ironrosefarms Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 I had a small leaf key chain that shot out of the tongs recently didn't see where it went and it was orange hot when it left. I took a few minutes and was searching around then I seen the smoke over in my wife's flowers (forging outside). Didn't do much damage but it did fly a good 20 feet away from the anvil. The worse I've been got by metal though came from my drill press. I was drilling a 1 1/4" hole in a 1/2" plate of steel for my dad. I had already worked up to 7/8" and the method of holding this plate down to the table had worked very well. However the torque when the 1 1/4" bit grabbed and spun that plate of steel around caught my stomach and sent me back onto my back side slamming me into a work bench. When I finally got my breath back and stood up my shirt was shredded and it looked like I had used the angle grinder on myself. I finished that hole then I quit for the day as I was just plain sore after that. Still have a bit of a mark from that excitement... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mende Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 I've had a lot of hammer heads fly ...before I forged wedges for each one. . .and sparks. .. ..The hammer heads were the most dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new guy Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 i've havent been hit with fflying metal (yet) but i have missed when making a havy bolt into a punch and i put the bolt threading shape into my finger. nasty cut and interesting scab. funny story and it proves how hammer control is key (at least to me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Thompson Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 The missing bits of metal are hiding in all of the spaces that aren't occupied by missing chalk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Letter or number stamps can be elusive once they take flight - Once I had one leave my hand and took flight across the room, after about an hour I found it on one of the wall 2x4's that the outside tin was screwed to. It was laying just along side one of the the posts and on top of the 2x4 about shoulder height. I heard it hit the tin wall and after looking all over the floor I started looking upwards. That always makes you shake your head where things can land and hide. Fortunately my fingers were unharmed. - JK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 hum worst one for me was at a demo had a piece i was working on fly off and had a youngster who was going to "help me " by picking it up... i was hollering NO NO NO NO!!!! and running at him ... he still picked it up for a moment...dropped it real quick and held his hand.. his dad was right there .. he wasnt burned to bad but it taught me to change my setup and make sure my tongs fit well ..it was many years ago ... nowadays it would probably have landed me in court..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Well yesterday evening I decided I would fire my forge up. Well got er going real good and it just got coked up good and put a piece of 1/4"x1" in for a door pull for a demo coming up, got it to the anvil and was drawing a taper on one end for a spade, the tongs slipped and the piece of glowing orange steel flew up and hit my face , right under my eye and knocked my glasses and my hat off. I got a 2nd degree burn and will have a big scar. Need less to say I`am fixing to order some tongs to fit 1/4"x1" flat bar. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Reminds me that years ago the folks at Gatlinburg Tenn put their blacksmith demo behind a glass window. I think there was also one of those black metal wire screens. I have half a dozen scars on my left hand from cup wire wheels from when I got in to much of a hurry to put on a glove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Chris: Glad it wasn't worse. Tongs that fit are a good thing for sure. How about forging a pair? There are a number of good products available, some over the counter, that will reduce or prevent scaring. Unless you're thinking a cool scar will help attract the girls of course. Frosty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoleDoc Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Never had anything big fly away without me getting mad and throwing it. But i have beed using one of them cheap HF hammers, and when i accidentaly hit the edge of the hammer against the channel locks i was using for tongs, the chip hit my arm and cut it. wasnt nothing bad though. Is there ANYTHING at HF that isn't cheaply made and or hazardous to your health? How the heck do they stay open??? Ted:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Is there ANYTHING at HF that isn't cheaply made and or hazardous to your health? How the heck do they stay open??? Ted:confused: Because some of the junk isn't really junk. More like going through a Goodwill store. You know that it is cheap, you know that you can find better else where, but darn that is exactly what you need. I have several tools that I bought from HF. They worked well and did the job I needed at the time. None of the tools are for business but they do the job. For instance, I bought the set of dapping punches and block they sell. they were exactly what i needed to form little hemispheres out of sterling silver for