Dumbest armouring injury

peteyfrogboy · Post by **peteyfrogboy** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 5:58 am

Let's see, I know I've gotten a few minor cuts from small plates spinning on the drill press, but nothing serious.

When I was in high school, I was making my first helm. I knew nothing about real armoring techniques, so I was making a sort of welded spangen sort of arrangement. This meant I had two big halves with sharp pointy bits along the top that I was going to weld together into a dome. I was eager to keep working on it one night, so I went down into the shop in sandals to do... something, I forget what. Somehow the piece I was working on dropped off the workbench and one of the pointy bits stabbed into my right big toe just beside the toenail. I hobbled upstairs leaving a little trail of blood and decided that armoring while tired was not such a good idea.

More famously, a friend of mine was trying to put a new hole in the strap holding his leg harness to his belt. With the point of a knife. While wearing it. He sliced through the strap, into his leg, and nicked his femoral artery. Much blood and hilarity ensued. He wasn't allowed to handle anything sharper than a spoon for months.

ROC · Post by **ROC** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:37 am

about 2:30 a.m. this morning I lit a rag on fire with sparks from my angle grinder.

Geoffrey of Blesedale · Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:37 pm

I have had to remove rivets from my spangenhelm for reworking. The chisel I used to cut the rivet head is not very big, nor is the punch I use to knock them out thru the hole. I had repeatedly hit my left hand with the hammer as it skipped off the chisel or punch. The first couple times wasn't too bad, but after the 5th or 6th I was ready to throw the hammer.

Another time my hammer missed the target in the vise and swung into my crotch. It did not hit hard, but as you all know, it don't have to! Mildly sore for a few days.

LITTLE LOCUS · Post by **LITTLE LOCUS** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:36 am

Oh dear God. I've never injured myself while armouring. Does that make me a freak? A weirdo? A reject of Mother nature? Will all the real armourers who have almost maimed, burned, neutered, killed, or generally made themselves candidates to a Darwin award, point to me with a finger (if they do STILL have fingers, that is) and laugh me off, away from their happy self-injuring community? Will I ever be able to look at my fiancee's eyes without shame, being finally able to say her "look, dear, I just looped my left arm off with an angle grinder"?

L.L.

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--
"We must. We can. We will".
(Christopher Reeve)

Alcyoneus · Post by **Alcyoneus** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:45 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by LITTLE LOCUS:
Oh dear God. I've never injured myself while armouring. Does that make me a freak? A weirdo? A reject of Mother nature?

L.L.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, just an amateur.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 8:18 am

One of my standard responses to the morning pleasantry "How are you doing?" is: "I've still got all of my fingers and toes." Given my hobbies and proclivities, I regard this as informative, relevant and positive.

------------------
Full time civil servant, part time blacksmith, and seasonal Viking ship captain.

Visit your National Parks: www.nps.gov

Go viking: www.longshipco.org/

Hit hot iron: www.anvilfire.com

Markland Medieval Mercenary Militia: http://www.markland.org

Metalbender · Post by **Metalbender** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 1:29 pm

drilling holes in a spahgenhelm balanced on my leg,then breaking off the bit in the drill chuck due to pushing too hard and impaling my thigh with the broken end.

It was interesting getting the jeans fabric unwrapped enough to withdraw it.

I drill on the bench now.

Sven

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examples of my work can be seen at : http://groups.msn.com/Helmschmied

Crows Anvil · Post by **Crows Anvil** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:40 pm

While working an my articulation-experiment.
The two lames inside the knee-cop left only space for a newspaper after a day where nothing happens.
So, with the upper and the lower armour connected to the lames it works as a good shear...and it did with my fingers between as the upper armour felt of my hand.

Thank god only a contusion.

Chris

Osgkar · Post by **Osgkar** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 7:46 pm

The worst for me was cutting a hose clamp while trying to repair a sword at Pensic I caught the piece of clamp in my right eye 7mm laceration through my cornea. Ow. I looked for the saftey glasses first and could not find them as they had been borrowed and not returned. My thought what's the worst thing that could happen?

Ld Ragnar MacHardy · Post by **Ld Ragnar MacHardy** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:39 pm

Osgkar wrote:The worst for me was cutting a hose clamp while trying to repair a sword at Pensic I caught the piece of clamp in my right eye 7mm laceration through my cornea. Ow. I looked for the saftey glasses first and could not find them as they had been borrowed and not returned. My thought what's the worst thing that could happen?

