Safety Rant...

[HWooldridge]

Was working tonight in the shop doing some real normal, everyday stuff and wound up mashing my left hand under the 100 lb power hammer. Nothing broken but it does smart a bit. I use a lot of saddle tooling and was removing a butcher tool when the brake slipped and the ram dropped. Was more of a slip than a blow but my hand was stuck and not coming out. I grabbed the cell phone and called my wife from the house, who came out and found a pry bar. A quick lift and the hand was out after about a 5 minute clamp. One of the veins on top is broken but no worse for the wear, although it could have been a bigger problem if no one had been home. The brake is getting new lining tomorrow and some adjustment since this has never happened before and I don't want a repeat issue.

The lesson is...PAY ATTENTION - even on routine tasks...fingers and hands can't be replaced easily.

Have fun but be careful...

[Glenn]

Glad you are ok, and glad you had a cell phone.
This brings to mind the thread on how to summon help.

[Mike Turner]

Dang that is scary glad your not to bad off could have been much worse. I never stick my hand under the ram while the motor is on and I also make sure the ram is in the down position just in case the brake slips.

[Glenn]

Thinking of a mechanical means to prevent this from happening again.
Is there a way to block the ram with a 2x4? What about putting something like a bolt in a hole to lock the ram into the up position?

Would a second electrical on/off switch near the dies help? Easier to kill the power locally then take the time to reach to the present location. This would keep the folks (or children) not knowing there were 2 switches from using the hammer. on/off = no power, off/on = no power, off/off = no power, only when on/on can you get power.

[Ten Hammers]

Hollis, glad you are ok ( relative ok ). Hope speedy recovery.

Ten

[skunkriv]

Hollis-Glad you didn't get bit too bad. Hope it's not hurting much worse today.

Stay Safe-Old Rusty T.....Oh wait, that is someone else ;)

[bruce wilcock]

never let your hand pass under a hammer whatever the size ,we have a shop full of tongs ,the tool that is the most usfull working with hammers is a long handled sweeping brush keeping the pallets clear and to push tooling off with the back of the brush,each hammer has a brush at the side .Bad habits are easy to pickup and dificult to break ,men that work in forging shops as a gang are worth watching ,each man has to watch out for the gang ,thats when the long brush comes in handy around a neck to pull a man back if he is being drawn intowards the hammer concentrating on the job ,working on your own ,to just go out and get a hammer and set it to work without some help from a compitant forging smith ,can lead to poor work practice ,bad habits, some not danger, but slow laboured work ,making a simple job into a epic .

[HWooldridge]

This was on a 100 lb Beaudry. The ram will stop in any position due to the brake and I usually stop at the top of the stroke because that is maximum die height. The saddle tools go on and come off there. In this case, the crank pin was a little past vertical on the downhill side Although the belt runs slack until the treadle is depressed, there was enough grab to make the ram slip because the brake lining was oil soaked. Glenn, the motor switch is close and I was able to immediately kill the power - but I could not raise the ram under power without finishing the stroke (which would have smashed my hand for sure).

This hammer was designed to run on a line shaft and killing the power every time I change tools would be a bit excessive since I can switch configurations several times per minute. However, a block is a good idea. I was forging acorns for a job and kept working last night after the incident but it was spooky being caught like a rat in a trap.

[KevinD]

Good Lord! Pinned!

I'm glad you could reach the cell phone and I'm glad you're relatively ok.

I hope you're 100% in no time. :)

[Frosty]

I'm really happy you weren't injured seriously.

On the other hand had you pulled a stunt like that in my shop I'd 86 you then and there. I don't mean for getting pinned, I mean reaching into a running machine. :mad:

It doesn't matter how many times you get away with doing something like this, it's begging for trouble. Sooner or later it will bite you. Smithing is dangerous enough without taking unnecessary risks.

Trusting a brake is like trusting the safety on a firearm, you just don't do it. Add to that you let it wear out of adjustment?

You get no sympathy from me. I'm glad you weren't hurt worse and really hope you learned the lesson. What I'm more concerned about is how many people have watched you reaching into a power hammer and think it's okay.

