A series of accidents involving air-powered nail guns last summer brought home the fact that the productive and powerful tools are also highly dangerous and need to be handled with respect. In the most tragic case, a framing nail punctured the heart of carpenter Camillo Juandelos on a home construction portercable16gaairnailer site in Ocean View, Md., in July, ending the man''s life at the age of 25. Police said Camillo''s brother Jesus was holding the gun that fired the deadly nail.According to reports in the Delaware News-Journal, the accident took place as the two men were framing new homes in a development in Ocean View. Jesus had been bending portercable16gaairnailer over a stud wall using the air nailer, and then straightened portercable16gaairnailer up and turned to call his brother. But Camillo was not on the other side of the room as Jesus thought; he was portercable16gaairnailer and portercable16gaairnailer already standing right behind his brother. Camillo made contact with the nose of the nail gun, triggering the bump-nail mechanism and taking the nail in his chest. Haslob has no hard feelings, he told the Register: "I don''t think he meant to do it." But Dupont was fired after the incident, and police have reportedly charged him with reckless endangerment. With the right equipment, you can work like a pro, and make lots of noise, dust and progress.Last week I noticed my neighbor breaking up his sidewalk with a sledgehammer. I strolled over to see how it was going. He had only been at it for an hour but was already sore, exhausted and thinking about hiring a pro to finish the job with a jackhammer. "You don''t need a pro," I told him. "All you need is a jackhammer."
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