Ouch!!!!

[Tom Ruflin]

Well it finally happened, my first accident in my shop other than the minor cuts. I cut he back of my left hand with a chisel while trying to remove a little nub from a peice of maple:eek: . Took a trip to the ER to get it all checked out a 2 stiches:( . Fortunatly LOML was home to take me to the ER and no tendons or nerves were damaged:o . The cut is right behind my index finger nuckle. I will be purchasing one of those kevlar gloves and try to remember to wear it when doing that kind of work in the future. I bought a SawStop cabinet saw last year to be as safe as I could in the shop, maybe someone could invent a ChiselStop :D .

[Jim Becker]

Welcome to the "chisel club", Tom...two years ago on New Years Day I managed to do the same thing with my nice, new, SHARP chisels... Ouch, indeed.

[David Rose]

I'm glad things came out well for you, though I doubt the stitches were fun.

I have a ChiselStop on each of my chisels. When I use them I never (yet) get cut! It is an amazing little plastic blade guard that cost nearly nothing! But it really does get in the way of cutting anything. :rolleyes: So I have a tendency to remove it when I really need to cut something. Another thing that might help would be a 90 degree bevel. But that might make cutting difficult also, and it would be more difficult to remove. :o

Be careful! The damage could be substantial from even hand tools that sharp.

David


Well it finally happened, my first accident in my shop other than the minor cuts. I cut he back of my left hand with a chisel while trying to remove a little nub from a peice of maple:eek: . Took a trip to the ER to get it all checked out a 2 stiches:( . Fortunatly LOML was home to take me to the ER and no tendons or nerves were damaged:o . The cut is right behind my index finger nuckle. I will be purchasing one of those kevlar gloves and try to remember to wear it when doing that kind of work in the future. I bought a SawStop cabinet saw last year to be as safe as I could in the shop, maybe someone could invent a ChiselStop :D .

[Bill Esposito]

It used to be that every time I picked up a chisel, and I mean every time, I drew blood. Now I always use my vise to hold the work and I've been accident free since I made that change to my habits.

[Wes Bischel]

Sorry to hear about the accident Tom. I got three stitches in my left index finger knuckle a few months ago. More of an inconveinience than anything. Hopfully yours will be the same or less. Mine was good as new in two weeks thankfully.

Oh, and thanks for the reminder.

Wes

[Mitchell Andrus]

Same knuckle, same finger, seven stitches with a sharp razor blade - scraping glue off of a small clamp. DUH!!

Mitch

[Ted Miller]

When ever I hear about stitches in the shop all I see in my mind is my first contact with my 8" blades on my first jointer, looking at the scar on my palm right now, ouch...

[Bob Huddleston]

Took a chunk of the end of my middle finger on my left hand off with a chisel about six years ago. No real damage, just a forever flat spot. More blood than pain, until the ER doc had to numb it. Now that hurt! Also another first for my parish preist...first time he had ever blessed a middle finger!

Glad you're ok!

Bob

[Ian Gillis]

A dear old friend of mine who passed several years ago, told me that something his "manual training" teacher 75 years earlier told him which stuck with him throughout his 50 yr plus career as carpenter and general woodworker.

The pearl of wisdom was: Always keep your fingers away from the cutting edge.

Pretty basic idea, but if you apply it when assessing the risks of an approaching a task, it will serve you well. In my experience with chisels, it's as important to know where the cutting edge will be at the end of a cut as it is to know where it is at the start.

The old maxim that a dull chisel is more dangerous than a sharp one is especially true on paring or trimming cuts where the cutting edge isn't buried in the wood. The extra force need to push a dull chisel through a protruding dowel garantees that it will break loose with great speed. This is one case where if you're bracing the piece with a hand in the path of the chisel, it will bite you before you have a chance to even think about it.

Sorry if I sound preachy, but my old friend's advice has served me well as a woodworker, both amateur and pro over the last 20 yrs or so. I hope someone will read it and take it to heart and perhaps save him/herself a nasty injury.

Cheers

IG

[Rennie Heuer]

Took a small slice off my right forefinger while sharpening a chisel. Applying pressure to the cutting edge while pushing across the sandpaper - got too close to the paper and my skin rolled up under the chisel's edge. Dumb.

[Ralph Barhorst]

Well, I might as well fess up. Last Thursday I got my left thumb into the table saw blade. It took 4 stiches and is really ugly, but I did not hit any bone. How much are those SawStops??:(

[Ken Werner]

Well, I might as well fess up. Last Thursday I got my left thumb into the table saw blade. It took 4 stiches and is really ugly, but I did not hit any bone. How much are those SawStops??:(


before the accident: "too darn much"

after: worth every penny

Just my guess. I've no connection to sawstop.

Ken

[Jim Becker]

In my experience with chisels, it's as important to know where the cutting edge will be at the end of a cut as it is to know where it is at the start.

Oh, yea! Since my "boo-boo" two years ago, I've made it a point to think about the "ending point" of the pointy things before I start the cut...and hopefully ensure that said "ending point" doesn't involve the surface and below of my own flesh. :rolleyes:

[Terek Johnson]

A couple years back, I punched a freshly sharpened chisel into my wrist. Lots of blood, a few stitches, no lasting damage, but much more tool awareness.
While reading other forum members' confessions and throwing my own in the pool, it's interesting how refreshing it feels to share a "Duh-ohh" moment with other woodworkers.