Perhaps you can make up for that a little by getting a good picture of your hand after the bruises get really ugly, blow the print up nice and large and put it behind the power hammer with an explanation of what you did.

End rant.

Frosty

[HWooldridge]

The soreness and swelling are about gone 24 hours later and it's not bruised so the injury wasn't too bad.

Funny you mention guns, I always hunt with a loaded chamber - so it seems I must have a habit of trusting mechanical safeties to some extent. I was taught making sure where the muzzle is pointed is more important - but it's perfectly OK if nobody wants to hunt with me...;-)

[matt87]

Loaded chamber + safety is one thing, but I'm sure you wouldn't put your hand over the muzzle of a loaded gun if you knew the trigger sear were worn out of spec...

[nonjic]

Mr Wooldridge, Im glad your ok,

I understand the point of your post, its not so much dont stick your hand under a power hammer (or large weight of any kind) - its familiarity breeds contempt?

I know a few people with missing digits, and a guy with a missing hand (or a hand, depending if the barrel is half full or half empty !) -

the guy with the hand lost it whilst doing a saftey inspection on a trimming press, there were 2 control stations, one on either side of the machine and his workmate stroked the press due to a missunderstanding - ( on the big machines theres nothing left to sew back on ) -

[sdalcher]

Ouch, someone was watching out for you that day! Thanks for posting so that others can learn from your mistake.

Steve

[Frosty]

You make my point perfectly. Loaded chamber, safety on and you still make sure it's pointed in a safe direction. Doesn't sound like you trust the safety any more than I do.

Putting your hand in the business end of a running machine is NOT pointing the weapon in a safe direction. As already said, you wouldn't put your hand over the muzzle would you? Especially if you KNEW the safety was worn. Would you?

And yes, when I hunted I used to keep a round chambered, depending on conditions. The safety was on regardless.

Don't get me wrong, I've done dumb things and gotten bitten. Dad kicked my xxx when he caught me doing dumb things so I wouldn't lose body parts or worse.

Mostly though he allowed no excuses, zero. Everybody screws up and that's okay. Sometimes we do things we know we shouldn't and get away with it, sometimes not. Making excuses for doing stupid stuff is inexcuseable and shows a definite lack of respect for the machinery and oneself.

A year ago september I shattered my left arm. Nobody saw me fall, I could've said anything and nobody would've questioned me.

What happened was I didn't follow good safety practices. I was stepping off of the track of a mini excavator, less than 12" to the deck of the trailer I was loading it on. There was nearly 2' of deck space to step on too.

So, what did I do? I swung my left foot off the track, let go with my left hand and slid down the grab bar with my right hand. A whole 12 step. big Whoop"!

I don't know if I slipped on the dew covered steel side rail or just stepped off the deck but the next thing I knew I was going down. Tried to drive my left elbow into the ground like a tent peg and planet earth prevailed.

9 useable pieces and lots of splinters, chips and such, poked bone through my skin in three places. Three surgeries totalling close to 12 hrs. Nearly a year's worth of healing and recovery.

Like I say, I could've said anything, made up some plausible reason for why it wasn't my fault.

Truth is I was complacent. "Familiarity breeds contempt," was another favorite saying of Dad's and that's what caused my fall. It was only one little foot with almost two feet to land on. I don't need to follow the, "three points of contact," rule.

It wasn't the first time either and probably won't be the last. I dipped my cup in that well once too many times and it kicked my butt. No excusees. Zero. I was lucky this time, REALLY lucky, my elbow works darned well, almost no pain and in the high 90%s of range of motion.

Like I say, I've done plenty of dumb things, gotten away with most, paid for a few. So, that isn't my issue.

It's the excuses that are intolerable and frankly so damaging to the newer guys. The only reason you still have your hand is just plain dumb luck. You asked to have it removed in a particularly grissly manner, begged repeatedly in fact and for some joyous reason you only have some bruising to show for it.

That you aren't shouting about how lucky and stupid you were is what convinces me you wouldn't be a safe hunting companion, nor someone with which to share time in a shop.

