Minor jobsite accident - could have been a LOT worse...

[Todd Burch]

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I got in a hurry today and got shot by the tip of a 15 gauge nail into the side of my right index finger, right at the first knuckle. Ouch. I think it only went in about 1/16" or less, but it did stop when it hit the bone. It barely bled, but MAN is it sore tonight. (Can you tell I'm typing funny?!!)

Earlier, I could bend it most of the way, but now it sticks out like a sore "index finger". It probably chipped the bone a little. The skin has barely a knick on it, but the knuckle is sure sore.

I was on a ladder, 10' in the air, safety glasses and hearing protection were on. I was nailing above my head with my left hand (Senco SFN2), pointing to the right, and holding the back piece with my right hand, just a little too close, I might add. My gun was slightly off horizontal, and the nail just missed the piece I was holding. It hit the corner, and then bent upwards, and then it hit my finger. I jerked away VERY quickly and said "OUCH" really loud (no profane words, thank you very much!).

No bandaid needed. I think it will take a few days to get it back to normal. A good reminder for me to not do stupid things. And like I said - it could have been a LOT worse!

[Mark Singer]

Todd,
I have had similar nail gun episodes when nailing MDF.The nails will just bend and shoot at at weird angles. I have been lucky all these years...it is worth it to take your time...it only takes a second to have a bad one! Glad it was not serious!

[Bob Lasley]

Todd,

Glad it wasn't more serious. At least you didn't do like I did and nail two fingers together with a framing nailer. Talk about feeling stupid!! :o

One thing about it, those little wake up calls sure make you pay attention.........................for awhile, anyway!

Heal quickly, you got to much work to do!

Bob

[Tony Laros]

I leave a little blood in every house. No matter how careful you are, trim nailers will get you once in a while - nail hits a knot, or curls back at you off a drywall screw. Shot a 16 ga. through my left index finger and nailed it to my middle finger once, got the bricklayer to pull it out with pliers. Tape the fingers up with electrical tape and keep trimming. Lucky I heal quick.

Still....I feel your pain!

[David Rose]

Todd, you were blessed. And yes, "ouch" was a great word to use at that moment. You guys, and the horror stories I've heard, are convincing me I don't need the IR compressor I looked at tonight at Tractor Supply. :D The guy who built our house nailed his thumb to a form stake when no one else was near the job. I was glad it wasn't at our house! After he got the stake wiggled from the ground he drove to the ER to have the nail and stake removed. I think I'm too much of a sissy for a nail gun.

David

[Dennis Peacock]

Well Todd...!!!!! I never thought I would read something like this coming from YOU.!!!!!! I learned that lesson a few years back with a framing gun. Missed the stud and got the top of the leg.!!! Felt really good when it stopped hurting. :D

Heal quickly and I'm glad your tongue was under restraints!!!! Those times can bring a few words out of ones mouth that just isn't normally for the virgin ears.!!! :eek:

[Roger Barga]

I am glad to hear your injury wasn't serious. Posting accident reports like this is helpful imho, in that it warns others what to look out for, so thanks for pecking out this message in your current condition.

Cheers,
Roger

[Tony Falotico]

Hey Todd, glad to hear you are OK. Thanks for the wake up call, we all get a little 'foolish' sometimes, especially when trying to get that job finished.

Go easy on it, If it doesn't get better real soon I'd have a Dr. take a look at it.

[Jason Roehl]

Todd...glad you're ok. I just had basically the same thing happen to me while installing a floor while I was nailing the first few strips by hand, except in my case, the nail didn't even break the skin, it just touched me when it curled around and protruded near where I shot it in. Got my attention, though.

I'd say my worst first-hand experience was with a framing nailer. I had an older friend helping me build my shed, and as I was nailing the floor together, one nail was a little too close to the end and shot through, ricocheted, and hit him right in the center of one of his eyeglass lenses. It left just a tiny, tiny nick, but we were both very thankful he wore glasses and that it wasn't worse at that point.

Folks....think about how many swings of a hammer it takes to drive a nail--these guns apply that force in one blow....stay safe!!

[Tyler Howell]

Always one in the crowd! :mad:
Todd, Puncturs are the worst because they carry gunk (Med Term) deep into the wound, and don't bleed to flush it out. Keep it clean, & a close eye on it. Talk to the man if it doesn't clear up fast. Have you had a tetness shot lately???:eek: (Heads up to all of you guys that play with sharp toys) Alternate ice and heat to stimulate circulation in the area.

Dude I'm counting on all ten of those digits to get me through some more projects.;)

TJH (30 year EMS Instructor)

[Waymon Campbell]

Todd - I had a framing nailer incident when LOML and I were building my shop. I was tired, it was the end of the day, and I was in a hurry. That's three reasons to stop working NOW! Anyway, nail curled up and went thru my left index finger but missed the bone. My wife was right beside me when it happened and I think it scared her worse that me. After that little wake up call I never again work with power tools when I am tired.

