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Technical Grinding and the eye doctor

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by BJR, Mar 29, 2017.

  1. Don West
    Joined: May 18, 2014
    Posts: 71

    Don West

    last year was doing some grinding in the garage and was wearing a face shield. when I finished I flipped the shield up and dumped some of the chips stuck in my hair right into my eye. by the time I got in to see the opthamologist he had to grind the chips out! ill never forget the feeling of trying to keep my eye open while he took a dremel tool to my eyeball. now I use the air blow gun to de chip my hair and the top of the shield when I'm done. I learned the hard way!
     
    pat59 likes this.
  2. 33 cdan man
    Joined: Sep 15, 2016
    Posts: 193

    33 cdan man

    I have done that so many times I have a punch card at the clinic.:(
     
  3. deathrowdave
    Joined: May 27, 2014
    Posts: 3,554

    deathrowdave
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from NKy

    Ridden the old Harley for years "straights "with no hearing protection . Enough said . I owed an M35a2 for years also , on the dash was a label " Hearing Protection must be worn when in operation " must be a reason . Ever had the chance to witness 650 psi natural gas leak ? Two sets of hearing protection , could not hear for 2 days , and legs could determine they were on the ground from hours of harmonic vibrations from the leak . I can not stress enough , there are many hidden dangers in our hobby , use the best PPE and caution x10 , the damage you do from not will haunt you the rest of your life for not using your head . Effects , not only you but your family that doesn't have a thing to do with your simple mistake .
     
    trollst likes this.
  4. Danny, automatic screw machine? Really? We had 10 Brown & Sharp automatics in our shop. Pounded on those bastards for 50 years. Love the mechanics of 'em. Don't come across a lot of people who even know what one is.
     
    metalgod55 and burl like this.
  5. metlmunchr
    Joined: Jan 16, 2010
    Posts: 862

    metlmunchr
    Member

    I'm religious about wearing safety glasses around any sort of metal cutting machinery. Several years ago I was running a bunch of aluminum die castings in one of my cnc lathes. The chips come off as tiny crumbs rather than strings.

    I break for lunch and go down the street to grab a burger. Come back to the shop and as I got out of the truck a little puff of wind blew by. Instantly felt something in my eye. The wind had blown one of those crumbs out of either my hair or eyebrows and into my eye.

    Tried eyewash, etc with no luck. Headed home figuring my RN wife could get it out. She just told me I was a fool and reminded me it was just 3 blocks from my shop to our opthalmologist's office. Yeah, I know. Hate going to doctors.

    By the next morning it was giving me a fit to the point where my wife had to drive me to the eye doc. He put in some drops, had me stare at some bright light straight ahead, and dug the chip right out. Never felt a thing.

    Then he explained that I was fortunate it was aluminum as it doesn't rust. Said if the same thing were to happen with steel to come straight to his office immediately so he could remove it before it rusted and caused further problems.

    Interesting thing he told me is that the eyeball begins to try to encapsulate any foreign object within a few hours. So, the longer some junk stays in the eye, the more difficult it becomes to remove and the more likely it is to cause permanent damage.

    Best thing is to not get stuff in the eyes in the first place. But if you do, then get to the doc and let him/her dig it out asap. Having someone describe digging something out of your eye with a tool or a drill/grinder will send cold chills up your spine but in reality its totally painless.
     
    BJR likes this.
  6. Runnin shine
    Joined: Apr 12, 2013
    Posts: 3,337

    Runnin shine
    Member

    I was close to damn near being proud of myself for graduating to wearing a facesheild(with glasses). Thought after having my eyeballs drilled on a few times through the years I wouldn't have to experience that crap anymore. Then , shield lets me down. This time was much harder to recover from then past. Now I am so paranoid I want to just use a full face race helmet. Got ten dollar eyes? Wear a ten dollar visor. Or was it helmet?


