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Holy cow! I thought my X-Acto stories were bad! Mine are cake compared to some of these! I used to be an architectural designer back in the day before computers did it. We used to use ink on mylar. I was laying out a conceptual design using lettering tape (kinda like graphics tape). I used to use a blue pencil for my guidelines 'cuz blue didn't print. I was rushing and using my mechanical pencil and X-acto in the same hand. When I would finish with one, I would turn it upside down in my hand and use the other. Well, not thinking and in a hurry, I grabbed in my fingers, what I thought was my mechanical pencil and went to press the button on the top to let more blue lead out...it wasn't my pencil. It was my X-Acto upside down with a new blade. I pushed the blade thru my thumb (it was a brand new blade). OUCH! On another occasion,one of my colleagues was walking thru the office and calmly told us,"I have to go to the hospital now." He had an X-Acto in his pocket (blade up) whose protective top had fallen off and when he went to put his hand in his pocket, the blade went between his ring & middle fingers (web). All the way to the end of the blade! This stuff just gives me the chills thinking about all your stories!
-------------------- John Cordova Gitano Design Studio Albuquerque, NM Posts: 268 | From: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I also had the misfortune of an X-acto encounter... mostly stupidity on my part at fault tho:
I was stuck in my now-closed shop in the middle of a Friday nite during a bad snowstorm 3 years ago, decided that I'd make the best of it and drove out for some grub then came back and after supper thought it was time to update the signage in my front office area.
Seeing that I'd been outside shoveling snow off the car and the plaza sidewalk before and after I returned my boot were drenched. Seeing that my sales area was carpeted, I took off the boots and socks to place them by the heater. I put on a pair of wool socks and starting weeding some vinyl to place on the walls and showcases.
About 45 minutes into the work I went to go use my X-acto and the blade was missing. Looked around and finally gave in an grabbed a new one out of the box. After about 2 hours I finally decided that I'd drive the snow covered country road to home... seen enough of the shop by that point.
I went to put my left boot on then I FOUND the missing blade, stuck in the top of my foot. The blood started to flow... apparently I made a larger gash when the blade got hung up on the boot! The knife had tumbled off the showcase display earlier and I picked it up and must not have noticed the missing blade till I went to use it again.
Still puzzled how I worked without feeling a thing for 2+ hours. Only stop I made on way home was to the hospital for a tetanus shot, wasn't going to take a chance on infection considering the knife in question was usually kept in my toolbox and exposed to all kinds of grime on job sites. But everything worked out great in the end.
posted
Oooooooouch! I cut the tip of my thumb off last year while scraping vinyl off of a window with one of those wallpaper scrapers. I have always respected Exacto Knives and after that, I now respect wallpaper scrapers. I also whacked the tip off of my left index finger one time with a brand new Buck kife. It sure is nice to do that, it just bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and ....
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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WHeewwww David! Now I'm gonna dream about it. And what if at the end, you fell into a vat of pure alcohol?
-------------------- Maker of fine signs and other creative stuff. Located at 109 N. Cumberland ave. Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-837-0242 Posts: 4172 | From: Ages-Brookside, Ky. Up the Holler... | Registered: Jul 1999
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I call it the summer Cathy, learned how to stripe (vinyl that is). I was cutting a rubber squeege in half for window tintint.. got 3/4 thru bent it over and went to cut from the top using a olfa knife.... sliced thru the squeege and across the top knuckles of 3 middle left hand fingers.... didnt feel it.. first thing i noticed was blood squirting out... wife and fellow in shop came running over with towels... off to hospital.. doc sewed up part of one tendon, then stitches.. then a plastic cast for 8 weeks.... to this day i can do the vulcan salute better with the left... hahahahaha
-------------------- Del Badry philmdesign Sylvan Lake, Alberta Posts: 636 | From: Sylvan Lake, Alberta | Registered: Nov 1998
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Okay, thanks for all the replies. I am glad to say that my thumb is growing back, one tiny concentric circle after another... but you know, my left hand must unconsciously have it in for my right...back in my teen years, when i first started playing in the one shot, I had order several half pints from tubelite, and they only sent me ONE paint paddle. I proceeded then to use a utility knife to split it down into several small sticks for to make small ones for my pints....I was doin' fine til I slipped and split the meaty part of my thumb, snadwich style, about an inch down the pad. Eight stitches later, it was all patched up...but here's the really sucky thing.....about a month after it healed I was in college taking off to class; you know, slinging the 50 pound bookbag over my right shoulder, sticking my keys into the right pocket of my jeans, and slamming the LOCKED door onto--you guessed it, the same thumb. The bookbag slid down my shoulder onto my throbbing hand as I twisted and contorted trying to get to my keys. (Lucky that didn't happen today, I am too fat to ever reach 'em) Anyway, I managed to somehow dig 'em out and get the door unlocked, then walk the 3/4 mile to the nurses station, dripping blood the whole way.
