# Mishap Last Night:  Cut On Sharp Edge (graphic photos!)



## Ray C (Sep 15, 2013)

Well, got three fingers cut last night.  Did a good job but no bone, nerve or tendon damage -just 25 stitches.  I took the cross slide off the lathe to clean and put a better witness mark on the dial.  Been wanting to do that for a while and finally found time.    It was sitting on a stool and I bumped into it and I reached to prevent it from hitting the ground and bingo.  The underside of the dovetail had a burr.  It didnt hit the ground but I should have let it drop.  Normally I'm pretty thoughtful about letting things fall when the conditions dictate and it did enter my mind as it happened but, I just didnt foresee the sharp burr and gave myself the OK to grab it.

All I can say is "I Am ******" for pulling a bonehead move like this!...  I'll be out of the shop now for at least a few days.  And brother, these things are throbbing this morning!  

Look further down for reminders/images of why you really need to watch yourself in the shop....


Ray
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## Old Iron (Sep 15, 2013)

Ray
Sorry to hear and see your injury, It will get better soon and you'll be back at it. A lesson you won't soon forget.

Paul


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## Cheeseking (Sep 15, 2013)

Owweeee!    Get well soon sir.


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## Tony Wells (Sep 15, 2013)

Ayup....that's gonna be sore for a day or three. From working QC, I developed a bad habit of sticking my foot under things I drop, I guess trying to save a part from a ding or something, or an instrument....it's hard not to try and break the fall of something now. I do have to check myself when it's something heavy, but when I am working around the heavy stuff I do wear steel toe boots. I haven't smashed my foot yet, but have saved a few parts. Never dropped an instrument, but if I did I imagine my reflexes would try and catch it. Your reaction is pretty normal I'd say, for a machinist. We know that our stuff, gravity, and concrete don't mix well......so we try to prevent it. And sometimes there is a price to pay. Just glad you got away with only suffering through stitches. Could have been much worse. Hope you recover quickly.


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## pdentrem (Sep 15, 2013)

It is always the little things that can bite. It is going to hurt for a few days that is for sure. No washing dishes for you this week!
Pierre


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## Bill C. (Sep 15, 2013)

Ray C said:


> Well, got three fingers cut last night.  Did a good job but no bone, nerve or tendon damage -just 25 stitches.  I took the cross slide off the lathe to clean and put a better witness mark on the dial.  Been wanting to do that for a while and finally found time.    It was sitting on a stool and I bumped into it and I reached to prevent it from hitting the ground and bingo.  The underside of the dovetail had a burr.  It didnt hit the ground but I should have let it drop.  Normally I'm pretty thoughtful about letting things fall when the conditions dictate and it did enter my mind as it happened but, I just didnt foresee the sharp burr and gave myself the OK to grab it.
> 
> All I can say is "I Am ******" for pulling a bonehead move like this!...  I'll be out of the shop now for at least a few days.  And brother, these things are throbbing this morning!
> 
> ...



Most of us would have done the same thing. Shame on production workers for not removing all the sharp or ragged edges. Hope you have a speedy recovery.


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## itsme_Bernie (Sep 15, 2013)

Oh man Ray!!  That sucks!!  Speedy recovery to you man!  I also cut across my fingers once, not quite as badly, with what I felt was the least dangerous machine in my shop.  COMMON MISTAKE with my "guard down".


Bernie


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## davidh (Sep 15, 2013)

you bleed nicely ,  and pretty red too.   ouch!


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## road (Sep 15, 2013)

nice.. " betcha thats gunna leave a mark "..   my famous words  
hope you heal up soon Ray.  It may be more than a few days.   
It may be best if you can keep some ice on it for a while  , like an ice cold beverage ....


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## Ray C (Sep 15, 2013)

revenge is a dish best served... with a cold file!

View attachment 60618


i knew those bandages wouldn't make it thru the day clean.

btw: when it happened, i was happy it didnt hit the ground and all the sudden i looked and thought, boy that vactra sure looks red.  whats up with that?  all the sudden, oh oh -this is no good.  went over to the med kit, grabbed the alcohol and washed it out.  that one tip was peeled right back and it didn look like the ligament or bone was scraped so i was not as worried then but i was concerned at first.  the doc put novacaine shots in them and it was clear sailing.  the er nurse saw me coming in took a quick look and waived me right back to the xray station and then went right to work.  i know how to suture and could see the doc was doing a nice job of tucking all the stuff back in there.  they wanted to give me ocycoton but i took a pass as you know that stuff is poison and know many people with years of ruined life from it.

yeah, didnt see this one coming...

ray


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## Uglydog (Sep 15, 2013)

Likely to be a few months before you have feeling on the pads of your fingers.
I did a similar resulting in four stitches to only one finger this past summer. 
I ended up with a anaerobic infection secondary to all the old grease that was covering my hands at the time. 
Be sure to do the follow up and take the antibiotics if they are prescribed. 
And yep my bandage didn't last 2 hours either.