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
    hipster and Bruce Fischer like this.
  7. I almost had a pretty bad mishap in the garage a few weeks ago. I was standing around waiting for dad to finish using the wire wheel on the floor of the car, and when he stopped grinding I went behind him to take a look. He must not have heard me and he started up again and I felt something smack me in the area right underneath my eye. I went inside to use the bathroom and when I looked in the mirror there was a 3/4'' long piece of wire hanging off of my face right below my lower eyelid. Could've been bad o_O
     
  8. saltflats
    Joined: Aug 14, 2007
    Posts: 12,602

    saltflats
    Member
    from Missouri

    If you feel something hit your eye don't blink..... grab your pack of book matches and fold one back and forth a few times then pill it off and use that end of the match to remove the shit from your eye.
     
    Bruce Fischer likes this.
  9. Been to the ER twice for the same thing, had to have metal wire from cup grinding attachment removed once, terrible miserable pain. Nothing helps! I feel you pain, how you get better soon. I had goggles with breather holes and it found its way through the tiny holes


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  10. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,852

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    been there, done that. had one fall from my eyebrow or something overnight after a day of grinding, when I had that one buffed out and the doc said I must have done it before since I had rust in my eye from a previous encounter with metal in my eye. I told the doc "that's not rust, it's patina."
     
    hipster and Runnin shine like this.
  11. Johnny Gee
    Joined: Dec 3, 2009
    Posts: 12,695

    Johnny Gee
    Member
    from Downey, Ca

    Base Ball cups is made for two. Because protecting only one isn't an option. :eek:
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2017
    Dino 64 likes this.
  12. k9racer
    Joined: Jan 20, 2003
    Posts: 3,091

    k9racer
    Member

    I too am guilty. I had the old people surgery and had lens installed in my eyes. Now I have recieved a gift of being able to see with out wearing glasses. A few weeks after completing the treatments I made a trip to the welding supply store. I purchased almost 100 pairs of clear and colored safety glasses and a dozen face shields. I will do nothing with out eye protection. even so I have managed to get trash in my eyes.
     
  13. deathrowdave
    Joined: May 27, 2014
    Posts: 3,554

    deathrowdave
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from NKy

    I'm a long range shooter , I go the range weekly to hone the skills . I know that sport doesn't belong here , but you would not believe the amount of people that show up at the range without hearing protection and eye protection . I try offer some " thinking comments " about use of PPE , usually answer is I can't see with safety glasses and it's only temporary , hearing will be OK , tomorrow . Always wandered why so many people with medical experience were in such a place as a shooting range
     
    49ratfink likes this.
  14. I got a sliver of grinding shit in my left eye,bounced off my cheek and up under my safety glasses.I went to the A & E ,got it removed and when they put a pad on the eye to keep any shit out until the anestetic wore off my sight in my right eye was all blurry.Bastard of a way to find out the sight in my right eye was failing.
    I wish the crickets would find somewhere else to play rather than my ears almost.
    Ain't getting old fun!
     
  15. I've had more rusty junk dug out of my eyes from fixing customer's cars. One of the reasons why I got out of the business. I has a steel chip on my eye one time, this was hours after I left the machine shop and was getting ready to go out to dinner on a Saturday night. It wasn't embedded, actually in the soft tissue under the eyeball. I got it out with a q-tip of all things, felt 110% better immediately. Things blow around in shops, this is where most of the crap in my eyes came from.

    A few years back I noticed my one eye was a little irritated after a day at the beach... take a close look... I had the tiniest piece of sea shell on the white part of my eye. It was STUCK, muckled on pretty well. Went to my eye doctor, he put something in my eye to numb it, actually pried the shell off my eye using a needle.
     
  16. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 9,915

    BJR
    Member

    If I go out among lots of people today, will I be a public eye sore?
     
    bobss396 likes this.
  17. i.rant
    Joined: Nov 23, 2009
    Posts: 4,326

    i.rant
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    1. 1940 Ford

    The relief I felt when the eye doc dug the metal out of my eye can't be put into words.
    Never again will I put myself in that position. Safety first.
     
  18. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,525

    alchemy
    Member

    I've had more slivers picked/ground out of my magnetic eyes than I can count. First was when I was 16 and the last was just a couple years ago. I've tried everything from cheapo safety glasses, to tight-fitting safety glasses, to full face shields, to all at the same time. And still the slivers would get into my eyes.

