Burns..

[skunkriv]

My worst burns have all come from the sun and one from concrete but I have had parts of me steaming or smoking in the shop too.

At a demo one time I heard Walt Scadden tell all that "monkey tools are always hot". He's right! lol

[sdalcher]

"You're punching a piece of steel that is at an orange almost yellow heat. Why wouldn't the punch be hot!!?"

Ecart,

I did the same thing a few days ago, I had misplaced my usual punch which is fairly large and takes a while longer to get "hot" where I hold it. So I made do with a thin punch, drove it a few licks, was interrupted for "a few seconds" ok, really probably a minute you guessed it I grabbed a hold of the punch and promptly flung work and all at my excitement of learning the thermal capacity of my new punch. Needless to say i spent the next few minutes with hand in quench tank, berating myself for being an idiot...

[Ecart]

Ya! Sounds familiar.

[Mende]

Has anyone managed to get a burning piece of coal between their toes?. . I did . .

[FredlyFX]

I've had a couple of bad burns in my life. The worst one blacksmithing was at my very first live demo. I had set up at a ren fair and had my post vise connected to a large picnic table I built for the purpose of holding it and keeping the public back a bit. I was doing a twist on a piece of 1/4" that just wouldn't go into the vise right so I reached up and grabbed it. Yeowza! It's amazing what red hot steel will do to skin in a split second. I saw the skin smoke before I felt the pain. And, of course, there were 6 or 8 little ones all lined up at the table watching me, so I couldn't let loose with my normal litany of cursing that seems to help in those situations as I sat there with my hand in the slak tub. This happened early on Saterday, and I had to keep going all day Sat and Sunday. Fortunatly I have some very good prescriprion burn creme that I was given by an emergency room doc after a little BBQ incedent years ago.

My worst burn ever though was when I was 7 I slide my hand under the waffle iron as I was bored watching my mom cook breakfast. I just wanted to see how far it would go. Well, once that thing slid up on the back of my hand it didn't want to come off till I had dragged it all the way off the counter. I still have the scar on the back of my hand as a reminder 37 years later.

[KevinD]

I stuck a needle in the blister and it's been oozing all day.

[Glenn]

I told Whitesmith that if anything ever happens, go Moose ears (10 finders out stretched with your thumbs in your ears), back up, and watch the hot steel fall to the ground. At one of his first public demos, we were set up in a low spot. The Forge was leveled with a flat stone. 2 hours into the demo I went to the bathroom leaving Whitesmith to demo for a couple of minutes. As I returned (still some 50 feet away) the forge moved to the side of the stone, off the stone, and fell over onto the ground. All the folks nearby grabbed fire extinguishers and came running.

Whitesmith put on welding gloves, picked up the forge, put the stone back under the leg, and was shoveling fire off the ground and back into the forge when the good folks arrived. "Thank you but I think I got it under control" as he poured water from a 5 gallon bucket on the remaining fire on the ground, putting it out cold.

Whitesmith was instructed, Moose ears first, put out any stray fire, then take a deep breath and take inventory. If your injured, shut down and get help, but if your ok, fix the problem and get back to work.

This would make most blacksmiths a basket case, but Whitesmith (who was 10 or 11 years old at the time) had safety tools handy, and knew how to use them. He just fixed the problem and was back forging within minutes.

A safety plan works, but only if you must HAVE a safety plan.

[Ten Hammers]

Run a gouge for 8 hours and you will have a few burns. Run it 3-4 days and you will have a collection.

[whitebear]

one of my worst burns was when i was about 25 years old. many years ago. i thought i was going to be "cool" and just go out and make a few gifts for family members at about 11:30 at night...in shorts, a tee shirt...and BAREFOOT!!! about 20 minutes into the night. i was bending a piece of hot iron when a piece of scale fell off right on to toes. burned though so quick i couldn't even move my foot in time. to this day i have so much scar tissue built up on the tops on my toes i can't curl them all the way..
i learned not to make that stupid mistake and i learned it the hard way. i almost lost my little right toe. BECAUSE OF A PIECE OF SCALE!!

Son Daughtry

[the_sandy_creek_forge]

Originally Posted by Finnr

The worst burns I had by far were working as a pro cook. Nothing at all to match as a smith.
Finnr

I've got to agree with Finnr on this one. I worked in a local family-type restaurant all through highschool and split time in college between the restaurant and the college cafeteria. You learn REAL QUICK why shorts are BAD regardless of the air temp in the kitchen, and you also learn real quick why elbow length baking mittens are GOOD. Heck, I've owned welding gloves that weren't as well made as some of those heavy baking mitts
-Aaron @ the SCF