DIY nailguns wrecking all sorts of havoc on hands

We typically take for granted that anyone with enough technical know-how to go out and tackle some of the DIY creations we've seen would also take extra caution when handling soldering irons, hammers, and other potentially hazardous power tools, but apparently, folks are throwing caution to the wind when concocting their own nailguns. We'll admit, we certainly didn't realize that home crafted, high-powered staplers were becoming all the rage, but according to a recent report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "injuries involving nailguns have risen 200-percent since 1991." Notably, around 40-percent of the 37,000 reported nailgun injuries last year were purportedly due to consumer negligence while not on the job, leaving us to assume that it's the haphazard consumers boosting the stats. Still, these issues pale in comparison to the mayhem we'd be dealing with if railgun equipment somehow slipped into local hardware shops.

[Via El Reg]

[Chris @ Apr 14th 2007 9:46AM]

Havoc is wreaked, not wrecked.

http://www.meriam-webster.com/dictionary/wreak

[VJH @ Apr 14th 2007 9:58AM]

"folks are throwing caution to the wind when concocting their own nail-guns. [...] home crafted, high-powered staplers were becoming all the rage... ."

Are you suggesting that people are making their own nail guns only to have them proverbially blow up in their faces? Because that's not in the either the CDC report or the two linked sources. Moreover, without information about how the number of nail gun injuries compares to other hardware related accidents, say with a drill or chain-saw, it's really difficult to know if 37,000 is an unusually big or small number.

Besides, aside from the railgun bit, what does this have to do with Engadget?

[Joey21 @ Apr 14th 2007 10:01AM]

Brings a new meaing to the sentence I nailed her..

[Gil @ Apr 14th 2007 10:01AM]

I swear I read "DIY railguns wrecking all sorts of havoc" at first

[kev @ Apr 14th 2007 10:03AM]

Natural selection.

[Pedro @ Apr 14th 2007 10:04AM]

I'm not sure it's talking about home-made nail guns, but rather accidents involving nail guns while doing some DIY.

[Dr S @ Apr 15th 2007 3:57AM]

That would be a Knee, not a hand. Still, an excellent shot!

[Brian @ Apr 14th 2007 10:23AM]

Why is this an x-ray of a knee instead of a hand?

[shadow9600 @ Apr 14th 2007 10:32AM]

Um...wow, that's an incredibly misleading title AND article. You may want to just completely revise it as it has nothing to do with home made nailguns. Now DIY nailgunners I would accept.

[christoffer.arstrand @ Apr 14th 2007 11:22AM]

"We'll admit, we certainly didn't realize that home crafted, high-powered staplers were becoming all the rage"

It hasn't, a quote from The Register article:

"This increase likely corresponds to an increase in availability during the 1990s of inexpensive pneumatic nail guns and air compressors in home hardware stores."

[Kevlar @ Apr 14th 2007 11:52AM]

What... a poorly worded article and title. Time to scrap this one! I came here expecting to find home-made nailguns that misfired. Seriously, change it.

[pegdashfab @ May 16th 2007 3:51PM]

what Chris @ Apr 14th 2007 9:46AM said. u r iliterit m0r0nz.

[Grant @ Apr 14th 2007 2:06PM]

seriously, how slow of a news day is it?

"Natural selection."
haha, i agree, just cleansing the gene pool.

[ahjoku @ Apr 14th 2007 7:53PM]

Your Xray picture looks like a hoax to me. How can a nail go that deep into the femur without causing a crack in the bone? Without a second view would suspect that xray was taken with the nail just lying on the side of the leg.

[ahjoku @ Apr 19th 2007 6:42PM]

Your Xray picture looks like a hoax to me. How can a nail go that deep
into the femur without causing a crack in the bone? Without a second
view would suspect that xray was taken with the nail just lying on
the side of the leg