Had an Ooops in the shop Monday

[George Bokros]

Little accident on the joiner. Kinda amputated the tip of the pinkie finger. Didn't hurt and still dosen't. Took off some bone almost to the first knuckle. Couple of stitches and now I can be called "Stumpy Finger."

[Pat Barry]

Thankfully it wasn't worse George. Glad to hear you are doing all right. The jointer has always been the tool that scared me and its exactly for what happened to you although my nightmare was worse.

[Ted Derryberry]

Was it a porkchop or euro guard?

Funny how stuff like that doesn't hurt.

[George Bokros]

Porkchop guard

[Mel Fulks]

So sorry to hear that. Get a good habit out of this cut that will protect you in all future work.

[George Bokros]

I was edge joining a narrow piece and I must have had my finger hanging down. I have never had my fingers hanging down before, Definitely will be more observant of what I am doing in the future. I was mid point on the length of the piece.

[Roy Petersen]

I have never had my fingers hanging down before
Or in the future, since it won't reach now. ;)
Kidding aside, glad it wasn't worse. These things happen so fast, and only take a second of distraction.

[Jim Becker]

Sad to hear that, George. I hope you heal quickly!

[glenn bradley]

Heal quick.

[Matt Day]

Edge Jointing barrow pieces is always tough. Any suggested practices? A power feeder would be one, but impractical for most.

[Frederick Skelly]

George,
I'm sorry to hear this happened. I hope you continue to have no pain and that you heal quickly.

Fred

[Jebediah Eckert]

Thanks for posting George, good reminder for the rest of us.

Hope you heal fast!

[George Bokros]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Showing healing signs already. Stitches out next Wednesday.

[Vince Shriver]

"didn't hurt and still doesn't." Sometimes a little neuropathy isn't such a bad thing. Seriously, sorry about your accident.

[Ole Anderson]

Wish I could find something cute to say other than ouch. I use this to edge joint skinny pieces:

[Robert Engel]

Wish I could find something cute to say other than ouch. I use this to edge joint skinny pieces:

For face planing I always use the same push block as the table saw.

You will probably lose feeling in the end of that finger, but fortunately it isn't a feeler digit.

[George Bokros]

For face planing I always use the same push block as the table saw.

You will probably lose feeling in the end of that finger, but fortunately it isn't a feeler digit.

For face planning I use Micro Jig Grrp-Rip Block.

https://www.microjig.com/products/grr-rip-block

.

[Bob Bouis]

Another reason not to hold your pinkie out when you drink.

Not to make too much light of it. I let one of my fingers get nipped in a similar accident (not on a jointer), but I just ended up with a little taper on the tip. Since then I am very conscious about the position of all my fingers. None of that pinkie-out, thumb splayed, etc. stuff when holding anything.

[Carlos Alvarez]

Last night I was reminded that drinking and woodworker don't go together. I spilled a nearly full Guinness all over the project, my cigar, and the cyclone. After wiping the tears I found it was my last one and had to switch to an IPA.

[Rod Sheridan]

Edge Jointing barrow pieces is always tough. Any suggested practices? A power feeder would be one, but impractical for most.

1) never place your hands within a certain distance of the cutter. Perhaps paint a red area 4 inches above, ahead and behind the cutter on the top of the fence. I used red electrical tape.

2) if your fence is tall enough, as it is on my jointer, I hook a couple of fingers over the top of the jointer so my fingers can't reach the cutter, and I always follow rule #1.

3) change to a bridge guard, use proper hand over guard technique so that in the event of a kickback your hand can't drop into the cutter. Now, this won't work for commercial applications as OSHA requires a spring operated guard. In that case use a Suvamatic type.

Regards, Rod.

[Rod Sheridan]

Little accident on the joiner. Kinda amputated the tip of the pinkie finger. Didn't hurt and still dosen't. Took off some bone almost to the first knuckle. Couple of stitches and now I can be called "Stumpy Finger."

Glad to hear you have your sense of humour intact and that you weren't more seriously injured.

Hope you heal well................Regards, Rod.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Ouch!!
My old high school shop teacher felt the jointer was the most dangerous tool in the shop.

Glad to hear it wasn't more serious.

