Shouldn't Have Been Cutting - Sawstop Saved My Finger or Worse

[Ole Anderson]

My inattention was the cause and the injection to numb the area before stitches was incredibly painful.

I crushed my toe once (manhole cover) and the lidocaine needle was more painful than the accident. Years later I had a podiatrist do a procedure on the same toe for an ingrown nail due to the injury. They first sprayed it with a freezing agent, and I never felt the needle. How difficult would that be as a standard operating procedure?

[Dave Seng]

I too am glad that you're OK! I've not yet been bitten by my tablesaw, but after many years of "working while injured" both from fire department work and construction, when it came time to upgrade my tablesaw I chose a SawStop too. Better to stack the deck in one's favor. A guy dumb enough to run a 12d nail through the end of his finger is dumb enough to lose one on a saw (that would be me - a man's gotta know his limitations...)

[Bert McMahan]

I've cut myself with a saw exactly one time. It hurt like the dickens but I was OK.

(The dumb part is that it was a hand saw!! I have a Sawstop too... I figure if I can cut myself with a dang hand saw, the SS will pay for itself sooner or later!)

[Mike Shields]

Seems like a bit of an odd spot for a contact, have you determined the sequence of events yet? Safe to say there was no blade guard in play?

As probably makes sense, I can only speculate what exactly went wrong, otherwise that would be like cutting with a blindfold on.

Using a miter fence with a sacrificial fence, I was cutting angles with the blade. I wanted two pieces exactly the same, so I stacked them and had to raise the blade height, and that was were
it really went wrong. I was not taking my time, because I was frustrated with the project. I believe I was not accounting for the extra blade height when my right hand was either on the fence, or holding the stock.

I completed the cut fully and then the saw went BANG. I stood there for a few seconds trying to figure out exactly what happened. The cutoff piece was there, the cut was clean, but the blade retracted.
I first glanced to see if the extra blade height hit the metal fence, but it was scratch free. It was only after a short time I was trying to figure out what happened that I decided to look at my right hand and noticed
a nick, and it wasn't even bleeding.

SawStop, on that day, was worth every penny I paid for it. I will be forever sold on the technology.

Mike

[Mike Shields]

Your story is why I bought a SawStop. I like using my fingers. I had two activations from fingers.

In case you don't know this, SawStop will give you a new brake if you send the old one in. It has to be one where there was flesh contact, not where you hit your miter gauge or something else. Go to their web site and they'll be a place where you can report the accident and get an RMA.

Mike

Just got of the phone with SawStop and was given a RMA, and was told they will replace the brake. Really no concern for my WW 2 blade being trashed.

[Mike Shields]

I just got the blade and brake off. Close inspection of the teeth appears to show that the brake stopped the blade instantly, as no other teeth are damage except the ones in the aluminum.
This technology is impressive.

Thanks to everyone who replied!

Happy New Year (with all my fingers)!

Mike

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[mreza Salav]

Glad to hear a happy ending story. Your blade is not trashed. I've had brake fire (not flesh contact) 3 times and a good sharpening shop can restore the blade.

[Doug Dawson]

Glad to hear a happy ending story. Your blade is not trashed. I've had brake fire (not flesh contact) 3 times and a good sharpening shop can restore the blade.

I’ve been using mine for 3 years, and I’ve never had it fire. Bang on wood. :^) What’s the best way of getting the blade off the cartridge? Did the SawStop people say they had a preference one way or the other? I would imagine they have a bunch of “well used” blades hanging around...

[mreza Salav]

Just wiggle/pull the cartridge/blade a little and it should come out. If needed use a wooden mallet and few bangs to the cartridge.

[Ronald Blue]

Glad it saved your finger. That could have had a very ugly outcome. Who's to say that is the only finger that would have been damaged? My concern is the technique that lead up to this. It seems as near as I can tell from the description you provided of the operation that you were placing your hand in a dangerous place. I know this is obvious to you now. Without a photo to see what you were actually doing it's hard to comment beyond that. I'm an amateur at this but there are many pro's on this forum. I'm sure they can suggest alternatives if you are so inclined to their input.

[Brian Tymchak]

I just got the blade and brake off. Close inspection of the teeth appears to show that the brake stopped the blade instantly, as no other teeth are damage except the ones in the aluminum.

When you get the brake off the blade, check the blade plate closely. It may have been bent slightly by the sudden stop. The blade we pulled off the saw at our furniture bank was bent. I think the manager decided to trash it. Even if bent, it may be repairable by a good sharpening service. But having to replace a blade is way better than what you might have been paying for.

[Timothy Orr]

Just got of the phone with SawStop and was given a RMA, and was told they will replace the brake. Really no concern for my WW 2 blade being trashed.

Forrest can replace teeth and even straighten if needed. Had them do so after an activation (miter gauge). It wasn’t free but less than the cost of a new blade. Here’s the menu of services and costs:

https://www.forrestblades.com/forres...de-sharpening/

Tim

[Jim Dwight]

I'm glad you only got a small nick. My sawstop saved me loss of at least a good part of the middle finger on my left hand in 2020. First cut on a table saw in over 40 years usage. I got dumb cutting a slot in the throat plate for my dado blade. I was holding a small 2x3 scrap over the throat plate. I lifted it with the saw running, it caught the blade causing a kickback which threw the end of my finger into the 3/4 dado blade. My hand was moving quickly and I got 6 stitches out of it. Lost most of the nail. Bone in the last digit was broken. But it is healed up now, looks normal, and has only a little loss of feeling. It would have been much worse it the sawstop had not stopped the blade quickly.

I think the bottom line is your injury is largely a function of how fast your hand is moving into the blade. Slowly like we normally cut wood, small nick. In a kickback where you hand is thrown into the blade, you will probably get stitches. But either way, your injury is lessened a lot.

I think SawStops comments that they have never heard of a serious injury with their saws is a bit misleading. Broken bones and multiple stitches seems serious to me. But I think their technology works and is very much worth having. (I got my new cartridge, they have my data)

I had to push myself a bit but I was back in the shop the next day pulling the cartridge and dado stack off the saw, resetting it, installing the normal blade and cartridge and making a test cut to be sure it worked. I think I waited a few days before going back to more normal usage and was a bit impacted by the degree of bandages and splint required on that finger. But I use it without worry now and I also use a non-SawStop saw some too volunteering. I have had stitches several times in 50 years or so making sawdust. I got injured on two days in a row requiring stitches in 2013 when I was pushing myself trying to get a house fixed up and on the market. Then I went 7 years until the SawStop injury in 2020. I'd like to go more than 7 years before the next injury.

[Mike Henderson]

... But having to replace a blade is way better than what you might have been paying for.

I had an accident in the shop - not on the table saw - and cut the inside of my little finger on my right hand. Went to ER where they sewed it up and gave me a shot of antibiotics. Cost was about $1,000.

I can imagine what it would cost to have a finger re-attached.

Mike

[Robert Hayward]

I can imagine what it would cost to have a finger re-attached.

Mike

60 years ago it cost my parents ~$7000.00 to have my right thumb reattached. Then there were complications and two years later the doctors literally filleted my thumb from the bottom knuckle to the top of the thumb. Fused the upper knuckle and put a temporary pin completely through the thumb and down into the hand and a cast to my elbow. My hand was frozen (pinned) in one position for eight weeks. No idea what that cost but it was done at the University of Michigan. I have spent my life with limited movement of my right thumb. On the bright side I have a mostly useable thumb.

Kickback on a Shopsmith table saw pulled my hand into a wobble dado blade while making beehives. The incident is as fresh in my mind today as it was when it happened. Yes, I have continued to work with woodworking power tools to present.