Clamped my own finger in the vice at 6 AM yesterday

Tbh I was running a job on a Haas VF-2 at a shop in Cleveland and I spaced out while setting up a part. I reached in to adjust the stock and hit the foot pedal without thinking. My index finger got pinched between the jaw and the aluminum block for like 3 seconds before I yanked it free. It swelled up like a grape and I had to ice it in the break room for 20 minutes. Boss just laughed and said 'welcome to the club.' Has anyone else done something dumb like that right after coffee kicked in?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_nguyen27d ago

Did your finger turn purple too? I did the same thing about a year ago trying to adjust a part on a Bridgeport. My middle finger got caught between the vise and a steel block and it looked like a bruised sausage for a week. The worst part was I had to finish the shift holding a cold can of soda against it because the ice melted and the shop didn't have a freezer. That swelling takes forever to go down and you can't really grip anything for a day or two. Hope yours heals up quick man, that pain is no joke.

spencer_thomas426d ago

Man I had a buddy who did almost the exact same thing on a old Bridgeport a few years back. He was trying to get a stubborn soft jaw seated right and the vise slipped and slammed his thumb between the jaw and a chunk of steel. It turned this nasty purple black color pretty quick and he said it looked like a grape with a fingernail on it for a solid week. He tried to keep working but kept bumping it on everything so the boss finally sent him home early with a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a rag. That deep purple bruise took forever to fade and he said his thumbnail actually fell off like two months later, so watch out for that.