Witnessed a crazy welding incident????

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Tell us about something YOU saw or did firsthand. No secondhand stories retold. Here's mine: I was in college and welding a coupon in the overhead position when I hear a scream come from the stall next to me. I go over and open up the curtain to see this kid. He had a leather jacket on and he had been air gouging. He pointed the carbon at just the right angle that the air pushed the 600amps and molten metal directly back at him. It had gone through his leather and into his skin. Luckily the leather REALLY slowed it down. I imagine you could do the same thing trying to pierce a thick piece with a plasma cutter too. Angle of entry is important. At least that's what my wife says.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:A while back one of my guys was shearing some 10ga.  It was small pieces and I was behind the shear picking them up as he sheared.  I was looking through the blade and the dogs came down and went back up before the shear went down.  I saw something laying on the piece of metal in the shear and he had stopped cutting, so I walk around the shear and there he stands looking at his nubbed finger with blood squirting out of it.  He looked at me just as calm as he could and said "I can't believe I just did that".  The dog had smashed 1/3 of his finger off.   That was probably the nastiest thing I've seen so far, and hope I never see it again.DewayneDixieland WeldingMM350PLincoln 100Some torchesOther misc. tools
Reply:Originally Posted by Joker11Tell us about something YOU saw or did firsthand. No secondhand stories retold.
Reply:While working on the Luxor casino in Vegas and trying to set a column I had the column smash the end of my finger between it and the concrete when the crane operator jigged when he should have jagged.  Finished out the day and went home.  The wife made me go to the doctor although I insisted I was fine it was just a little sore.  Good thing I did I guess as I had smashed the entire bone in the end of my finger.  Had it not been for her I would have just let it heal on its own.Nobody's perfect, I'm a nobody, therefore I am perfect!
Reply:In high school we use to make cast aluminum projects, for our stock of material we used old lawn mower engines and decks.  at the beginning of class one day a guy had melted down a bunch of stuff in the pot and when he went to skim the slag off the top he moved a pocket of magnesium around which caused molten aluminum to blow up and into his face, arms, down the neck of his shirt etc.  Luckily he was wearing safety glasses, had a long sleeve shirt on (if I remember it was a thick flannel) and he was wearing a pair of welding gloves.  Three of us were standing nearby and we grabbed him and went to the big trough where we washed up and we watered him down, the teacher took him to the hospital while the others metal shop teacher and I took care of the shutting down the casting and forge area.  Luckily the only lasting evidence he has is a few scars on his face, arms and chest where the stuff landed, when it happened he was afriad to open his eyes and was kinda in shock.  Now he's a welder for the US Navy, has a few more scars now I think. That was 11 years ago, the pair of safety glasses he was wearing are still in the high school metals shop and the first day of every class the teacher tells the story of the safety glasses.  If he hadn't been wearing them he'd be blind in both eyes, made a believer out of several of us that day.
Reply:Originally Posted by littlefuzzA while back one of my guys was shearing some 10ga.  It was small pieces and I was behind the shear picking them up as he sheared.  I was looking through the blade and the dogs came down and went back up before the shear went down.  I saw something laying on the piece of metal in the shear and he had stopped cutting, so I walk around the shear and there he stands looking at his nubbed finger with blood squirting out of it.  He looked at me just as calm as he could and said "I can't believe I just did that".  The dog had smashed 1/3 of his finger off.   That was probably the nastiest thing I've seen so far, and hope I never see it again.
Reply:http://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread...light=meltdown ...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:First thing came to mind, there must be better ones, give me time.In college, in the welding both, learning vertical up 7018, you know how the electrode coating at the arc end forms a nice inverted cone shape, with the steel core recessed up inside, well as I pulled loose of sticking the rod a bit, I pulled away from the plate and poked myself in the check with the hot end of the rod.     It left a real nice circle burn, not too bad, but very distinct.  The next day, the instructor asked, "What you got there, ring worm?"
