Register now to get rid of these ads!

What's the stupidest thing you're ever done in your shop?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by rockable, Sep 12, 2010.

  1. belair
    Joined: Jul 10, 2006
    Posts: 9,013

    belair
    Member

    That's why you leave the nut on for a few threads. "But how", you may ask, "did you learn THAT?" :)
     
  2. Ulu
    Joined: Feb 26, 2014
    Posts: 1,775

    Ulu
    Member
    from CenCal

    Oh, yeah...

    I was using methylene chloride paint stripper and it was cold, so I heated the metal with a heat gun.

    My heat gun died & I switched to the propane torch. A bit of flaming paint dropped into my pan of scrapings & set it cheerfully ablaze. :eek:

    :eek: My GOD! You do NOT want to breathe that stuff when it burns. :eek:

    Just a little whif was nearly deadly.

    I keep a bucket of water near when stripping, to wash off any that gets on my skin. It extinguished my metal pan of paint chips & the flaming fender above it.
     
  3. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    (I know I'm way late replying to this :D)

    I wish it only took one time! I have pretty much given up using a creeper... I did dip my hair in a gallon of glue when leaning over once... and fortunatly, only once. Still amazed it came out!
     
  4. redzula
    Joined: Jul 6, 2011
    Posts: 1,225

    redzula
    Member

    I was barely 16 and working on an engine rebuild in my way off topic rx7 and when I forgot to fully disconnect the wiring harness I decided I would just get another one and cut it in half... new harness were a lot harder to get and expensive. Needless to say that car is still sitting in the shop not running. I did so many dumb things working on that can I got burnt out and never finished it.. I'm getting closer and closer to just doing a sbc swap and sell the thing

    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  5. mattrod68
    Joined: Jan 22, 2007
    Posts: 517

    mattrod68
    Member

    I turned on the lathe with the chuck T handle still in! Luckily it shot it down towards the concrete floor. There was a 90% completed 62 corvette resto it could have hit if it flew straight out instead of at the ground. Been using that lathe for years and know that is a cardinal sin, don't know what I was thinking! Just got distracted and missed it I guess.

    Scary
     
  6. volvobrynk
    Joined: Jan 30, 2011
    Posts: 3,587

    volvobrynk
    Member
    from Denmark

    This a a very big mistake over here, that will cost you a big penalty over here like a case of beer or a botle of snaps.
    Ask me how I know.
    Or dropping a welders hammer from a to 6m down to were people are working. Or dropping side cutters from a you work belt, inside a Wind turbine, bestilt hitting you buddy befor it fell the last 50m down.
    That dosen't come cheap!!

    And I did the steering wheel w/o knot trick too. And my chin still hurt just from thinking about it.


    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  7. Lobucrod
    Joined: Mar 22, 2006
    Posts: 4,122

    Lobucrod
    Alliance Vendor
    from Texas

    I turned my 38 Chevy coupe gasser into a streetrod back on the '90's.
     
  8. M1Lover
    Joined: Aug 8, 2010
    Posts: 121

    M1Lover
    Member

    Not the stoopid-est thing ever but definitely a sign that Half-heimerz is setting in. Just recently changed the oil on my '93 Dodge Cummins and noticed the oil coming out was pretty clean. Didn't give it another thought. Put the new Napa Gold filter in, 12 quarts of Rotella, wrote the odo miles on the filter box cap like I always do. Putting it behind the door trim above drivers door. Pull old card out. Had 310 miles on last oil change. Dammit.

    Once I was under a truck on a creeper, 1/2" Snap On ratchet and socket stuck on something, tugged on it hard, still stuck, pulled real hard and it came off and I clocked myself in the center of the forehead, could not have aimed it better, saw stars and everything. Just laid there for a couple minutes suppressing the urge to burn down the garage with all tools in it….


    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
    Last edited: May 4, 2014
  9. c57heaven
    Joined: Feb 22, 2008
    Posts: 544

    c57heaven
    Member

    wow, did the key in the drill press, shot the unsecured drill press vice into the wall and fortunately not the car, lol, on the oil change, did that too.
    Still don't like to say that a car dropped on me right after I graduated college. Insert college jokes etc here...
    Driveshaft shoved in too far on tranny and I had the right rear just off the ground to turn the diff to align it. Put two feet on the tranny brace to pull out the driveshaft and brought it down. Fortunately I had used a 4x4 block to secure the tranny previously. Oil pan lodged onto 4x4. Resulted in a cracked scapula.:eek:
     
  10. OlSchoolCruizin
    Joined: May 18, 2009
    Posts: 105

    OlSchoolCruizin
    Member
    from Tampa, fl

    Shot a mini cannon isde and had to scramble to get the blazing wad of paper before the whole place went up.
     
