What's Been Your Worst NAIL GUN Accident?

RowdyRed94

I have a doozy, but I'll keep you wondering until I get a few of yours.

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IHI

Framing or finish??

Framing I've been lucky to date-KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!! Only had a few make u turns and drive up under my finger nail or bury itself up through the side of my thumb nail on the side and pop back through.

Finish nailer was the worst, installing base and got too close to corner bead and it did a 180 and the 2.5" brad was sticking back through the center of my thumb nail. Had to have helper pry off nailed section so I could stand up with a 4' piece of base still stuck to my thumb then twist it out like a fish hook.

Other than that just the typical stick through the fingers/thumbs 1/8-1/4" to get your attention and reapply your mental thinking back to what your doing

I'm thinking yours will be alot worse

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Bill

Ha! been thinking about a post like this! I was going to include all stupid acidents (Thus others could learn from the mishaps of others) but nailguns, ok 2.
1)Working in a hot attic setting knee wall in existing 50 year old home I was holding stud, turned to fuss at one of my men, then POP, nail goe's through stud, through left index finger, then into rafter, tried a few tugs, then realized "Aint coming out thata way"
2) Framing garage wall in new construction trying to hold stud and nail, nail bent, shot out, hit thumb knuckle, and broke it.

Stupidest accident non nailgun related? Installing siding on 2 story house, grade so steep on gable side we set an extension ladder against the deck at the rear of the house, set a ladder jack about level with deck (+/- 8' from the ground) On this we set a 24' x 24" aluminum walk board on the ladder jack and towars the front of the house, all was now level, started siding, got up and used another extension ladder on top of walkboard, climbed up about 16', then the lower ladder kicked out away from the deck, last thing I was thinking was "Why is the house rising?" Fell about 22 to 24 feet, hit my face on another aluminum walk board laying on the ground. Sore for a few days, but fine now, now I learned to use pump jacks. (Though it took some time getting used to the sway) Lesson learned? No more rigging things just to get by

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RowdyRed94

Good ones, abp. I wanted to keep it on nail guns so the thread didn't go ballistic. Go ahead and start another one for ladders. And another one for saws. And another one for skid loaders. And another one for ....

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Cole

Lets see here, worst nail gun accident.

I was 18, hot 100 degree day put a nail through my left hand index finger.

Not mine, but a buddy of mine, 2 nails into his right knee.

Non gun accident -

Cutting a piece of wood on a hot 100 degree day, a piece splintered and shot up into my eye. I tried to continue to work but with the sweat rolling into my eye, I decided to head to the emergency room. I got there he dyed my eye with some green stuff and showed me the missing piece of my eye. I had to wear an eye patch for 1 month after that.

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IHI

ARRRGGGGHHH Captain Cole

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Cole

And to think after all these years they would have come up with something less pirate looking, nope it was a huge black one.

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Scott Young

thankfully i have only been nicked by finish nails that do the u-turn thing. but the worst by far nailing goof was when i was swinging a 22oz estwing. i was standing on the top plate of a 10' wall that was on top of a 2 foot block wall. it was below freezing. my boots were wet from the day before in the snow so i wore my tennis shoes. my feet were about frozen when i swung the death blow on a nail but missed and hit my big toe. down i went. i don't know what hurt worse, my shattered toe, my aching body from falling 12 feet, or my pride.

the county judge where i lived last year shot himself in the heart twice with a framer and lived to tell about it. also one of my trim subs was nailing a door off and missed and nailed his hand to the frame from the backside.

man i try to be carefull with those things, but i have be lucky i have only been nicked.

Cole

How do you shoot yourself in the heart?

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Glasshousebltr

A good devorce and a case of scotch.

Bob

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Glasshousebltr

Never been hit with a trim nailer, framer however, threw the palm, nailed 2 fingers together and I was once shot in the right ars sheek at 10 feet......kinda stings.