Glad to hear you are all right and looking forward to meeting you this evening when I pick up the pen blanks.

Waymon...

[Dave Brandt]

Glad you're OK Todd! Jason's point "thinking about how many swings of a hammer it takes to drive a nail" and your little accident will have me thinking about where my hands are when using a gun! Heal fast and watch out for infections (puncture wounds are the worst!).

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I got in a hurry today and got shot by the tip of a 15 gauge nail into the side of my right index finger, right at the first knuckle. Ouch. I think it only went in about 1/16" or less, but it did stop when it hit the bone. It barely bled, but MAN is it sore tonight. (Can you tell I'm typing funny?!!)

Sorry to hear about your finger, but glad it didn't go very far in. Back in '97 I shot myself with w/an 18 ga. pin nailer right through the nail of my thumb...ouch! That was thankfully the only skin breaking episode with a nail gun I've ever had (knocking on wood as I type).

I was holding a small piece of trim for an aquarium door set I was building and the nail went into the dark grain and came out the side...yikes!!

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi Todd

Let me add my sympathy/empathy to your plight. I haven't nailed myself with a nailer yet, but I have used one of those old fashioned hammers on my thumb enough times! :eek: Let me reinforce Tyler as well - go see a doc. It isn't manly to avoid the doctor and have your finger rot off, or worse.

Heal quickly.

Bill

[Mike Scoggins]

I jerked away VERY quickly and said "OUCH" really loud (no profane words, thank you very much!).


Todd,

I didn't know you had "nail biting" habit! :D But, glad to hear you said "Ouch." This made me think of something I heard from one of my friends at church this last weekend. The quote was something like this:

"When the bucket gets bumped, what's in it splashes out."

Glad your bucket is clean, and hope you have no more bucket bumping going on.

Mike

[Bob Weisner]

Todd:

About 4 years ago, I was installing a new carpet in the hallway of my house. It was getting late and my father wanted to finish the job before supper. He was using a staple gun and had only about a foot of the carpet to nail down. Well, he had his fingers too close to the staple gun and ended up nailing his thumb to the carpet. The staple went straight through the bone and in the carpet. He was stuck to the carpet for about a minute before we were able to free his hand . We had to use a screwdriver to pry up the staple enough so that we could grab the staple with a pliers.After we got the staple lifted up enough, we grabbed the staple with pair of pliers and pulled the staple out .

Bob

[Mike Mastin]

When I was building the "Garage Mahal" a few years ago I had many near misses with my framing nailer. I can not count the times that I was in an ackward position (usually nailing over my head) and either saw a nail protruding very close to my grasping hand. It is easily done, especially when you get tired and/or in a hurry.

Glad that it looks like the damage was minimal :-)

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Todd
Yes, by all means Get to a Doctor
Get a Tetanus shot
I had a problem with my leg, because of a puncture, about 30 years ago, (young and foolish), and was on crutches for about 10 weeks - due to infection.
D :rolleyes:
Make that 40 years ago - gracious - where does the time go?

[Tom Sweeney]

Todd, Thank God it wasn't any worse - you have too much work to do to pay for your new toy to be out of commission :rolleyes:

Good to hear that OUCH was all that came out too - don't think I could say the same if it was me :(

Posts like this help us all to remember to be more carefull while working with our tools. I've never been one to think about safety much when working on a project, in fact every year a group of us from Church goes down to Appalachia to work on a home repair project. We always have a RN assigned to my team :rolleyes: & I usually end up hurting something in my zeal to get the job done.

So thanks for posting this rather painful lesson so the rest of us are reminded to be careful & I hope you heal quickly.

[John Miliunas]

Owey!!! Sorry to hear about the mishap, Todd. Really glad it wasn't any worse. Yup, I've had a few close calls, but have been fortunate enough that I didn't get "nailed". Hope it heals quickly and yeah, may not be a bad idea to see the GP, just to be sure. :cool:

[Todd Burch]

Mike Scoggins - I've heard that before, in a different way:

"When a tube of toothpaste gets squeezed - what comes out?"

Well, today the finger is a little swollen, and a bit more stiff, and a little numb. I'll put a call in to the GP after while to find out when my last tetanus shot was. May get an x-ray too - for good measure. Hey, if I get one, and it shows anything interesting, I'll post it. Aside from Noah's wife's ultrasound he just posted, it might be the first x-ray posted on SMC!! (Leadin' the pack...!)

[Tyler Howell]

Gee, I didn't know this was war story one-ups-man-ship? Being the gentleman I'm not going to tell you the gory stories and certainly not going to show pictures, but there was a time I was teaching Life support in many industrial settings (required by OSHA). Three of the stories come to mind. (This ain't no sh**)
One guy nailed his foot to the floor. Another from my favorite state to the East (Packer land) Actually nailed his hard hat to his head. No permanent damage. In fact he didn't know he was hit till he couldn't remove his hard hat. Lastly there was the gent that hit himself in the chest with a framer.... You could see the nail pulse with each beat of his heart.

