# (50 grit sandpaper + random orbital sander + hand) - attention = OUCH



## Dex (Dec 12, 2007)

I have read / heard many blogs, articles, podcasts on shop safety. Many of them deal with saws, routers, and other sharp objects.

I have always been "scared" of those tools, and treat them as very dangerous objects. Never have a thought twice about using my random orbital sander. Until this past Sunday, that is…

I was stripping old finish off an outdoor bench I build a while back. The Arizona sun destroyed the finish…
I was using my ROS with 50 grit sandpaper attached to it. My son called out to me, and I turned to answer him and lost control of my ROS. At first, it just looked like a scrape, but after washing it off, I realized that I had taken quite a chunk out of my hand.

Click on the picture for a better view… somehow it is not showing up in the post like it should.

Just keep in mind that it is not just the sharp objects that you have to be careful with.


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## ropedog (Mar 26, 2008)

ouch.keep it clean so it doesn't get infected.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

OUCH is Right!!!


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## lazyfiremaninTN (Jul 30, 2007)

mmmmmmm…........skin vs small gravel---gravel wins every time. Sorry bout your injury buddy, take it easy for a couple of days, keep it clean/dry/covered.

AND…..pay attention….lol (sorry had to throw that in, meant no disrespect)


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## conbillb (Jul 29, 2008)

Oh, that hurt! That bites too! I can remember doing something like that. Its good to remember how easy it happens. Take care Dex.


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## Dex (Dec 12, 2007)

What is bad about it is that I can't keep anything on it…bandaids fall off, kerlex won't stay in place either, and the worst is, I am in the Army and we can't roll our sleeves up like we used to, so the cuff keeps rubbing on it! I am also an EMT, and short of wrapping up my whole hand, which wont work either, cuz I have to type alot at work, I can't think of anything I could put on/over it that would stay in place. lazyfireman… you are a paramedic if I remember right… do you have any suggestions?


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Try covering it with superglue. They use that to put cuts back together, but you are looking for a covering. The superglue might work.


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## lazyfiremaninTN (Jul 30, 2007)

Karson has it right…..superglue or check with you medic and see if he has any "dermabond"....medical superglue. You might also try steri-strips…uses an activated adhesive thats secures bandaid type material to keep it covered.

Instead of kerlex, try coban….your medic should have some. like kerlex but binds to itself. off post pharmacy should have otc dermabond or coban.


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## herg1 (Mar 27, 2008)

This is a little long but informative regarding Super Glue. I copied it from another forum where a MD had placed a warning about its use. This was added as a response to his short warning.

Superglue Stitches
For years midwives have been using over-the-counter superglue to "suture" perineal tears after birth. It's better than stitches. Veteran backpackers have been known to pack a tiny tube of super glue for emergency repairs of deep cuts in places where there is no doctor.

Superglue is ethyl-cyanoacrylate. While fine for small cuts, it has several weaknesses when used as a substitute for heavy-duty suturing. An improved version, butyl-cyanoacrylate was developed for heavier surgical repairs, and this stuff was used widely in the Vietnam War to patch up soldiers in the field. Butyl-cyanoacrylate is a little more flexible on a wound than commercial superglue, generates fewer toxic byproducts, and is now commonly used by vets to repair animal wounds. You can buy the stuff as 3M Vetbond. This is also what midwives have started using.

In 2000, the FDA approved a new version of tissue adhesive for human use, sold as Dermabond. This new composition, octyl-cyanoacrylate, is a longer chain, still more flexible, and possess the yet-unexplained ability to inhibit bacterial growth-a godsend in surgery. It's strong enough that it will likely replace a lot of suturing altogether someday. Small quantities of octyl-cyanoacrylate are sold to non-medicals for "research purposes"-it's the genuine stuff, only in dispensers that aren't sterilized, and therefore not approved for human use (only animal use).

To use any cyanoacrylate on a wound, keep it on the surface layer of skin, not down in the well of the wound - imagine you are taping the top of the wound together. The glue sloughs off by itself in time.

Despite all the improvements of cyanoacrylate, small amounts of hardware store superglue will work in a pinch. I know a physician who uses ordinary superglue at home on his kid's cuts. A vial of Vetbond would be even better. It's dyed blue so you can easily see where it is on the skin and where it is not, and it is made for cuts.

Vetbond
(Butyl-cyanoacrylate)
3ml
$15 
Revival Animal Health
Also from Amazon


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## raz0rr0b (Sep 23, 2008)

You could always graft some skin from one of your cheeks right?

Seriously though thanks for the warning as someone just starting out the safety advice is well recieved. I'd like to keep all my digits so I can do this stuff for years to come.

I hope it heals quickly.


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## Dex (Dec 12, 2007)

Thanks for the info on the CA-type glues. I have been keeping it clean and applying Neosporin quite regularly. It is healing quite well, but I will have a pretty good "reminder" scar.


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## Rustic (Jul 21, 2008)

Thats why I am designing a sign to warn people "If Power tools are running, wait to enter"


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## sIKE (Feb 14, 2008)

You can go to the local pharmacy and get liquid bandage. I has an antiseptic that burns like he double hokey sticks and then hardens. I use it for small cuts and small abrasions. Once again did I tell you hit burns like the dickens?


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## Halvy (Aug 20, 2011)

I've been using super glue (Crazy Glue) for years. I put it on my small cuts, over the small slivers that I can't seem to pull out, hang nails and cracked finger nails. I now have a bottle of Vet Bond and Liquid Vet on my shop shelf. It's much more cost effective then the Dermabond ($10 a bottle compared to $50 for a similar size of Dermabond). One note which may be obvious, make sure your cut is clean! I routinely use SG on cuts that would otherwise need stitches, but if you seal up any germs in the wound you will experience swelling and infection which is now sealed under a thick layer of glue.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

Do not remember what it is called, but there is a colored binding Red Cross uses to hold the pad over the
needle puncture in you elbow area that only sticks to itself. I buy it in the vet animal section of the 
farm store in 3 inch rolls and cut it into 1 inch wide rolls. Works great to hold bandaids or teflon pads in place on fingers and/or wrists and other difficult spots. One accident prone mountain biker carried a small suturing kit
with him all the time in his Camelback and became a rather proficient sewer. According to my wife, I am not
accident prone, I am just always looking for a place to happen.


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