I remember so well when that happened. It was the same war where you almost lost a finger stealing all the raw beef out of the pot lol.

Ragnar

Destichado · Post by **Destichado** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:49 pm

white mountain armoury wrote:i was test fitting a helm, making sure the grill had decent clearance, grill was freshly welded and i burnt my head putting it on, just because its not red does not mean its not hot

hee hee hee! I'll see that and raise you one. =D

I was working on the top spike of my polaxe. The steel we used was redhard, so I had a friend come over to help as a striker. We were going to take a break and I had made a point to explain to him how hot this stuff was, and to beware the black heat. We walked out of the shop, and I realized I'd forgotten something back inside. I walk back into the labyrinth looking for whatever it was, and I absently grabbed something to move it out of the way.

*psssssssss* YEOUCH!

I'd grabbed the spike we were working on, not more than a minute after I'd *just* warned my friend about the same thing. And to top it off, he was standing in the doorway watching.

Andrew Young · Post by **Andrew Young** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:58 pm

LITTLE LOCUS wrote:Oh dear God. I've never injured myself while armouring. Does that make me a freak? A weirdo? A reject of Mother nature? Will all the real armourers who have almost maimed, burned, neutered, killed, or generally made themselves candidates to a Darwin award, point to me with a finger (if they do STILL have fingers, that is) and laugh me off, away from their happy self-injuring community? Will I ever be able to look at my fiancee's eyes without shame, being finally able to say her "look, dear, I just looped my left arm off with an angle grinder"?

L.L.

------------------
--
"We must. We can. We will".
(Christopher Reeve)

Note to Fate......

Rasper77 · Post by **Rasper77** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:10 pm

Other than hitting my fingers Ive never hurt myself armoring.

But wood working I have done a few.. Ever not been paying full attention to what your cutting on a table saw and have it Kick.. Not fun. 2x6 to the abdomen..

I brad Nailed my finger to a chair once..

Pay attention when working with power tool what a thought.

asbrand · Post by **asbrand** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:23 pm

Mine would have been many years ago at Pennsic. This particular instance was like Pennsic 22 or 23. Don't remember exactly.

I used to be a merchant, making leather goods, including armour (and doing repairs) on-site. Custom work.

Anyhue...

Was like the monday or tuesday of the war, and I'm sitting there in my pavillion in the middle of the merchant area, and just put a brand new blade in my X-acto knife. Not two seconds later, I manage to stab it straight into my palm, about a 1/2" below the middle and ring fingers. Straight to the bone.

How the hell I did that, I have no idea. To this day, I still have a nice white scar to show off my stupidity.

Spent the rest of the war with a bandage on it, and a surgical latex glove on my hand, to keep out contaminants. Worst part was...it was the hand I primarily used for cutting leather!

Adam Coulson · Post by **Adam Coulson** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:56 pm

wow old thread.

I did this at work, not really armoring...
Im a jeweler, and was running a little torch(oxy acetylene) and had a magnifying visor on so it obstructed my view like a baseball cap. That morning, one of my co-workers had found a leak in one of my lines before I got to work, and fixed it by shortening the line a few inches. I didnt really think anything of it. I had a pretty good size flame going for such a small torch/tip and I leaned in to look real close at what I had just soldered. I lifted my torch up and out of the way like I normally do, but because of the way he shortened one line the torch spun around in my hand and pointed right at my head. I didnt see it cause of the visor. Burned lots of the hair off one side of my head. (ouch) Thankfully the visor took most of the flame so I only got the reflection and first degree burns. Still had to shave my head to make it look right hehe. Not a good look for me I find....
Dumb.

Andrew Young · Post by **Andrew Young** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:16 pm

I think its a question of statistics...the more you make, the more youre likely to get hurt.

...such as the molten blob of aluminum that dripped down onto my loafers, causing third degree burns on the instep of my foot.

...or the metal splinters I get in my eye every so often...even with goggles.

....or the stiches I have in my thumb (right now) from the grinding wheel that slipped....

What doesnt kill you, only makes you more metallic.

.

Peter Baker · Post by **Peter Baker** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:39 pm

The best I have so far:
I was beveling a knife on my anvil, and, for some ungodly reason, decided to put my head right over the piece to get a better look while I was hammering, and I broke my nose with a 4 pound sledge.

