Building Injuries....

[pierre smith]

An old logger once told me to ask your pharmacist to make up some "Ghost of iodine" and put a drop or two on a deep scratch or small cut and it will seriously expedite healing.

I took his advice 20 years ago and still use it occasionally...stings like H@#$ for a minute but it's well worth it.

Best,

[bobmarkert]

To my pride..... I thought it would take 3 years..... that was 9 years ago!

[Jimboscr]

Originally Posted by rleffler

When I was at this stage, my son came up with a good idea to prevent this rash. Cut the toes out of a tube sock and wear it on your arm. It works great!

Bob

That is a good idea. Wish I knew that one when I was doing the wing skins.

[ILikePike]

Got a deep cut from the fly cutter. Finger works fine but I may never get the feeling back on about half of a finger tip. In my opinion it's the most dangerous tool in the shop. Be cautious.

[Hornet2008]

Pneumatic squeezer, wiping proseal of the rivet sets whilst doing the tanks. Had the squeezer trigger down on the bench. Right index finger, the one I write with. Took 6 months for the nail to grow back. Couldn't stop as the proseal would have gone off without the tank being sealed. Wrapped masking tape and electrical tape around my finger and finished off the tank baffle.

[WingsOnWheels]

I had finished cutting some large holes using the fly cutter. Can't remember what for, but was left with some 5-6" circles with razor-sharp edges. Before I put them in my reusable-scrap bin I thought it would be a good idea to debur the edge so I wouldn't cut myself later.

That disk of death caught on the scotchbrite wheel and was flung across the shop like a frizbee from h#ll. Passed through my left idex finger on the way cutting to the bone. Luckily, it caught the side of my finger and missed any tendons. I super-glued it closed and it healed ok. Went to the doc a week later just to make sure there was no issues. He laughed when I told him about the glue.

The most painful one was when I was building the wings. My wing assembly fixture had angle-iron horizontal members. Work space in the shop was tight. One time I was too close to the fixture and stood up under the angle (not deburred of course). It caught me across the back leaving two deep scrapes (from the corners) all the way down my back.

After I cussed about that for a while I went back to work on the same bit. Next time I stood up I caught the angle again.....@#$%^$##%%

[FredMagare]

While deburring the edges of one of my fuel tanks, I was dragging the v-edge deburring tool along when it slipped off. The momentum of my downward and lateral pressure dragged my right thumb across the ragged edge of the aluminum. It was one of those things where I stood there looking at the open wound thinking, "now this is going to hurt!" After two or three seconds of staring at clean white flesh, the blood began to flow and it took me the better part of a half-hour to get the hemorrhaging under control. Now I always wear gloves when I debur with that tool.

Ah, scars.... Each has its own story.

[tc1234c]

I don't remember that I hurt myself when building RV-9A. Of course it was 7 years ago and at my age I am not supposed to remember those events.

I did drill into my finger toward the end of building RV10. Fortunately a ban-aid was suffice for the injury.

Why didn't I think of wearing a long sock on my arm as Bob Leffler's son suggested. It would solve the arm itch problem from working on fiberglass parts.

[Rupester]

First, drilling a #12 hole in the palm of my left hand (aka primary parts holder). But only about halfway thru.
Second, how about a herniated disc? After I got my engine hung, I decided to reuse the crate/pallet lumber to build some short benches to go on each side of the fuse to ease access to the interior (especially during wiring). The pallet nails are w-a-y hard to remove. I was holding part of the pallet down with one foot, and then reefed way hard on a crowbar while I was bent over and twisted far to one side. Yep, that did it. Herniated the disc at L4/L5, which caused excruciating sciatic pain. Took 3 1/2 mo before I could walk normally, and seven months of PT and chiropractor before the back was close to normal. And all that to salvage maybe $10 of lumber. Yikes.
P.S. Have never had a serious back injury before or since.

[81270]

Originally Posted by DaleB

So far? A couple of scraped/dinged knuckles, and a few "OUCH!! Found that rivet... with my knee" instances. So far no blood. The worst looking was from riveting bottom wing skins. Looked like I got in a fight with a weed whacker.

Not quite an injury but painful after a while.... decided that when I take break from the next row or wing ribs, i will put on a long sleeved sweater.... but yeah I had exactly the same whipper snipper marks earlier today.... disappeared after a good hot shower