed three minuets of cursing. The socket ended up on the other side of the garage, and I guess I really was lucky that my face wasn’t in the line of fire. I might have been OK if I had burped the impact rather than holding full trigger pressure.
Lesson Learned; Universals and impact wrenches don’t go together, without using a lot of caution.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I can still remember back to highschool machine shop class (barely!) a kid with long hair...as was the style of the times....was on the drillpress aparantly closley examining his workpiece when his hair got wound up in the chuck and tore out hair and scalp!! The teacher thought it was funny! Well the kid never did return to shop class after that. Every time i see Billy Lane on Biker Build-Off i can't help but think of this. OUCH!!!

Reminds me of a buddy that after taking of a lug nut off a Big bolt, stuck his finger in the socket in the impact wrench because the lug nut was stuck, and accidentally hit the trigger. Thank goodness it was coming off instead of going on Messed his index finger up really well.

My most dangerous tool wasn't really a tool but IGNORANCE! A few years ago I was using my bench grinder to to grind down a flange on a little two stroke motor. I assumed it was aluminum 'cause it was not sparking and just throwing shavings everywhere. Of course the wheel would clog so I was using a steel pushrod to clean out the wheel. POOF! My workbench and wall erupt in flames!


Learn the difference between aluminum and MAGNESIUM.

We Musn't forget the Jackall HiLift Jack, i've seen more body damage (vehicles and human) from these jacks slipping at the most inopertune times. :mad:

The highlift jack is a good one,but my 20 ton press scares the bejeezus outta me!!!!!!!!!And i scare me too!!!!!!! :-)

The most dangerous tool I own, is any one of my large or small chainsaws. If the saw isn't trying to kill me, the wood that is falling is doing its best to impale me or club me. That said, my neighbor attempted to remove his face with a 4" angle grinder. It took many stitches to sew him up from jaw to forehead. He almost lost his eye. I consider the 4' grinder to be more dangerous than the the 10".
I recently had a new valve seat stone explode on me. I was wearing a safety shield and was not injured, but the noise from the explosion was an experience I will not soon forget. Any tool can cause serious injury if used incorrectly.
Bob

the most dangerous thing is not latting a tool do the job and trying to "help it":
I was drilling a hole through the mounting and mech. assembly of a one piece garage door in my first house 'cause the lock didn't work and I wanted to put a bolt through it as a lock. I started out with a 1/4" bit in the milwuakee magnum holeshooter drill and because those don't drill real fast AND the bit was dull I pushed on it real hard (duh). When the bit broke about 1/4" from the chuck it left the rest of it sticking out of the partially drilled hole in the bracket. Because I was pushing on it and leaning into it when my hand moved forward the bit entered my hand between the middle and ring finger. as I looked at the raised skin halfway down the back of my hand, streched tighly over the bit, I dropped the drill motor. As I screamed explitives at the new pain in my toes, I began to ponder my next step regarding the drill bit, still stuck to the garage door bracket, and how to remove the 3" of it that was retaining my hand. I tried to get the bit to come free of the bracket with my left hand but it wouldn't budge and no other tool was within reach due to the close proximity of the closed garage door , hood of the 62 nova and the fact that my tools are usually at the back of the garage near the bench. As I was working alone , with no one else at home, my only option at that point was to pull my hand from the drill bit as quikly and straight as possilbe. It made a nasty sound on exit. Moral of the story: Let the tool do the work!!!
Jeff