No Fool Like An Old Fool

[bkludecke]

The least I can do is 'fess-up. Yesturday I was getting ready to run some 3/4 emt through a partition wall. I drilled the right size hole & then decided to go up a size so the lb shoulder would flush into the wall. I was using the 'widow-maker' which is one badass drill motor that none of my people will use.

Up on a ladder about 4' the holesaw caught the plywood and the torque threw me off the ladder onto the concrete.

Broken hand, 10 stitches in a finger, 11 in an elbow, sore everywhere today. My crew had no sympathy and I don't blame them, I get furious when they don't work safe.

After 34 years in the trade it's still true........

THERE IS NO FOOL LIKE AN OLD FOOL!!!!!!!

 

[iwire]

OUCH!

I sincerely wish you a full and complete recovery.

 

[peter]

My symphathies and heartfelt condolences. I have done this too.
By "widow maker" I assume you mean the evil, trecherois "HoleHawg" or something similar. You should replace it with something that has a clutch. I think DeWalt makes one.
It seems you drilled the first hole -- I would say 1" -- for your 3/4" emt and then decided to go up to maybe 1 1/2". As such, you no longer have a spot for your 1/4" pilot bit. Hence, a freehand cut with a hole saw is bound to be a disaster. You could take a scrap of fresh plywood, drill your 1 1/2" hole in that and then use that as a template or guide by screwing onto the wall -- hole centered over originally hole -- and then re-puncture the wall.
~Peter

 

[mario]

Drills ...

Drills ...

in a couple different threads lately, the topic has covered drilling holes ... hey guys, ever hear of Uni-Bits (don't mean to sound like a smart a__ ) ... except for drilling numerous studs at one time my uni-bits are the way to go for me ... I have numerous ranging from 1/8 to 1/2 inch, up to starter to 1 3/8 or even larger ... carry 3 bits and eliminate almost all your hole saws except of course the really large ones ... m

 

[Minuteman]

Sorry to hear that Bob. Sounds like you wounded your pride more than anything else. Get well soon!

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

I too hope you get well soon...your ego as well.

It seems like memories of our past exploits fade very quickly. Then we go ahead and do it again. The real question begs, when will we really learn?

 

[bkludecke]

My symphathies and heartfelt condolences. I have done this too.
By "widow maker" I assume you mean the evil, trecherois "HoleHawg" or something similar. You should replace it with something that has a clutch. I think DeWalt makes one.
It seems you drilled the first hole -- I would say 1" -- for your 3/4" emt and then decided to go up to maybe 1 1/2". As such, you no longer have a spot for your 1/4" pilot bit. Hence, a freehand cut with a hole saw is bound to be a disaster. You could take a scrap of fresh plywood, drill your 1 1/2" hole in that and then use that as a template or guide by screwing onto the wall -- hole centered over originally hole -- and then re-puncture the wall.
~Peter

Acually if I had gone to get a HoleHawg off one of the other trucks I would have been ok. This drill motor was the largest pistol grip type that Milwaukee
has ever made (they discontinued it years ago), it has a cute little side handle which helps but not nearly enough for the torque of the machine. I appreciate all of the tips, I have used most of them over the years. The best tip I didn't use is "an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

Also worth mentioning is that I don't work with the tools all that much anymore; I manage the business, do the bidding/estimating, and alot of troubleshooting so beside having a little service truck with not much on it, I must admit to being a bit rusty on the construction end.

Thanks to all the well wishers.

 

[infinity]

Sorry to hear about your injury. These things can happen so fast. Your story reminded me of when I was a young college student working a summer job as a fence installer. The boss gave me an old 1/2" elbow buster with a broken handle to drill out some wooden fence posts. I braced the old drill between my legs and started to drill. The bit bound up, the drill spun, the chuck caught my pant leg and ripped the entire side of my pants right off. Fortunately the spinning action also tore the cord in two and the drill stopped. Luckily for me the only thing bruised was my ego. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Sometimes we learn the hard way. Here's to a speedy recovery.

 

[George Stolz]

Get better soon - looks like your typer still works, though.

I've about concussed myself several times (sometimes twice in a row) with a Hole Hawg - that clutched DeWalt works pretty good.

Old habits are hard to break, though.

 

[rcarroll]

I too hope you get well soon...your ego as well.

It seems like memories of our past exploits fade very quickly. Then we go ahead and do it again. The real question begs, when will we really learn?

History doesn't repeat itself, people repeat history.

 

[muskiedog]

Safest worker is one who has already been injuried. It seems we all learn the hard way. Hope your better soon.

 

[ramsy]

Just finished doing lots of 3/4 rough-in thru drywall & framing steel, started out using an 18v drill until Holesaw teeth caught my gloves, twisted my hand around until the drill seezed up. My hand was almost ripped right off, af the wrist, tendons are still sore.

Switched to that 12v impact type Makita. I got thru steel by letting it spin fast, then bogged it down into impact mode to break thru. That ~6" tool is less clutter on top the ladder too.

 

[dlhoule]

My sympathy for you. Most of us have done same or something similiar. I know I & several of my employees have.

Unfortunately, given your experiences you probably are like me and don't heal as fast as you once did.

Get well soon.

 

[bkludecke]

Yeah, gettin' old is a drag but it sure beats the alternative.

 

[JJWalecka]

Bob,

I hope you are feeling better. I have hurt myself in similar situations, more than I would like to remember. Get well soon!

Justin on the East coast

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

Years ago i had a 24 volter lock up on me and slamed my hand into block wall.At first just thouht ouch that hurts,few hours later i realized i was hurt bad.Luckily just a fracture but still caused some down time.All it takes is one second and you wont see it coming.Get well soon and hopefully your men will learn from this too.

 

[dingokangaroo]

clutch.....if only they worked...hope you get better soon and watch out for the widow maker. shes a mean one.