a christmas present. Regular jewelry set runs between $100 and $200. For 50 they were just fine. I'm working of a copper repousse of grapes atm. On the copper they do just great. I might get my 50 out of it eventually. I'm fairly certain that I will not get $200 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking Dog Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Disappearing Pieces I was using the hot cut, and the last tap was a little too forceful. The red hot shard of metal disappeared across the shop, and as I was wondering if there would be a fire in unknown quarters, the first curl of smoke arose from my wife's plastic swimming pool stowed away for the winter. When the inconvenient truth sank in, I raced over to see the hot metal slowly sinking through fold after fold of the pool. I poured in the water, but in the spring I had to patch the pool in 5 places. I had thought that 20 feet away would have been enough. HF Tools I bought a pitman arm puller to do a repair on my son's truck. It shattered, and razor sharp pieces bounced all over the shop. I didn't even have safety glasses on. Thankfully, none hit me. I gathered the pieces and expressed strong unhappiness at HF as I got my money back. I bought a real tool at the auto store and easily finished the job. In other words, I've gotten some good deals at HF, and I've been burned there too, several times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Disappearing Pieces ..... HF Tools I bought a pitman arm puller to do a repair on my son's truck. It shattered, and razor sharp pieces bounced all over the shop. I didn't even have safety glasses on. Thankfully, none hit me. I gathered the pieces and expressed strong unhappiness at HF as I got my money back. I bought a real tool at the auto store and easily finished the job. In other words, I've gotten some good deals at HF, and I've been burned there too, several times. Good reminder, if needs to contain dangerous energies buy the best you can afford for the job. Almost any tool is cheaper than hospital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvillain Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 This is a little off the subject of "when tools go flying". And this thread brings me countless memories of close calls. And by nature I am a careful person. I remember one time when the whole job went flying. Early in my career as a weldor I hadn't learned about fumes in containers being just a bomb waiting to go off. In the shop I worked in I had good sized boat trailer sitting up on some barrels, while doing some welding and cutting with a torch. I had been going at it for a couple of hours and stopped to get a drink. I had walked about 20 ft toward the drinking fountain when a horrendous boom came from where I had just been working. Looking back, it was quite a sight I'll never forget: seeing this boat trailer suspended in a black cloud at least six feet off the floor! It turns out some customer had brought this barrel in to have the end cut out it. The foreman said he had put it aside because he did not want to do the job. I won't cut any barrel now without first filling it with water. I have had a lot of good luck since then as well, and got more cautious and suspicious when moved on to working in refineries and chemical plants. Anvillain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill83 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Years ago, I went to a demo that covered some basic techniques in a 100 year old shop. A potluck lunch was provided by some pretty good cooks. There were two rooms in the shop. One room had the hosts working forge where he did most of his work. The other room had the original brick side-draft forge and the potluck tables set up. The demo was going on in the 'modern' room and a couple of kids were playing around doing a hot cut at the old forge. I was reloading a plate of food (because it was really good) as I heard the kids wonder if the striker should hit it one more time. The kid hit it. The cut off piece flew across the room missing me by about 18 inches. (I saw it go by). It landed in what was left of the chocolate pie and a 'sputter-spatter' was heard for about half a minute. After realizing that nobody was hurt a debate immediately ensued about how well a chocolate pie quench worked. The kids learned their lesson.:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Chris: Glad it wasn't worse. Tongs that fit are a good thing for sure. How about forging a pair? There are a number of good products available, some over the counter, that will reduce or prevent scaring. Unless you're thinking a cool scar will help attract the girls of course. Frosty Yeah probally forge some . Na, I `am hoping a cool scar with help with the girls LOL :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Mulholland - Tetnum Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 " my first tongs and im still lookin for them 6 months later " found em they were in the couch but a diffrent pair that took a hit form a sledge went flying and im clueless as to whare they went ill post when i find them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I hope you don't mind if we don't hold our breath while you are hunting for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Chris: I hope you come up with a suitably colorful story to go with the cool