Shopbot related injuries?

[myxpykalix]

I recently had done some renovation work on one of my houses and in addition to that i found my self carrying/lifting heavy sheets of mdf off and on the table and the way my shop is set up having to "gorilla" the sheets off and on and now I have a severely torn rotator cuff. Has anyone experienced anything like that? I am going to have to go in for surgery and am a little concerned.

I won't be able to do anything on the bot heavy for about 6 months with therapy and healing so this may be a cautionary tale for you old farts whose mind tells you that you can still do the work of a 25 year old but your body reminds you that you are almost 60:eek:

[steve_g]

Jack
Sorry to hear you'll be laid up for awhile... When we're young we think we will be able to work like fools forever! A recent "neurological incident" banned me from my shop for a few months, I even considered selling all... a horrible thought. Travel and designing future projects for the bot got me through the ban. I've been unable to handle full sheets of MDF and such for awhile now and have to design around sheets of goods that I have cut in half or thirds by my suppliers.

I know that you're creative and will find workarounds to any physical limitations you may have, you may even discover something so creative it'll make you a million or two!!

Get well

Steve Glassel

[Steamplates]

Yes, get well soon Jack.

I managed to do myself some considerable damage with a Phillips screwdriver last week, slipped off the screw head. The hole it makes in a finger is not neat nor even cut, more like bludgenoed. Just goes to show you can hurt yourself with anything!

Best Wishes

Steve

[dhunt]

.... so this may be a cautionary tale for you old farts
whose mind tells you that you can still do the work of a 25 year old
but your body reminds you that you are almost 60 Almost 60? I passed that nearly two years ago now.

I can just about manage a full 1/2 inch sheet of ordinary ply
but Marine quality....no way!


3/4 ply is out -must have help for that.

Don't wreck your body. It's the only 'soul-car' you have (for this life at least)

[dmidkiff]

Jack, sorry to hear about your troubles. Maybe while you are on limited duty you could implement a lift system that I have seen on this forum. Not sure who came up with the idea but they used a frying pan lid with vacuum to lift full sheets. Also not sure of vacuum source. Maybe someone else will chime in with more info.

[Brady Watson]

Bummer...but good inspiration for people to leave their knuckle-draggin ways behind! :D

They make all kinds of labor saving devices out there to make handling sheets easy & 'occupationally safe' - Vacuum lifters, sheet carrier handles, hydraulic carts etc.

I like using hydraulic carts built-up with a 2 by frame that can be pumped up to Bot height and sheets can be slid off & on. I see a vacuum lifter in my future though...

After you're done resting up in that hospital bed, convert it to a sheet cart! :D

-B

[CNYDWW]

I use carts if i can. I'm no where near 60 but couldn't do more then a couple 3/4" sheets of anything without them.

Best of Luck
Randy

[Jerome]

Jack

Sorry to hear about your medical problems. I can relate since I will be 67 in September and I have to watch my lifting or I will be down in my back.

I got lucky a few years ago when I stumbled on a pumpup lift at Grizzly that they were closing out. I use it to slide my mdf off the rack and slide it onto the bot. It also really came in handy when I assembled the bot last fall.

Jerome

[Gary Campbell]

Jack....
I surely resemble your remarks! I did a 15 sheet cutting job with FlipOps on 85# per sheet melamine. Flipping those lead lined sheets caused me to make this:

[danhamm]

Hmmm, I'm 70... still packin the 3/4 melamine isn't "to" bad its the 2.5 in 4x8 sheets laminated for signage that slows things up... ;0)

damn if I only could remember who borrowed the fork lift.!!!

[jim_rutske]

Gary, that is a brilliant design for an overhead hoist! I'm going to look into that for my shop. Hmmm Just back the truck in the bay and unload straight to the bot table, is it wrong to get so excited about a hoist LOL:)

[bleeth]

For the "poor man's version of that lift go here:

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5387&highlight=frank+lift&page=3


Good luck on your healing process Jack. If you click on the above I believe you'll see you noticed it when it was done. I'd say it's time to build one for yourself while you are on "light duty".