  11. rockable
    Joined: Dec 21, 2009
    Posts: 4,429

    rockable
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Burned my shaved head on a hot exhaust pipe. Didn't have a cap on because I bumped hell out of it last month with a ball cap on. I can't win.
     
  12. Grahamsc
    Joined: May 13, 2014
    Posts: 466

    Grahamsc
    Member
    from Colorado

    Had a friend shut me in a trunk with a flash light so he could spray the car with water and I could find the leak.
    I found the leak and knocked on the trunk lid and told him to let me out.
    He says where are the keys , I say in my f&$king pocket.
     
    volvobrynk and rockable like this.
  13. I worked in a machine shop with a pot head coworker. He would leave wrenches on the B'port draw bar, t-handles in chucks. The best was when he would use parallels behind a part in a 3-jaw chuck to square the part up.. and forget to take them out. I would not work anywhere near him.
     
  14. billsat
    Joined: Aug 18, 2008
    Posts: 418

    billsat
    Member

    I had a Cad500 engine on a three wheeled engine stand and was moving it very slowly across my garage floor to place it in the back of my pick up truck. I had lowered the tailgate and backed the truck up as close as I could get it to my garage. The concrete on my garage floor begins to bevel downwards ever so slightly once you exit the garage, and at the instant the front wheel on the engine stand hit the bevel the entire thing started to tip over to its right. I immediately jumped on to the left rear side of the stand to keep it from tipping, knowing that if it had kept falling it would have probably ripped the tailgate right off of my truck, or at least damaged it badly, cracked my concrete, you get the picture. The problem then became how to get the engine stand back on level ground. I couldn't step off of the left rear wheel without the thing tipping and I couldn't get any leverage to pull the stand backwards a couple of feet. I then realized that my cell phone was in my pocket so I tried to call my daughter. No signal on the phone. Tried again and again for about fifteen minutes before the call went through and she came out and bailed me out. Scared the crap out of me.
     
  15. Grahamsc
    Joined: May 13, 2014
    Posts: 466

    Grahamsc
    Member
    from Colorado

    My dad tipped over a flathead on a three wheeled stand, I loaned him my 4 wheeled stand and took his to the dumpster.
     
  16. Firecat7
    Joined: Dec 11, 2011
    Posts: 269

    Firecat7
    Member

    chained my Buddies big block dually to the anchor in the floor....poured a little oil down , and did a 3 minute burnout in the garage. made a friggin mess. the whole shop smelled like a burning tire for two weeks. needless to say , alcohol was involed.
     
  17. jlaird
    Joined: Nov 25, 2007
    Posts: 26

    jlaird
    Member

    I've got an attached garage. When I first moved in, I had a lot of painting to do one day...can't remember the exact paint, some Por 15 type stuff...anyway the smell was so bad the family had to evacuate for the night. Sorry:(
     
  18. Ulu
    Joined: Feb 26, 2014
    Posts: 1,775

    Ulu
    Member
    from CenCal

    I think it would have be hilarious to shove that welding torch in his pants and pull the trigger!
     
    volvobrynk likes this.
  19. dorf
    Joined: Dec 5, 2008
    Posts: 1,087

    dorf
    Member
    from ohio

    put a jack under both ends . then took all 4 wheels off .
     
  20. gatz
    Joined: Jun 2, 2011
    Posts: 1,817

    gatz
    Member

    lolol,.... given his predilection for "fun", he may have enjoyed that
     
  21. Ulu
    Joined: Feb 26, 2014
    Posts: 1,775

    Ulu
    Member
    from CenCal

    Hehhehheh....yeah I don't have any sympathy for people that try to give me a heart attack while I'm doing something delicate/dangerous/messy. I'm liable to start throwing wrenches and breaking things.

    People who sneak up on a welder are just looking for pain.
     
  22. stimpy
    Joined: Apr 16, 2006
    Posts: 3,546

    stimpy

    thats why my freinds wonder why I have painted on one of my cabinets PAybacks are a bitch , as they earn interest ..
     
  23. Besides grabbing a just-welded piece of S/S beer keg -turned gas tank (after being distracted by a phone call) and branding my hand with the brewery,s name, I asked my wife to buy me a case of beer and she bought home light beer!
     
