What is the worst accident you've had costume/ prop building?

[SMP Designs]

I sewed through my finger on an industrial machine once (trust me, they really will sew through anything, gah!) and probably have no discernible fingerprints left after years of blade cuts, hot glue burns and unintentional chemical peels.

Also, I once had the needle shatter on a blind hemmer and a shard ricochet off my cornea. I left my glasses at home that day - what are the odds? The doctor thought that it went in (I kept hearing the phrase "inner-orbital foreign body" and got faint every time), but turned out to be a scratch on the cornea that was casting a shadow on my retina.

 

[Dumontrudisel]

This isnt an accident per say, its more of an "inexperience" problem. I had some problems using painters tape on one of my costumes and the tape peeled off the underlying paint completely. I had to buy 2 more cans to fix this

 

[baronvondoom]

I slipped with a scalpel a few years ago. Cut three tendons across two fingers and two nerves. Had to wear a molded cast for about 6 weeks after surgery. Was signed off work for twelve weeks.
I still dont have proper feeling in the two fingers.

 

[TheLonelyDwarf]

Ouch!!!

 

[Xxblackbird]

I had the brilliant idea to run my dremel in my bathroom while making the spacer for my proton pack. It was snowing out and I wanted to just get it done, so I cut it over a big bucket that was in the bathtub. It was made with a big bolt and several washers, so it was quite heavy.
I cut through the bolt with the dremel then grabbed the top of the spacer with my bare hands. It was blistering hot so I panicked and flung it in the air.
It sailed across the bathroom and smashed into the bowl of my toilet. The toilet practically exploded and water and broken porcelain went everywhere. The bathroom flooded and it was horrible.

And once while working on a lightsaber I dropped my soldering iron. Genius me grabbed it with my bare hands and I burned myself horribly.

 

[paxtoprime94]

I've had a few close calls but nothing serious; I did get a nasty rash on my arms from either working with fiberglass cloth or SmoothCast 321, not sure which. Put some ointment on it and took some Benadryl for a few days and it was gone

 

[joberg]

Gee, people, I don't know if I'm going to keep reading that stuff (and the pics...'nuff said). Well, I can see that our fellows RPFers are a tough bunch. I know that a lot of us are always trying to keep health and safety a priority in our lives, but sometimes, we're too excited for our own good:facepalm
Keep building...and not maiming.

 

[Mandi]

Hot glue gun on leg while wearing shorts, I think the mark is still faintly there it only just missed my tattoos thankfully.

Hot glue gun joining things together and some fell on my hand, immediate reaction was to pull it off so there began the snowball effect of pain, run hands under water for 15 minutes and it still felt on fire if I pulled it out of sink.

 

[bikemancs]

I wasn't prop building but putting my Surefire helmet light back onto my ACH (army helmet) and my gerber slipped and sliced the top of my left thumb between the two knuckles... didn't look that bad but I still have a visible scar years later!

 

[Siyoum3434]

While drilling through a piece of plexiglass, I punched through it, and put a 1'4 drill bit through my middle finger on my left hand. it was covered in shredded bits of plexi, and I had to reverse the drill out of my finger. Then I had to bite down on a belt, open the would, and clean it. I also had to use an exacto knife to carve out a deep buried piece of plexi.

After that, I took a few shots of Vodka, and sealed the finger with superglue!

Cheers!

 

[MarkKing]

Not really anything bad, but I was casting some stuff in urethane resin & I sneezed whilst rolling it about and it went EVERYWHERE.
Arms, clothes, bench, ect.!

Cut myself on set fibreglass & resin.

 

[Philly]

I can recommend those 'home stitches'. They are needle free (they are like tape). Pretty handy to have for small cuts that could require stitches, but saves you a trip to the hospital.

Only for small cuts that aren't near anything vital or that are highly visible.

Hospital is still #1 idea, just in case

I only use superglue on cuts Could see bone on my thumb once after a sheet metal accident...poundland glue saved the day :lol

 

[joberg]

Blimey:eek we have quite the tough guys/builders here...I'm eager to hear from the lasses around this neck of the wood and see if we have some solid women laughing at the pain!

 

[builderkid107]

I stuck an awl into my finger while making a whip once.

That wasn't fun...

 

[Drago Lordist]

cut a 1/2" groove into my index finger when using a hand saw on some particleboard.

Learned the benefits of pilot holes when I ripped my thumbnail out trying to screw into PVC with a handheld drill/driver.

Cut 1/2" into the webbing between my middle and ring fingers cutting some strips of leather.

And this last one didn't happen to me, but near me. One of my close female friends was working on shaping her scout-trooper when the heatgun spun in her hand and left a 2" crescent moon scar on her forearm.

Fun times.... fun times....

EDIT:
Ooooh!! put my hand in hotglue and wiped it off too quickly - tore off a few layers of skin on my middle finger from the 2nd to 3rd knuckle - could see the bone at the centermost part of the damaged area

 

[Killtime]

Not really anything bad, but I was casting some stuff in urethane resin & I sneezed whilst rolling it about and it went EVERYWHERE.
Arms, clothes, bench, ect.!

Cut myself on set fibreglass & resin.

I never used to wear work gloves when trimming off resined fibres until I had three fine sharp bits snap off into my hand Now I wear gloves