Whats the worst injury you've had woodworking?

[Aiden Pettengill]

Just curious about everyone else mishaps! Luckly for me I haven't had any bad ones!:D

[Stew Denton]

Woodworking: the worst was a mild cut on a finger in two different cases, both from just sharpened plane irons.

Carpentry: a cut on the leg from a utility knife. They put those butterfly clamps on the cut. It was quite a bit worse than the finger cuts, but it did not stop me from the carpentry work once I got back from the emergency room.

Stw

[mike stenson]

I stepped on a board on a job site when young, and had a nail go through my boot and foot. That's the worst carpentry related injury. Woodworking it's just been minor cuts, although I've been in a shop when someone wound up with a 1/8" narrower finger tip. I started paying more attention then.

[Aiden Pettengill]

Ouch! I just had a family friend shoot a 3 1/2 inch nail through a bone in his foot and out the other side stuck. It had to be surgically removed.

[steven c newman]

Left Index Finger is 1/8" shorter than it should be....and, a saw blade is how thick?

Other than that...just the usual nicks and cuts...

[Andrew Seemann]

Fifteen years ago I caught my middle, ring, and pinky fingers of my left hand in a 1 1/2hp Delta stationary belt sander where the belt goes into the dust hood. Broke the last digit of my middle finger and ground its nail completely off; ground halfway though the nails of ring and pinky fingers. Ring and pinky fully recovered; the nail on my middle finger eventually grew back although it isn't completely right at the cuticle between the nail and skin.

The cause of the accident? Pure stupidity and impatience on my part. Before that and since (and hopefully ever after) just minor cuts and scrapes. For whatever reason, my left hand (I'm right handed) takes the brunt of my injuries. Probably because it is holding the work, and the other hand is holding whatever has a blade or cutting edge.

[Wayne Cannon]

Sliced the heel of my hand from moving it across a STATIONARY carbide saw blade, and a bruised gut from trimming a panelled cabinet door that lifted (how?), was caught by the blade, and "Frisbeed" 30 feet into the wall behind me; hitting me a glancing blow along the way.

[Vincent Tai]

hammered a chisel into a space beside my right shin bone.

[Rob Luter]

Table saw kickback. The wood punched a pretty good hole in my hand. It healed up just fine. It was a great learning experience.

[John K Jordan]

40 years ago I drilled through my left index finger tip with an 1/8" drill bit in a hand-held electric drill. In a huge lapse of judgement I was hand-holding two small pieces of wood and intending to just mark the location on the lower piece. The drill bit caught in the wood and surged forward. It hurt a lot. I soaked it with iodine, bandaged it up, and it healed up OK.

An "almost" injury was when setting down a circular saw while the blade was spinning and the guard was wired back for repetitive cuts to notch a deck post. The blade cut through the denim of my jeans. Just the denim.

I learned from those experiences. But best thing I've learned about safety over the years is to learn from the mistakes of others rather than my own. This is a good thread for that!

Another valuable education is from books. When I got my first chainsaw I read the book, "The Good Woodcutter's Guide" by Dave Johnson. https://www.amazon.com/Good-Woodcutters-Guide-Woodlots-Portable/dp/1890132152 Dave provides very good info about chainsaws and felling trees. He describes all the things he knows that can hurt or kill you. If can't possibly protect against something you can't imagine. And when I got my first tractor I researched all the ways I could find to die related to a tractor. I found some surprisingly obscure and gruesome ways.

JKJ

[steven c newman]

I know of a fellow that fell off the back of a tractor he was driving.....bad part, he was using a Brushog to cut down a bunch of tall weeds and scrub brush......it was a "Closed Casket" Funeral.

[Doug Dawson]

Just curious about everyone else mishaps! Luckly for me I haven't had any bad ones!:D

A chisel fell off the workbench and landed on my foot. My golden rule is, always know where the cutting edge (or other flying entity) is going to go, and stay out of the way of it. But I'd forgotten about gravity.

