[youngngray]

While working on adding a jack so I could run an amp of mine from AC power I accidentally touched the tip of my soldering iron while it was on with my pinky finger. Needless to say 325 deg C is not a pleasant experience. But it got me wondering, for those of you who have been doing this much longer than I, what is the worst injury you have sustained from DIY-ing? Did you take pics? Post those too! Let's see the battle scars!

 

[bcg27]

Lol I've burned myself with a soldering iron more times than I can count. It doesn't get any less painful the more you do it. 

 

[deadlylover]

The plastic retaining ring that secures the tips on my soldering iron gets really hot, and I still accidentally grab it way too often because it totally looks like part of the handle.

 
I solder at 400C, and thankfully, I haven't touched the tip.....yet.

 

[Magedark]

I grab the tip once.

Painful week not using my thumb.

 

[Maverickmonk]

I, being an idiot, shorted a 7.2v battery to test to see if it would make a spark (I was young and stupid), with 2 small nails held like chopsticks. I figured "It works with a 9v without going awry so this should tell me if the battery is charging". The battery was 3600mah, and had a wopping 50C instantanious discharge rate. When I shorted the terminals, the nails got white hot, and the skin on my finger actually caught on fire. I threw the nails across the room, and when I found them I found my fingerprints burnt onto them. I had blisters on my thumb and index finger, and the scars lasted about 6 months. Lesson learned. Amperage matters.

 

[elliot42]

Nothing spectacular has happened to me, just regular DIY wounds.
I've slipped and burned myself with soldering irons many times and sliced up my fingers and thumbs with a scalpel a number of times too.
These things mostly happen when I'm doing something silly, and my brain/conscience tells me "don't do that, you'll hurt yourself", but I do it anyway. And I hurt myself :rolleyes:

 

[jamesbobo007]

Note to self:
when you drop the soldering iron, let it FALL, DO NOT try to catch it.

 

[anddy78]

Quote:

Note to self:
when you drop the soldering iron, let it FALL, DO NOT try to catch it.

 
Damn reflexes...

 

[youngngray]

Quote:

 
Damn reflexes...

Reflexes? Then how'd you drop it in the first place? 

 

[samsquanch]

I burn myself with an iron about once a month, occupational hazard I suppose.
 
My dumbest moment, though, was how I mildly electrocuted myself while soldering.  I have a metal crash cart that I use as my mobile work bench, attached to said cart is a metal power strip, which is grounded, and since it's bonded to the cart, the cart is also grounded, sounds good and safe right?  Well...  One day I was soldering some XLR's with a soldering iron that did not have a grounded tip, I had my elbows on my cart to steady myself, holding solder in my left hand, iron in the right.  Every time I would make a connection, my left arm would tingle, "Well now, what the heck is that about?"  I asked myself, and continued to ask myself for several connectors, that was, until I got dizzy and kind of nauseous (fried electrolytes), whoops!  Nothing a bottle of gatorade couldn't fix.  I've since stopped using that iron on that cart.

 

[youngngray]

Quote:

I burn myself with an iron about once a month, occupational hazard I suppose.
 
My dumbest moment, though, was how I mildly electrocuted myself while soldering.  I have a metal crash cart that I use as my mobile work bench, attached to said cart is a metal power strip, which is grounded, and since it's bonded to the cart, the cart is also grounded, sounds good and safe right?  Well...  One day I was soldering some XLR's with a soldering iron that did not have a grounded tip, I had my elbows on my cart to steady myself, holding solder in my left hand, iron in the right.  Every time I would make a connection, my left arm would tingle, "Well now, what the heck is that about?"  I asked myself, and continued to ask myself for several connectors, that was, until I got dizzy and kind of nauseous (fried electrolytes), whoops!  Nothing a bottle of gatorade couldn't fix.  I've since stopped using that iron on that cart.

Oh dear. Sounds a bit like the "normal person" vs. "scientist approach." Normal person says, "That's strange, I probably shouldn't do it." Scientist says, "Wow, I wonder if that happens every time?"

 

[samsquanch]

Quote:

Oh dear. Sounds a bit like the "normal person" vs. "scientist approach." Normal person says, "That's strange, I probably shouldn't do it." Scientist says, "Wow, I wonder if that happens every time?"

I've learned every valuable lesson in life by first damaging something.

 

[Armaegis]

I've lightly electrocuted myself enough times now that I actually don't have a pain reflex from electricity... that or it just takes a bit more juice than normal. The muscle twitch is almost relaxing in a weird way, that is until my skin burns.
 


Quote:

Note to self:
when you drop the soldering iron, let it FALL, DO NOT try to catch it.

You know how when you're sitting at a desk and something rolls towards your lap and you try to catch it between your legs? I almost did that with a soldering iron once... then my brain (thankfully) kicked in and I caught the cord instead.
 
 

 

[JamesMcProgger]

 
Quote:

Note to self:
when you drop the soldering iron, let it FALL, DO NOT try to catch it.

that reminded me of bobzach.
 

 
Quote:

You know how when you're sitting at a desk and something rolls towards your lap and you try to catch it between your legs? I almost did that with a soldering iron once... then my brain (thankfully) kicked in and I caught the cord instead.

 
Hey man, if something at 400 C is rolling to land between my legs, Id gladly sacrifice my hands to save my ... lap. 

 

[tangent]

I was desoldering something stubborn with an iron that wasn't really hot enough for the job, and was using force to make for a better contact between the iron and solder. Maybe the iron just slipped, maybe the movement of the solder once it started to move did it instead, but the end result is that the iron started moving very fast...towards me, because that was the direction I was pulling the iron.
 
Ended up with a 2 inch long welt.
 
Roughly the same sort of thing has happened to me twice using knives to cut plastic.
 
Lesson learned: think about where the sharp/hot object will go when the thing you're forcing it against lets go.