If it was your wiping hand........the fun has just begun. Until the bandages come off.
Been there/done that...hated it!

[tom lucas]

I've only cut myself once (so far) in the shop and that was on a jointer. I was lucky it only got the skin on my pinky, but right to the bone as clean as could be. Side of that digit still has a flat spot on it. Since, I always use push blocks with all fingers inside the handles. It happens in a split second. Glad it wasn't worse.

[Mark Hennebury]

Sorry to hear about your accident. It should keep you on your toes for a good long time. Accidents can happen to us all at any time.

About 30 years ago a plastic surgeon told me that a woodworker filleted most of the bones out of his hand when a board he was pushing over the jointer got stuck and his hand went palm down across the cutterhead. I try to keep this in mind when working on the jointer. I don't use a guard, never have, don't feel safe with them, I don't use Rod Sheridans rule about staying away from the blade either, I am however cognizant of the dangers, and follow some precautions, such as rolling my sleeves up and rolling my fingers up when dressing wood on edge, also i place my thumb on top of the board as you hand can easily slide down the vertical face of a smooth board as you go over the blade. When dressing the face i wont put my hand close to the front edge of the board either. I will use push sticks on occasion but not as a general rule. I also on occasion work from both ends of the jointer. I guess that you have to develop methods that work for you and ones that you are comfortable with.

[George Bokros]

If it was your wiping hand........the fun has just begun. Until the bandages come off.
Been there/done that...hated it!

Not my wiping hand.

[Matt Day]

Last night I was reminded that drinking and woodworker don't go together. I spilled a nearly full Guinness all over the project, my cigar, and the cyclone. After wiping the tears I found it was my last one and had to switch to an IPA.

Lol, that’s funny.

[Bill Carey]

Good lord - not the cigar??? And I've no shop accidents yet, (lots of job site accidents - try falling out of a tree with a running chain saw) but I did contribute the tip of my index finger to a pot of chili I was making. I figured don't ask - don't tell was the correct way to go.

[Jack Frederick]

Demonstrating once again that life is a humbling experience. Hope you heal up quickly.

[Ben Zara]

Hope you heal quick. Glad it was not worse.

[George Bokros]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I don't care for the pork chop guard and am keenly aware of the blade. When I use the power feeder for my jointer it prevents the use of the pork chop guard. I want a suvamtic guard bad but at $2k it costs 3x as much as I paid for the jointer new.

[George Bokros]

I don't care for the pork chop guard and am keenly aware of the blade. When I use the power feeder for my jointer it prevents the use of the pork chop guard. I want a suvamtic guard bad but at $2k it costs 3x as much as I paid for the jointer new.

Could you post a pic of the power feeder for your jointer?

[Rod Sheridan]

Could you post a pic of the power feeder for your jointer?
379724

I just swing the feeder around from the saw/shaper.

Some jointers have a spot for a feeder bracket on them.........Rod.

[George Bokros]

Thanks Rod

[Anthony Whitesell]

This is how I have the power feeder mounted on my Grizzly G0490.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w72/adwsystemsadwsystems/P4270446_zps4p5undyp.jpg (http://s173.photobucket.com/user/adwsystemsadwsystems/media/P4270446_zps4p5undyp.jpg.html)

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w72/adwsystemsadwsystems/P4270445_zpsxh8mfqlq.jpg (http://s173.photobucket.com/user/adwsystemsadwsystems/media/P4270445_zpsxh8mfqlq.jpg.html)

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w72/adwsystemsadwsystems/P4270447_zps2npkafyw.jpg (http://s173.photobucket.com/user/adwsystemsadwsystems/media/P4270447_zps2npkafyw.jpg.html)

I added a 1/2" L-shaped steel plate between the Jointer and the base, then used the 4" tubes to make a modular, adjustable height and position system. I have since changed the lower tube to a pair of 2x6 tubes, to lower the feeder mounting base while also moving the base closer to the jointer bed.

[Larry Edgerton]

Took off the end of a finger on a jointer. Had a small jointer for site work, 4", and one of the guys for some unexplained reason took off the back guard. I used to drape my finger over the fence to hold it tight to the fence, and then one day "Bam". They reconstructed mine, but it still was not fun.

