Carpentry and Woodworking - saftey reminder!

Just a reminder to always be mindfull of what can go wrong if you don't give a saw all the respect that it deserves. We all know what can go wrong but if your like me - that often gets over looked.

Today, I made a bone head mistake and paid the price, even though I got off fairly lucky. I ripped a piece of wood on my table saw and for whatever reason I grabbed the piece of wood before I shut the saw down. My fingers were no where near the blade but the wood must have touched the blade and before I knew what happened, I was missing a small chunk of my thumb :eek::o

Fortunately the blade never touched the bone and except for the 5 minutes [of 3hr @ ER] that they spent cleaning and dressing it - there has been no real pain. The most painfull thing was having the doctor tell me that it will take 6 months to heal:eek:

So the next time you are tempted to take your power tool for granted because you used a 1000 times, remember the stupid painter in tenn and be safe!

Still have a mark, 4 months later, on my belly,(Yes, I have one of those) where a piece of plywood I was cutting at an angle grabbed and kicked back. Guess I don't heal as fast anymore.

Mark - Sorry to hear about your injury. Like most shop accidents it sounded like it was just a moment of inattention resulting in what could have been a serious injury.

The table saw gets the most respect of any tool in my shop. Years ago I was ripping 2X4's on a table saw with a friend. We were gabbing while working and he ended up pushing a board through and the blade took off his thumb almost all the way to the hand. He didn't even know it was cut off until he saw the blood all over the place. All because of a moment of inattention.

BTW - We put his thumb in a paper sack and took it with us to the ER. They sewed it back on.

glad it wasnt worse

I was just watching the saw stop today on the DIY network
SawStop (http://www.sawstop.com/)

3k but how much is a finger worth ?

Ive been using the ez smart by Eurkazone for a couple of years now

the "dead wood " concept keeps your hands well away from the blade

The EZ Smart Woodworking System - Core77 (http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/the_ez_smart_woodworking_system_10777.asp)

The EZ Smart Woodworking System by Eurekazone, Inc. (http://www.eurekazone.com/)

its easy to get complacent but a minutes worth of inattention can lead to a lifetimes worth of disfigurment

Mark,

Glad to hear you're going to be okay. Ice it every half hour to keep the redness and bruising down- Take some tylenol or ibuprofen before bed, and again in the morning for as long as needed! It might not hurt now but I bet it will!

Other than being tender, there really isn't any pain to speak off :cool:
I can't use ice because it's an open wound that has to heal on it's own. Basically, I have to keep it dry and clean, medicate and rewrap once a day.

The biggest pain is to my ego and realizing that I might not be able to use a hammer for awhile. Even typing this is a little more difficult because of the bandage that makes my thumb twice as big..... and in the way.

On the bright side, I think my sons have figured out what to get me for Christmas - a framing nail gun:D

I forgot about this one...
At my final command before I got out of the Navy, I was rehabbing an old part of the building to turn it into offices, conference rooms and classrooms. A new guy showed up and they sent him to help me out. As we were knocking out some old studs to make a doorway, I noticed he held the hammer a liitle funny. When I commented he showed me that his thumb was actually his big toe. Yep...table saw. But it went sort of down his thumb, not across it, so they couldn't reattach.

Then he proceeds to open his wallet to show me pictures of his other accidents.

Not one, but TWO framing nails in his foot, and a drill bit stuck though his other hand.

Luckily we had very little left to do in the rehab, and I took care of the cutting and drilling myself.

Most of us know how dangerous a table saw can be. How many here have the blade guard, kerf control and anti kickback device installed on their saw?

I don't. :thumbdn:

I likely do not use a table saw near as much as most of you but am curious to know what you think of something I learned in high school shop class.

We were told that there is no reason for your hands to be any closer that six inches to the blade.
To do that I have a small assortment of homemade push sticks that I use to push and hold what goes through the blade, some with rubber attached.

Is this workable for pros?

See, that's the thing, I kept my hand away from then blade. I reached for the board that I had just ripped and grabbed it somewhere between 4-6" from the blade. I can't say with certainty how my thumb got to the blade. I think I bumped the edge of the turning blade with the edge/end of the lumber and it pulled me into the blade.

I always use a push stick [either my store bought or a piece of scrap] when the end of wood gets anywhere close the blade. Like most of us, I have the blade guard.... hanging the wall because it's so unhandy to use.

I know it was more freak accident than anything else but I'd hate for anyone else to repeat my mistake!

CW I removed mine for clarity purposes, only. It's somewhere. I do find the guard gets in the way of a quality push stick.

Greg - The guy that got his thumb cut off was using a push stick. He was pushing with the stick with his right hand and using his left hand on the end of the 2X4 to steady it against the fence. When the end of the wood got within a few inches of the blade he would just lift his left hand off. We had already ripped 20 or so and were shooting the breeze and he just forgot to remove his hand. Dumb as that sounds that's how it usually happens.