taking a welding class, just 'finished' oxy-acet part last night and start tig next tuesday. this afternoon i broke my right hand [temporarily left handed i guess]. have to see an orthopedic on monday and have it set. not looking forward to that. any suggestions for being able to weld / learn to weld while wearing a cast on your strong hand? any welding mittens instead of gloves? greg sorry for lower-case, everything typed one handed, and left handed at that.
This is a hindrance and an opportunity. When I was learning to 6g pipe, I found that using my left hand in many situations let me weld the pipe easier by giving me a totally different angle of attack. Try to develop your left handed skills, too, during this time. It will come in VERY handy later. You will be amazed at the feel and touch you have in your off hand. I was.
I took 2 fingertips off of my right hand a month ago and now I have to teach TIG. You could try practicing TIG welds with no filler wire for now. Handle the torch left handed. Believe me, in TIG being ambidextrous is a big bonus.
It is paying off for me now because I still don't have full use of what's left of my right hand yet.
So do some flow welds and practice your torch control left handed.
Take your stinger with you to the orthopedist, He may be able to shape the cast around it. I have heard of racing drivers who had the cast built so it would fit the steering wheel. Maybe the cast guy could embed a large nut, so you can screw on a hose clamp or something when you need it.
as an aside learned about that when i had surgery on my right hand ,... apparently i had been cleaning with my right my whole life , ole lefty was quite unprepared to do the job , took that and writing and using the tig welder as a challenge and i am now reasonably proficient with the left for many things,,, bad way to learn tho
Cleaning. I assume you are refering to, um, ah, wiping. Not easy left handed. Baby wipes are a big help. Lefties must walk around nasty all day.
As my aside, the plaster splint I had on since Friday provided enough encouragement to move the bone end back to roughly where it should be, so no setting!!! Also, the ortho said he as convinced himself over the years that unless there is an actual separation of the pieces of bone (mine is broken like a soft dowel would fracture), that casts can be more of a hinderance than a benifit. He said that if it was his hand, he would not have it pinned, set, put in a cast or anything. He felt that it is stable enough to wear a plaster splint while I sleep and work (and go to welding class) and other times to not have anything on it. This will also help with the stiffness associated with casts. ***by which i mean stiffness of the hand after the cast is removed, not the actual stiffness of the cast which is of course the whole idea*** I also have a bad case of a condition called pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP) which is very much like psoriasis so having the skin be able to get air is a huge plus. I stopped at a welding supply place when I left there and we looked through some catalogs and found a pair of 3-finger welding mittens that resemble the military's Trigger Finger Mittens for about $10 a pair. I won't be able to pick them up by tomorrow's class, but will by Thursday. Tomorrow I'll probably still be stiff and sore enough not to do much anyway.
Hey, anyway, thanks everybody for your ideas, suggestions and comments whether they were meant to help or not ;-) Rock on, rock out, stay cool, and VOTE FOR 'W'!
In reference to your last sentence above, I am a lefty and quite clean thank you. :) I know what you mean though, after spraining my good wrist a few years ago I had to use my "wrong" hand, NOT easy. A friend of mine at work had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome surgery on _both_ wrists recently, a few weeks apart but he still had to stay in his wife's good grace for a while. Glad to hear you won't have to go the hard cast route, it seems kinda funny that a few years ago they put a cast on anything and everything broken. Now you hardly ever see anyone in one, mostly air casts and splints. Ain't progress wonderful?!
Yes it is. I had a cast 22 years ago on the same hand and it was a bad thing. Of course I was 11 and got it put on on the 3rd of July; that didn't help. My dad had two hyneriated discs fixed in about '77 and spent 10 days in the hospital and didn't walk the entire time. Wasn't allowed to sit up for another 2 weeks and didn't drive for I don't know how long. Now patients are walking within HOURS. Times, they are a changin'. Have a good one, Greg
Had a friend break both wrists skateboarding (we were kids) and well....his mom had to take care of him. He was 14.....just a LITTLE embarrassing....not that it mattered...we still made fun of him. And even to this day still!!
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