Your's or mine.

Frosty

[John Martin]

I was shooting BB guns with my friend, and one of our BB bounced off of a rock in the ground (at least its my guess) and came back, these were high powered BB Guns (Pellet Guns to, combined) and well it ricochet back and it the bottom of my safety glasses and proceeded to go down into my cheek. It didn't hurt that much, other than digging it out with a tweasers, like a deep sliver. But I shudder when I think about what would have happened if I didn't have my safety glasses on, I'd be blind in my left eye. If there are safety precautions use them at all cost. Well enough of that rant, It's really good to hear that your hand it okay and healing well HWooldridge.

[forgeman]

hey Frosty, You make some really good points for all of us to ponder on . However one moments carelessness does not necesarily mean the guy is unsafe in anything he does . He probably gets the point now that he screwed up . Lets cut him a little slack , everyone else will be afraid to post any of there screwups for fear of a frosty thrashing . that will hurt us all .Forgeman

[HWooldridge]

Frosty, no offense taken - I have a very thick skin and I'm quite certain you'll never have to worry about me being in your shop. We need to learn from mistakes so I posted one - I didn't have to do it and no one would have been the wiser. I have been running this hammer well over 20 years but this is the first time it bit me...and yes, I have been reaching into the dies that whole time and no, I probably won't stop but I promise I won't complain to you if I lose a hand.

The basic problem in this case is that the ram could slip even with the motor off because this hammer was apparently setup incorrectly from a long time ago (I confirmed this by setting the ram at halfway to see if it would slip). I fixed that tonight by installing a counterweight on the back side of the idler. Anyone who has worked on a Beaudry knows what I'm talking about. On most hammers, the idler actuates the brake on the left side but my hammer has a self-contained jackshaft and motor so it's on the opposite side. I'll post a pic at some point but suffice to say that the spring that pulls up the treadle allowed the ram to slip because the brake did not fully actuate. The counterweight I added solved the issue.

Next time I'll go to the emergency room and keep my mouth shut...:-D

[Ted T]

HWooldrige,
Thank You for making a lemon into lemonade for us!
Two good things that have come out of what happened to you are that;
#1. You will be able to work again another day.
#2. You have enough respect for your fellow blacksmiths to take the time and energy to tell us about it. It takes courage (to say the least) to share your experience.
Do to my experience in running crews, I would not fire you if you worked for me. In fact I would keep you on the payroll and make you the safety advisor for the shop. You would be more experienced and valuable to the shop.
The reason is because I would bet all my tools that you would never allow what ever lead up to the event to happen again.
As an investigator for 36 yrs. and a “sometime OSHA consultant” I have seen the results of a lot of bad things that happened so fast that it has overcome even some of the smartest, best thinking and well trained minds.
It just takes a small mental blip to create a failure in judgment on occasion.
I believe a lot of people do careless things and get away with it due to the timing of the event. But when you do the same careless thing at the wrong time it will bite you.
An example: I watched a twin engine plane crash due to the pilot forgetting to lower his landing gear. The pilot turned out to be the Head Pilot in charge of Safety for Western Airlines.
After 36 years of being called out (day and night) to all types of what most people call accidents, I have become to believe that none of us are immune from the possibility of violating our own safety standards!

I believe that reminding each other over and over and over again about safety is a critical part of the SAFETY PROGRAM that is found here at I Forge Iron.

Did you notice the thread about “So what did you learn the HARD way”?
I feel that question generated responses that were akin to Safety Lessons.
I found it to be very informative and useful for a heads up for me.
Again, Thanks for the heads up.
Be safe!
Old Rusty Ted

[Glenn]

Hollis, keep reminding us.

Your story got me to thinking about what I do and what could be used to replace the 2, 10 and 20 ton jacks if they failed. So tonight I refilled and topped off the hydraulic fluid in 3 hand powered hydraulic jacks. They used to go only so far then stall out, now they go full stroke.

The jack stands reside next to the jacks so there is no excuse not to use the stands. They got inspected also.

Thank you. Keep reminding us about safety. If it saves one injury it is worth it.