[lowell holmes]

I cut my thumb on my table saw one time. I was by myself and had to wrap it in a towel and drive myself to the emergency room.
I now use a push stick and never get close to the blade. Safety glasses and ear protection are good too.

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

Sliced into my finger with a utility knife while cutting zip ties off a bundle of cables -- took a couple of stitches to close the cut. Now I use "dikes" (diagonal cutting pliers) for cutting zip ties.

Got my hand caught in between two heavy logs while trying to move one of them -- no medical attention, but one finger was very sore for a long long time after that (I suspect a bone bruise). Now I try to remember to keep my hands out of places like that...

Lots of other smaller cuts, scrapes, and bruises, too (of course).

[michael dilday]

Drilled into my finger not too bad - a few minor cuts - shot a 16 ga finish nail thru the meat of my finger. That's about all.

[Bill White]

Triped over an air hose while carrying an arm load of cypress. Trashed a knee. Anyone want a titanium knee joint after I'm dead?
That, my friends, was an expensive trip for sure.

[ken hatch]

Not a worst nor my worst but most recent and after the fact funny. I was putting a leg vise wood screw back into the nut and let the screw turn backwards drawing my two middle fingers into the nut. One of the black nails just cleared, the other still has some black. BTW, it didn't take long to turn the screw the correct way but damn it hurt.

ken

[mike stenson]

Not a worst nor my worst but most recent and after the fact funny. I was putting a leg vise wood screw back into the nut and let the screw turn backwards drawing my two middle fingers into the nut. One of the black nails just cleared, the other still has some black. BTW, it didn't take long to turn the screw the correct way but damn it hurt.

ken

Ouch. I bashed my thumb with a hammer the other week hanging a window. I think it hurt my pride more than anything else, I've hung hundreds of these things in my life. I was worried about the nail falling off, thankfully it's cleared.

[David Carroll]

When I was working as a Carpenter's helper (back in the early 1980s) we were building an addition to a house and I was insulating the second story walls with rolled fiberglass. I had the paper tab all stretched out, preparing to staple it to the stud and was reaching way over my head, standing on tip-toes. I miss-swung my hammer-stapler and drove a staple right through the fleshy part of my thumb, just next to the nail. I called out to the foreman who climbed up the ladder and saw me stapled to the stud, bleeding like a stuck pig. He sorta chuckled and took his time getting out his pliers and tossing them to me. In retrospect it was kinda funny, I guess. But it's taken me 35 years to really appreciate the humor.

DC

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Falling chisel. i do not remember if I dropped it or if it rolled off the bench. I was seated at the time. I wisely chose to NOT try to catch it, but, it cut through my leg on the way to the ground. I probably should have had it sewn closed, but I used butterfly bandages and it healed nicely.

[Kevin Jenness]

I had a similar experience when air-nailing a half round nosing to a windowsill. The nail deflected and pinned the fleshy pad of my index forefinger to the sill. I had to ask the homeowner to dig my end-cutters out of my toolbox so I could free myself. Good thing she was home, I might still be there. "Do not be concerned, madam, this happens all the time." The only lasting damage was embarrassment. I am much more careful about where I put my free hand now when using a nailer.

The worst injury I had was a tablesaw kickback, go figure. I was ripping 8/4 oak on a 45 degree bevel. The offcut rode up the backside of the blade and punched me in the forearm, leaving a major indent that wept plasma for several days- only a few drops of blood though. I still have the scar 25 years later to remind me. That was before I started using a splitter- now I would be very reluctant to operate a saw without one. It seemed as if time slowed down, I could see it happening, but it sure didn't slow down enough to get out of the way.

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

... It seemed as if time slowed down, I could see it happening, but it sure didn't slow down enough to get out of the way.