Destichado · Post by **Destichado** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:41 pm

You win.

Maeryk · Post by **Maeryk** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:45 pm

Not an "armouring injury" per se.. but I have two:

Jammed a 3/4 inch chisel into my hand, just between the thumb and first finger, about an inch deep towards the palm.. that was fun.. (and a long trip in the ER and two different surgeons)..

The goofiest though, was an exacto knife I had set down which began rolling, and I ignored, while working on some other part of the project. I had my left hand splayed on my left thing, and the knife rolled, and fell, point first, and pinned my hand _to_ my thigh through the web between my thumb and first finger.

No stitches.. but choice words.

(as you may have figured out, I apparently have a love/hate relationship with my thumbs.. I've tried to cut/break them both off at least four or five times)

Louis de Leon · Post by **Louis de Leon** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:05 pm

Maeryk wrote:The goofiest though, was an exacto knife I had set down which began rolling, and I ignored, while working on some other part of the project. I had my left hand splayed on my left thing, and the knife rolled, and fell, point first, and pinned my hand _to_ my thigh through the web between my thumb and first finger.

Amazing! I did almost the same thing in high school.

I was working on some wood with an exacto knife on an angled drafting bench in the shop room. Had my plans out, a pencil, all my gear.

My pencil started to roll off the desk, so I cleverly caught it between my legs.

It was actually my exacto knife. I buried it in my right thigh.

Mad Matt · Post by **Mad Matt** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:15 pm

Hehe I'm planning to re-do my roof this summer and my girlfriend is TERRIFIED. I'm just not careful.

Dropped a 4x8 sheet of 16ga on it's edge on my toe while wearing sandals.

Was making my air planishing hammer and needed to cut some slots in the edges of some 1/4 x3x3 angle iron. Was doin it with a cutting disk. Disk blows up and fires the angle grinder out of my hand towards me. Lucky thing it was fired away from the electrical outlet. This may not sound that stupid but I did it two more times. Had a gash in my ankle to show for it. Went through jeans and my sock. Ran out of cutting disks and decided this may not be the best idea.

Was closing a hole in a CoP lame with a ball peen hammer. Hammered the hole shut then went to hammer the bulge a the edge of the lame inward to get some thickness back. Hammered it on edge on the face of an anvil. With my finger between lame and anvil. It's nifty when you get a cut and it's got fat bulging out of it. Lucky I still have the finger.

Aparantly it's not that dumb cause someone elce did it. But I wound my thumb into a chainmaille coil. Actually wrapped my thumb around the dowel inside the coil. Broke it and had to walk to the grocery store with my thumb tip pointing at a 90 degree angle SIDEWAYS to find my wife to drive me to the hospital.

Not sure exactly how it happened but flipped a mig gun around in my hand just after welding and burnt the tip of my nose with the wire.

Lit myself on fire welding because I was wearing jeans with frayed holes in the knees. Not stupid enough you say? Well I lit my lumberjack shirt on fire the next weekend while welding because it had frayed holes in the elbows.

There's probably more. What can I say I'm an idiot.

Destichado · Post by **Destichado** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:44 pm

Is it wrong that I'm hearing Yakety Sax in my head when I read that?

Peter Baker · Post by **Peter Baker** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:47 pm

No, it's just really funny.

Destichado · Post by **Destichado** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:07 pm

says the hammerman.

Sticks with ferrous stones on them can break your bones but itunes can never hurt me... =D

Peter Baker · Post by **Peter Baker** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:23 pm

Dierick · Post by **Dierick** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:49 pm

I knocked myself out with the welder the other day.

My tig is hooked up the leads on the arc welder, and has a tendancy to give me a little shock when I rest both hands on the metal to start a spark. Nothing big. Well, my dad uses the arc welder to weld some heavy duty stuff(over an inch thick), so he had it cranked up to the max and I forgot to turn it down before I started. Shocked the shit out of me, spazzed, head met the corner of the welding trailer and I was out. Not for very long, but enough to know I was out. Thankfully I woke up, cause I was low on argon and didnt want to have it run out while I lay in a heap in the dirt.

badvoc · Post by **badvoc** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:52 pm

Hi guys my best one was when I was at college doing fire welding.Just getting the metal to start flowing nicely this guy runs up to me and starts beating me on the shoulder , I turn around really annoyed and pull the piece out the fire.
I look around and notice the whole of the shoulder of my t shirt is missing,he said the flames were about a foot high.I didn't feel a thing and didn't burn probably because I was sweating so much.
Nowadays I seem mostly to set my coveralls on fire whilst grinding
Badvoc

Konstantin the Red · Post by **Konstantin the Red** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:14 am

Maeryk wrote:Not an "armouring injury" per se. . . I had my left hand splayed on my left thing. . .