posted
Okay, thanks for all the replies. I am glad to say that my thumb is growing back, one tiny concentric circle after another... but you know, my left hand must unconsciously have it in for my right...back in my teen years, when i first started playing in the one shot, I had order several half pints from tubelite, and they only sent me ONE paint paddle. I proceeded then to use a utility knife to split it down into several small sticks for to make small ones for my pints....I was doin' fine til I slipped and split the meaty part of my thumb, snadwich style, about an inch down the pad. Eight stitches later, it was all patched up...but here's the really sucky thing.....about a month after it healed I was in college taking off to class; you know, slinging the 50 pound bookbag over my right shoulder, sticking my keys into the right pocket of my jeans, and slamming the LOCKED door onto--you guessed it, the same thumb. The bookbag slid down my shoulder onto my throbbing hand as I twisted and contorted trying to get to my keys. (Lucky that didn't happen today, I am too fat to ever reach 'em) Anyway, I managed to somehow dig 'em out and get the door unlocked, then walk the 3/4 mile to the nurses station, dripping blood the whole way.
so yeah, I think my left definitely has it in for my right!!
***Next episode*** when barry jammed his big toe down the grate in the AC vent in the floor!
posted
Ha ha, David & John -- in the '60s there was a movie, one of those Egyptian epics, in which there was a part showing an "Iron Mare" - it was a tall curved "sword" like gizmo - much like your bannister, about oh, say 10 or 15 feet high and they would take an offender and make him "Ride" this thing down the blade, slicing him in half up the middle.
posted
I thought this was too dumb to tell, since we all should know what we are doing after our mommies and teachers teach us safety precautions..oh well, guess I could get on the bandwagon here. It started when the local college asked me to design their backdrop for their television station which I was flattered to do, took on a project of oval dimension. This involved cutting matboard. After picking up the oval pieces cut from a framing shop, I took it upon myself to cut another larger piece for added appeal. The first time to use a heavier exacto and pulling the blade with the same gusto as a regular blade,the blade cut better than I intended. Of course, I had to drum up the intelligent facet of my brain (which I hoped I could locate:)) Since every soul was working on a weekday morning and no one to call, I grabbed a cloth kitchen towel (good thing about being at home, I suppose), and hopped in the car, squeezing as hard as I could to that towel. I knew that Jack LaLane could pull a rowboat with people with his teeth at the ripe age of 70, I could do something here! The ER was only a half a block from my house, but seemed like miles and I was getting weaker by the moment. Even though I didn't cut a tendon, they needed a half an hour of pressure to realize they still couldn't stitch. The butterfly was the only recourse and worked beautifully, with a tetanus to boost!
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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I got two of them. One of my workers was running some stuff through the table saw when he sneezed. Did a number on his thumb. I'm thinking Workman's comp claim so I run out and get more stuff for the first aid kit like latex gloves, bigger bandages, etc. As I get back, right behind me is one of my customers that is a medical doctor. I yell at my employee that the Dr. is here. He thought that I meant me.
2nd I needed to finish up a car hauler that matched my customers $250,000 coach, at his house. I was dressed fairly nice and wore my fairly nice whites shoes. Well you know that big vein that is on the top of the bridge of your foot. The Xacto blade came out and fell. I look down and there it was, stuck in the vein with blood gushing into my nice white shoe.
[ October 02, 2002, 09:20 PM: Message edited by: Laura Butler ]
-------------------- Laura Butler Vision Graphics & Sign 4479 Welch Rd Attica, Mi 48412 Posts: 2855 | From: Attica, Mi, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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my boot were drenched. Seeing that my sales area was carpeted, I took off the boots and socks to place them by the heater. I put on a pair of wool socks and starting weeding some vinyl to place on the walls and showcases.
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