Daryl 
MN


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## DMS (Sep 15, 2013)

You've been doing this a while Ray, you should have figured you that you're supposed to cut the metal.. not the other way round.

Man, that looks pretty nasty, Just keep it clean and take care of yourself. My girlfriend managed to do something similar to the palm of her hand earlier this year (whitling knife). She's all mended now, but it's a drain on you.

I remember doing something similar man years ago. I was soldering, and knocked the iron of the bench. The reflex was to grab it before it hit the floor, which I did, by the tip. It's funny how pain works; I had a tight grip on that thing when my brain said "what are you doing stupid, that's HOT". At which point I dropped the iron. A few seconds later my nerves informed me that the damage was already done. Luckily I got away with just some blisters.

I hope you mend quickly, looks like they did a good job on the stitches at least.

- - - Updated - - -

Just to add, when my girlfriend sliced her hand, she skipped the opiates too. She just used ibuprofen. Get the extra strength stuff, and take it regularly, even if you are not hurting. It has a cumulative effect. Very effective, and it also helps the inflammation.


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## Bill C. (Sep 15, 2013)

Ray C said:


> revenge is a dish best served... with a cold file!
> 
> View attachment 60618
> 
> ...



Might try large or extra large vinyl gloves to keep the bandages clean and dry. If the fingers swell some then keep your hand up above your heart.


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## Chuck K (Sep 15, 2013)

I guess I won't whine about my little cuts and scrapes after seeing your fingers.  It can happen anytime.  I understand your reflex to catch it.  I do the same thing.  The worst part is, it probably even hurts to type.

Chuck


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## Ray C (Sep 15, 2013)

Oh yes, they gave antibiotics for 7 days at the hosp and a tetanus shot.  just finished a long walk with sash and they started throbbing pretty good at the 2mi point so we turned around and came home.  last night, noboby was awake when it happened and sash followed me everywhere and went upstairs and barked to wake everyone up. she rarely barks and never at nite.  it was interesting to watch her reaction and i saw her at the moment a brain storm came upon her that said "get the other pack members".  funny how they know.  when i went to bed she and the others took turns licking my arm.  

ill be taking it easy and may even milk this for a day off work even though i have office job.  it was easier to file that burr than to type on computer. 

Ray


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## borris (Sep 15, 2013)

Ray:
Sorry about your injury. Our thoughts and prayers will be with You for quick healing.
Steve

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2


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## johnnyc14 (Sep 15, 2013)

Yikes Ray, that's gotta hurt!!! Get well soon.

John


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## blacksmithden (Sep 15, 2013)

Yeesh. Yes...that whole instinct to grab a falling object can sometimes bite you pretty hard. Hope you're mended up soon.


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## Tamper84 (Sep 15, 2013)

Ouch. I hope you get better quickly Ray!!!

Chris


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## David (Sep 15, 2013)

Sorry to hear about the cut fingers Ray.  This stuff can happen before you know it.  Hope you have quick recovery!

David


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## CNC Dude (Sep 15, 2013)

Wow! Super sorry to read about your nasty cut! But I have to say I laughed out loud with the "Cold File Revenge" picture. Didn't see that coming and I bet neither the shard.

Hope those wounds heal quick!


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## markknx (Sep 16, 2013)

Sorry to hear about and see your hand.
Got myself last night too. But not as bad of a cut I was able to butterflt suture mine at home (the thumb) I was testing a fire piston (look it up) that I just made but I did not have char cloth, So in a late night stuppid move I used some flash cotton just to see if it would burn, well it did and fast. The piston blew out of my hand and ripped my thumb open.

Mark


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## Terrywerm (Sep 16, 2013)

Sorry to hear about your run of bad luck, Ray. As we can see, you'll be back at it in no time. Just take your time and keep them clean so that an infection doesn't make things worse.


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## cweber (Sep 16, 2013)

Hi Ray,

That's nasty! My thoughts are with you and I hope you recover soon...

Cheers, Colin


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## genec (Sep 16, 2013)

I can worry about the same thing, especially now that I'm alone, so I tried to add some extra caution when I'm working.  Unfortunately sh#& happens.  Take care.


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## Sandia (Sep 18, 2013)

Man, sorry to hear about your accident Ray. What a bummer. Hope it heals soon.


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## Stonebriar (Sep 18, 2013)

Sorry to hear about you accident Ray.  As everyone says watch out for infection.  I know I have had my share of working accidents. It's is usually after you look down and man is that blood?