  24. Todd M.
    Joined: May 24, 2009
    Posts: 509

    Todd M.
    Member

    Standing over a T-bird to check the carburator while the driver started it without my concent. Backfire insued, smelled somthing burning, asked my buddy "na your fine" later went to the auto parts store, the pretty laddy behind the counter tilted her head with a smile and said" having carburator troubles" it took a month for the right side of my head to grow hair back.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2014
  25. daddylama
    Joined: Feb 20, 2002
    Posts: 930

    daddylama
    Member

    stupidest things, just lately:

    MIG welded, barefoot. just welding some linkage, so little stuff... and yeah, i know better. didn't get hurt, just like i didn't get hurt last time. means i'll keep doing it until i get hurt.

    fired up a mini bike, first time on a fresh rebuild. barefoot. stomping on the brake when the RPMs soar and the centrifugal clutch engages is just awesome.

    moved a heavy/awkward air compressor. barefoot.

    wait... just walking around in my shop barefoot is a pretty stupid idea. keep doing it, though.
     
  26. grumpy32
    Joined: Apr 1, 2010
    Posts: 245

    grumpy32
    Member
    from Australia

    Drilled a 1/8 hole in my finger....
     
  27. gatz
    Joined: Jun 2, 2011
    Posts: 1,817

    gatz
    Member

    I did that more than 30yrs ago when I was in a hurry on a milling machine, and the fingernail still has a streak in it.....have to keep it trimmed close.
     
  28. Ulu
    Joined: Feb 26, 2014
    Posts: 1,775

    Ulu
    Member
    from CenCal

    Yeeeesh...never drilled through myself!

    I did mix two (evidently incompatible) types of varnish in a glass jar.

    A couple days later it exploded on my shelf shooting varnish on the wife's new car, plus all my junk.
     
  29. stimpy
    Joined: Apr 16, 2006
    Posts: 3,546

    stimpy

    had to make a oversize oil pan for a freinds race car with a kickout , in the process of making parts was distracted several times by his bratty kid , I weld the pan up , looks good passed the water test ( no leaks , give him the pan , he bolts it up to the motor pour in oil , a week later I get a nasty phone call , hey you forgot something , how am I gonna drain the oil?? , yep forgot to put in a drain plug ,

    when I first started driving a truck I worked in the shop when things were slow ( which was quite often but having mechanical experience was good as I made a paycheck while other drivers sat at home ) we had a guy who was GOofy . well we replaced a main shaft on a Rockwell 13 speed , and it needed to be refilled , well our shop had no heat and it was winter out , and he got assigned the task , well our gear oil drum ( which was open topped as we got bulk filled from a bobtail delivery truck ,it was one of them air pump jobs ) was on a movers cart ( plywood with casters) and one of the casters was shorter than the other 3 , well Goofy pushed the drum over to the truck and we told him to make sure the short caster was at the back ( away from the truck ) so if you pull the drum it will not flop over ( which had happened in the past and lucky it was almost empty ) well he puts the cart next to the truck and proceeds to crawl under it to put the fitting in the trans , and the hose got hung up on the edge of the tire , so he gave it a good yank ,
    yep you know it the short caster was on the hose side and that drum flopped over and it was 35 or 40 gallons full , and him being under the truck took him a ,minute to try to get out and try to lift the drum back up , well being cold as it was ( about 30-40 degrees and at night it dropped to about 10 ) saved his ass , as only about 5 gallons of gear oil rolled out of the drum , well instead of daming the pile of lube up with kitty litter and then shoveling it into the waste oil drums , he used the steam jenny , 230* steam on cold gear oil on a sealed concrete floor , as soon as it hit it it was like 5 w motor oil . it was a big ass mess , and took us the better part of 2 weeks to get the floor unslicked ( had to do the oil dry shuffle ) and it smelled like gear lube for the next 2 years we were there ,
    as for the oil drum it was mounted on a cradle I welded together and moved by the lift truck after that

    needless , when it came to slow time working in the shop , the boss made sure he stayed at home .

    then there was the one guy who found out why you use a back up wrench when tightening down a packing nut bronze fuel crossover valve ( the old style ones at the back of the tank ) , and also why we had kiddy pools in the shop ( there great for draining large quantities of stuff ) . and a big box of 11/2" corks by the tool boxes , he just stood there and watched the fuel pour out on the shop floor and roll out the door ...
     
  30. Ulu
    Joined: Feb 26, 2014
    Posts: 1,775

    Ulu
    Member
    from CenCal

    I recall fueling up a 12 ton road roller, which didn't seem to be getting full. After 30 gals I realized that it only had a 25 gal gas tank, but had a 100 gallon water tank.

    I'm glad I didn't get all the way to 100 gals...:rolleyes:
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.