A cautionary tale

I

Igrant

New member
Yesterday morning we were out hiking with a good friend who had cut his finger on his table saw and was dealing with an infection. Two other friends have in the last two years cut off fingers on their table saws. I was feeling pretty righteous about how careful I am.
Yesterday afternoon I decided it was time to replace my batteries so I carefully unscrewed the terminals, took off the wires and lifted the batteries out of their respective lazerettes. I bought replacement batteries, lifted each into place, strapped them down, reconnected the wires and finger tightened the nuts on the terminals. I tightened one down with my ratchet wrench and was thinking to myself this was one of the easiest projects I have ever had on the boat. That was when I was not paying attention and I shorted my ring across the wrench to the other terminal on the battery. A flash, instant pain and then the smell of burning flesh. It stopped hurting which it turned out was because all the nerves were burnt.

I ended up in emergency where they cut off my charred ring and then treated me for a third degree burn right around my pinkie.

The irony is it was my steel engineers ring I received when I got my degree in electrical engineering.

The lesson - pay attention, don't let your mind wander and remove rings before doing even what seems like simple electrical work.
 
wow, Hope your ok. I don't ever wear my wedding ring as of years ago I almost had my finger shredded when it hooked on a heavy peace of iron that I was throwing off the truck onto the ground. Very scary. Great word of knowledge - Thank you.

Richard
 
Sorry about that. I kinda know how you feel, as I have a scar that matches the flex-o-band on my wrist watch from a very similar situation.

Jay
 
Oh, that Ohms Law. That's why my wife give me a wedding ring made of plastic...and it better reflected what she thought of me! All joking aside, I won't wear any rings after I saw a finger that was nearly mangled when the ring hooked on a protruding nail as a fellow worker dropped a heavy board. There are many ways that rings can injure you...just one, and only visit if you have a strong stomach:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/graphic-t ... eer-stand/

Now that I've ruined your dinner, I guess you could take rings off when you work, which is what my machinist father-in-law did, or always work with gloves but my wedding ring is now safely (for me) in a drawer. I told my wife I'd get a tattoo around the ring finger if she wanted, but I will never wear a ring. Same thing with a watch band...mine has a plastic band, and I've cut it a bit so that it will break if it snags. I hope you heal quick.
 
I haven't worn my wedding ring since my honeymoon for the basic reason that it is a hazard while working on my ranch. Before I was married and working in the oil patch, I had two co-workers missing their ring fingers. One was a farmer and while desending the ladder off his combine he hooked his ring and left the finger behind. Typical farmer, he finished his harvest before going to the doctor. The second was a machinist and he caught his ring on a lathe and it was lost in a millisecond. I work with tools, machinery and bison everyday and I think my finger is more useful than my wedding ring.
 
That sounds really painful. I hope you heal up quickly.

I caught my wedding ring descending a ladder and nearly ripped it off years ago. I haven't worn it since. Some meth heads in Everett broke into my car and swiped the ring, and I never looked back.
 
I did the wrist watch band thing when reaching under a truck dash. It shorted to ground through the band.
I have some permanent marks from it.

Also caught my wedding ring in the window slot of a Kenworth tractor door. Jumped off the running board and it was caught on the door. Had to cut it off with a side cutter.
 
Mmmm,table saw here!! Shortened two fingers by one joint,broke tip bone of the third & filleted the thumb,all in the blink of an eye. Shortened my rock climbing hobby as that was my primary holding on hand as I searched through my hardware sling with my right. Losing two soft pads brought that hobby to a screeching halt. Just as well, I was already in my 60s
 
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