RainsFire Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Ya, so I couldn't find a thread anywhere on here where The topic of Burns was brought up, and in the middle of swearing off one of my best, I thought it'd be kinda "cool" to hear some good ole' burn stories.. Personally I'm somewhat used to super heated gloves, burning slag, and speeding sparks, but every once in a while I get hit with a sweet one.. Today I did a dumb thing, and used the wrong tongs to hold my work in progress sen.. The yellow hot glob of metal flipped up and melted off my right hand pinky side palm.. kinda deep but I didn't feel it.. The scent and look of it was what was nasty..plus its starting to hurt now a little:rolleyes: alright guys, shoot!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I've had two bad ones...#1. I was cutting some pipe with the torch and had a piece of slag about as big as a dime go into my boot. This happened 25 years ago but I still have the scar on top of my foot. #2 happened this year - was working on a large scroll and it flipped in my hands while I was adjusting it in a bending fork. That one branded me pretty good but it didn't scar (the miracle of aloe vera). I've had numerous burns from scale and bumping into hot stuff but these two were the worst. In general, grease burns while cooking are worse than burns in the shop, IMHO. The oil sticks and won't come off easily. I may actually have more scars from the frying pan than the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdalcher Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 The dumbest one yet, I was taking a finishing cut on the lathe after numerous heavy cuts... I was admiring the mirror-like finish and you guessed, I had to touch it... Regained feeling in my fingertips a few months later, you can bet I'll never do that one again!!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Lavender oil, i said it before and will say it again you will not even beleive you had a burn in the same spot only 1 week later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J W Bennett Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Worst burn...welding up a trailer frame last year. It was early fall and I took my long sleeve shirt off about mid-morning when it got hot outside. Left my T-shirt on. Welded most of rest of the day and well after dark. Knew it was getting red and tender but I just had to get the trailer done. Burnt the inside of my left upper arm to the point of no return. Blistered, Peeled, turned yellowish nasty and will be discolored to remind me from now on. No bodies fault but my own, knew better did it anyway. Most Humorous near miss, At a recent demo I had a nail stick in the header. I heated the nail and header up, stuck the header in the vise and went to cut the head off the nail with a chisel. Smacked the chisel, the nail head seperated from the nail and promptly went down the front of my Bibs. Didn't take long to figure out what happened. leaned as far forward and down as I could, dropped the Galleasses on the bibs and fished it out before anything important got burnt. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 When I was about 15 and just starting to play with hot metal I did a good one. I was setting up to finish annealing a knife made of a file; it was red hot and I dropped it. Out of pure reaction I snatched it out of the air. My fingers stuck to the blade, and the air filled with that wonderful aroma. Funniest bad burn, not smithing related? I burned my xxx on the wall heater trying to warm up after getting out of the shower. Made a two inch checkerboard blister on me, and a scar that I carry twenty years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecart Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Worse burn so far (I'm still pretty new, so give me time ): Several months ago, I don't remember what I was making, but I cut off a piece of 1/4" round stock. The "cold" end hit the ground and without thinking about it, I reached down and picked it up. It left a leathery scar across the palm of my right hand. It was prety tender for a while, but it's gone now. While I was working at the fair last month, I grabbed a piece that the heat had transfered into and very quickly let it go. It was then that I heard a woman in the audience laugh and say, "That's how I'd look at it." I had to grin about that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoary Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I have to agree with ApprenticeMan, Lavendar Oil does work and if I recall correctly from Massage School the origin of essential oils came from a man who massively burnt his arm and threw it into whatever liquid he could find which was of course a barrel full of lavendar oil. Aside from that the only burn story I've gotten was when a friend decided to brand my forearm with a windcover from a hookah bar, I decked him right in the jaw for that unecessary action, luckily I knew the owner and got off easy from the whole thing. yup that would be my burn story, still got a half circle on my arm :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 The worst burns I had by far were working as a pro cook. Nothing at all to match as a smith. Finnr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 My worst burn happened while I was drilling. I'd jumped up on the cab of the drill to try seeing something through the woods and when I climbed back down grabbed the exhaust stack. I'd already stepped off so I couldn't just let go without falling through the steel rack on the way to the ground. I've had lots and lots of burns but that was the worst, took a couple weeks to get over it. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ouellette Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I've been fairly lucky when it comes to smithing. Only a few little scale burns on my hands and some stuff coming out of the fire and landing on my lips. It looks pretty funny when you see it happen, but don't know what's going on. The worst burn I got came from hot brass directly out of an M-16 hitting me in the neck then falling down my shirt, burning my chest and tender belly all the way down to my belt. I think you can still see a scar on my neck and a little bit of one on my chest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith Jim Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I gave myself blisters in the pattern of rebar across the palm and fingers of one of my hands from grabbing a piece of black-hot metal when I was more of a novice. Thats probably the most painful burn I received.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdalcher Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Bob O. been there done that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayco Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 A long time ago, I heated a large bolt with a very 'rusted on' nut on it that I needed to repair a plow. I got the bolt and nut red hot,removed the nut, and laid them both out of the way on a little table in my shop. I then went on to some other forging task and forgot about the bolt and nut for some time. For some unknown reason(which still confounds me to this day), I reached over and picked up that bolt with my fingers. I carried the thread pattern of that bolt on my thumb and index finger for four or five months if I recall correctly. I now place anything small I've been forging on in a 'safe box'.....a metal bucket,..an old skillet, etc. I get fewer surprises and fewer burns that way. