Hand/eye coordination has been in rapid decline. Going off the baby aspirin has cut down on the mess. Sometime in my 60’s I stopped cutting and started tearing. I see from this thread it’s a widely-shared trait...nice to know I’m not alone in the shop! (All digits still hangin in there.) I HAVE located every cotter pin on my Jalopy..I made a map on my forearms . (Hey @Stogy, never saw that sweet lil Pick.m.Up! Is there a thread?)
When I remove a bumper or running board, I look at the brackets and wonder if I should just run my leg into them and get it over with.
A few years ago, my friend George gave himself a head injury out in his shop and was bleeding like a stuck pig. His fast-thinking wife whipped off his belt and put it around his neck as a tourniquet.
One. year ago , saw a leak under the car...(1956 olds 98) took ramps to lift the car and go under it. to see where the leak come from.. put my hand all, over the gearbox , and unfortunately , my hand move the gearbox linkage; the parking position slip into neutral , the car went down , and hurt my hip while i was under the car.. fortunately , my hip ,chest , and arm were injured , but i'm still alive....
busted a bunch of stuff over six decades of shop time.....every toe on each foot , instep on one, both collar bones( crush deal) right wrist , fingers, .....more scars than i could count................I consider myself lucky, that's just shop stuff...could ,and does happen to anyone. The really cool stuff is when yer driving em' and shit happens. let's see...... concussions, abrasions, contusions from improper application of speed and errors in judgement. Major impact damage from a driveshaft event in circle track endeavors. I got a little arthritis now, the only problem is covers about a hunnert percent of my body,most of the time
I've found a lot of the shop injuries can be avoided, most of which I have learned by receiving said injuries. A lot of the time it comes from not maintaining awareness and a big part of it is organizing what you're doing and keeping shit out of your way. A clean work area is a safe work area. I cant stand cords and hoses laying all over the place especially when there are spinny cutty things and sparky burny things going off and on. Usually immediately AFTER receiving a new scar, I think "wow that could have been avoided if I just did _____". Having been in a shop environment for over a decade for a living some of it becomes second nature but you still have to stop and look some times. Being in a hurry usually ends up in shitty work or injury.
The blue paper towels soak up a lot of blood. Wrap it up and keep going unless you have nicked an artery.
I usually dont realize i cut myself over the weekend in the shop, but monday morning the first time I hit the hand sanitizer before seeing a patient i learn where each and every little cut in my hand is. Often in the shower I find new bruises and cuts on my body. Just part of the game
Your like a Timex Watch...Takes a Lickin' and Keeps on Ticking...and yes the pounding we subject ourselves to many times haunt us in later life...
NO! You are not alone. Like you, at the end of the day, I’m bleeding from different areas myself. Cuts,scrapes and gouges and that’s not including the welding and grinding.
Duct tape, electrical tape, painters Tape and dirty shop rags all control blood loss. Always keep close by.
I like electrical tape/paper towel for bleeders. You can wrap them up tight and its flexible enough you can keep on working. Plus I don't have to leave the shop. What I hate is working along and all of a sudden you see crap smeared all over. Turns out its your own blood and that stuff will rust steel fast.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/model-a-sport-coupe-project-for-the-wife.464364/page-15 ...Shutter...it's my Sport Coupe and it was Built by @HomemadeHardtop57. There is a Thread from 2010 I will share later albiet Photosucket has been there unfortunately... Your Hand...now you know how a nail feels......been there done that...I am quite good with hammer now...that specific training was part of it...
I went to he eye doctor a few months back, felt like I had something in one of them like a fender or something. She said, "been welding without your face shield?" Yeah, plasma cutter with no eye protection had burnt the corneas. Painful...and stupid.
I generally only get small cuts here and there. a good one was where I was using a Harbor Freight BIG grinder while wearing a T shirt with a hole that I ripped a little bigger earlier. grinder gets caught in the shirt, shirt wraps up in the grinder, T shirt wraps around my hand still holding down the trigger, grinder gets pulled to my chest and lays a nice 4" cut about 1/4 inch below my nipple and the grinder stalled from the shirt with trigger still depressed. I thank God the cheap bastard I was working for bought a Harbor Freight grinder. I don't think my Milwaukee grinder would have stopped spinning from getting wrapped up in the shirt I was wearing. could have been seriously killed.
... got a little something in my eye once. went to the docs to get it removed and the Dr. says "oh, you've done this before I see. there are rust spots on your eyeball" so I told him "that's not rust, it's patina"
My hands are covered in scars from all the years of wrenching on cars and Harley's. Lots of burns on arms and legs from the Harley's exhaust pipes of course. Nowadays I have found that all the nicks and cuts are easy to find; all I have to do is get out the carb cleaner... and I find every one of them! Pretty sure that stuff is lava in spray form.
If you don't ever do anything you will not make a mistake or get hurt. Just recently I was scraping a gasket off a rear end housing using a razor blade tool. The blade was dull and I changed to a new blade and the tool slipped out of my hand hit me squarely on the top of my thumb. 17 stitches later I was whole again. It seems to me when I have a injury its due to being in a tight place or lack of enough room to work.
The '59 Ford took a toll in flesh and blood. I was cleaning the windshield channel... cut the back of my hand good. Almost went to the ER... butterfly closures to the rescue. I got my shirt caught in a wire wheel when I was cleaning the shock mounts, tried to stop the drill with my hand until I could pull the extension cord. That was a bloody mess.
HA! Ya got me Stogy. Glancing at the shop picture you posted back on page 2, I thought.. That looks like a ‘29 pu with a ‘30 cab? And he’s even got matching tags!? I was DUPED by a deceptive photo...your sport coupe is the most recognizable on the H.A.M.B. Won’t happen again!
The Jalopy Journal