[David Rose]

Terek,

It really is nice to have a group like this where you aren't likely to be laughed at for a misteak. Well... at least not for too long. :eek: We all make mistakes. Some involve flesh, some just wood (or metal/plastic). It is relieving to be able to share them, and even sometimes to learn ways to avoid them. :o

David


A couple years back, I punched a freshly sharpened chisel into my wrist. Lots of blood, a few stitches, no lasting damage, but much more tool awareness.
While reading other forum members' confessions and throwing my own in the pool, it's interesting how refreshing it feels to share a "Duh-ohh" moment with other woodworkers.

[Tom Ruflin]

Thanks everyone for the concern and sharing experiences. The bad part is I did think about what I was doing and the safety but did the cut anyway. The next time I will not do the cut (I hope). The shots of novicane were the most painful part, but rolling over on my hand in the middle of the night was pretty exciting also. It's not to painful this afternoon and will baby it for the rest of the week. Stiches will come out next Monday if all heals well.

[Jay Knoll]

Tom

Glad you're recovering, not a nice thing to do something like that. Another story about a similar situation.............

A couple of years ago I took a two week class at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine. The first day Peter Korn the Director and instructor for the workshop was going over safety and first aid rules. If there were an accident, we were to call 911, put pressure on any bleeding and wait for the professionals. In no event were we to try to take anyone to the hospital in our cars.

He told us that at one session when everybody was working at their benches with their newly sharpened tools the shop got strangly quiet. He looked up and saw one student with a chisel sticking in the side of his cheek.

Peter said that he immediately violated all the rules he had told us about. Instead he bundled the student in his car and took him to the hospital. So, he said he learned a lesson about panic that day and didn't want us to repeat his mistake.

He went on to say that the next day the student was back at the school working away. Peter said he was sorry that the student had injured himself, and hoped that he was feeling OK.

The student assured him that he was, and not to worry about it. Peter said the student was from the Middle East. You see, the student told Peter, in my culture, facial scars are considered very sexy!

[Craig Walls]

Man, I feel your pain. When my wife and I built our house and shop I hit myself so many times that every time I picked up my hammer my left hand would shake!

Seriously, I guess you were lucky and the "good" thing about your story is that it's a reminder to all of us to be as careful as we can. Tahnks for your bravery.

[Ted Miller]

Since we are all on the subject of blood and guts, when I was young and in wood shop we had this teacher who was a huge guy, 6' 6" and maybe 300 lbs, if he heard that you used a machine wrong or not wearing your safty gear he would thrash you in a second. Well one day we got a huge Oliver table saw I think a 14 or 16" and he hooked it up after 10 of us moved the thing into the proper place, he fired up the motor and began to show us how to rip a piece of stock and always he would remind of us "fingers", and with in a second he cut off his right index finger. As it happened he did not yell, we all just stood there is amazement while he bled pretty good, and me being me all I thought about was all that blood dripping into the throat plate...

[David Rose]

Ted,

Did it hurt the saw?

D


Since we are all on the subject of blood and guts, when I was young and in wood shop we had this teacher who was a huge guy, 6' 6" and maybe 300 lbs, if he heard that you used a machine wrong or not wearing your safty gear he would thrash you in a second. Well one day we got a huge Oliver table saw I think a 14 or 16" and he hooked it up after 10 of us moved the thing into the proper place, he fired up the motor and began to show us how to rip a piece of stock and always he would remind of us "fingers", and with in a second he cut off his right index finger. As it happened he did not yell, we all just stood there is amazement while he bleed pretty good, and me being me all I thought about was all that blood dripping into the throat plate...

[Jay Kilpatrick]

Man, I feel your pain. When my wife and I built our house and shop I hit myself so many times that every time I picked up my hammer my left hand would shake!

Craig! I nearly wizzed in my shorts on that one! I've got a real hum dinger on my left index finger at this very moment about the diameter of a sweet pea cross-section. I'm almost done with the new shed...:eek:

[Al Willits]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that belives in blood letting, even if unplanned...:)

Seems most of my little boo boo's are from being in a hurry and just trying to get it done quick, holding that little piece of tubing while attacking it and my finger with the tin snips was my favorite, no stiches, but johnson and Johnson got mighty low on knuckle bandaids before I got the bleeding to stop.

The best bleeder was probably assembling the jointer I bought, was wiping the grease off the bed, and did have the blades turned so they weren't showing, seems the first swipe moved the blades, the second cut though the paper towels and took the two fingers and made a nice flap on both them...once gain no stiches, but it took 4 kunckle band aids, two paper towels and about 2 foot of electrial tape to get the worst one to quick bleeding.

Did make aware of how terbbily sharp them darn blades are though, and to pay attenion when working with new tools...

Al....who wonders why the wife always walks in just after you cut yourself????

[Mike Spanbauer]

Man, I feel your pain. When my wife and I built our house and shop I hit myself so many times that every time I picked up my hammer my left hand would shake!


One of my most painful memories was swinging a 28oz estwing (waffle head had polished from so much use) for concrete form assembly. I was capable of driving a 16 penny in 1 stroke back then. Well... unfortunately, the nail bent as I struck and the glancing blow drove the head right into my left thumb nail.

It took 7 years for the nail to grow back into a single piece... it was a 'split' nail for a very, very long time.

Oh, hurt like mad too. After that, I swapped out waffle heads every 6 months and gave away or sold my old ones.

mike

[Greg Salata]

I may as well join in.
The first time I used my hollow chisel mortiser. Using it was fine..................reaching under the chisel and filleting the palm of my hand was not what I had in mind:(