Bob

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Scott Young

he was walking across the job site and stumbled on a board. he reached out to the front column to catch himself from falling. some how or another the gun rotated in his hand and his thumb was now on the trigger. his chest hit the gun and it double tapped into him. he is still working, but he is very particular about nail guns now. he is a Christain and shares his experience and recovery to men who are willing to listen to it. i have talked to one of the men that worked for him and he said it was the somberest experience of his life. he is a legend in his county. the ems team really did a good job saving him.

RobertCDF

I put a framer nail through my thumb once when I first started. That was the worst the next worst I was on an 8' ladder at the top and was leveling a joist. I had the gun on the temp brace and finger near the trigger gun slips and finger hits the trigger and shoots when I was not ready. Gun bounces and hits me right in the face and almost knocks me off the ladder. I thought a nail in the finger hurt but the butt end hurts a lot too.

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joasis

True story guys: When my wife was in CLEET training, (yes, badge and gun, yes, I have to be nice at home) They were told about a near perfect murder. Brothers in law working together, one gets nailed in the head...accident....BUT...he had 2 nails in, and at different angles. Story goes the BIL shot him in the back of the head, then nailed him again to be sure. Wanted it to look like an accident, but the second shot sent him to prison for life.

We have been very lucky in having no nailer accidents, and my guys know one thibng for sure...fool around with a nail gun and I will FIRE their butt on the spot, I have seen more guys "playing" around with a gun and nearly kill someone as just a simple accident.

Glasshousebltr

In order to kill someone with a nail gun ya have to hit them at point blank range. The nail quickly looses velocity after a foot or two of air. At 5 foot ya can barley get a half inch of meat. Past 10 foot or so it won't even stick in skin, but it still stings like hell.

It's the drive of the blade and piston that pushes it threw wood.

Bob

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RowdyRed94

It's not the air that slows it but the fact that it's no longer being driven by the tool. Doesn't matter if it's at 10 inches or 10 feet - air doesn't do much in that distance, except maybe to tumble the nail.

Ok, here's my story. One of our guys was shooting wall sheathing outside a main-floor doorway. He found himself with too little hose and gave it a tug. Just as in Scott's judge story, the gun rotated and he popped himself in the chest with a 1-1/2" narrow-crown staple. He yelled out, of course, and the then-foreman came over and convinced him to not pull it out. They drove to the hospital, where he went into shock and collapsed as the foreman was trying to get the lethargic admissions staff to supply a wheelchair. They sat for an hour or so, then he went to surgery to have it removed. His heart stopped twice. The tips of the staple were abrading the surface of his heart, cutting twin slices as he breathed. He spent several weeks in the hospital. The staple had pinned his neck chain to his chest, along with his t-shirt. Our company now has a policy about tugging on air hoses.

I'm a bit surprised to have heard another heart-shot story. It seems like they happened in much the same way.

I've been lucky (or smart, having seen so many other nailgun injuries). I hit myself in the side of the ball of my foot last year when a contractor we subbed for supplied 3-1/4 inch nails. I'd never used them before, and had some sloppy practices. Only 1/4 inch into my boot, but the location was painful. Of couse I've seen many trim gun punctures, too.

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Scott Young

i was talking to a guy about this thread and he showed me his palm. he was in the attic and was nailing up blocking for closing off the gable vents. he had a short hose and nailed himself inside the attic. he had board hand board sandwich. he was able to scream out the vent to alert one of the neighbors. other than that it would have been a long stay.

reveivl

My worst is when the ho's teenage son wandered onto the site, picked up the spiker and shot himself in the arm. It was a ricochet, so didn't go in very far, but caught an artery and was squirting when daddy pulled it out. I saved it for the kid and the homeowner didn't sue me or anything.

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TimNJ

I was nailing sheathing on my friends pole barn and hit a metal strap. The nail U turned and hit me in the mouth.

reveivl

Ouch! I can taste that.

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From where does knowledge come? If you need to know what is in a box, you could ask someone (not reliable), you could pray, (not useful), you can consult with the scripture (not helpful) or you could open the box (science)