Owwwwwww!

I HIGHLY recommend that you don't try this at home!

I was in the welding shop trying to do something I usually have help for. I was using a piece of 2x2x1/4" tubing about 5 feet long to do what I have used 1x2 16g tubing for before.

The piece got away from me and it landed on the toe of my workboot.... <note to self - when this big toe recovers someday - GET STEELTOE WORKBOOTS!

OOOoooowwwww!!!!

Ouch is right! I hope your recovery goes well, Joe. We want you in good health to lead us into craziness with incandescent mods.

I bought my first pair of steel-toed boots last week -- just for yard work, especially chainsaw stuff. They are heavy and stiff, but I want to save my toes. I'm glad to hear that yours will recover.

Paul

Remains to be seen Paul...

It's kinda red and AWFUL tender!

Safety, Safety, Safety...didn't you see those "gory shop movies" in school? The ones where the guy saws off his finger or gets something in his eye?

Seatbelts "I'm not gonna' wear em', they can't make me!"...duh...rules are written in blood...someone got hurt or worse so the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) writes a rule/law...so hopefully it will save someone in the future from the same thing.

Steel toe boots, gloves (though depending on the task can get caught in a machine and cause problems too, eh?), safety glasses, hardhats...all for a reason!!

I can't count the times the a hardhat has kept my head safe from a bad bruising or worse!!

Hey, I've heard safety briefings, attended training, trained others, etc...over and over and over and over again...do I ever get tired of it? No way, training and listening over and over will hopefully keep me (as well as others) from getting hurt or killed. If I've heard it once, bring it on again...I'll listen over and over and over....because I want safety implanted in my brain. If possible I want it to be second nature to me.

Maybe I'm a bit "fired up" over safety...well, I'm still recovering from a "soft tissue/ligament/tendon" injury I suffered in the fall of 2001! Everyone takes their fingers, eyes, feet, hands, lungs, skin...for granted until they lose or impair them...

BTW, sorry about your toe! Hope it gets better faster than you hope!

Ok..I'm off the soap box, I believe in safety equipment...especially in a shop/work environment!

I hope so too Sigman. At this point if it tried to swell TOO much bigger, it would probably bust!

My problem with steel toe shoes is I have a EEE foot, and usually buy D shoes... the steel HURTS that way!

Guess I gotta go to a specialty shoe store...

Oh, by the way... I use my extra thick welding gloves the way most people use those leather/cloth gloves. They have saved me from nasty hand grinder slips!!!

Gotta be SUPER careful around the bench grinder though!

And I wear plastic glasses, which stop direct hits.

I'm not entirely sure how I became Joe Welder after 40 years though??? <nevermind, I know how...>

Hey even if you take precautions sometimes the dopes around you get you too! About three years ago I got hit in the cheek (right below the eye socket and I was wearing sporty eye protection too!) by a 16 gauge 1 1/2" nail from a pnuematic nail gun by an idiot carpenter I worked with who bounced it off of the cornerbead on a kitchen soffet! It penetrated through the sinus and skull and if it hadn't bent upwards in the first 1/2" of penentration it would have hit the artery or optic nerve, missed by less than a 1/4"!

About a year before that I was working in a friends metal shop as a fabricator and my buddy who owned the shop went on vacation, so we closed down for the week so I could take a break too, only he asked me to come in and take delivery of some 2"x 2"x 3/16" steel angle that was coming mid week so I said "Sure Rich, no problem!" we nailed down a delivery time and I went in and the guy showed up and rang the bell almost immediately after my arrival. I glanced down at my steel toes on the shop floor where I leave em' and think "ah, this'll only take a minute so I'll just keep my sneakers on and then bolt!". We carry in the three 20' lengths stacked on top of each other and I say to the driver " on the count of three, we'll put em' down on these blocks, ok?" he nods, we do the three count, and he drops his end from about three feet up! My end slips from my grasp under the weight and I watch, in horror, as the three lengths fall legs first onto my foot! Holy Crap, that hurt!!!! Black and Blue foot and toes for weeks afterward. Turns out it's the drivers first day and he is terrified by what happened and that he'll get fired. After I regain my composure and stop jumping around on one foot swearing and balling like a little girl, I gave him a tip for the help anyway and limp home.

Then there's the time I got slice through the tendon by.....well you get the picture!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Sorry to hear about the accident Joe, hope it heals up good as new! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

TSG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

We're just a two man outfit, and the other idiot is my Dad.

Once the swelling goes down a bit, things will be MUCH better! I'm STILL going to get EEE Steel Toe Boots somewhere!

It only takes once.

After having a 90 pound stack of bundled shelving dropped on my foot, I got steel toe boots. That was 20 years ago. Now I even have a pair leather dress shoes with steel toes, and they look dressy. Helps if your employer will pay for them.


GregR

[ QUOTE ]
PlayboyJoeShmoe said:
My problem with steel toe shoes is I have a EEE foot, and usually buy D shoes... the steel HURTS that way!

Guess I gotta go to a specialty shoe store...

[/ QUOTE ]

The stores that sell Red Wing, Iron Age, etc. will have your EEE width. That's what I wear and I've never had any trouble finding them in those stores. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Update:

Today the OWW is somewhat different... throbbing stabbing oww!

You damn betcha it only takes once!

X-ray time yet ??

Joe,

When I read your post I felt that pain vicariously. My two most recent toe breakings occurred when I dropped a fireplace log end-first on my bare foot, and then the time I was learning to ride English style, had dismounted and was standing next to the horse ("Linus") talking to some girls and Linus stepped on my right foot with his left front foot and just stood there as the pain got worse and worse. I tried to stay cool in front of the girls and kept shoving him and finally punched him on the side of his face and he stepped off. I wasn't proud of doing that but the pain was *intense*.

One of my least favorite things about breaking a toe is waiting that fraction of a second after the impact for the inevitable pain to hit.

Brightnorm

You know Norm, I bet that a Horse standing at about the big toe/foot junction would be a pain that I just might faint from!

I detest going to Doctors! (Although I'm probably going to see a shrink pretty soon about anxiety (sp?). I don't consider myself to have classic problems. I just figure a little tuning is in order.

Most of the pain I feel is from the swelling. I can wear my boots, but not walk real well in them!

Around the house, I'd be doomed if I was clumsy! I am ALWAYS barefoot around here!

OH! And I don't think it was even a split second before I was cussing and hurting!

And besides, if something is cracked or broken in there, what can REALLY be done about it?