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Thread: Be careful out there

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    Schenectady, NY
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    1,500
    Very sorry to hear about the injury but glad to hear he is back in action. I am very cautious around ANY power tools. My mantra, similar to JKJ's is "Where will it go if it slips?" And this applies to my hands and tools alike. It applies in the workshop, the garage, the kitchen, the garden-everywhere-and it has saved me many times. It takes conscious effort to say it every time, but with time it becomes normal and even feels weird if I don't say it to myself when starting any activity involving anything that is able to injure me.
    Happy and Safe Turning, Don


    Woodturners make the world go ROUND!

  2. #32
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    Jul 2007
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    Seattle, WA
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    Ole, thanks for sharing the experience. I don't think you're taking it too personally- otherwise kind people can get pretty savage (and cowardly) on the internet due to the anonymity.

    I have a huge scar on my forehead from a stupid and careless mistake on the table saw.

    For what it's worth, I appreciate the reminder.
    Last edited by Keith Outten; 08-10-2017 at 10:11 PM.

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh, Australia
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    2,700
    I cringe every time I see somone reach over the top of a spinning saw blade to retrieve the piece they just cut, one slip and no arm. The only time I have had an incident I accidently dropped a bit of timber on top of the spinning blade and it hit me in the chest veerrryyy hard and a painful lesson was learned.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  4. #34
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    St. Francis, Kansas
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    148
    sorry about your friends' mishap, & good luck with his recovery. Hopefully he'll be able to keep up his game w/o many problems.

    I'm no expert either. Matter of fact, I'm a self taught wood worker. I've got 26 years under my belt, & lots of hard lessons, but I've still got all my fingers.

    I drove OTR for 35 years, & been around equipment all my life. To put your trust in something mechanical is like playin' poker with the devil. You can set up the machine, run test runs with it to perfect the setting, & one wrong move, or one second of not focusin' on the business at hand, & the next thing ya know, you're on the way to the ER.

    Like others here, before I even bought any wood tools, I read every book our small public library had on wood tools. I took them on the road with me & read them til I had some of them memorized. My loving bride decided I needed a hobby & a stress reliever. So, she made the decision wood working suited my fancy after my Sawbones told me if I didn't quit eatin', sleepin', thinkin', & drinkin' trucks, they was goin' to drop me in a deep hole, & soon. That was 26 years ago this month.

    The reality of it all is, humans make mistakes. Like I said earlier, I drove OTR 35 years professionally, & no accidents until I had the one that finished my career. It was due to stress & depression. I wasn't focused on the road, I had a nervous break down in the truck. Went thru several fences, across three pastures, & come to rest in a wheat field on the south side of the hiway, southbound & upright. When I come to, I was sittin' in the riders' seat. I was buckled in the pilot seat when the accident happened. Due to injuries from the accident, & medication I now have to take, I've been off the road permanently 5 years. I'm 51 years old, & live on a fixed income.

    I firmly believe most accidents come from not understandin' the tools, or not usin' the machine properly. If it's got teeth, it's gonna bite! pay attention! most of my ol' tools don't have guards, or much of anything for safety, but I try to plan my cuts carefully, & use safe practices. Every accident is preventable, but not 100% stoppable. My apologies for the length of my "rant". I appreciate your patience.
    Sawdust703

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Camillus, NY
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    356
    Since you must "know what you are doing" in your shop, be very careful today. Statistics show that you may well be due your first or next accident. No correlation between knowledge and accidents, but over confidence will get you every time. IMHO.
    Jerry

    "It is better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation" - Herman Melville

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Cincinnati, OH
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    Recent article shows industry has reduced injury rates. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nioshtic-2/20044918.html

    "The sawmills and wood preservation sub-sector experienced a 71% reduction in average incidence rate and an 87% reduction in average lost-time incidence rate from 2001 to 2009. The top three injury category descriptions for lost-time incidents within saw-related claims were fracture (35.8%), open wounds (29.6%), and amputation (14.8%)."

    "For saw-related injuries, preventing blade contact remains important but securing the work piece to prevent kickback is also important. "
    Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!

  7. #37
    A neighbor of mine came over to my house one morning, crying. She had backed into her garage door.

    She had a routine when leaving the house and something threw her off and she didn't open the garage door. She continued her routine and backed into the closed garage door. She was not "stupid" or any other negative connotation. She was in a hurry, got distracted and was following a routine.

    I went over to her house, was able to raise the garage door for her to leave, and since the garage door was a wooden door, I was able to repair the door.

    Now, I'm sure she'll never make that mistake again. But she did once. Luckily her car was not really damaged, except for a scrape on the bumper, so she got off easy.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  8. #38
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    North Virginia
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    I always have to keep reminding myself that it isn't JUST the table saws of the world that are the cause of woodworking accidents. Small, innocuous tools can also inflict damage if you aren't paying attention - which you tend to do if you are holding a handsaw instead of a power saw.

