Ask my wife about our counter top in the kitchen, it was nothing but a simple styrene cutting project…OOPS!
I’d say!!
[B)]
about 10 years ago I was shaving some styrene with a brand new #11 X-acto blade and SLIP, took a rather large chunk out of my thumb.4 stitches later I got it finished. You would think all those years in Boy Scouts I would’ve learned to cut away from me, Not towards me.
jeff
I was trying to shave down some pilot details on an athearn SD40-2 with a flat chisel blade. i was holding the shell with my left hand and cutting with my right when the blade slipped through the coupler hole and into the backside of the big knuckle on my left pointer finger. it went all the way to the bone cutting some nerves. the right side of that finger is still a little bit numb.
i should be kept away from all sharp objects. i cant work on a single locomotive project without cutting myself at least once. usually just a tiny cut in a fingertip…
Worst story? Let’s just say it left me in stiches, three to be exact-o
Fergie
Shaving the insulation off a battery cable. Love bug flew up my nose, I shook my head and at the same time cut a four inch long gash about a quarter inch deep in my leg.
Nightcrawler, you think “YOU” should be kept away from sharp objects?
I don’t have much problems with knifes, I guess the way my muscles react is good for them. Now CA glue on the other hand…
OOOOOOIIIOOOOOO GOLOOOOOOUOOOOEOOOOODOOO MOOOOOOOOUOOOOOOTOOOOOOOOOOHOOO SOOOOOOOHOOOOOOUOOOOOOOTOOOOO
Never me, but once my dad was Building a model and cut that web thing between your thumb and index finger. He had to go to the ER and got stitches. And another time he got a flying chunk of metal in his eye from a dremel. again, the ER[xx(]
This isent to do with a knife but another Model RR accident never the less. Somtimes I use Clay or Playdow blocks to repersent things on my N scale layout. Well one time I couldent get one to stand so I thought I would put a toothpic down the middle to hold it up. It worked like a charm, but everything went bad when the day came to get rid of the clay. I went to squash it flat with the palm of my hand and i had forgoten that the toothpick was still in there. and you guessed it, It went right throught my hand hitting and artery on the way. I had to go to the ER and get it removed and ended up having my hand completely bandaged for 2 weekes. So I got a break from my model RR. That was the worst thing to ever happen to me.
Benjamin R.
I used to stick model parts on the end of a #11 exacto blade and then spray paint them. After they were sprayed I would put the knife handle in a vice and let the part dry.After the parts dried I would remove the knife from the vice and install the parts. I was in a hurry one day and removed the part from the knife without removing the knife from the vice. I reached over the vice to get something behind it and opened my arm about 5 inches and 1/2 inch deep. It was a 1 in a million injury because the blade had to be lined up perfectly in order for the blade to cut.
Damn those round handles. I am sure others have done the same , but I had one with a new #5 , roll off the table into my lap and on down towards the floor before the old grey matter kicked in and said to me , hey stupid , don’t let that hit the floor ! catch it with the top of your foot. No ER but lots of screaming and break dancing.[:0]
Mike
Yah–round handles. X-ACTO knife. Pointed blade. Brand new. Sharp. Building that Walther’s ice dock. Combined two kits so I could ice LOTS of reefers, right? Round handle rolls off of the table, does a Kamakazie right into my lap. Missed everything, but put a slice into my Levi’s. I’m sitting there staring at it, handle sticking out of the rent in my jeans, heart pounding and ears roaring, then-wife walks by, looks down, says “I thought you said the doctor did that seven days after you were born.” 'Tweren’t funny, McGee!
Tom
Cutting on the wall of a Pikestuff enginehouse and thinking how I really shouldn’t be cutting toward myself just before the knife slipped and took a big chunk out of my left index finger - nothing like going to the ER at 1AM for stitches and spending half the night there. And since I did a lot of typing on my job at the time, that made work fairly painful for quite a few days after that.
That was one of my earliest structure attempts, and now as my skills have improved, that engine house doesn’t look quite as good as my other more recent buildings, but danged if it’s coming off the layout - it nearly cost me my fingertip LOL!