scar. One scar should be plenty though. Frosty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reid Neilsen Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Wire wheels are the worst. Keep out of the plane of rotation and all you'll get hit by are ricochets which almost never penetrate. Very far anyway. Plane of rotation and safety gear helps but I've pulled lots of wires from my hide. I hate wire wheels but sometimes nothing else will do. Frosty Amen - I hate wire wheels, but have to use them all the time to descale before finishing. I can't count the number of times I have had itty bitty wires go shooting into me and stab my flesh. I always use a full face shield when grinding, wire brushing or even polishing. I cant loose and eye!:o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimB Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 So far you guys covered most of my experiences. Once in hunting camp, we went out to get some fire wood. My dad dropped a snag on the road while me and his hunting buddy stood and watched from 50 feet away. As the tree hit the road, I remember seeing a 2" round x 15" chunk of limb rise 6', straight up in the air, (that's what it looked like from my angle anyways) and fly horizontally directly at me. No arc to the flight. I remember thinking that I should stick my hand out and catch it. Good thing I didn't, it passed my head about 18" away, and fast enough that it would have done some serious damage to my hand had I tried. I've thought about that a lot over the years. The energy displayed in that chunk of wood amazed me. The line of flight was 90* to the tree. I work in the HVAC trade, and I have a 3' diameter wire fan blade cover from a chiller, made from 1/4" steel rod, that was completely sheered off by an aluminum fan blade that let loose of two of the three rivets that held it to the fan hub. The aluminum blade was barely dented. My shop teacher in high school told us about a guy that just keeled over at the table saw...no blood or anything. They finally figgured out that one of the carbide tips had let loose and went through his forehead, killing him. I try to maintain respect for power tools, and about the time I get careless, something happens like the 4" angle grinder crawls up my arm or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Svarttrost Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Wow, reading about all those misshaps surely got me thinking i've been lucky as hell having avoided getting injured thus far (aside from some minor burns from forge welding). You see i've been stupid enough to be quite careless regarding safety gear. But maybe this thread and all you whom have shared your experiences will eventually save me from losing something important, like fingers or sight, because after this I'll be wearing all my safety gear for sure. Thank you for the wake up call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I had a hot piece of steel jump up and hit me on the cheek once, didn't burn it left a cut! I had a great story about Heidleberg dueling scars all worked out but it didn't leave a scar. sigh... The best story I know happened to one of my students who was teaching his wife to forge. She hit a piece and didn't have it flat on the anvil or sufficiently captured by the tongs and it flew up past her, past her husband's head and hit the tree and then bounced back past her husband's head and landed in the slack tub. She quit right then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsberg Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 This may not fit the catagory exactly but when I was frist starting out I was making a floor scraper for my brother. He was removing ot that is trying to remove, some glued on tile in his basement. Well, I had a nice thin leaf spring from a car and decided to use this, in a sort of scraper shape, with an attached metal tube handle. Well, after straightening it out hot and forging the curve that I wanted into the scraper end, I took it to the vice to bend it slightly while cold, to get the exact angle I was looking for. Clamped it into the vice, hit it with my hammer, just a tap and I heard the sound of shattering glass! The piece was now in 30 pieces on the floor, very fortunatly none of it was IN me! I had made a BIG mistake and while changing ends at the forge, I had quenched one end at a yellow heat, not thinking about the spring steel and the implications. Then I had forgotten about it later on and didn't anneal that end. I must say that it was as close to an explosion of metal that I have ever had, some pieces were behing me, all around actually. It was rather interesting actually, the steel had the same fracture lines as plate glass. Caleb Ramsby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 You were lucky Caleb, it could've cut loose on you at any time after quenching. Never, NEVER quench tool steel above critical. Quenching at yellow means annealing probably wouldn't have made it safe. Better lu . . . Actually I CAN'T wish you "better luck next time" because you were darned lucky this time, you could've been seriously injured, lost an eye, etc. How about this? Don't do THAT on the next one. For the record, I did nearly the same thing ONCE long ago. Glad you're okay. Frosty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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