Hate when that happens! (to me, too often)

[Aiden Pettengill]

Ouch! Be more careful! Please!:eek:

[Bill Carey]

Back before cordless tools, I worked on tract homes, and when I hung cabinets I would get the uppers on the wall and clamp the stiles together, drill them and screw them together. I got in the habit of tossing the drill and letting the cord run thru my fingers until I hit the knot I had put in the cord and then another couple of inches and it was on the floor. The drill would often bump against my leg. I worked in shorts during the summer, and for some reason I had a planer up there and did the same - took my finger off the trigger and tossed it. Instant skin graft. Extraordinarily painful.

In the shop - only the 2" trim nail I shot thru my palm. So nothing major.

[brian zawatsky]

7 years ago I took about 3/8" off the end of my left index finger on a jointer. Cut clean through the nail bed and took off the end of the distal phalanx. It was not fun. And I do not take narcotics so it was a few nights of sleeping on the couch with my hand propped up & elevated to stop the throbbing. Oh yeah, and ibuprofen. LOTS of ibuprofen.
Lessons learned? 1) DO NOT wear gloves while using the jointer. 2) If it feels dangerous, it is. Don't do it. 3) ALWAYS use a push block.
I have pictures, but I'll spare you lol

[Bill Bukovec]

Broke/mangled right index finger on one of those dado blades you twist to adjust the cutting width. It wasn't that painful ( although I admit I do have a high pain tolerance). My first thought was, "How did I do something so stupid?"

I got my finger mended by a really nice plastic surgeon. Emergency rooms are very interesting places to be.

[Aiden Pettengill]

LOL be careful please!

[Bill McNiel]

Interesting that this thread should come up now. A week ago Friday I came back from a material run to Seattle with $2,500 of VG Fir
427252

My right thumb is totally out of joint and worthless as far as being able to apply any real pressure and my left index finger is recovering from a drill incident a week prior. When attempting to carry an 8/4 x 12" x 14' stick my thumb failed once again and the board slid down through my right hand running an 1/8" diameter "splinter" through the meat of my right hand. It pushed the back skin out about 1/4", I could wiggle it but not remove it. Went to the Emergency Room where they cleaned it, shot the hand full of Novocaine but were not able to remove the wood. Tried a second ER Saturday with the same end result.
427253

Had to wait until the following Monday to see a hand specialist surgeon while sporting this lovely protective half cast.
427254


He did a full on operating room procedure on Tuesday, it had to be bloodless so he could see all the tendons, ligaments, nerves and arteries. All is good now, surgery to fuse the thumb is planned for the fall (I am way buried with commissions) and I am now wearing a soft splint that helps support the thumb and allows me to hold saws, planes and other implements.

Linda has mentioned potential eligibility for a Darwin Award.

[Aiden Pettengill]

LOL thats great!:D

[John Makar]

Between Woodpeck and Lie-Nielsen I've gouged a pretty deep hole in my bank balance a couple of times.

[John K Jordan]

Between Woodpeck and Lie-Nielsen I've gouged a pretty deep hole in my bank balance a couple of times.

I've injured my pride a time or two. The extent of the injury seems related to the number of people in the audience.

JKJ

[Rafael Herrera]

When I was a boy, I run around unsupervised in my father's workshop. I had the great idea of pushing a small strip of wood through the jointer, it kicked it back and sliced the tip of my middle finger. I think that's the worst besides a few cuts and lost nails due to smashed fingers.

[steven c newman]

427390
When a chisel hops out of a piece of wood, and you don't even feel it....wrong way to test for sharpness?
427391
When you have just sharpened a rip saw...and test it out..
427392
And it cuts faster than your hand can move...
427393
Original Saw Stop..and yes, it did leave a mark...and a scar...

[John K Jordan]

When I was a boy, I run around unsupervised in my father's workshop. I had the great idea of pushing a small strip of wood through the jointer, it kicked it back and sliced the tip of my middle finger. I think that's the worst besides a few cuts and lost nails due to smashed fingers.