Reply:Originally Posted by pulserFirst thing came to mind, there must be better ones, give me time.In college, in the welding both, learning vertical up 7018, you know how the electrode coating at the arc end forms a nice inverted cone shape, with the steel core recessed up inside, well as I pulled loose of sticking the rod a bit, I pulled away from the plate and poked myself in the check with the hot end of the rod.     It left a real nice circle burn, not too bad, but very distinct.  The next day, the instructor asked, "What you got there, ring worm?"
Reply:Not welding, but in a woodworking shop.  My friend cut his hand off.  Right down the palm on a table saw.  They reattached it and he had a cast and pins in it for several years afterwards.When it happened, he walked up to the boss and said "I just cut my hand off..." in the calmest most normal voice.  Blood squirting everywhere.  People were puking left and right.
Reply:I ran a phillips bit on my drill through my thumb a few years ago, it never bothered me till I got to the hospital and they got a needle out.  Then I got a bit jittery.
Reply:So many assorted things, but amazingly, I can think of one in particular that was welding.Working under a piece of equipment that was over a pit, doing overhead welds on frame reinforcement. To reach the weld area, I was wormed in behind an axle, between the axle and a bolster, and had to hold the shield up ahead of me and weasel into it as I got in position. Real tight. One of the few places I'v wished for and autodark, but I don't know if there was enough of a sightline to trigger one, anyway. Set myself up, get a hand in position for the start, weasel in, and and start blind until the arc was lit.Due to the heat and mess, I was wearing a cotton tee shirt and what was left of a denim overshirt that had started the day new. Running 1/8 and 5/32 6010 and 7018. You might be able to see where this is going.....Got about half way up a stick when I was maybe 3/4 done with the job and thought "Man, I gotta take a break. I'm getting real hot under here". Especially my chest and stomach. Real hot. When I finished the stick and started working my way out, I realized the entire front of my denim had burned away, and the tee was close behind. The axle across the top of my chest had completely sheilded my face from the flame until in started getting out.All I can say is it was a good thing the pump for the pit was out of service and the bottom was full of water.
Reply:Originally Posted by WelderBoy Blood squirting everywhere.  People were puking left and right.
Reply:Not welding, but wrenching:I was installing a lift kit on my jeep (coil spacers), and i had the back end up on jack stands. I was in a hurry and neglected to chock the front tires. With a couple bottle jacks, we were shifting the angle of the rear axle, and got a little careless. the jeep came off the jack stands, and rolled forward. i had my hand on the bumper, and it slammed my elbow into the ground. fortunately, the jeep was on a forward trajectory, and just wrenched my hand back, otherwise it would have shattered my arm. As it stood, i only had 3 fractures, all in the wrist joint. Also, the brake rotor landed about 4 inches from my thigh, since i was laying right next to it. If it had rolled backward, the rotor would have landed on my bicep, and probably severed my arm.too many close calls that day. i learned a lot. "Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee" - Bender
Reply:Many years ago I needed a leak repaired on a gas tank for a 500cc Matchless motorcycle. I took it to my friend who operated a motorcycle and welding shop in Chicago.His approach was to rinse it with water and then let the tank sit for a half hour with his 1949 Oldsmobile puffing exhaust into it. (Don't laugh, gas was $0.23 cents a gallon back then. )He then filled the tank with water and set it on a slight angle so that he could reach the small crack visible on one corner. He had no sooner touched the metal with his torch than an explosion ensued. No one was hurt but a flame shot straight up out of the open fuel filler tube that had to be thirty feet long. After everyone calmed down (and cleaned out their trousers), the tank was properly welded with no further explosions. Funny how an explosion will set something in your memory. Miller Millermatic 252Miller Syncrowave 200Liincoln AC-DC 225Victor O-A Set
Reply:I was waiting for a ride to a jobsite and a coworker was hitting tig wire with a hammer on the welding table.  After one loud crash I felt a tingle in my hip, turns out a piece of wire about an inch long shot right into me about 3 inches deep.  Went to a doctor and they dug around a little bit, couldn't get it.  Went to the hospital the next day for surgery to get it out.
