glad it didn't turn out any worse
Holesaws are dangerous – large holesaws are bl**dy lethal!!!!
Ok, I’m usually a bit flippant about power tool injuries, tend to think “well it’s only common sense” - well yes basically it is, but sometimes we
all do things without really thinking about possible consequences.
I’m 53 years old & been playing with cars since I was 14 or so, so it’s not as tho’ I’m inexperienced, worst injury I’d ever sustained was one
stitch in the palm of my hand over 20 years ago when I managed to stab myself with a screw driver - until yesterday…………………
I was cutting a hole in a floorpan from underneath, as no access from above, using a 3” holesaw - yes, larger than usual, but in this case necessary.
I started to drill up from under the chassis so lying on the floor, the guide drill wasn’t very sharp so was using full speed on a mains 750W drill,
once the guide hole was thro’ I foolishly just didn’t think & carried on with the drill at full power with the 3” holesaw, it probably only
actually needed about 30 Rpm! Next thing it snagged something & was ripped out of my hands smashing me so hard in the face it almost knocked me
out – I didn’t know what part of the drill had hit me & was sh*tting myself as to what I might have done – put a hand to my face & it came
away literally covered in blood. Legged it indoors & grabbed a towel to staunch the bloodflow & managed to alert my missus (who thank god was
in or don’t know what I’d have done) & she drove me to hospital – how she managed not to look absolutely horrified at what I’d done I will never
know. At this stage I didn’t know how bad it was, I was thinking maybe an inch or so tear above my lip. I thought just the drill had hit me &
split the skin against my teeth. Unfortunately, not so.
The more squeamish might not want to read the next paragraph. Long story short the holesaw had hit me at the side of the mouth & run straight up
above my lip & just under the nose, it hadn’t just taken skin off the outside, it cut straight thro’ the flesh above the lip to the inside of my
mouth, machined a straight line across the top of my front teeth, actually cutting into the teeth themselves where they join the gum & it just
caught the bottom of my nose, it also severed the facial artery, hence the amount of blood. During the doctors examination he actually poked his
finger thro’ the hole from the inside of my mouth to the outside whilst checking for bone/tooth fragments b4 stitching it all back together! They had
to cauterize the artery b4 they could even start stitching.
The result is I now have about 40 stitches or so both inside & outside my mouth & running along a line about 3” long from below the left hand
corner of my mouth to just below the right side of the bottom of my nose. For those of you that know me & already thought I was ugly – well, it
hasn’t made me any prettier, put it that way! I look like something out of a horror movie.
I’m not looking for sympathy, what happened was entirely down to my own stupidity & carelessness, I’m actually very lucky it wasn’t a lot worse, I
could easily have been blinded, had it knocked me out I would probably have bled to death b4 anyone found me, it could have sliced my neck & the
carotid artery instead of my face …………… I just hope that by publicizing this on here it just might make one or two of you think a little more b4
piling in & subsequently mutilating yourselves or, worse, others. Holesaws are amongst the most dangerous tools out there, probably second only to
“the tool” being used on the angry grinder, they have no guards or anything to prevent injury, but they only NEED very low Rpm to use them, had I
stopped to think about that then when the holesaw snagged it would have done nothing more than jerk the drill which I would easily have been able to
hold.
Anyway, I’m off out to the garage to get some work done, can’t sit on my a*se all day just cos I’m mildly damaged!
Take care guys! (& gals!)& keep smiling – something I’m finding a touch tricky at the moment.
f'ing hell!
glad it didn't turn out any worse
Jeez! Hope you get well soon, that sounds very very nasty As you say it could have been nastier though not by much!
Ooh.. thats really nasty... It does worry me somtimes when im working in the garage... would anyone one find me if I had an accident?
Play safe kids... and use protection!
im glad you're in one piece (even if there are stitches holding it together).
i hope you have a speedy recovery.
Photos please...