Rick


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## Ray C (Sep 18, 2013)

hi folks...

Doing ok here and i'm at the "thoroughly annoyed and climbing the walls" phase.  cant do much because of the bandages and they send quick feedback if i do anything to upset their delicate sensibilities -like accidentally bonk my hand on something...  One looks kinda nasty.  I'm going for a follow up today and won't be surprised if they decide to lop off one of the pads and let it start over from scratch.  fine w/ me, its so ugly it annoys me to look at it when i clean it 2x a day.

i'm guessing another week before i can start doing small things with that hand.  

BTW, doc says that nerve endings grow at roughly 1cm per month so, ive got 1-3 cm worth of regrowth for each finger...  2 of them have some sensation but that bad one is numb on the whole segment.  

life is good...  thanks for all the kind words and well wishes.

ray


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## itsme_Bernie (Sep 18, 2013)

Wow Ray

Hang in there- going stir crazy is the biggest risk now!   As is often the case, the MIND 
Is more of a challenge than the body!  

Bernie


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## Ray C (Sep 18, 2013)

went to hand surgeon and he said its doing fine.  that one finger looks awful but it's normal bruising.  blood flow will slowly reestablish and will look better in 2 weeks.  stitches come out ...ugggh, in 10 more days.  -Boooo!

climbing the walls here...!


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## PurpLev (Sep 18, 2013)

get better soon... nothing like a shocking experience to remind us all how fragile we are and how unforgiving all these metal parts can be.


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## Ray C (Sep 18, 2013)

shawn said:


> I would have a hard time not drawing little zombie faces on my fingers
> 
> View attachment 60732



love it!

that is funny!!!!   :roflmao:


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## Sandia (Sep 18, 2013)

Ray C said:


> went to hand surgeon and he said its doing fine.  that one finger looks awful but it's normal bruising.  blood flow will slowly reestablish and will look better in 2 weeks.  stitches come out ...ugggh, in 10 more days.  -Boooo!
> 
> climbing the walls here...!
> 
> ...




Ouch !


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## Ray C (Sep 18, 2013)

Yeah, all this fun because I was degreasing a piece of metal.  Not a machine accident.  sharp burr did that...  This was about as avoidable as slipping on ice and getting injured.  I've beat myself up wondering what i could have done to prevent it but a split second decision to stabilize a falling piece of metal is hard to second guess...  I think maybe cavass gloves would have saved me from 1 or 2 stitches...  that burr was like a razor.

BTW.  The pics are nasty but I'm really hoping folks can see and learn from this one.




Sandia said:


> Ouch !


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## markknx (Sep 19, 2013)

No, no second guessing here. Things happen and they happen quick you did what most of us would have done tried to save the tool. (Tools cost money skin grows back:lmao Just glad you will be OK .


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## qualitymachinetools (Sep 19, 2013)

Looks like you did it good, wow. Like one of those cuts when you see blood and wonder where the heck thats coming from, you didn't feel anything, then you realize what happened, and are afraid to look. Then it starts to hurt. 

 That one looks painful now though! 

I had a blood covered towel here at the shop today too, but nothing like that one. I was putting an end mill in a collet, did not even feel it, then all of a sudden, blood everywhere. But nothing even close to that, I just taped it up, and it stopped bleeding after a few hours.

  Hope it feels better soon!


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## Ray C (Sep 21, 2013)

Here's the one week anniversary...  They're doing OK but still sensitive.  I can take the stitches out on two of them on Tuesday or Wednesday.  The bad one was sliced all the way up to the tip and was just flapping around.   I'm surprised most of it is taking root and growing back.  I'd pay a hundred bucks just to rub and massage e'm for a little while.  The bandages drive me up a wall but now I can start leaving the bandages off for longer periods... Ahhhhh!

Today I'm going to put the rigid protector on the bad one and clean the shop.  I've just been studying CAD/CAM for the last week and stayed completely out of the shop.  The doc asked me to take pics every few days.  They're posted down below and will be the last I post here.  -Not trying to annoy anyone with these images but just sharing how a simple mishap can cause some real grief...  Be careful out there guys...

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Ray


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## bubby-joe (Sep 21, 2013)

I did very similar with my router a few years back, three fingers to the bone hit so fast there was no pain lots of blood but no pain the dr. said he liked a puzzle and the freezing kept shooting all over told him to just sew it up I couldn't feel it anyhow.  when I went to get the stitches out 10 days later I gave him a puzzle to figure out and I removed the stitches my self  OLD red neck with very little feeling in the extremities.  In the routers defence it had more horsepower than my first lawn mower router 3.5HP, mower 1 3/4HP lawnboy it did cut very clean so sewing was a breeze.


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