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jody Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 well here's one for ya, my worst burn was at a pizza shop i was workin in a few years ago, I had just bought a pair of hi-tec hiking boots and was sporting them that night thank goodness... well to make a long story short , the cook was cleaning the fryers and draining the grease into a Large ten inch deep vat and he conveniently placed this vat of 350 degree grease in the middle of the walk way to the back door , which i of course felt obliged to step in ! i wound up with a blister the entire circumference of my ankle at the top of my boot, had i wore my deck shoes like i normally would have , i shutter to think the severity... but all in all a not as bad as it could have been... blister was HUGE but not a bad scar.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnie Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 I once took a piece from the forge, checked for straightness, only needed a slight adjustment. Then while holding one end with tongs, I grabbed the other end with a bare hand. It actually took a full second or two to feel the pain. [When you grab something barehanded and hear a hissing noise, this should be a clue]. The next 30 minutes were spent knelt at slacktub, next 30 minutes spent with hand under kitchen faucet, next couple weeks with a very sore hand....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 well here's one for ya, my worst burn was at a pizza shop i was workin in a few years ago, i wound up with a blister the entire circumference of my ankle at the top of my boot, had i wore my deck shoes like i normally would have , .... Okay, THAT gave me the willies! Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnie Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 It was not the kind of thing you will do twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 A few years back I was making a fancy candlestick involving three fire welds. Welded the first two pieces together and put the part down on the anvil, bent down and picked up the third part then picked up the part I had just welded - that Homer Simpson moment. Hand was a right mess for a couple of weeks, never did finish the candle stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinD Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 OK... my worst (blacksmith) burn was just an hour ago. I reached down to pick up the channellocks that I use for tongs and grabbed the working end. I need to learn to stick those babies in the water from time to time... The worst burn I can remember was from my childhood. You know...young enough that you can't see the top of the stove. I reached up to pull myself up to look to see what my mother was cooking and grabbed the hot eye of an electric stove. I can still remember how much my mother cried...:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keykeeper Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 So far, the worst I have burned myself smithing was when I first started. I had decided to make an eyebolt and hook hasp for my shed out of 1/4 in. round. I finished the eyebolt and had laid it on the anvil while I went in my shop to get some other tools and such I needed to finish up. I came out, and started to get back to work, and Yep, you guessed it, picked that dad-gum eyebolt up to move it. With my HAMMER hand, nonetheless. I immediately dropped it and proceeded to get intimate with my slack tub. There were chunks of ice in it, so I kept grabbing those and holding them between my fingers. The fellow that helped me get started had told me to immediately quench in this situation, and keep it quenched for at least 15-20 minutes, and I am thankful for that advice. I had the prettiest round burn on the pad of my thumb and an arc on my index finger. The hurt went away after a couple of days. I think the extra cold water helped to suck the heat out of the burn quickly, and stop the cooking process. The skinned just peeled away after about 6 days and I have very little scarring to show for it. Like a few people mentioned earlier in this post, I never did finish that hasp up. I still have the offending piece hanging up on the entry doors to my shop shed, as a reminder. (As an aside, I worked for several years in a pizza shop, we ran the ovens at 550 degrees, and I kinda built up a tolerance to heat on my hands. Got a few burns there, but Never was prepared for what this felt like, though.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Patrick Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 The worst burn I ever got was not from smithing, but from cooking. I just finished roasting a whole chicken in the oven. I pulled the deep pan it was roasting in out (with a potholder), put it on the range top carefully. Closed the oven. And then proceeded to pick up the pan by the handle and set it on the butcher's block in the center off the kitchen. Without a pot holder. I branded the handle into the palm of my hand. I did it so quickly without thinking, I was pretty much to the butcher's block before the stunt caught up with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candidquality Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Blacksmithing, never had a major disaster. Think I learned young to be a bit more careful.... I had a stuffy nose so we'd started up the evaporator(humidifier). It was time to fill it up to last the night again and being the big boy I was(7) I knew how to fill it up. So I unplug it, off to the sink I go with this 1 1/2 gallon tank. I reach the edge and set it down. Only to find out that I hit the perfect spot to shatter the amber colored glass base(now they are plastic for a good reason). This proceeded to spill a quart of boiling hot water on my stomach from the top of my elastic waist band, 8 inches across and 3 inches down. Temperature dropped enough to not burn anything lower (luckily). 1" Blisters and a trip to the e.r. later, I gained a respect for heated things. Suprisingly, no scarring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinD Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 grabbed the working end. I did it again... Ring finger tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian C. Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I dealt with several burns when I was an EMT. Picked up a toddler one sunday afternoon who had pulled a crock pot off of the counter, it shattered and scalded the top of one foot. I think the worst was an 18 yr. old boy who worked at a fast food joint. While cleaning up, he slipped and went arm first into a deep fryer, way up the arm & when he recoiled away he swept the grease out all-over his front. Luckily it had been turned off for about 15 min. or so & did no permanent damage. And, I too have picked up black parts that werent quite as cool as I thought. Here at the plant they call that "inattention to detail". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.