[gundog]

I made a material cart for my shop because my shop is 150' from where I can drive with my truck, on top of that my boat and camp trailer sit in the way and the gap between them is about 30". I also have a section of gravel to traverse I used pneumatic tires for the gravel area. I can now load a 3/4" piece of HDPE on the cart from the truck roll it back to the table tilt the cart and slide the sheet directly onto the SB table. I can do this by myself without straining.

The pictures show the cart vertical for hauling & horizontal for loading sheet from truck sliding on the cart and for sliding the sheet onto the SB. The other 2 pictures show where I have to go to get to the SB the table is behind the double doors. The pile of black plastic bags are filled with plastic shavings from the bot. I take them to a recycle place when I get a truck load or they pick them up.

Mike

[clueless]

I was lifting 4' x 8' sheets one day and didn't think anything of it. Didn't hurt anything, no issues at all. Woke up the next morning fine, within an hour or so, I was having shortness of breath. I tried to tough it out, but it was getting worse. Went to the doctor and they did a EKG and said "there's something abnormal, you need to go see a cardiologist immediately" and they called in an appointment and sent me directly there.

Got there (not freaked out too much..........hardly), they ran tests and said "Oh, that, that's nothing, the machine is hyper sensitive and if we saw that here, we wouldn't have even mentioned it".

Still short in breath the next day and getting worse.

Went back to doctor and they have no clue. Not heart related, not lung related.Sent me home again.

Then I realized when I laid one way, it was fine and I could breath. Then I realized exactly what it was. It was that darn muscle that runs under your shoulder blade. The one that, when pulled, feels like someone sticking a knife through you. I recalled I'd pulled that thing about a dozen times over the years, always while lifting sheetrock or plywood.

Took an aleve and bam, breathing fine, no more pain.

Dag gone doctors had me pegged with a heart problem, then a stress issue, then no idea, only to figure it out myself, it was a pulled muscle from the shopbot operation!!!!!!

[CNYDWW]

I made a material cart for my shop because my shop is 150' from where I can drive with my truck, on top of that my boat and camp trailer sit in the way and the gap between them is about 30". I also have a section of gravel to traverse I used pneumatic tires for the gravel area. I can now load a 3/4" piece of HDPE on the cart from the truck roll it back to the table tilt the cart and slide the sheet directly onto the SB table. I can do this by myself without straining.

The pictures show the cart vertical for hauling & horizontal for loading sheet from truck sliding on the cart and for sliding the sheet onto the SB. The other 2 pictures show where I have to go to get to the SB the table is behind the double doors. The pile of black plastic bags are filled with plastic shavings from the bot. I take them to a recycle place when I get a truck load or they pick them up.

Mike


Mike, just gonna tell ya that i'm stealing this idea and making it out of wood.

Regards
Randy

[gundog]

Mike, just gonna tell ya that i'm stealing this idea and making it out of wood.

Regards
Randy

The first time I saw a similar cart it was made from wood I can't remember where I saw it but it was online on a woodworking site. I have a bad back and this thing really saves me from straining my back. I also use it for sheet storage my shop is cramped so it is nice to be able to move material around easily. I can store about 6 sheets on it and push them off one at a time. I made the balance so it just wants to tip down but is easily flipped either direction. I made several pivot holes so I could change the pivot point with different width material.

Mike

[gc3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine

http://www.rubegoldberg.com/ submit your ideas here...

[feinddj]

I tore my rotator cuff 3 different ways in the same accident. Play, not work. Surgery and rehab took about 6 months. The really hard part was that I was trying to assemble my Shopbot with one arm tied to my chest.

Find a good surgeon. Do plan on all the rehab. Its the most important part.

D

[Brady Watson]

Then I realized when I laid one way, it was fine and I could breath. Then I realized exactly what it was. It was that darn muscle that runs under your shoulder blade. The one that, when pulled, feels like someone sticking a knife through you.

Steve - A good Chiropractor should be able to get that straightened out for you. I'm going thru that exact thing right now.

