# I just drilled a hole through my thumb **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2015, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552 "2015-02-13T08:34:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/1 "2015-02-13T08:34:13Z")
ouch! I was drilling holes in glass to make a wind chime and I slipped. So anyone else done something stupid to themselves recently ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/2 "2015-02-13T13:32:30Z")
Oh no! :eek: I hope you’ll recover. I burnt myself on a pair of scissors once, though that was a while ago. And it’s not as bad as drilling yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/3 "2015-02-13T14:13:55Z")
All the way through your thumb? Can you see through it? ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/4 "2015-02-13T14:52:16Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > All the way through your thumb? Can you see through it? Better question: can you whistle through it? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/5 "2015-02-13T15:25:40Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > … I \*\*burnt \*\*myself on a pair of scissors once … Bolding mine. Do tell, do tell. There are lots of ways to hurt oneself with scissors but this seems … novel. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/6 "2015-02-13T15:26:06Z")
I injure my hands all the time. I work with gaming miniatures, so I’m always using exacto knives, pin vises, jewelers screwdrivers, and other small implements of torture. You don’t know pain till you’ve broken off a pin bit under your fingernail and had to dig it out. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/7 "2015-02-13T15:36:57Z")
Last Saturday I was taking apart a table saw. I had to lie on the ground and undo some bolts from underneath. I let the wrench slip out of my hand it smacked me on the eyebrow and opened up a tiny but gushing cut. My son says I looked really cool with the blood spreading all across my face. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/8 "2015-02-13T17:37:42Z")
> [@Astroboy14](#): > > Better question: can you whistle through it? Even better still: 1. Is it the thumb on your dominant hand? 2. Can you still use the thumb as a thumb (granted you’ll have to wait for it to heal)? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/9 "2015-02-13T18:10:46Z")
How else do you use a thumb except to whistle? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/10 "2015-02-13T18:13:58Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > How else do you use a thumb except to whistle? 🙂 This suggests you don’t have opposable thumbs. 😃 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/11 "2015-02-13T18:18:30Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > This suggests you don’t have opposable thumbs. 😃 😛 Not at all … a second thumb doubles the frequency of the whistle. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/12 "2015-02-13T18:24:13Z")
While deep-frying some tofu recently, I splashed hot oil onto my wrist. The splash jumped up and traced a loop-shaped design. So I had a loop-shaped second degree burn on my wrist for awhile, complete with blisters. Boy, that hurt. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/13 "2015-02-13T18:24:41Z")
Celtling’s loft bed was too tall for our new digs. It’s made of metal, so I went out and bought a pipe cutter to trim the legs. I trimmed off about 3 inches, easy peasy, no trouble at all. A good friend reviewed my work and cautioned me that the remaining edges were super sharp. “No problem!” says I, “there are plastic end caps to cover them!” He gave me a gently dubious look and went on to assure me that he had various grades of sandpaper on hand, and he’d get them for me. . . “No, no, I’ll just pop these back on, really!” And I did, with the first three. End caps on, no worries at all, until the fourth one. On the fourth one I somehow managed to get the pad of my finger in between the end cap and the pipe as I banged it in, thus slicing a lovely semi-circle into the meat of my finger. It was really quite impressive, and bled off and on for three days. To his credit, he managed to help me with the bandage without so much as a “harrumph!” much less an “I told you so!”. :o :o :o ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/14 "2015-02-13T18:55:51Z")
Put a ring in it and start a fad. Noses are so last century. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/15 "2015-02-13T18:56:17Z")
I sewed through the end of my index finger while using a sewing machine not long ago. I was doing a favor for a friend at the time. No good deed, etc. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/16 "2015-02-13T18:58:51Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Put a ring in it and start a fad. Noses are so last century. That’s nice–a thumb ring. You’ve already had the suffering. 😃 The Phantom Punster wuz here.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/17 "2015-02-13T19:00:24Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Not at all … a second thumb doubles the frequency of the whistle. Whoopee.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/18 "2015-02-13T19:00:26Z")
When I was 11, I cut my thumb on a bandsaw. Five stitches for that. Sure learned me good. These days I manage to burn myself with my soldering iron all the damn time. I need safer hobbies. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/19 "2015-02-13T19:02:28Z")
Soldering iron? And just what were you _making_with this here hobby?! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552/20 "2015-02-13T19:05:46Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > … A good friend reviewed my work and cautioned me that the remaining edges were super sharp. “No problem!” says I, “there are plastic end caps to cover them!” … Since kids are involved I’ll follow up. Those plastic caps will deteriorate. And if the sharp metal edge is under any load it will cut through the plastic sooner rather than later. IOW, those sharp edges are only temporarily hidden from curious kids’ fingers. Once you heal enough to handle a file or sandpaper, round them off so they’re not sharp anymore. \*Then \*re-install the caps. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-drilled-a-hole-through-my-thumb/712552.md?page=2)