In 4th grade I sat next to a boy who decided it would be fun to play with his dad's table saw in the basement. He was missing three fingers on one hand and two on the other. That made a lasting impression on me.

JKJ

[carey mitchell]

Watch this video .......... makes me shudder to think how that felt.

https://www.facebook.com/ben.botha.395/videos/10220251525545714/UzpfSTEwMDAwMDUzMTUwNjgxMjozMjcxNzcyNzcyODUwNDA3/

[carey mitchell]

Watch this video - makes me shudder to think about how that felt.

https://www.facebook.com/ben.botha.395/videos/10220251525545714/UzpfSTEwMDAwMDUzMTUwNjgxMjozMjcxNzcyNzcyODUwNDA3/

[James Pallas]

Coping baseboard. Coping saw hopped out of the cut and onto index finger. Right to the bone. Scraping mud off of a fir 2x12 with a putty knife. Lifted a big splinter. Entered the tip of middle finger on the inside came out at the middle knuckle. Both painful and long lasting when trying to work.

[michael langman]

Have to admire your courage to still be doing wood working James!

[Jack Frederick]

My feelings got hurt badly based upon a comment on my work years ago. It cut me deeply and has stayed with me. Oh, and I was guilty as charged. On the kinetic side, I put a very hefty piece of Purplehart about through my finger. That was an adventure.

[Jeff Wittrock]

I am both surprised and thankful at how few and mild have been my injuries.
Kick back from table saw sliced the web of my hand.
Wasn't watching the location of a clamp I was using on a saw sled. The carbide teeth from the blade embedded themselves in my thick jacket. Not an injury so probably doesn't count.

[David Ryle]

Just curious about everyone else mishaps! Luckly for me I haven't had any bad ones!:D
Sliced my left hand just behind the palm with a chisel I'd left sitting on a sawhorse, didn't even notice until I noticed blotches of 'fresh red paint' here and there. Lesson: Don't be bloody careless.

[Tom Stenzel]

The worst was a table saw kickback. What made it odd was it was part of the blade guard that came apart, hitting the blade and then me. I thought it was supposed to protect me, not attack. When it hit my neck my first thought was- So this is how it ends.

I cut my hand with a utility knife while trimming ceiling tiles. 4 stitches.

-Tom

[Derek Cohen]

I was using a disk sander ... about 20 years ago ...

https://i.postimg.cc/hvLt10Ry/43-CC4-B72-7-AD9-4-C1-A-AB32-90-AEA2650841.jpg

The table was a little too far from the disk. The fore finger on my left hand was dragged between the table and the disk, nail-side against the disk! The sander proceeded to sand away the top of my finger taking most of the nail and skin down to the knuckle.

Anyone still reading this ? :eek:

It took about a year before the nail grew back, and there are still faint scars to remind me.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[steven c newman]

The only way this was wood related, the forms used for the dock leveler pits we were doing were wood. Was in a hurry ( first mistake) and needed the cords ran for the generator to power the Concrete Vibrator....went through a batch of #4 rebar uprights....pants leg caught on one upright (and ripped the jeans..) causing me to fall......right towards a line of un-capped uprights.....rather than be stabbed in the liver by one of them...I put out my right hand........

Went to stand back up...hand was still attached to the #4 rebar. Got the hand detached from the bar....left a piece of hide behind on the end of the bar. Back from the Marion, OH ER....they added 3 stitches...bar had just gone along under the skin...for about 1-1/2" ( they measured it on the rebar..)....I did notice that they had also (very quickly) capped every upright in sight. One cap had a big, black "X" on it....to show where "MY" rebar was....

Hand swelled up the rest of the week, pulled the stitches loose.....Er removed the last one....drained the hand, and better antibiotics, and painkillers.

NEVER EVER get in so much of a rush, you loose sight of how things can ( and will) go wrong. IF my hand hadn't stopped that fall..would have been 3 rebars.....