Bizarre shop accident this weekend

[Hank Knight]

Its amazing how quickly you can get hurt in the shop. I try to be very careful with my tools, but sometimes the randomness of shop accidents just takes your breath away.

I have a set of metal storage shelves I keep miscellaneous stuff on. On the top shelf I keep notebooks, catalogs and other paperwork. I have a small 12 to 15 pound bench anvil that doesn't get much use. I use it for a bookend to keep the top-shelf stuff in place. Saturday afternoon, I was cleaning the place up and replacing the MSC Big Book catalog on the top shelf. In the process, I knocked the anvil off and it hit me full in the face. It was lights out for a couple of seconds. When I came to, I rushed upstairs to view the damage. On the way, I explored with my tongue and found I still had all my teeth. No significant blood flow. The mirror revealed a nasty bruised and swelling lip - but nothing more serious. I was LUCKY!

The anvil now resides on a lower shelf and I'm using the Grainger catalog for a bookend.

[Tyler Howell]

Careful Hank.
We don't permit any storage on top of cabinets and racks just for that reason.
Lesson learned:confused:

[Blaine Harrison]

Yeah, that's bizarre. :eek:

Sure glad you weren't hurt any worse than you were. LOML is a (former)safety engineer and she gets mad at me when I put something heavy on a shelf higher than my chest.

Blaine

[Matt Day]

Sounds like a Roadrunner & Wile E Coyote episode! I'm surprised it didn't break any bones. Glad you're okay.

[Chip Olson]

If you lost consciousness, it's a really good idea to get yourself checked out. Sometimes head injures aren't immediately obvious.

And I'm not sure the Grainger catalog is an improvement. :-)

[Don Baer]

Thats what you get for cleaning your shop rather then woodworking...


Glad you weren't seriously hurt

[Sam Chambers]

Wow...That's certainly not the first thing that comes to mind when talking about workshop accidents. Glad you're OK, Hank.

[Al Willits]

Glad to hear your ok, I think I might have it checked also, or at least call your doctor and see what they say.

Darn...I bet that hurt...

Al who's had some exprience with jointer blades and lost..

[Wes Bischel]

Wow Hank, that's a bit scarry. Hope things heal okay. Good advice especially for the vertically challenged like me - most things are overhead!;)

Wes

[Bob Stegemann]

Hope all is well soon. It is amazing just how fast and unexpectantly something can happen. It is that reason that reason that it scares me when I see someone driving while talking on a phone.

[Ted Calver]

Man, I hope you can buff that dent out of the anvil!! That's no way to treat your tools (Glad you are OK)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

A bench anvil on a top shelf of an unsecured shelving system?

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Glad you're OK, Tyler. You forgot the CARDINAL RULE................. HEAVY ON THE BOTTOM; Light on the top..........................................JUST LIKE ME!

not much under the hat and a lot around the waist!

Bruce

[Vaughn McMillan]

...but sometimes the randomness of shop accidents just takes your breath away...
I'm thinkin' it was the anvil in the face that took your breath away. :D

Sorry to see you were hurt, but glad to see it wasn't any worse than it was. Living in earthquake country, I try to keep the heavy stuff out of high places.

[Ken Werner]

Hank,
Bet you're glad it missed your toe.
Good to be alive, isn't it?
I'm glad your injuries weren't too awful. Thanks for the insights.
Ken

[Tom Hintz]

It is VERY good to hear you didn't get hurt any worse. I can't imagine taking an anvil (I don't care how big) in the face!

The good news here is that you might be able to sell the scenario as a screen play for one of those roadrunner vs. the coyote cartoons and make a few bucks to soothe your pain and suffering.