    One of my worst injuries recently came at the hands of a tiny, flexible blade flush-cutting saw. I was trimming some drawbore pins... I was late... I was being rushed by my S.O.... and I wasn't paying full attention. I dragged the very sharp blade across the first knuckle of my middle finger of my left hand - creating a narrow kerf down to the bone on the finger. Since it was a kerf instead of a "slice", the skin didn't want to close up very well - I bled like a pig for a long time until we got it under control enough to seek medical help.

    Live and learn.

  9. #39
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Texas Hill Country
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    705
    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    Again, another example of something that just doesn't need to be said. Its kind of similar to the old, "all of us are now dumber having heard it" line.
    My sentiments exactly Pat.

  10. #40
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    Do not use the saw when you are fatigued. I cut myself one time and had to make a trip to the emergency room.
    I did not loose anything but blood, but I could have. ALWAYS use a push stick and stand to the side of the fence.
    Projectiles can hurt you too.

  11. #41
    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    Do not use the saw when you are fatigued. I cut myself one time and had to make a trip to the emergency room.
    I did not loose anything but blood, but I could have. ALWAYS use a push stick and stand to the side of the fence.
    Projectiles can hurt you too.
    That's how I ran my thumb through a saw. Long week, and a deadline that had to be met. Tough rule to obey when you're continually behind though. Was I being stupid by doing something stupid? YES! Saying anything other than that it's just prideful poppycock, buggery, and Tom-foolery. Decode that anyway you deem appropriate. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

    I've done plenty of stupid, fillet'd plenty of meat, pulled nails out of my flesh. Only one trip to the ER in almost 20 years of working in the trades, and one employee ER visit in 14 years of running my own ship That's the life of working with your hands, being the guy in charge, and busting your hump to make it happen. Don't fluff your feathers with a holier than thou attitude. It's posturing and nothing more.

    The most dangerous tool in a woodshop? The dull chisel and the aggressive operator. I've seen more guys mauled from that than anything else in a cabinet shop. By far.

  12. #42
    Quote Originally Posted by Jerry Wright View Post
    Since you must "know what you are doing" in your shop, be very careful today. Statistics show that you may well be due your first or next accident. No correlation between knowledge and accidents, but over confidence will get you every time. IMHO.
    Indeed, although there is no such thing as being "due" an accident. Accidents happen when you stop being careful. If you never stop being careful, if you always consider the possible ramifications of your actions and simply do not make moves that can, and often do, have negative repercussions, then you'll never have an accident. It's not like everyone has accidents randomly allocated throughout their life and you have no control over when one pops up. Overconfidence might get you, but that's only because overconfidence stops you from being properly careful.

  13. #43
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    Helensburgh, Australia
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    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    Do not use the saw when you are fatigued. I cut myself one time and had to make a trip to the emergency room.
    I did not loose anything but blood, but I could have. ALWAYS use a push stick and stand to the side of the fence.
    Projectiles can hurt you too.
    People see things and what could be dangerous differently. I would not use a push stick for a bet, I think they are one of the most dangerous devices in the workshop and should be banned. They are prone to be unstable, the longer they are the worse they are and if the tip of it hits the teeth of the blade for any reason you just launched a high speed projectile at yourself as well as risking the hand that was pushing the stick falling into the blade. Any device that pushes the timber should rest on the table surface or the timber being cut and not elevated as push sticks are.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  14. #44
    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Lilly View Post
    I may be wrong, but I'm guessing most table saw accidents these days are by average do it yourselfers that aren't avid woodworkers. Sure, woodworkers like us still have this type of accident because of the regularity we use dangerous tools, but most of us with experience have had sufficient kickbacks and close calls over the years and we frequent woodworking forums enough to make us more aware and realize what is a bad idea and how to greatly minimize the dangers. Stay safe everyone.
    I work in the healthcare field and most of the people who hurt themselves with woodworking (and also metalworking) tools are those that do it for a living and generally have done it for a long time. The grossly larger number of hours that professionals vs. homeowners spend with equipment guarantees this is the case. Professionals generally get hurt as they get complacent and then get sloppy/lazy/cut corners to work faster. Less commonly they have a very uncommon thing happen like freak equipment failure that is a one-in-a-huge-number occurrence but since they spend a huge number of hours with the equipment, you see them be hurt instead of the homeowner that may spend a few days' worth of time in a lifetime with a piece of equipment.

    Somebody mentioned a particular saw with an electromechanical "safety" mechanism as a potential fix for these issues. It is a terrible idea to have any dependence whatsoever on "safety" mechanisms replacing proper practice, although it can serve some limited benefit as an "if all else fails" tertiary backup. The most dangerous tool routinely handled by the average person is a firearm, and they all have mechanical "safety" mechanisms, which you are very explicitly instructed to always use but NEVER EVER rely on it functioning properly to prevent an injury (fatality.) That line of thinking is absolutely logical and should apply to using anything else potentially dangerous as well such as saws.

  15. #45
    Not directly on topic but I have a friend who is an emergency room nurse. She would tell me about guys who came in with cuts across their thigh. She got so she could immediately identify the cause: Carpenters cutting wood with a circular saw (often with the guard tied back) with the board across their thigh.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

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