How many people can only count to 9?

Yes but, Thumb doesn’t bend at the second joint. Sliding coins from the palm of my hand to count out change isn’t gonna happen. Hell, just holding a hand full of change doesn’t happen either. It falls out the ends.

June 3rd, 1987 was a bad day for me.

I know mine is just a finger but my middle finger got chewed up a bit too.
Its hard to lift and like you said just holding pieces of something is rough.

So, I now have to ask, what exploded?

When a vehicle with front leaf springs is involved in an accident, the plies of the spring may become pushed back, skewing the ply stack.

On a tri-axle Peterbilt dump truck, the 13 plies of the front leaf springs(22) are held together by the center-bolt. (Bolt is not shown in the diagram)

To replace the center-bolt, 2 C clamps are placed on the spring to hold the plies together, the U-bolts are removed, then the truck is lifted by an overhead gantry hoist to lift the spring away from the axle (blue dot). The center bolt has a round head to locate the spring assembly into a hole in the axle beam, so the bolt must be inserted from the bottom of the stack. On this particular spring, that requires raising the spring about a foot away from the axle.

I removed the mangled center bolt, aligned all of the plies with a long tapered punch, and just as i reached in with the new center-bolt, the chain snapped. The end of the bolt crushed thru the palm bone of my index finger and kept my hand from being crushed any thinner than 1/2”.

They took veins from both feet to be used as arteries, skin from my leg, cartilage from the back of my ear, 5 pins thru the bones, and a box of staples and they were able to save my hand.

I was back to work in 4 months and after a few days while welding on a frame, I stopped as a big grin appeared on my face as I thought to myself “Damn, it still works”.

I’ve had to learn how to do things differently. Being my dominant hand, it took about 3 years to really adapt and learn my limitations and train my left hand new tricks that the right had always done. I still eat and write with my right hand though. Wiping requires finer motor skills though. :wink:

Note: You can do a right-handed job with your left hand by turning around, reach in backwards and close your eyes.

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@kvcummins I think he’s talking to you.

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I know he is, but I’m not going to take the bait… Besides, you already know what I was going to say. :grin:

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You guys. No matter what it is, It always has to go there.

Wow! I’m surprised they even tried to save your hand.

Go where? I quite literally didn’t say anything. I couldn’t think of anything suitably clever without going way over the line, so I left it up to the readers’ imaginations. If something sick and twisted came to mind, it’s on you, the reader. Muahahaha! :rofl:

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Likewise, I’m claiming total innocence! :angel: :grin:

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Due to the severe damage to the arteries and the ulner nerve, the doctor told me that if it had been 10 years earlier, they wouldn’t have been able to save it. I’m an early example of the wonders of microsurgery.

I lost the majority of the intrinsic muscles in the palm of the hand that which basically moves your fingers side to side, and that more important human trait, the opposable thumb.

A few months following, they did some 19th century tech on my hand. A tendon transfer from the ring finger to the thumb to improve opposition.

It helped a little, but they forgot to mention how it would affect my ring and pinky finger. That’s why those two appear to be lost in space. They used to line up In a row with the other 2 before that, like you would with a chopping gesture.

33yrs later, i’m still wrenching for a living. Most hand tools are not an issue. Pliers are a little sketchy with how you wrap your thumb around one handle and tuck your pinky behind the other handle to spread them open…yeah…that doesn’t really happen anymore. That’s why whenever i see a pair of pliers of any kind that have a spring in them, i buy them.

image

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My dad has a tablesaw vs 3 fingers about 10 yrs ago. They repaired 2 and basically reattached the middle finger. If I didnt think about this every time I turned on a cutting tool, I would stop and take a deep breath. I am a firm believer in the fact that your brain is the best safety device. My goal is to leave the shop and Without needing a Dr visit.

Last year i purchased a sawstop.

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To this day i cringe when I hear a table saw start up.
Ya they were able to save my middle finger but it doesn’t work that good.