Another shop accident.....

[Phil Phelps]

I haven't been posting very often, but if this helps just one of you, I'll be happy. As many of you know, the "shop" is my business. I use many different materials so I change my table saw blade often. And when I do, I am careful not to scrape my knuckles on the super sharp edges of the table top plate opening. But, ol' dummy here didn't think about that super cheap, stamped out wrench that comes with nearly every Asian saw. That SOB took a mean chunk outta' my thumb. Just scraped the dog outta' it. When I take bark offa' my digets, it makes me so mad I could spit nails. The healing is the worst part. I'm constantly in lacquer thinner, soap, water, you name it. So, I went to the grinder and rounded over all sides of that sorry wrench. And did the same thing on the plate opening. I filed it blunt. So, my friends, do yourself a favor and dull all the will bite you.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Phil,

Thanks for the tip! I always through on an old pair of gloves for handling/changing the blade. I will have to have a look at my wrench and see if the roundover would negate the gloves!

[Jay Knoll]

Phil

Sorry to hear about the accident -- to quote an infamous President "I feel you pain"

Do you know aobut NewSkin? It is a liquid bandage that I have found really helps when I'm in work mode.

It hurts when you apply it, but drys to a waterproof, semi flexible "skin" over the wound. It resists water really well, I don't know how it would hold up with thinners. However, it beats the heck out of wearing a band aid.

You can get it at the drug store, under $5 I think.

Good luck Heal!

Jay

[Jay Knoll]

Opps! Your pain I meant, what ever he was he wasn't inarticulate!

[Ted Shrader]

Phil -

Sorry about your injuries. When I started reading, though, thought it would be a lot worse - like a digit gone. Glad it is no worse than it is.

Thanks for the tip about dulling the various edges.

Heal quickly,
Ted

[Neil Clemmons]

Phil,

Sorry to hear about the scrape.

Have you tried Band-Aid Finger Wrap bandages? They're a great product for hard-to-heal scrapes on fingers. I had a bad scrape on a knuckle two weeks back and wrapped it in one of them and it's amazing how long it lasted, even when applying finishes, washing up, etc. They're available in varying sizes and stick to themselves and do a great job sealing and healing scrapes.

Good luck,

Neil

[John Miliunas]

Bummer, Phil! Thanks for the heads up, though! Yup, I think the bulk of my injuries in the shop are primarily the inadvertent scrapes and cuts. Usually nothing serious, but like you say, annoy the heck out of a guy and take long to heal under certain conditions. And with me, it's usually even worse; Somehow, some way, it seems that I most always manage to get the abbrasion/cut about 80% healed and I ding it again!:mad: Hope it heals fast for you and, like some of the others guys said, try to put some protection on it.:cool:

[Phil Phelps]

..on healing aids, but thanks. Didn't know of some of them. Ya' know what they say. An ounce of prevention... :D

[Karl Laustrup]

I know how you feel Phil. I'm always scraping something or other while in the shop. Half the time I don't even know I did anything until LOML asks me how'd you get that cut, or there's blood running down my appendage. I guess it's like they say "NO SENSE, NO FEELING".

Anyway, I always use Neosporin on any cuts etc. It lessens the chance of infection and it really speeds up the healing process. Cuts etc. heel much quicker. For me it seems to take only half as much time to heal. Wouldn't be without it.

I had forgotten about New Skin. Used to use that when I bowled. It does work.

Thanks for the heads up on maybe preventing some of the accidents from happening.

[Keith Christopher]

On a side not about new skin, did you know the lovely CA (usually "hotstuff" for us woodworkers) was developed/designed by kodak then used to seal wounds shut ? That's right that lovely skin bonding super glue was used quite a bit in vietnam to seal wounds shut. There is a different type for skin closures than the standard methyl-2-cyanoacrylate which can be irritating so if you have some 2-octyl-cyanoacrylate (a.ka. dermabond) that is most common for wound closure.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

On a side not about new skin, did you know the lovely CA (usually "hotstuff" for us woodworkers) was developed/designed by kodak then used to seal wounds shut ? That's right that lovely skin bonding super glue was used quite a bit in vietnam to seal wounds shut. There is a different type for skin closures than the standard methyl-2-cyanoacrylate which can be irritating so if you have some 2-octyl-cyanoacrylate (a.ka. dermabond) that is most common for wound closure.
I use CA all the time for sealing wounds that are in the worst places. It burns like hell when you put it on, but after that it is hard as a rock, VERY good protection. Best of all, it completely seals the wound.

[Dave Richards]

Sorry about the loss of skin and I know it's too late for to help you now, but I discovered that the wrench that DeWalt packs with the DW621 and 625 routers fits is the same size as the arbor nut and it is much nicer to handle than the stamped wrench that came with my saw. I now keep one of those wrenches in the tray on my saw.

[Chris Padilla]

I just use a nice dedicated Craftmen wrench on the arbor. 7/8" I think. It is nice and beefy and quite long. Kind of a pricey dedicated tool but it does the job well.

Heal up! :)