    I finally realized that just as many slivers were sitting in my hair or on my shirt, and they would wait til later in the day to fall into my eye. The doc said the slivers are like little sharp hooks and don't need a high-speed impact to stick into your soft eye surface.

    Blow off your head and shirt with compressed air (while your eyes are closed tight) after every time you grind!



    .
     
  19. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 9,915

    BJR
    Member

    And be careful about not blowing compressed air around your ears or you can pop an ear drum.
     
  20. I have had 6 or 8 slivers dug out of my eyes over the past 50 or so years. Every one has been either brass from grinding brazing or cast iron. Don't remember ever having to have steel dug out. Those two metals seem to go right through goggles. I won't grind brazing any longer and am very reticent to grind cast iron. I seem to get away with sanding them with 36 or 60 grit sanding disks.
     
  21. Fordors
    Joined: Sep 22, 2016
    Posts: 5,412

    Fordors
    Member

    I have used one of those strong magnets that have the magnet in an aluminum body with a pocket clip to successfully remove ferrous chips from my eye. Either use a mirror, or get assistance from someone else.
    I would only do this if you catch it right after it happens. If any time has elapsed I would see a medical professional.
     
    H380 and hacknwhack like this.
  22. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,525

    alchemy
    Member

    Along with eye safety comes ear safety. You should be wearing hearing protection (ear muffs) too. I always blow off before I remove the ear muffs. That way I don't get rusty ears either.
     
  23. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 9,915

    BJR
    Member

    In the 50 some odd years I have hurt myself in many ways working on cars, always due to stupidity or carelessness. Throughout my back moving engines around the shop and lifting transmissions with my back, and not lifting with my legs. Sprained my ankle from kicking a tire cuz I was pissed at the car. Cut my hand on a sharp bent fender requiring stitches, while using a sledge hammer without wearing gloves ,while bending a crashed fender back so I could get to the bolts that held it on. Burned my arm while welding under a car, not wearing correct protection. Crap in my eyes from grinding without a face shield. My ears hum when it is very quiet out, from not wearing ear protection while using air sanders over the years. The list goes on, but the common thread to all of this is; every time I was in a hurry, or too busy to put on the correct safety equipment or position myself correctly before lifting. But god I love working on cars!
     
  24. Good (?,!) idea!! I have a handful of those super magnet disks I bought on ebaY to do some experimenting with. I will definitely try that remedy if/when I get another ferrous sliver. Problem is most of mine have been brass shavings so magnet won't work there.
     
  25. 32v
    Joined: May 20, 2007
    Posts: 952

    32v
    Member
    from v.i.

    always go to eye doctor ,they have the proper tools to work on your eyes . the docs are pretty crude at digging it out
     
  26. Not unless you make a SPECTACLE of yourself...
     
    BJR likes this.
  27. Yes, I really appreciate the yellow deadening drops they use B4 starting the butcher job. I guess they reason that if I am that stupid to imbed a chunk of metal in my eye, gentleness on their part is not called for.
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2017
  28. Got an old rifle with a heavily worn firing chamber that spits back more than it propels the bullet. Told my son never to fire it, but if an intruder comes in, load the rife and hand it to him. It will do far more harm to the person using it than an intended victim.
     
  29. Beanscoot
    Joined: May 14, 2008
    Posts: 3,080

    Beanscoot
    Member

    "I finally realized that just as many slivers were sitting in my hair or on my shirt, and they would wait til later in the day to fall into my eye. The doc said the slivers are like little sharp hooks and don't need a high-speed impact to stick into your soft eye surface."

    Before I take off the safety glasses, I look straight down at the ground and close my eyes tight. Then I use my hands to vigorously brush my hair and face to remove those nasty little bits that are just waiting to fall into the eyes.

    I do like the magnet idea, but on another note, does anyone still have one of those glass eye cups that are used to wash out eyeballs?
     
  30. Fordors
    Joined: Sep 22, 2016
    Posts: 5,412

    Fordors
    Member

    I was only recommending the magnet for chip removal if it is immediately after the incident and the metal is on the eye and not imbedded. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea.
     

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