Best to you and love your attitude!

[Robert Engel]

......I don't use a guard, never have, don't feel safe with them, I don't use Rod Sheridans rule about staying away from the blade either...... I guess that you have to develop methods that work for you and ones that you are comfortable with.

Hopefully George and anyone reading this has enough sense not to work this way.

No easy way to put it you're living on borrowed time.

And BTW I'm typing with a bandage on my finger to say after 30+ yrs of ww'ing and I had a little mishap Friday. Didn't require ER or anything, but it was a "reminder".

Not because I wasn't following safety procedures, either, it was a lack of concentration doing a repetitive procedure.

ANYTIME you are guiding wood with your hands instead of a push block or other aid, and not using guards when require, something is bound to happen eventually.

[George Bokros]

Hopefully George and anyone reading this has enough sense not to work this way.

I do not work without the guard on the jointer. I do however not use a guard on the table saw. I do use push sticks/blocks, Micro Jig Gripppers and feather boards. I do use push blocks, Micro Jig Gripper blocks, when face jointing but have not figured out how to use a push block of some sort when edge jointing which is what I was doing when the accident happened, It was a finger dangling over the edge of the board when edge jointing a narrow piece

[Brian Holcombe]

Will a power feeder deflect thin stock? I've never used one but I'm curious.

[Anthony Whitesell]

What do you mean by deflect?

The power setup on my machine is in place of where your grippers would be, just after the blade on the outfeed table. I do not use it for all jobs due to the combination of the problem with guard and the time it take to set it up just right. I primarily installed it to help feed the longer stock from my sawmill. It can be trying when attempting to joint a 8-10-12' long piece and it keeps trying to lift the front edge up and catching on the leading edge of the infeed table.

[Brian Holcombe]

It would push a cupped board down toward the table I assume? It seems like something best used on a jointer near the last few passes, but I could be wrong. A cupped board is going to have a hole in the center of it for a few passes until it begins to clean up.

I had wanted to outfit my jointer with a power feeder, but in actually doing the work is seems like it would not be especially useful until the final passes on everything except heavy material.

[Anthony Whitesell]

The typical face jointing technique is hand over hand pushing the stock down and from the outfeed table. The same issue exists whether you do it by hand or with a power feeder.

[lowell holmes]

I almost cut the end of my left thumb off on my contractor's saw one Sunday afternoon. I was home by myself and I wrapped my hand in a towel then drove to the emergency room.
I walked in to the ER, a doctor saw me come in. He took me to a table and reattached it. Since that time, I keep a plywood push stick at the saw. That was at least 20 years ago and
I still feel a bit of numbness in that thumb.

[Andrew Gibson]

A few years back I took the tip of my left index finger off at the jointer, wiping dust off the in-feed table before a final pass. I still don't know if the pork chop didn't swing back into place or if I pushed pushed through it. I didn't quite get to bone but lost about 1/8". It felt like I waked it with a hammer. Worst part was getting it washed out at the ER and and then paying the bill.

[Mark Hennebury]

It would push a cupped board down toward the table I assume? It seems like something best used on a jointer near the last few passes, but I could be wrong. A cupped board is going to have a hole in the center of it for a few passes until it begins to clean up.

I had wanted to outfit my jointer with a power feeder, but in actually doing the work is seems like it would not be especially useful until the final passes on everything except heavy material.

Brian, Like Andrew said; you put the power feeder on the outfeed table, where your lumber has a machined flat surface and the power feeder keeps it on the registered flat surface of the table, you could " theoretically" remove the infeed table once the front of your stock has passed over the cutter and is resting on the outfeed table. The power feeder will pull your stock over the cutterhead perfectly flat, without any interference from the infeed table. The infeed table really is only to present your wood to the cutterhead at the beginning of the operation, and to offer support if your stock is long and flexible.

[Keith Weber]

It would push a cupped board down toward the table I assume? It seems like something best used on a jointer near the last few passes, but I could be wrong. A cupped board is going to have a hole in the center of it for a few passes until it begins to clean up.

I had wanted to outfit my jointer with a power feeder, but in actually doing the work is seems like it would not be especially useful until the final passes on everything except heavy material.