Reply:Not welding, but in the toolroom of the Ingersoll Rand Turbo shop I was working on a small collet lathe. I loosened the collet and tryed to pull the piece out and it didn't budge. Yanked real hard and it came out and I felt a tingeling in my hand. looked in the tailstock and the 1/8" drill was broken off. I went to the dispensary and he put a bandaid on a small cut. Back to the shop and decided to clean out the chip bed and find the drill. No drill. My hand started to spasm and I went to the hospitol. An inch and a half long piece of the drill was about 1/2"  below the skin on my right hand. Real clear on the florascope. Amazing to me it never got infected.
Reply:Really stupid moment in my life...I was doing some electrical work in an old mill we were renovating. I needed a utility knife for something, so in my great wisdom I asked him to throw it to me, and he did. The only problem was that he was about 30ft above me on a lift. The knife came down, somehow in midair it opened up and it landed directly into my wrist, the blade dug itself in about 3/8" or so. It severed a small artery/vein and blood was gushing out all over the place!Best part about it was that I had preferential treatment at the ER, I started squirting blood all over the counter and they took me right in!Now I have a scare, a damn scare that looks like I tried committing suicide!!!!
Reply:I was out riding quads with some friends and one of them wrecked and broke the ballstud off of the threaded rod it attaches to, well it just so happened that an exploratory drill was near by and guess what was on that drill? If you guessed a Bobcat welder well you guessed right, so the guy who owned the quad talked me into welding the end back on and against my better judgement welded the end back on. well to make a long story short I wasn't satisfied with the amount of weld so welded a little more and holy crap it sounded like a shotgun blast, The doggon pressed in plug blew out from the heat build up and smacked me in the chest it was about the size of a quarter and it left a nice bruise  , the hood kept the grease from burning my face. So the moral of the story is fella's it don't matter how big or small they all can blow up.AWS CWI Hypertherm 850 plasmaLincoln LN-25Lincoln SAE 400Miller Big 40D28' X 36' X 14' Shop_____________________________________Tools are not the the skill but simply tools!
Reply:Not welding related, but this chick......sort of a six-spined stickleback.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Awww heck, that's nothing. All those hooks are barbless!Miller EconotigCutmaster 38Yes ma'am, that IS a screwdriver in my pocket!
Reply:Originally Posted by denrepI do solemnly swear - I watched a "mechanic"  (try to) weld the cylinder head to the block of a John Deere diesel, in an attempt to stop a leak!
Reply:I love this forum... I get free education and great comic relief....  -Ryan
Reply:Originally Posted by Ryan McEachernI love this forum... I get free education and great comic relief....  -Ryan
Reply:Back last year I was setting up the ironworker to punch some oblong holes.  I would always take the punch out and set it on the die to knock out the slug from the die.  Well I've done it hundreds of times but this time it wasn't sitting on the die straight.  When the ram when down there was a loud pop and my arm went numb and blood was squirting out of my hand, I thought it was almost severed from the amount of blood.  I went to the sink and could barely even see the spot that was bleeding, so I thought everything was fine except my finger was still numb.  So I go to the hospital to take my drug test and get a x-ray just to be sure.  There was a piece of the punch that was about the size of a bitten of fingernail laying on the nerve, so I had surgery to remove it and my middle finger will feel like it's asleep from now on   Not real bad but a stupid mistake I've learned from.DewayneDixieland WeldingMM350PLincoln 100Some torchesOther misc. toolsI was putting springs in the rear of a garbage truck one time. Had the 3/4 " air gun to tighten up the U-bolts. There was just enough room to fit my hand under the back of the gun between it and the floor to hold it up on the nut.Somehow the gun got switched into reverse on the second or third nut and when I pulled the trigger it drove the gun down onto my hand pinning it to the floor. That wouldn't have been quite so bad except the reverse/forward lever was also on the back buried in the palm of my hand. Trying to keep calm and deal with the pain while figuring out how I was going to get that lever flipped wasn't easy. I don't remember exactly how I got it switched but, I never put my hand under it to hold it up again. I always found a piece of wood or something that wasn't attached to my body. "Every choice you make will effect at least one other person"
Reply:Nerve damage, I got that. I fidgeted with a paneling, staple gun and shot a 5/8" staple into the tip of my left index finger. It bent when it hit bone, felt like I smashed it with a hammer. Pulled that thing out with dikes, it still smarts after 6 years. We had a guy ride the forks of a forklift one day, nearly lost a finger. My crew leader at that time tried moving a tall step ladder after someone left a hammer up on top...yup, came down rat smack down on his noodle, he nearly blacked out and showed up afterward with a stainless staple in his scalp. One guy was riding shotgun on a forklift,  he got thrown off when the driver turned sharply and was immediately run over, messed his knee up pretty bad. Another guy had an abrasive blade in a chop saw explode and a nice, big chunk lodged in the bridge of his nose. One girl fell off of one of our product- portable buildings. She hurt her back, which was after I left that company. Once I was approached to help move some long metal stock, probably 12' or better. The young man who I tried to help decided to throw his weight into moving before I could watch my step. I was forced backward and tripped over material still on the ground. I landed backward hard while wearing a fully loaded carpenters tool belt and carrying one end of the long metal stock, which gave me a whiplash. THEN, some onlookers had the good sense to YANK me back to my feet so as not to get into trouble, giving me a second dose of whiplash. I swear, I had grounds for a law suit. I was in real pain for 6 months to a year afterward from the double whiplash.Last edited by tanglediver; 09-01-2007 at 03:32 PM.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Not welding related, but this chick...