I did actually think of posting a pic, as a warning,but seriously it's not pretty - wouldn't want to put anyone off their food!!!
Sorry to hear about that.
I wish you get better soon and not have any ugly scars.
We always need to remember how leathal these things are. Every year someone gets hurt.
I hope you get better soon mate, and scars can make a man look rugged (or so my missus claims).
I must admit that I try to take care when using power tools but it pays to be careful. The other day my jumper snagged the angry grinder and it all
ravelled up and stalled. I was fine as it was -3 and I had 12 layers on. If I had just been wearing a T-shirt?????
Be careful and get well soon!
It's easily done! I always use a cordless drill these days for as much as I can 'cos when things go wrong they don't have anything like
as much power to do damage.
Wouldn't have the balls to power a 3" hole saw though.
Stu
Wow that must have put the wind up you!
Hope you get better asap.
Oh and we need pictures as said already.
Steve.
one thread that seriously doesn't need pictures!
or perhaps i should phrase it,
"this thread is useless with pictures"
get well soon & look at the tape you can put on scars to reduce the swelling / redness once its started to heal - ask a pharmacist about
cica-care.
(if he says he's no idea, ask if he gets the All About Health magazine from AAH then get him to turn to the back page)
ooohhh bu**ger...
Jeez I hope healing is as quick as it can be.
I hate big holesaws but I use 100mm one pretty regularly in steel, and they do take some bracing against.
Hells bells that's one of those injuries where everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
Know yr not after sympathy but please have some anyway!!
Hope yr back on track as soon as poss, without too much scarring hopefully?.
No damage to the floorpan i hope after the "Benfleet holesaw massacre"
Glad you're patched up ok.
[Edited on 27/1/10 by CRAIGR]
and there was me thinking that those things wern't that dangerous
hope you heal up quick
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
I did actually think of posting a pic, as a warning,but seriously it's not pretty - wouldn't want to put anyone off their food!!!
That's going to hurt in the morning.
Hope you make a full and speedy recovery.
If you want to look on the bright side it could have been worse.
ouch thats bad glad you are as OK as you can be after that and good luck with the recovery.
made me cringe reading that.
Can i ask if the part was a budget or a quality one?
If only cutting a lot of holes in aluminium or thin steel it might be worth getting a decent quality punch rather than using a hole saw.
BIG OUCH. Hole saws are as you say nasty bastards when they get loose. Hope you are not in to much pain/discomfort mate.
Hi, sorry to hear about your accident, similar thing happened to me when drilling a hole in a joist with a mains drill. I got most of way through when the flat bit snagged on a nail. Drill bit stopped but drill continued. Hit me in side of head and gave me slight concussion. I always use battery drills now in similar situations.
i have had the drill ripped out of my hands before when using a hole saw as you said its all over before you realise what is happening. luckily i was
standing and got out of the way. you didn't have a chance under the car.
hope you get better soon.
i know its a bit late now but if you ever pluck up the courage to use a hole saw again put the drill on a torque slip setting like you do when using
the drill as a screw driver that way if it snags the torque setting will stop it pulling the drill out of your hands.
Bloody dangerous these. I had a hole saw break up and cut a nice curve into my palm.
Another rung on the learning ladder reached there
Thanks for sharing.
We all need to remember that these thigns can happen.
However.....
To all the folks saying that the answer is to use a cordless.
Wrong answer in my opinion.
The correct tool for this job is a drill with an adjustable clutch so it can't deliver any torque over that which you choose.
Used to use one all the time for coring walls.
Wow, glad you're still here. I absolutely agree about holesaws. The most evil are the fly-cutter type, but even the ones with the teeth round the
cutter are bad. The next evil tool is a 1/2" mains-powered drill that isn't variable speed. One of those tried to rip my arm off. Couple the
drill and holesaw and as you know, they're downright deadly. Take care.
[Edited on 1/27/10 by kb58]
quote:
Originally posted by zilspeed
Thanks for sharing.
