Shop horror stories

[Nate]

Haha



I have caught myself on fire too many times to count welding or grinding.



Sweatshirts are horrible for it. . or the frayed ends of jeans, like a hole on your knee or on the bottom of the leg, etc.



I was doing some overhead welding and the dang foam headband on my helmet caught fire! I had a welders cap on though, so didn't do anything. I didn't even notice until I was like W T F is the smell... and took my helmet off to look under the truck. :-laf

 

[EdK]

On fire too!

Hate to admit it, but I set myself on fire last week. Was welding in the shop and had just picked up a lined flannel shirt to wear while my denim was in the wash. Caught a wiff of that fabric burning smell and saw a shop towel on the bench burning; not too uncommon. While I was stomping out the shop towel, I noticed the FLAMES on my back!!! I jumped out the shop door into a snow drift to put it out. It burned through the "new" shirt, the shirt under it and my under shirt before giving me a third degree about 3" by 4". STUPID MOVE with the flannel shirt!

 

[WDixon27]

i've been doing some night work at a buddys gun shop and last night the guy that was working at the bench behind me managed to send some grinder sparks into a trash can that had some carb cleaner drippings in it, he grabs the flaming trash can and heads for the back door, which has a 4 foot box fan running in front of it, which really excites both him and the fire, i just grabbed the big rubber mat i was standing on and slapped it on top of the can once he stopped carrying it around :-laf

 

[idacal]

I drill water wells with a tophead drive rig and my boss was running the rig and the bit locked up. it was an older rig and pressure relief hadnt been working for a while. he was ticked off and was not watching the gauges I saw 6000 psi and got back from the rig. he blew the 1. 25" hydraulic tophead hose end off. Its abought 24' long and right above the operator. The hose came down hit the ground whipped back up and hit him between the legs hard enough to throw him off the rig this was 5 years ago needless to say he still has a pain that wont go away

 

[MEby]

Ran my thumb into a hot handheld grinder wheel a couple years ago..... I guess thats what it feels like to get branded.

 

[ropinfool2]

Friend of mine left a nylon ty-down strap loose in the bed of his Chevy pick-up. The end of it fell between the bed and the cab. After a short trip around the driveshaft the big end crashed thru the back glass before ripping a groove between the bed and cab.

That just happened to me a couple months ago!

 

[Moab4x4]

Lessons Learned.

NEVER try to cut an angled hole with a 4" holesaw, you cannot guarantee that you can hold it if it hits something.



Neighbor was roofing his shop and using the autotrip on the nailer put an $8,000 roofing nail into his bent knee. He had to climb down the ladder with the leg bent as nobody else was home. He was lucky as the nail was buried roughly centered in the joint, after they got it out and cleaned up a little he just has a little limp. Air Nailers are nice, but respect them!!



Don't lift the fencepost pounder high enough to get your finger between the

t-post and the pounder. ( I still have the finger, but after 5 years, I still don't have all the nerves. )



If the job requires 2 Hi Lift jacks, don't do it, it won't be as stable as you think.



Don't let the paint removing chemicals sit in the sun while you are getting the truck ready to strip. When I popped out the metal seal found under the cap, the quart can emptied a good bit of stripper on my face. I am really glad I wear glasses! That stuff ate a layer of skin off before I got it washed off, and that wasn't very long either!!!





The funniest experience was when I removed a gas tank from an old Studebaker wagon that had not moved in many years. I crawled under the car, unhooked the tank and gently set it down on my chest. That is when I realized that the HORNETS NEST between the tank and the floorboard just got ripped in two. I have no recollection of extricating myself from under the car. My wife had no idea I could run that fast that far... . LOL



I am just glad that my guardian angels have been taking care of me when I have really done some not too bright things resulting in bangs, booms, whooshes, and "#$%&*@* that hurts". Thank the Lord that I am still here and that everything pretty much still works!

 

[Sled Puller]

Moab, remind me not to work within a 2 mile radious of you, YIKES!:-laf