Brian,

I am 100% in agreement with your line of thinking. Also, if you have a board with a significant bow and the bowed side is down, it will remove material at the front of the board and then again at the end. On each successive pass, the length of the cut area on both the front and back of the board will increase until, after enough passes, you will have a continuous removal of material along the bottom of the board, and you end up with a flat face. If you force the board the bowed board down until it presses against the outfeed table in those early passes, you will be removing material from the center of the board when you don't want to. All you'd be doing is making your board thinner with slowed progression towards becoming flat.

Using a power feeder in the early passes removes the "feel" that you have for sensing the amount of spring that you force into the board. Of course, the longer the bowed board is, the more important it becomes to limit how much down pressure you place on the board. This is why I like to rough cut to final length + a margin if I have long boards that are bowed and need face jointing. It preserves stock thickness and saves time on the jointer.

For shorter pieces, final passes, or where the lengthwise bowing is minimal, I could see a power feeder as a benefit as it puts the consistent pressure where it needs to be without wearing you out doing it manually.

[Mark Hennebury]

Brian,

I am 100% in agreement with your line of thinking. If you have a board with a significant cup and the cup side is down, it will remove material at the front of the board and then again at the end. On each successive pass, the length of the cut area on both the front and back of the board will increase until, after enough passes, you will have a continuous removal of material along the bottom of the board, and you end up with a flat face. If you force the board the cupped board down until it presses against the outfeed table in those early passes, you will be removing material from the center of the board when you don't want to. All you'd be doing is making your board thinner with slowed progression towards becoming flat.

Using a power feeder in the early passes removes the "feel" that you have for sensing the amount of spring that you force into the board. Of course, the longer the cupped board is, the more important it becomes to limit how much down pressure you place on the board. This is why I like to rough cut to final length + a margin if I have long boards that are cupped and need face jointing. It preserves stock thickness and saves time on the jointer.

For shorter pieces, final passes, or where the lengthwise cupping is minimal, I could see a power feeder as a benefit as it puts the consistent pressure where it needs to be without wearing you out doing it manually.

Keith, i think that you are referring to a bowed board not a cupped one.

380331

[Keith Weber]

Keith, i think that you are referring to a bowed board not a cupped one.

380331

Mark, you are correct. I just spent 17 hours on an airplane and only slept for 2 hours in the hotel before waking up all messed up. I amended my post to avoid confusion for anyone reading it.

Thanks!

[Don Morris]

I did the same thing only took off the tip of the middle finger of the hand not involved in pushing the wood through the guard. So I understand your situation. I was using a large push block to push a small piece of wood through the guard and it jammed. Without thinking, I used my unoccupied hand to reach over and clear the jam. Whoopppps, there went the tip of the finger, down to the bone, but stopped there. A moments loss of concentration. And I was using a large push block to be safe! Yah. You're only as safe as your mind lets you be. took a few weeks to heal but I learned a valuable lesson. You really have to concentrate on what you're doing. You can try to be safe with safe equipment and practices, but a moments loss of concentration can cost you. If that's the worst that happens to us, we're OK. Let's pray that's so. Hope your healing is uneventful.

Don M

[Simon MacGowen]

Without thinking, I used my unoccupied hand to reach over and clear the jam. Whoopppps, there went the tip of the finger, down to the bone, but stopped there.

Don M

Sorry to hear about your mishap.

Was it a lack of concentration or a habit?

It wasn't a habit if you always turn off a machine, wait for it to come to a complete stop before you use your unoccupied hand to remove waste.

On the other hand, many people are seen on numerous videos removing cut waste on the tablesaw while the blade is still coasting down (and often these people do not put a blade guard there). That is a habit, not lack of concentration, for them and some of them do not realize the risk of injury of such habit. Even using a push stick to remove the waste while the blade is still spinning is not a good idea.

By the way, kudos to all those of you sharing your injury stories. You are brave and admirable, sending us a clear message and reminder that no matter how experienced we are, no matter how many times we have done that cut before, we are still vulnerable.

Simon

[David Utterback]

Thanks for sharing your mishap. It is a good reminder to all of us.

BTW, I will start a new post to learn how boards jam on a jointer. I have never had this happen.