I am glad this point was clarified later in the paragraph...

Hands-free wire feed apparatus is the one true way to powerwinding. Hew always to the GROPP: the Golden Rule Of Painless Powerwinding of mail wire coils is Never touch wire while the drill is turning.

Uryen · Post by **Uryen** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:38 am

I have marks on the back of my left hand from when I stabbed myself repeatedly trying to hand file a filigree rose out of a couple of stainless steel bookends I made. [picture of bookends]

I also knocked the wind out of myself once when a big piece of CRS that galled on the lathe came shooting towards me at 100mph.

Then there was that time I was nearly run over by a 36 Chevy I was working on... [picture of 36 chev]

Milos N. · Post by **Milos N.** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 6:36 am

OK, not armouring, not me, but here it goes...

A carpenter that I know, managed to sit down on a bench saw (not sute about the word, it's the rotary saw mounted on a bench along lith some other lethal tools), and make a 5-6'' long cut in his but.

Maeryk · Post by **Maeryk** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:38 am

Milos N. wrote:OK, not armouring, not me, but here it goes...

A carpenter that I know, managed to sit down on a bench saw (not sute about the word, it's the rotary saw mounted on a bench along lith some other lethal tools), and make a 5-6'' long cut in his but.

Shopmaster?

Maeryk · Post by **Maeryk** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:47 am

Dierick wrote:I knocked myself out with the welder the other day.

My tig is hooked up the leads on the arc welder, and has a tendancy to give me a little shock when I rest both hands on the metal to start a spark. Nothing big. Well, my dad uses the arc welder to weld some heavy duty stuff(over an inch thick), so he had it cranked up to the max and I forgot to turn it down before I started. Shocked the shit out of me, spazzed, head met the corner of the welding trailer and I was out. Not for very long, but enough to know I was out. Thankfully I woke up, cause I was low on argon and didnt want to have it run out while I lay in a heap in the dirt.

Oh hell.. at the shop I used to work at, the first thing you _DID_ was check to see where your ground was mounted, and what the welder was at.

A couple of the most notable (and repeated) tricks were

A) Crank the Tig way up and clip the ground to the steel chair leg.

B) Paint a piece of paper pitch black, and sandwich it in between the glasses on the flip-down welding helmets.

Best one we ever saw though.. one of the night shift guys always ALWAYS left his tools all over the welding table, and the day shift guy had to clean them up. So, one day, the day-shift guy filled up the night shift guys toolbox at the end of his shift, and welded it shut.

Then he welded it to the table, all the way around the base.

_THEN_ he drilled a small hole in the top of the box, and threaded in a grease zerk, and applied the air-powered greasegun to it, and filled it with grease.

Then he backed the zerk out, and smoothed over the hole.

Then he left for the week on vacation.

Ingelri · Post by **Ingelri** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:26 am

I once put a philips screwdriver through the meaty part of my hand between my thumb and forefinger. While it didn't go all the way through, it went far enough to start to poke out the opposite side.

I learned my lesson about holding an object with a screw in it and pushing too hard with the screw driver.

To this day I have a star shaped scar on my palm.

Ingelri

Ivan · Post by **Ivan** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:15 am

So I was in the shop working on turning a POS 3 pound sledge into a new dishing hammer. I had put a fresh wheel on the grinder and was going to town. Now I am the type that usually dresses proper especially when I am working in the shop. Today was no different. I was wearing Carhart pants, and a leather work apron. I had my hair pulled back and was wearing my glasses plus a full face shield. Leather welding gloves with the full gauntlets that go to your elbow.. I was pretty much covered. Atleast I thought I was. Well the new wheel I put on decided to shatter into three pieces at full RPM. A piece of the wheel and the three pound sledge I was working on shot down into my foot. A sad foot the was covered with a Keen sandal. I forgot to put on my steel toe boots...

Baron Alejandro · Post by **Baron Alejandro** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:42 am

Maeryk wrote:Then he left for the week on vacation.

BRILLIANT