Reply:This was forging at the anvil.I needed a set down ( a step ) in short piece of 1" sq.  Since it wasnt long enough to hang over the anvil, I had to do it on the near edge.  The tongs didnt fit well, and I was in too much of a hurry to heat them up and adjust them.  Picked up my 4# hammer and swung hard.  I found myself sitting on the ground with an immediate memory of a loud ringing noise inside my head.  When the nausea subsided I tried to take off my glasses. They came away with a sucking sound.  The piece had struck me between the eyes and driven my glasses deep into the bridge of  my nose.  Of course, being a scalp wound it bled profusely and of course I didnt "have time " to go get stitches so I walked around with streaks of half dried blood on my face.  The cleaning lady was there that day and whenever I entered a room she would leave quickly without making eye contact.  A little to the left or right and it would have been eye surgery.355# Hay Budden3# Hofi HammerPropane ForgeIdealarc TIG 300/300AllStates Oxy Propane torchSmith Little Torch
Reply:I watched an idiot I worked with try to light a rosebud with a wore out striker once....when it did light, it lit up the sleeve of military field jacket he was wearing up also!Same guy exploded the blade of a brilliant chop saw by crowding it to hard and fragged the same arm. He quit there and went back to school and got an engineering degree and has retired now. Proves IQ has little to do with success. He is now my competition again and and his work still sucks!! He is fun to watch work tho.Miller Dynasty 700Miller 350P with Aluma-pro push-pullMiller 280 Dynasty with expansion card Dynasty 200 DXMigMax 215 Enuff power and hand tools to create one of anything..... but mass produce nothing!!!
Reply:not welding related, but had one of my mechanics working and he was having a bad day and in a ****ed off mood and had a vehicle up in the air on the hoist and he hit the tire with a ball peen hammer as hard as he could and the hammer bounces back off tire  and nails him in the head and knocks him self out cold.
Reply:ok... got two fingers stuck in stand up grinder almost lost them (one still does't work) broke my thumb on a tail gate of a truck and dropped a bobcat bucket on my foot breaking some toes... so how i'm I doing ...ooh ya some guy pushed a 785 pound I beam and it fell on my father and it hit him in the head and his lucky to be alive.....give me time I'll think of some thing else
Reply:Oh ya, my fall I took in July...damaged vertebrae, joint in my back, and pinched nerve.  That was my personal worst...
Reply:Sort of welding... My crew was cleaning up behind the boilermakers at a coal plant outage. They had pulled several sections of catwalk out to replace sections of the boiler wall, and we were basically vacing flyash off the buckstays so the BM's didn't have to get dirty. One of our guys was laying down in a tight spot between the scaffold and the corner of the boiler, when a 3 pound chunk of flatstock came down and clocked him in the hardhat. Put him out for a few minutes. When he came to, one of the boilermakers(who had a very large, bushy white beard) was standing right over him. I'll never forget his first words: "Santa Claus?"