# Am I the only one stupid enough....



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

....to take a tool right off the grinding wheel and touch the edge to see if it feels sharp??!!

(I don't know how sharp it was, but it damn sure was hot!)


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## North40 (Oct 17, 2007)

Don't worry, you're not alone.


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## rsmith71 (Jan 26, 2010)

If anyone says they haven't they're either : A) Lying, or B) Never sharpened anything.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

I NEVER done that… well, I don't have a grinder 

I did however try to check the tension on a bandsaw blade, before it stopped turning and came to a complete stop. I'm pretty sure my cut was worse than your burn though…


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

not by a long shot , charlie .
i was just doing that with my 1 1/2 " plug cutter yesterday ,
after it smoked it's way thru 8 boards !

must be some kind of primal thing .


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Yeah, Sharon, you've got me beat. lol.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Now all grils can say your hot stuff ) Been there done that.


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## woodworm (Jul 27, 2008)

Nope. I do not do that. 
When I use very expensive drill bit (solid carbide bit) on my DP, after a few seconds drilling knife handle scale, I stopped and touch the bit wheater it got hot very fast or not. 
Does it sound stupid?....LOL


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## JAGWAH (Dec 15, 2009)

Like taking a hoy dril bit out of a chuck and quickly tossing it from your burnt fingers into your shirt pocket. My sympathies.


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## lwllms (Jun 1, 2009)

I usually cool the tool in the palm of my hand during grinding. The human circulation system is very good at moving surface heat but on occasion I discover I've misjudged and my circulation system isn't quite up to the challenge. Profanity helps a little but not much.


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## Timbo (Aug 21, 2008)

Yep, I've never done that before, again!


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Thanks, guys. It's starting to hurt a little less now that I know my misery has so much company.


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## rsmith71 (Jan 26, 2010)

I've got an OSHA sign on the side of my toolbox I found at work a few years ago that seems fitting:
CAUTION- Do NOT attempt to clean machinery while it is in motion.


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## RvK (Nov 22, 2009)

"If you're thinking about doing something, it's probably a bad idea. If you're NOT thinking about it, it's a worse one."


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## cpollock (Jan 19, 2009)

That's whats called a "thumbometer" in my shop.


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## jussdandy (Aug 14, 2009)

not even gonna go there….been there to many times already


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## blackcherry (Dec 7, 2007)

Dose this fall under New terminology 101 "Brain Fart"?


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## rtb (Mar 26, 2008)

Thats the kind of thing that makes me call myself 'dumbass'


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

I vote stupid. 

In the 35+ years I have been using I grinder, that's one thing I never did. I always have water on hand.

I did stick my tongue to one of those old metal ice cube trays when I was a kid!


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## Roger Clark aka Rex (Dec 30, 2008)

Charlie:
Only a Cajun would do dat


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

I must be a Cajun, at least I was born 150 miles away from the French Canadians.


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## farmboyfd44 (May 16, 2009)

Charlie, 
I like to think its not hot it just did not take you long to get a good look at it


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## cajunpen (Apr 9, 2007)

Charlie, just remember what my old grandpa used to say - "You gotta be smarter than a watermelon to eat one". And I've done it too - must be a man thing.

Oh, you wanna tallk about dumb things to do - how many of you (besides me) have shot yourself in the buttocks? And the State of Louisiana still let's me carry a gun - but that's a whole 'nother story.

*Geaux Saints!!!!!*


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Bill, if I were a cop, I'd be in the rubber gun squad. 

GaryK: Judging from your projects, I always suspected you were some sort of alien. The fact that you've never done this just proves it.


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

No, you're not alone.


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## MarkwithaK (Sep 12, 2009)

I've never done that but I did put my fingers on a defrost heater to see if it was working. Basically melted a small piece of skin.


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Greetings all:....... I don't know about all of you. I have never in my life burnt myself testing to see if something was hot , or sharp…... that's ridiculius…....lol
You gotta understand one thing about me:...... I was born at night, but it wasn't last night….....lol… later.


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## jockmike2 (Oct 10, 2006)

Stupid huh, ok, now remember I had an older brother. He talked me into sticking my tongue on the chrome of a car in winter, yes it stuck, he then drove away. Ha Ha. He talked me into peeing on an electric fence, no wonder I had cancer down there, I watched myself in slow motion shove a piece of wood into a very sharp tablesaw blade, I knew it was very sharp, I knew the guard was off, I knew the blade was to high and I did it anyway. I fired a staple gun into the palm of my hand when I was working construction to see if it needed staples. It didn't. Need I go on Charlie, you look like a genius.


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## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

Sweat a half inch elbow on a small piece of copper pipe, turn off the torch and grab it up! It will be the first thing on your mind the rest of the day! ouch


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## lwoodt (Dec 22, 2008)

you could start a new blog for that one.


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## CanadianWoodChuck (Sep 8, 2007)

Been there - done that


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

Makes me think of my "jointer accident". Not only was the machine not running, the knife involved was not even in the machine. I was selling some planer knives on CraigsList. I cleaned them before taking a photo. I am not sure why I thought that I could run my finger along an 8" razor-sharp edge protected only by a thin rag - I guess I was not thinking. At least it was a very cold day so I made it into the house before the blood really started flowing.


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## mtkate (Apr 18, 2009)

Regarding being French Canadian or living in french Canada… it's simply a rite of passage to stick your tongue to the steel goal posts of a hockey net during the freezing cold winter. Teaches us how to deal with the cold stuff.

You'd think down south you would have a similar rite to teach you how to deal with the hot stuff


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Kate, remember when a lot of cars had that cheap vinyl upholstery? The southern rite of passage is hopping into the car on a 100-degree sunny day wearing short shorts. It was enough to melt skin right off the backs of your legs!


