So I went over today to do some work. He said he’s pretty sure he had his hand near the base of the splitter (where it shouldn’t have been) and the piece of wood smashed the whole nail area of his thumb. And being the stubborn old fart he is, he insisted on helping. So his spirits are high. Just needs to take it easy for a while. My son will be going over later this week to work over what’s left.
Let him keep helping if he wants but he doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. I can tell from the picture that he is a tough old coot! Best wishes on his recovery!
Remember my FIL hand splitting with sledge and wedge. He hit the wedge and a piece flew off and struck him in the shin just below the knee ripped through his jeans and into his leg then dropped about 2 inches. You could see the chunk of steel in his leg off to the ER to have it removed. He always kept his wedges dressed but it still happened.
When hydros attack. This one happened last year. Thought I had my finger behind the plate but it was in front of it instead. Mashed between wood and back plate. Needless to say it didnt take but a fraction of a second to realize this was a very bad thing. Broken finger and split it open on both sides.
Robots... They act like they're trying to help, while secretly plotting and waiting for the slightest mishap or opportunity to dismember and kill us... Lolz! I hope your Pops heals up and learned to make the younger ones do the hard work while he supervisees! Cheers!
Dang, looks like you got lucky too (still have the digit). Still had to hurt! I need to teach the old dog that new trick. Supervision.
Glad he’s still out there doing it.. IME it’s better to let dads help as skin bones and flesh heal better than their pride if they can’t help
It's not horrible or as worse as it could have been. That was at the first wound re-dress. My wife is a critical care RN so he came over for her to clean and bandage it up. About a week ago she removed his stiches. Can't imagine that nail will stick. He keeps it wrapped up pretty tight still.
Surprised they didn't take the nail off. Smashed the end of one of my fingers once, bone in X-ray looked like salt in a shaker. Doc grabs a pair of pretty needle nosed pliers, I ask, "what are you planning on doing with those"? He says, "I'm gonna check how tight that nail is". No way! It'll fall off on its own and it didn't. Glad dad is as good as he is. Bet he won't do that again!
Sorry to hear about your father; accidents can happen; my machinist friend had two short thumbs; two different accidents; using a brake; he had 20 years experience machinist. I try to split with one hand behind my back, the other operating the lever; not always possible of course but I am very careful about putting hand anywhere need the splitting wedge. I wear eye protection as well; just in case some wood splinters and flies a piece towards my eyes.
I tell my dad and my kids, who all operate the splitter, keep one hand on the lever and the other one off to the side somewhere. If something's about to shift or fall off, let go of the lever. Also NEVER to operate the splitter with two people. My father loves to "hold" the wood while someone else pulls the lever, I gotta tell him every time to get his hands off and away from the splitter.
That’s a big one right there! After being there when Rodney’s daughter had her incident, I never operate w/ 2 people. Yes, I’d feed another person rounds, but that piece of wood is 100% in their control. Thanks everyone for the replies. It’s appreciated.
Injured and needed stiches on my nail bed while I was working years ago. The dr. filleted the fingernail almost entirely off. He left some at the base to act as a hinge; leaned it backwards so he could access the nail bed and then stitched up the nail bed. When he was done with the stitches, he bent the nail forward to cover the nail bed once again and wrapped me up. It did eventually come off after the new nail grew out. It was kinda neat watching the process. Not real neat, just kinda!
Sorry to see your dad hurt The Wood Wolverine Glad he's on the mend. And I certainly agree.. one person running a splitter. It takes a momentary lapse in attention and then someone gets hurt.
