What IS cooked?

[grumpyoldman]

the thread on how you like your meat got me thinking about something that happened to me 40+ years ago , when i was in my very early 20s i was helping a welder on a construction site and i was holding a sheet of steel for him while he was using a torch to cut it , he was wearing those very dark googles and did not see where my left hand was and ran the torch over the fingers of my left hand , a couple of guys saw what happened grabbed me and threw me in a truck and rushed me to the hospital , the doc bandaged my finger and put them in splints and told me not to even try to bend my finger because my fingers would split open if i did . it took 4-6 weeks before the bandages came off
so here is the question : were my fingers cooked ? they were seared / charred without question, but i still have all my fingers so it stands to reason they couldn't have been cooked , so just getting a piece of meat hot can't qualify as cooked right ?

 

[pacanis]

And thus OSHA was born

I'd say your fingers were in the way.


For as slow as cutting torches go, I'm surprised more than one finger was even nicked.
In your case, I'd just say they were burned. That seems to be the only term I've heard associated with skin subjected to heat or fire. With degrees given on how badly.

 

[Roll_Bones]

What degree burn did you have?

 

[grumpyoldman]

What degree burn did you have?

to be honest i have no idea , i was about 20-21 years old and didn't pay much attention that back then , i can tell you there was concern that i might lose my two middle fingers for a few days
when it happened i wasn't paying attention and i remember it felt like a very soft feather was brushing across my fingers , i felt no pain until about the time we turned into the emergency driveway THEN the feeling came back
and yes Pacanis my fingers were in the way

 

[pictonguy]

Were your fingers blue? Maybe just rare.

Anyway the term cooked in the context of food is a construct where citric acid can also "cook" a protein.

 

[grumpyoldman]

i remember my two middle fingers being black and everyone telling me not to look at my hand , i still have the scars on the two middle fingers to this day

 

[grumpyoldman]

i just think its funny how people can take a simple word like " cooked " or some other word and turn and twist it to suit their own purpose , kinda like lawyers do huh

 

[pictonguy]

i just think its funny how people can take a simple word like " cooked " or some other word and turn and twist it to suit their own purpose , kinda like lawyers do huh

I was referring to your last sentence, which was the gist of your story.

 

[grumpyoldman]

its all good, just thought i would have a little fun this morning

 

[pacanis]

and yes Pacanis my fingers were in the way

Whoever was on the other end of the torch mustn't have been paying attention either.

 

[grumpyoldman]

he couldn't see , he was wearing those very dark welders googles , it was as much my fault as his

 

[Gone Hiking]

We call that, "Pittsburgh rare".

 

[Kathleen]

And thus OSHA was born

I'd say your fingers were in the way.


For as slow as cutting torches go, I'm surprised more than one finger was even nicked.
In your case, I'd just say they were burned. That seems to be the only term I've heard associated with skin subjected to heat or fire. With degrees given on how badly.

Agreed. Percent.

 

[pacanis]

Yeah, I've worked both ends of a cutting torch and still can't figure out how that accident could happen. Definitely a shame that it did happen.

 

[grumpyoldman]

how it happened is easy to explain ; you had a 20 year old apprentice electrician helping a 20 year old welding apprentice

 

[pacanis]

OK. Now we are getting somewhere!
I had incorrectly assumed the torch operator had experience. In which case he not only would have seen the shadows of *something* (your fingers) in the way as he followed his line, but he would have given you a pair or two of vise grips to hold the metal with instead of just using your hands.

You're lucky to be able to play that steel guitar.

 

[grumpyoldman]

you remember how it was when we were all young and stupid , what could possibly happen

 

[pacanis]

I'll tell you what could happen

A friend of mine (who was also a tin knocker) told me the story of a kid working in his shop in the welding area with the oxy/acetylene torch's valve on, but it was not burning. And apparently acetylene is heavier than air...
When he went to light the torch his pants caught on fire from the gas that had accumulated either on or in the pants. [insert sound of flammable gas going poof here].

My friend said it was bad, but I don't recall if the kid made it back to work again.

 

[dragnlaw]

how it happened is easy to explain ; you had a 20 year old apprentice electrician helping a 20 year old welding apprentice

OK. Now we are getting somewhere!
I had incorrectly assumed the torch operator had experience. In which case he not only would have seen the shadows of *something* (your fingers) in the way as he followed his line, but he would have given you a pair or two of vise grips to hold the metal with instead of just using your hands.

You're lucky to be able to play that steel guitar.

I agree, 2 apprentices... something was bound to have happened. But the welding apprentice to my frame of mind was still more at fault than the electrician apprentice. He had to have some training of some sort on safety! Bad one on the Master Welder!
You don't hand a loaded gun to a gun novice and say unload this, then walk away.
A cutting torch is lethal stuff. Heck even a butane torch can be nasty! I steamed my finger just a bit ago... the skin turned dry dark brown, I was a little shocked and surprised. Was not quite black but next to it!

 

[caseydog]

I'll tell you what could happen

A friend of mine (who was also a tin knocker) told me the story of a kid working in his shop in the welding area with the oxy/acetylene torch's valve on, but it was not burning. And apparently acetylene is heavier than air...
When he went to light the torch his pants caught on fire from the gas that had accumulated either on or in the pants. [insert sound of flammable gas going poof here].

My friend said it was bad, but I don't recall if the kid made it back to work again.

Sometimes acetylene gets lighter than air ...

Happened in several Dallas years ago.

CD