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## mtkate (Apr 18, 2009)

Unfortunately, I do remember!


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## teenagewoodworker (Jan 31, 2008)

haha…. i did that one to many times and thats why i bought a wet grinder


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## Llarian (Jul 10, 2008)

haha, nope, I do it all the time.

Worse, I often forget I'd just taken it off and put my hand down on the top of the gouge shaft not far from the tip to support it on the toolrest, forgetting that part gets hot too! (Heat transfer is a powerful thing)


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

Well lets see..I have touched hot drill bits to clean them, I have stuck my finger tip too close to my oscillating belt sander (that one really hurt)..I have sanded many flat spots in my wedding ring trying to help a sanding disk wind down…probably the only reason I have never done that is I don't own a grinding wheel…but I will put it on my pending personal injury log…


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## Roz (Jan 13, 2008)

Charlie, you make me laugh out loud! Thanks for you self deprecating humor. Yes, I've done it….. only once.
I also did the vinyl seat shorts thing….. more than once.


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## JJohnston (May 22, 2009)

Spanky46, you're working too hard. I was soldering copper sprinkler pipes, looked away for a moment for some reason, and applied the torch flame directly to the knuckles of the other hand.


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## rsmith71 (Jan 26, 2010)

Cahrlie, growing up in East Texas in the 70's & 80's, my grandmother had a blue Chevy Nova with black vinyl seats. I've hopped in that car in July and kept going right out the other side more than once! OUCH! Or how about the old metal lawn furniture in the summer?


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## FlWoodRat (Sep 12, 2007)

Wow, *flash back to July 1961 * and our family vacation to the Smithsonian Museum. Dad wanted a picture of me sitting on the barrel of a cannon. Keep in mind that it was a bright sunny day, the cannon was BLACK heavy metal, it was 2-3 pm and I was wearing thin cotton bermuda shorts. He wasn't quick enough to snap the shutter. As soon as my thighs hit that metal, I knew I wasnt meant to be an artillary guy. Charlie, thanks for burning that memory in my mind.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Speaking of wet toungs on cold metal. That must be one of the early memories of doing something stupid.

Been there done that.

Now the closest to that feeling is eating frozen ice and the great feeling of a brain freeze as it settles in your tummy on a hot summer day.


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## Maclegno (Jan 6, 2010)

THIS is why I joined Lumberjocks, a meeting place for like minds
Gerard


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## lumberdustjohn (Sep 24, 2009)

Charlie!

FOCUS!

Slow down…... this is the week that you have to stay healthy.
A burnt finger may mess you up with your Superbowl Celebration dance.

I am a Steeler Fan but will have to cheer for another Black and Gold Team this year.
GO SAINTS!!


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## lilredweldingrod (Nov 23, 2009)

My daddy always said, "If your gonna be dumb, you better be tough." I've been know to weld up a piece of metal and then reach down and pick it up…......and not once either. sheesh Last tiame I did that, I discovered the perfect cure. Your hand in ice water for 8 hours and a fifth of Jack Daniels to numb the pain. Works great, I seem to remember.


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## Bradford (Dec 8, 2007)

Charlie, That's not stupid. Stupid is putting your push stick down on the last cut and forgetting to pick it up and being reminded that you should have, only after kick back pulls your hand into the saw blade. $6000 later after that hand surgeon sews up whats left of your hand, you remember that "stupid" thing you did. Hard lesson to learn, ie, riving knife, splitter, stopsaw, or the gripper would have prevented it. I could have owned so many more tools if I had just spent the money on the correct tools first. We could probably post a forum on injuries alone.
Like forgetting to turn off a branding torch and finding out by accident. But, no, you're not stupid.


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## ravencaptain (Feb 6, 2009)

Is there any other way?


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

Is there something wrong with that method?


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

Say what you will, I aint admitting nothing!


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## docholladay (Jan 9, 2010)

I remember as a kid, my father was welding a roll cage on his new dune buggy he was building on an old VW chassis. I was about 6 or 7 years old. I grabbed one of the pipes on the opposite end from where he was welding. That was the day that I learned that metal conducts heat. Now when it comes to shedding blood, am notorious for cutting myself. I often look down to see that I am bleeding and have not idea exactly what I did to cut myself. Some people use a branding iron to identify the projects they have built - I just leave a DNA sample on mine somewhere - not on purpose of course.


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## pete57 (Jan 22, 2009)

this is a great topic. I think we all wish it wasn't true but s*#t happens you know. I have a problem with throwing the wrong end of the drop cord away and it happens all the time for the last few decades. I will be working somewhere with tools with cords and go to plug inthe tool and am trying to plug it into the other tool!! I hate when I am on a roof and the cord slides off. I have done that about 5 times in one day!!! I try to remember to tie it off but when I get going I get going you know???


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

I believe the saying is "It isn't sharp until you can singe the hair off the back of your arm" or something like that.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

similar to chuck, and (thankfully!) my worst woodworking accident so far:

I was wiping the edge of a freshly sharpened bench plane blade with only a wet rag between the Sharp and my index finger. YIKES! I get a tingle just thinking about it. damn, that thing sliced through flesh easier than butter.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Years ago I installed and electric fence in my garden to keep my cats in. 
Later my brother came to visit and he was walking bare footed in the grass (with dew on) early in the morning.
Seeing the electric fence he asked me "What's that?" 
Nicely I answerd him "touch it with your foot".
He did and of course he got shocked but the real y funny part is that he tried again to make sure!!!!


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## DaddyZ (Jan 28, 2010)

Fire make hot!!

Quilty as charged!!


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## MichaelMacD (Jan 15, 2010)

Don't have a grinder, but I was sanding a bench leg on a lathe this week and burned myself nicely through the sandpaper… held it one second too long…


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