We all need to remember that these thigns can happen.
However.....
To all the folks saying that the answer is to use a cordless.
Wrong answer in my opinion.
The correct tool for this job is a drill with an adjustable clutch so it can't deliver any torque over that which you choose.
Used to use one all the time for coring walls.
Wow!, I had a near miss with a pedestal drill a few weeks back. Tried to open up the ring crimp hole on a battery cable. I didn't hold it in the vice properly and so the drill bit caught, picked up the crimp & the cable & spun it all around into a nice knot of cable, nearly got my thumb included. I was lucky that time. Anyway I've got to admire you getting back in that garage so soon.
Latest news is I've checked the floorpan & it's ok only a couple of scratches!
The tool was a top quality one, probably the first time I'd ever used it too, I can vouch for the fact that the teeth are really sharp - I never
normally make holes that big!
I agree a cordless would have been safer, slippy clutch type even better, but at the end of the day all I had to do was break thro' & then
slow down the drill speed - I didn't!
As I've said, my own stupid error which I now have to live with the consequences of - thanx for all the nice thoughts & good wishes guys, but
I'm basically OK, a bit of pain & a bit uglier than b4, but hey ho!
feck me, i felt quesy(spelling) reading that, i hope you recover quickly.
Davie
Sorry to read of your misfortune and hope your feeling a bit better. At least you didnt loose an eye or something so at least theres that to be
grateful for, nasty buggers holesaws.
Cheers,
Bob
[Edited on 27/1/10 by splitrivet]
Altogether now (in 'ard northern footie fashion.......)
"Soft southern bastard, yer just a..."
Seriously though....OUCH
Lesson for all of us there...just glad that are you able to delivery the message personally.....hope it heals quickly.
Alan
Thats not very good......my 25 year old mains powered bosch took out my knees on a job drilling with a 400mm bit. Bit stopped in the wall and drill
continued......my knees still quiver when we require the big bosch...
As some one who has had his face put back together twice....the scars heal but sh*t the pain when they sewed me up the pain was **********.
You will heal and learn holesaws are slowsaws.
Hoping you a scar free recovery.
Why do we do these things ?
We've all (almost) been there..... "I'd best be careful here as if 'xyz' happens....%&&$$ THAT HURT"
But we do it anyway !! Always wise after the fact !
BTW.....Pictures !!
[Edited on 27/1/10 by NigeEss]
Glad your ok dude. Same goes for angle grinders... I had a wire brush thing on mine and it caught my glove... Grabbed the glove and wripped it apart,
along with my skin. Didn't go well but I was lucky.
It's so easy to ignore the dangers of powertools.
'kin 'el Russ! I had tingles up my ar*e reading that.
Sorry to hear it fella. get mended soon and don't forget to stick a suitable logo on the side with a cross through it ala fighter pilot enemy
downed sticker. You'll be an ACE in no time unless you take more care. I bet your missus wasn't pleased.
Seriously though keep it clean the last thing you need is an infection.
and get well soon. You can show it off at Detling at Easter.
.....Neil
Holy cow!!! I wish i hadnt read that now (feeling a bit off)
Gld your ok (ish) though. Could have been much worse. Its been a while since someone posted a thread about their injurys (last one i remember actually
did post a pic and it wasn't nice!)
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
I’m not looking for sympathy,
jesus, that made me cringe! fairplay to your mrs though for letting you straight back on the horse. i have to hide even the minor injurys (and the
singed clothes) or i would recieve a lengthly ban from the shed till i'd learned my lesson
hope the pain isn't too bad, and at least you can tell complete strangers that you did it carrying out controlled explosions on terrorist bombs
while saving little orphans on a bus
Here's wishing you a speedy recovery.
You could try putting a squirt of WD40 on it.
The holesaw, that is, not your lip! It will tend to snag up less often.