And I immediately went out and bought some of those triangular rubber handle thingies after the knife rolled off the bench one time and stuck tip down in the wooden floor just inches from the cat - that would have hurt me far worse than any cut I could have given myself[:O]
Well, it wasn’t with an X-ACTO, but I had a bit of a run-in with one of those retractable craft knives a couple of years ago - was using it to remove some plastic, pressed a little too hard, and it went straight through the plastic and part of my thumb as well. Major problem then being nobody else was home and driving to hospital wasn’t really an option for obvious reasons. Eventually pressed the bit of cut thumb (blade sort of went alongside the nail) back into place and wrapped with surgical tape before calling a relative to take me to casualty - they said I’d done a decent job of first aid on it, rebandaged it, and sent me home - 2 years on and I still have the scar!
Never try to catch a falling x-acto knife,that left a nice gash.Or when I tried to adjust my eyeglasses while holding a x-acto took a pretty nice slice out of my forehead.Not that I did’nt know better,but I was totally focused on the project
I was shaving the back part of the cockpit on a Monogram P-38 (airplane) model to make the night-fighter version using the 1/4" X-Acto chisel blade. I was holding the wing with my left hand, shaving off the cockpit with my right. Knife slips, and I get about a 2" slice in my left index finger. Unfortunately, I also cut 2/3 through the tendon! 21 stitches total, most internally. The doctor would have had to slit me to the wrist to get the tendon had I gone all the way through. That was over 20 years ago, and that finger still won’t bend all the way. I have been much more cautious since then, and I recommend everyone else do the same. The doctor told me at the time that X-Acto blades are almost as sharp as a new scalpel and can do a lot of damage.
I was using a new chisel blade to remove some detail on a bridge I was building thinking this is going pretty good. The next thing I knew I had a one inch cut on my left hand just behind my index finger. Didn’t think to much of it while I went upstairs to wash it off until I got a good look at it after washing and told my wife, “We’re going to the ER to sew this up.” The doctor gave me 5 stitches to really pull it tight. As I type this I can still see the scar just over the tendon that controls the finger. I am so happy I missed that. I had a golf tournament the next day and wore a very, very tight glove. Like any of you care about the golf part. Another time I was holding a piece of wood in the palm of my left hand drilling a half-inch hole through it and stuck the drill bit point into the palm of my hand between the index and middle finger. That was real dumb. I have a nice scar to remind me of that super move. When I stretch my hand out, it still pulls. Both of these amazing feats of brilliance occured over 10 years ago and only 2 years apart. Ain’t it great!! Happy New Year.
Archie
ive done a few things, just starting in the model railroading, i was gluing some foliage to the back of a mountain on my n scale layout, and i was using some hot glue, should i say any more, lol, but ill go on, i pressed the trigger too fast, and knowing how picky my parents are with the house being neat and the carpets clean, stupid me, went and caught the hot glue before it hit the floor, then once the quick cold feeling went into a severe burning sensation, i tried to get it off by rubbing my hands together which spread the hot glue onto my other hand, in the end, leaving three swollen welts on my hands, the coverup story, Ehhhhh no big deal mom i just cut my self on a model, no worries! i also got a nail stuck inbetween the track when i was running a train ,and i went to go pick up the nail off the main line, little did i know that i nail fit perfectly ontop of the n scale track and got a pretty good zap! other than those few instances, i dont use hot glue anymore mainly because the smell of it makes my hand hurt, as for nails i just cant be running trains when im nailing track down!
Safety First and Always. Hey, the round handle syndrome is an easy fix. Just put a rubber pencil erasure over the opposite end from the blade. Odd diameter handle? Use some play dough or similar material to stop accidental rolling. Also, “Helping Hands” can save some caualties but stay away from magnetic or suction pad bases. There is no substitute for a clean, planned work area for any project, no matter how small. Most of my “boo boos” have been the result of enthusiasm over-riding common sense. Give a care, otherwise Model Railroaders will surely become an endangered species. Have a safe new year.
No single incident has ever made enough of an impression (ER visit, etc.) to qualify as the ‘worst’. But every 3-4 months or so the knife slips, and I get an annoying little slice or puncture on my left hand (the one NOT holding the knife). All those helpful tips about safety evaporate from my mind when I’m sleep-deprived and/or hell-bent on finishing a project “on schedule.”
Maybe wearing a gardener’s glove on my left hand while cutting would help…?
BTW, another thing I learned over the years: always wear LONG PANTS (preferably jeans) during cutting or dremeling activities!