On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 04:52:25 GMT, mark wrote:

When I shot a 3" long framing nail into my left index finger (lengthwise)
while building my house

How?? I just got a framing nailer, and would like to avoid this.

I was building a half-wall, and things were a bit wobbly. So, I was
holding one of the studs in place with my left hand, while nailing
with my right hand. The nailer bounced against the top plate of the
half-wall, and double-fired. The second nail out of the nailgun
hit the head of the first one (which was properly embedded in wood), and
as it couldn't go down, it went sideways-ish. Recall that my other
hand is below and somewhat forward of the intended nail location.

Nail broke out the side of the wood, flew through the air down six inches, and
lengthwise into the tip of my left index finger. Missed the bones, missed the
nerve and tendon bundles, and came right out with a pair of pliers at the
hospital after being carefully checked for the above.

It was not pleasant. Worst part was, because I wasn't sure if I could
drive, and my now-wife, then-girlfriend was looking a bit pale about the
whole thing, is that I had to call 911 for transport, and of course the
ambulance that responded is the one that I'm an EMT with. Still haven't
lived that one down.

Dave "Hey look, I've got 11 fingernails!" Hinz