Cordless tools can be just as user-unfriendly. I have an 18v drill that delivers monster torque and could easily result in a similar accident.
Geoff.
Russ - Same best wishes from me as everyone else has put forward!
Pics would be good, before and after ideally!
Be careful out there people!
Russ,
I hope you recover without complications, don´t fuss a lot about scars as girls are attracted a lot more to guys that have facial scars.
Also to everybody else, there have been instances where members have been flogged ´cause they made mistakes. That shouldn´t be te norm, if you are
brave enough to put in writing that you f**ed up, we all need to listen and learn to try to keep out of trouble not jump on you or else for committing
that mistake, no matter how silly or evident. (not that we will be though)
Best wishes.
AA
PS: This was writing in simpathy, English is not my Mother Tongue, so I apologise if something got lost in translation.
quote:
Originally posted by carpmart
Pics would be good,.....
Glad your OK Russ, sounds horrific.
On a positive note, at least you got the good looking Russ in the Kitcar mag
Steve - I think the pic in Complete Kitcar is the last one taken of me b4 I decided on the DIY reconstructive surgery - have to say perhaps I've
taken Locosting too far, might be better to pay a surgeon if I want another facelift!
Whose this "good looking Russ" you're talking about
[Edited on 1/2/10 by russbost]
Only just found this thread....
Hope your healing well Russ... sounds awful.
It is very sobering reading about your accident, but, i'm glad you put it on here. Makes us all think about face protection, gloves etc etc....
I only ever do grinding with a full face mask after hearing horror stories from others.
Get well soon
Dan
quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
get well soon & look at the tape you can put on scars to reduce the swelling / redness once its started to heal - ask a pharmacist about cica-care.
(if he says he's no idea, ask if he gets the All About Health magazine from AAH then get him to turn to the back page)
I'd go with what mads says....
I just read the back of the All About Health magazine and it seemed to fit the bill from the advertising.
glad you're ok.
Cheers Guys, yet again.
Update, have had stitches out & seen dentist, apparently I've knocked a white filling out I wasn't aware of & removed a bit from the
top of one of the caps on my front teeth, they've X rayed & there is a tiny crack in the upper jaw which will heal on its own in time.
Went to see the surgeon yesterday, 10 days after accident, I thought they'd missed taking one of the stiches out right up at the top inside my
lip - turned out the holesaw had fired a small piece of tooth/cap into the gum, past the end of the "accident site" so he removed that (not
fun!) & everything is now a lot more comfortable. He recommended bio oil which I now have some of.
Re pictures, which seems to have advocates for & against! I never took any when I looked like something out of a Frankenstein movie & now,
you have to look quite hard to actually se the scar thro' my moustache - haven't dared go near the upper lip with a razor! I am absolutely
gobsmacked (no pun intended!) at how well the whole thing has healed given it was a pretty horrific injury & how little pain I've had.
It's all still a bit sore & I guess will be for a while, but really hasn't given me much aggro at all. I'm not planning on doing
any jumps whilst skiing in a weeks time tho'!
Again, thanks for all the good wishes & please don't try to emulate me!
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
Cheers Guys, yet again......
heal on its own in time. You will be surprised, I had once an incident on a Quad bike that left a BALL on my lower lip that prevented me from whistling for maybe a year, now you can barely see a line, even that the wound was 2 cm long and no stitches ot butterflies were put to it.
.......more comfortable. He recommended bio oil which I now have some of.I rather leave it as is, scars are part of what makes your personality, I´d think thats OK for actors and the like, but I have never worried for the appearance of a scar, I have yet to have one on the face, well, I actually have so many that you cann´t tell, I was treated with Radio Therapy and I have almost no facial hair on my left cheek, funnyly enough, çi can still grow a goatie if I want.... and with the money you save you can buy a few pints for anesthesia, maybe a couple of lt of strong barley wine
Again, thanks for all the good wishes & please don't try to emulate me!