Spent some time at urgent care today. Thankfully, it was a covid-free urgent care.
I was match drilling holes in the tail cone skin of my RV-10 build with my son today. Did about 300 holes with a high speed pneumatic drill through the skin into some stiffening bars. I had to hold the pieces in place with a hand on the inside, while I drilled from the outside. My son then dropped Clecos into each hole to keep everything aligned.
For the first 300 holes, I thought about the location of my inside hand every single time before drilling. Around hole 301, my mind slipped a little. The pieces kept moving and I had to try hard to hold it all together. I doubled the tank regulator pressure to get a faster drill speed to avoid the bit ?walking? along the metal. I pressed down hard, went through both pieces of metal like warm butter, and then straight through my index finger that was holding the pieces in place on the inside. Clean entry and exit wounds on either side.
It bled like nothing I?ve seen before from a #40 size hole, but I had some crazy glue in the hangar and was able to stop the flow. X-rays at the hospital showed that I missed the bone, missed the ligaments, and left minimal aluminum inside my finger. I might have some nerve damage, and I got a new tetanus shot, but it seems like I may have been really, really lucky to avoid major damage. I will post a photo on my EAA blog (below, since I cannot figure out how to post here) tomorrow.
I can?t be the only one to hurt themselves building. Any good stories out there?
I was match drilling holes in the tail cone skin of my RV-10 build with my son today. Did about 300 holes with a high speed pneumatic drill through the skin into some stiffening bars. I had to hold the pieces in place with a hand on the inside, while I drilled from the outside. My son then dropped Clecos into each hole to keep everything aligned.
For the first 300 holes, I thought about the location of my inside hand every single time before drilling. Around hole 301, my mind slipped a little. The pieces kept moving and I had to try hard to hold it all together. I doubled the tank regulator pressure to get a faster drill speed to avoid the bit ?walking? along the metal. I pressed down hard, went through both pieces of metal like warm butter, and then straight through my index finger that was holding the pieces in place on the inside. Clean entry and exit wounds on either side.
It bled like nothing I?ve seen before from a #40 size hole, but I had some crazy glue in the hangar and was able to stop the flow. X-rays at the hospital showed that I missed the bone, missed the ligaments, and left minimal aluminum inside my finger. I might have some nerve damage, and I got a new tetanus shot, but it seems like I may have been really, really lucky to avoid major damage. I will post a photo on my EAA blog (below, since I cannot figure out how to post here) tomorrow.
I can?t be the only one to hurt themselves building. Any good stories out there?