Today I gave new meaning to carving turkey....

[Mel Fulks]

Amazing what the Docs and nature do with that type of mess. Squish it together ,slap on some gauze and tape ,and you
head home and finger assumes former shape. I think they call it "granulating". But a grinding like that sure hurts when you are trying to sleep. Glad it was
not worse!

[Nick Decker]

"I'm going to either buy or make push blocks that will hook onto the end of the wood."

This is what I usually use on my jointer. Gravity-activated hooks that stay out of the way when you don't need them.

https://www.amazon.com/GRR-RIP-BLOCK-Pushblock-Router-Jointer/dp/B00DNX3N7S/ref=sr_1_7?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1543019982&sr=1-7&keywords=gripper+push+block

[Matt Day]

I've also decided to buy a Dewalt planer. [....] If I wasn't making a million passes on the jointer this wouldn't have happened.

Something is wrong here. Are you jointing every side of your stock?

And why are you “pulling” material over the jointer?

[Mel Fulks]

I consider a wooden block with nail points for grab the safest push block. Hand is not on cliff edge, and material is held down, and not rocking freely according to the boards current geometry.

[David Utterback]

Sorry to hear about your injury. I had one very similar self-inflicted injury years ago with a pair of pruning shears. It was attached with a few stitches and now I can hardly tell that it cut. When I looked around the ER at other people needing more intensive treatment, I could not help but feel a bit sheepish with a cut finger. Hope you heal right away.

+1 on the gripper.

[Richard Coers]

Are you going to make a sled to handle twist and cup in the planer? Because a planer will not make a flat board by itself.

[Zac wingert]

About the planer, I agree. I have only a benchtop jointer as well. If the project doesn’t use traditional joinery, and is largely uses screws as fastener’s, I only joint one edge of each board to rip down the other side with the tablesaw, and just plane it down to size flipping it over. You don’t get perfect boards but close enough for some projects. It’s life with a tiny jointer until you can get a bigger one.

[Michael Costa]

Some comments and answers to questions....

Believe it or not, it doesn't hurt.

Richard, no clue about the sled yet. I just bought the planer last night.

Bill, I took several pictures. I didn't post the good ones. I paced around my garage bleeding everywhere for about 10 minutes. Never once looking at it. Then I sat down to have a cigarette while dreading the ER and not wanting to know the damage. I didn't even elevate my arm because I didn't want blood running down it. I just let my arm hang at my side. It was about 20 minutes before I decided to even look at it.

Matt, I had a stack of 24" 2x4s that I was milling down to 1" thickness. They were on the left side of my jointer. I got lazy and stupid so I started pulling them because it was quicker.

I was making a million passes making 1" stock. My dust collection kept clogging so I was taking shallow cuts. All the "huh?" questions come down to one answer: stupidity.

[Jim Becker]

Michael, on that last item, keep in mind that you cannot effectively use a jointer to mill stock to even thickness...a jointer is for flattening the face and straightening the edge relative to that flat face. Thicknessing really has to be done with the planer you intend to purchase.

[Matt Day]

Michael, on that last item, keep in mind that you cannot effectively use a jointer to mill stock to even thickness...a jointer is for flattening the face and straightening the edge relative to that flat face. Thicknessing really has to be done with the planer you intend to purchase.

That point seems to be being overlooked. Does the OP have a planer?

[Jim Becker]

That point seems to be being overlooked. Does the OP have a planer?

He stated he wants to buy one in post number 12 of this thread.

[sean meltvedt]

My favorite push block is actually a gum rubber epoxy grout float. They are relatively inexpensive, stick well, and very rigid.
Ymmv
cheers
Sean

[Michael Costa]

I bought the Dewalt 735 the next day. I've been wanting it for many months and this was certainly motivation to get it. Im certain my medical bills will surpass the cost. This has now put my table saw purchase on hold as I'm more keen on the Saw Stop idea. Finger seems to be healing nicely although I'm baffled by the complete lack of pain.