My neighbor's 'quick fix' with a cold chisel on his gate hinge nearly cost him a finger

Last week, I was helping him out in his garage in Springfield. He was trying to cut a pin on an old wrought iron gate hinge, and he just grabbed a regular cold chisel, laid it on there, and gave it a whack with his 3-pound drilling hammer. The chisel shot off like a bullet and embedded itself in a 2x4 about three feet away. He was holding the hinge with his other hand, and his thumb was right in the path. It missed by maybe an inch. I told him right then, you never, ever use a cold chisel for that unless you've got it in a proper vise or held with tongs. The metal is too hard and the angle is wrong for a freehand strike. I showed him how to use a cut-off wheel on my angle grinder instead, which took about 30 seconds. How many of you have seen someone treat a chisel like it's just a fancy screwdriver?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_west747d ago

It reminds me of my uncle trying to 'adjust' a lawnmower blade with a flathead screwdriver and a mallet. He wasn't even wearing safety glasses. The screwdriver slipped and put a deep gash in the mower deck about an inch from his knee. He just shrugged and said it missed him, so it was fine. Some people treat hand tools like they're harmless until the metal decides to go somewhere else in a hurry.

jamesfox7d ago

I mean, that sounds pretty wild, but is using a cold chisel freehand really that big of a deal? People do it all the time for little stuff. Maybe it's just me, but calling it a bullet seems like a stretch. Sure, it can slip, but so can a lot of tools. A cut-off wheel can throw sparks or break too, idk.