Mike - Nice cart & Nice to see some steel craftiness among the woodworkers. It reminds me of a real light version of the $1200 Hafele Cart (http://www.hafele.com/us/documents/hac_00794000_panelcart.pdf)

-B

[beacon14]

Jack, sorry to hear of the injury. I do seem to remember a past discussion about the shop carts - the ones for sale, not the home-made version - and you said you'd never spend that kind of money on a cart like that?

No offense intended, but how much is that surgery going to cost?

Not directly ShopBot related but I managed to trip on the edge of a moving blanket while carrying parts (that I had cut on the ShopBot) off the back of my truck, and sprained my wrist a few weeks ago. I'm using the wrist brace as an excuse to stay on the computer for a little while.

I think my solution is going to be paying younger guys to do the heavy lifting.

[myxpykalix]

David,
It would be more direct if you said "I told you so!" :Dlol

I get your point, and to a degree you are right:rolleyes: and what i always try to do is let the machinery do the work. I almost never use hand tools. If i don't have a machine/tool to do what i need done, i don't do it.

The problem with a cart for me is my shop is at the top of a small incline of a hill (about 5-6 ft elevation over 30 foot span from driveway so pushing a cart uphill would be more work.

If i was going to be a production shop like Gary one idea i thought of which would work for me is to find an old loading ramp you see at the back of grocery stores where they load the boxes on and they look like roller saktes wheels and push the boxes along.

You could push a sheet of mdf uphill easily with one of those. I am sure i will have plenty of time to come up with all kinds of ideas. The only problem is i won't be able to build any of them till after i don't need them anymore!:eek:

p,s. thats an old pic after contruction and all the debris is gone!

[clueless]

Steve - A good Chiropractor should be able to get that straightened out for you. I'm going thru that exact thing right now.



Thanks Brady, I'm all well now. This was 6 months or more ago. Yes, got to LOVE the chiropractor! Couldn't live without them.

[GlenP]

Well take it easy and do as you are told by the medical professionals Jack. I know some people that had shoulder or wrist surgery and then went back to work too early or ignored advice and ended up ruining the repair to their body and now have a chronic issue. I too have to deal with a medical issue and I have had a lower back surgery and my L5 vertebrae is down over my S1 (hip) vertebrae by 65%. I have to be careful lifting and it does make daily living challenging.....but things could be worse. What I do for sheet goods as my suppliers know handling can cause issues so they carry the sheets into the shop and stand them up for me. I pay a bit extra $$ for this service ($20-30) and ALWAYS give the drivers nice christmas gifts to show my appreciation. Perhaps talking to supplier and arranging delivery right into the shop might help you out to. The sheets are stacked on their end so I can just lay them down onto the bot. Works great so far. Stresses on our bodies is always going to be something to overcome but suggest finding a technique to do it right and without stress to your body vs just grunting and risking further injury. Take care of that shoulder. Make sure you strengthen the other one as others have told me that because they end up using the opposite arm more it puts it at risk for injury.

[cc2005pd]

Well Jack I feel bad for you.....could not happen to a nicer person. Hopefully you will have some extra time to search the internet for new ideas or new ways to get some free cable tv....;)

[frank134]

Jack I feel for you. I did the same thing the same way. How I am making a lift from the picture gary posted or at something like it. My friend did the same thing but at work and had the operation. 6 month of therapy. He said it still hurts a little. He the same age as me 64. I have been putting up with mine till summer is over. I take a lots of advil to get thru the day. well I hope we both have good luck.

[myxpykalix]

if you want to get more educated about the procedure go to youtube and type in "rotator cuff surgery". You will either come away scared sh*tless or assured. It doesn't seem to be a major deal.:eek::rolleyes:

[CNYDWW]

I actually got to watch my own back surgery when i was 23. They were showing the procedure to sleeve a nearly severed siatic nerve. THAT was a bit freaky to say the least.

[fsrdoug]

I am on of those old farts and my solution is to purchase from Harbor Freight one of the large motorcycle lifts that will rise up to table height on the bot. From there I will push the sheet goods onto the bot.
I already have rollers mounted along the front edge so that sheet goods slide on easily. I started out on the lazy side so anything that makes the job easier I am more than willing to try.
Doug Dodd

[CNYDWW]

I need one of those motorcycle building tables just for an adjustable assembly table. Just need the cash:D