Medical Alert...Beware Power Tools!
Friday, March 7, 2014 at 5:07PM
How NOT to modify your cast!
Since recovering from playing human domino in the garage with my tool box and two bikes, I have been having a hard time with my cast making life miserable. It has become too uncomfortable in a couple of spots and obviously needed some modifications to operate at maximum efficiency.
How difficult could it be to relieve a little pressure with a garage full of tools? I thought it over and decided I may need some help since using power tools on myself with only one hand might put someone in danger……….mostly ME! So as soon as the wife says, uh uh, no way, I know I am going to have to use a lifeline and phone a friend. So immediately the best garage guy with the best set of tools himself and builder of many projects and a lot of common sense comes to mind. His name is Lance and this guy has built, fixed, modified and thought up more stuff than most of my other buddies all put together.
I call Lance and explain my problem, being an off road enthusiast and having gone through this kind of thing himself he says he will be over in a few minutes and will bring the necessary tool to complete the job. A short time later Lance shows up with his Dremel tool and a package of grinding/cutting wheels.
We discuss the problem and come up with a plan of attack. It is simple really because all I need is a cut down the length of the cast to relieve some pressure points that are causing some tingling in my fingers.
We are ready to get started with the little high speed grinder and have selected a cutting wheel that is about 1” in diameter. Lance, being the smart one in the garage at the moment says, “We need to both put on safety glasses”, we do and set off to work. Lance does a beautiful job of cutting a nice straight line at a very controlled pace. I am doing my best to hold my arm and cast very still because I really don’t want him to cut too deep and find my arm inside with that high speed cutting wheel. He approaches it like a surgeon by watching closely, stopping occasionally to check his cut and take some measurements to see how close he is to getting through the cast. I am impressed, I definitely chose wisely.
We work on it for about 10 minutes when all of a sudden there is a loud “Bang” and Lance pulls back. He hangs onto the tool but grabs his mouth with his free hand! The small diameter cutting wheel had exploded and a piece of it had hit Lance just above his mouth and under his nose. He turns off the grinder, sets it down and lets me examine the injury. I tell him it is a small cut under the nose and is bleeding slightly but doesn’t look like it will need anything other than a paper towel for a few minutes to stop the blood. We get a couple of paper towels and apply pressure for a few minutes.
Lance says it feels, “thwollen”. I almost can’t keep from laughing when he speaks with a fat lip but remember he is going to be back cutting near my arm in a few minutes with that same tool that just injured him, so I just smile. In just a few minutes we have selected another cutting wheel and are ready to dive back in when I read on the side of the tool that it spins at 36,000 rpms. Holy Crap! I had no idea this thing turned at that kind of speed. Being just a bit concerned after what just happened, I ask him “do you think I should run down to town and find a couple of face shields?” Lance says, Naw, it should be ok. I think that was a pretty old wheel, what are the odds of that happening again?” That’s why I admire Lance, he is a real man!
We start again and only have a small bit of fiberglass left holding this thing together, should be through it in a minute or two. We almost made 30 seconds when I heard another “Bang” at just about the time I felt like someone had punched me in the face! The second wheel exploded and this time the flying piece impacted on my cheek. I definitely flinched as Lance stopped his work and backed away. I am sure he knew instantly the second wheel had come apart and was very relieved that he didn’t have any new injuries. I went over to a mirror to see the cut on my cheek and it was a small cut just like Lance’s. I tried to take it as well as Lance did but probably didn’t pull it off. After a short break we decided that maybe this was not such a good idea. Actually, now we were both scared like a couple of little girls. So we both came to the conclusion that we should finish this project off with just a hack saw blade in our hands.
We had now survived 2 close calls and neither one of us would be making a trip to the emergency room so we took our time and finished the job by hand with just the blade from a hacksaw. It worked perfectly and we were done in just a couple of minutes, since we were so close to being through anyway. With the tools put away and the bleeding stopped we headed into the house to relax and have some much needed drinks to calm our nerves. I had a Sprite and Lance had a Pepsi. Ahhh…….. Life is good, but I guess I owe Lance dinner.
#33
“Though a man be wise, it is no shame for him to live and learn.”
Reader Comments (1)
Never did like those little grinders,I used an air grinder mine years ago much more controllable