Makes you think a little?
Let's Be Careful Out There!:mad:

[Jack Diemer]

My only POWER tool accident was when I was working over my head with a framing nailer. It double fired, one into the joist and one into the web between my thumb and index finger. Had to pull and twist the nail out. Like you said, didn't bleed a lot, but hurt like crazy the next 3 days or so. I have heard of countless nail gun stories of people nailing themselves to things.

As for HAND tools, I have visible scars from many of those things. When I am the motor, I seem to hurt myself.

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

Well Todd

I am real glad you we not injured any worse than you were. I wont repeat the advice about puncture wounds, ok.

My wife learned my lesson with nailers she was putting up bannisters on the rail around the stairway in my shop. She was by her self and my daughter did n0t know where she was. So all by her lonesome she was going to finsh the job I started. and shot a framing nail through her index finger it ricochete off the ceiling and hit the dog . Who promptly vacated the area. So she called me at work to tell me, like I could do anything. So she went to the doctor and he gave her a shot and sent her home.

From a distance I told her she could not play with my toys when I am not home.

The good thing is when she is "Helping me" I can get the framer out and she dissapears.

Take care of your finger Todd.

Roger

[Don Abele]

Todd, sorry to hear about your accident, but glad it wasn't worse. As others have alluded to, the nail gun is a very dangerous animal. I've seen as many injuries from it, as I have from table saws, band saws, etc. Having seen them all, I am overly cautious when working with them - don't want to wind up in one of my journals.

Speaking of which...I have a whole collection of nail gun x-rays if you all are interested (they're x-rays so not gorey).

Todd, keep an eye on that finger. Swelling is normal, but if redness and heat begin developing, you really should get it looked at. The worse part of puncture wounds is that the entrance is small and closes over trapping bacteria in the wound. If you were my patient, I'd shoot an x-ray to check for chips, check your tetanus status and update if over 5 years, and put you on 10 days of antibiotics empirically (just in case).

Be well, heal fast, and shoot straight...

Doc

[David P McNamara]

Todd,
I know its not a contest as to who has had the worst accident but my friends now describe me as the village idiot. On a Sunday morning about two years ago my senco framing nail gun missfired and bounced shootin a second nail into my project. End result, the nail came out the side of my project and into my knee under the kneecap and into my femur locking my leg in a bent position. The orthopedic surgeon and his partner could not believe when doing the MRI that htere was no damage at all to the knee cap or surrounding bones. The method of extraction left alot to be desired, two e-vac helicopter pilots walked into the emergency room with the doctor carrying a tool box. I asked what they were there for and the reply was, one to hold you still and the other to hold your leg. He then pulled out a pair of linesmen pliers and twisted and turned the nail until it came out. It seemed a bit primative but did the job. I've got to give the wife credit where credit is due, she did try to pull out the nail out before driving me to the hospital.
David

[David P McNamara]

Todd,
I know its not a contest as to who has had the worst accident but my friends now describe me as the village idiot. On a Sunday morning about two years ago my senco framing nail gun missfired and bounced shootin a second nail into my project. End result, the nail came out the side of my project and into my knee under the kneecap and into my femur locking my leg in a bent position. The orthopedic surgeon and his partner could not believe when doing the MRI that htere was no damage at all to the knee cap or surrounding bones. The method of extraction left alot to be desired, two e-vac helicopter pilots walked into the emergency room with the doctor carrying a tool box. I asked what they were there for and the reply was, one to hold you still and the other to hold your leg. He then pulled out a pair of linesmen pliers and twisted and turned the nail until it came out. It seemed a bit primative but did the job. I've got to give the wife credit where credit is due, she did try to pull out the nail out before driving me to the hospital.
David
I forgot the x-ray attachment

[Adan Madrid]

Todd,

:( OUCH! I had a friend do that recently with a framing gun. . . not pretty. I am glad it was not as bad as it could have been. It's a lesson for all of us to be careful in the shop.

[Todd Burch]

Hey Doc - let's see 'em!! Start a new thread so they won't be missed! Todd

[Jason Roehl]

Hey Doc - let's see 'em!! Start a new thread so they won't be missed! Todd

Sounds good to me...and it would be a good reminder to us all to work safe with those pneumatic weapons...errrr...tools.

[Chris Padilla]

Doc, they may not be gory but David's x-ray post caused me the "hibbie-jibbies"!!! Yowzer! :eek:

[Don Abele]

LOL...the ones I have are a lot clearer and some are amazing. I'll post them tonight when I get home. I'll put them on a new thread here in the PT forum.

Be well,

Doc