Bandsaw accident report...

[Tai Fu]

I got hurt on my bandsaw, and it wasn't even turned on!

Basically I was spinning the upper wheel by hand while adjusting the tracking, when I wasn't paying attention to where my finger was and pinched the finger between the blade and the wheel! It had enough momentum that I really couldn't avoid injury (maybe on a tiny 10" bandsaw you might have gotten a bruise but 2 18" cast iron wheels got a LOT of momentum behind it!). It hurts really bad and I thought I split my finger open or something. Luckily the only injury I received is a split fingernail and some small cuts... but keep your hand on the right side of the wheel when tracking the blade so that you don't pinch your finger...

It's a little better by now, the cuts have mostly healed but the finger with the most injury (split fingernail) still feels a little numb from the bruising.

[Matt Day]

Ouch! Man that must have hurt. So you pinched your finger between the blade and wheel and went for a 1/2 wheel rotation ride?! Yikes. I'm kind of surprised that's all the injury you got since the tension is so high I doubt much of anything could survive and not be totally flattened (not to downplay your wounds!).

I'm careful when I spin the wheel by hand to use the spokes or holes on the wheels, but even then there are frame pieces to watch out for that could easily brake a finger.

Glad it's getting better

[johnny means]

You just reinforced my worst fears about the bandsaw. I always thought that the worst injury on a bandsaw would be the mangling that can happen while setting up and adjusting tracking. I'm gonna go tape over the holes in my wheels next time I'm in the shop. Glad you escaped with minimal injury.

[ray hampton]

I not trying to be funny BUT you need to wear gloves for this type of work, the right thickness of glove could kept you finger out of the danger ZONE , I am glad that you never got hurt bad

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Ouch. I've gotten finger in there with a no tension blade change, which was a relatively painless wakeup call. What happened to you crossed my mind at that point.

[Mark Wooden]

Ouch,hope it heals soon. Good thing it wasn't running.
I once got my finger pinched between a vee belt and a pulley while it was running- felt like my arm was almost pulled off and it smashed the pad on the finger, requiring surgery.

[mreza Salav]

been there, done that on my 24" bandsaw with carbide blades. My wife couldn't understand how I cut myself (bleeding) when she didn't hear the saw being turned on at all.

[Brian Tax]

I also cut my finger (not too bad), spinning the wheels (slowly) by hand, I learned the hard way that the blade is still sharp when the machine is off.

[Matt Meiser]

Ouch. I could easily see breaking a finger due to the momentum of heavy wheels too. Kind of scares me when I spin mine to check tracking. I always stick a finger trough one of the holes on my 17" cast iron wheels but am always sure to use just the tip lets I catch something behind.

[Brett Robson]

I've done something similar too - I got my finger through one of the gaps in the wheel and pinched it between the wheel and one of the cast ribs on the inside of the lower frame. It did not feel good.

[Michael Dunn]

Ouch. I could easily see breaking a finger due to the momentum of heavy wheels too. Kind of scares me when I spin mine to check tracking. I always stick a finger trough one of the holes on my 17" cast iron wheels but am always sure to use just the tip lets I catch something behind.

That has also been my fear as well.

[ray hampton]

That has also been my fear as well.

WHY don't you use a screw driver handle to spin the wheel ? and keep the fingers in your pocket