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Thread: Woodworking on hold...due to stupidity!

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
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    Wentzville, MO
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    165

    Woodworking on hold...due to stupidity!

    I was breaking down some wood for a large shoe rack on my table saw. I had a number of repetitive cuts so I was using my cross-cut sled on my table saw. You know the drill, line it up, push the sled forward, pull the sled back, take off the cut part and repeat. After about 20 or so cuts I tried a new pattern, line it up, push the sled forward, take off the cut part and then reach up to pull the sled back...oops!

    Fortunately I didn't lose any fingers, but it did slice a good chunk straight down the middle of two fingers. Four stiches in each with a little less finger there. So far healing well. I consider myself very safe and attentive, but still had that momentary lapse.

    Stay safe all, Rob

    Fingers.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
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    1,389
    Ouch! Sorry to see what happened, I hope that you heal well. Thanks for the reminder.

  3. #3
    Ow, hurts just to look at that!

    I did a similar thing, albeit a bit less violently, a couple of months ago--

    Our Malte-poo won't eat regular food of any kind- dog food, people food, not even meat. She only eats dog treats and occasionally chicken. I buy chicken and beef 'jerky cuts' in 40oz bags, and freeze 'em... I thaw and cut them into thin strips, 1/4" wide or less. Normally I cut them with kitchen shears, but awhile back I got the bright idea to try my plastic shear on 'em. GREAT way to cut them down, much faster too.

    But one day I wasn't paying close enough attention, and while pushing a chicken strip under the blade for the last cut, I didn't notice the tip of my ring finger was past the point of no return-- until I dropped the blade.

    Oh my GAWD did that hurt!! Snipped about 1/8" off the tip of my finger, even cleanly cut the fingernail a bit. Bled like crazy for a couple hours, stung like hell for a few days. Grew back ok

    Good luck with yours Rob! (I hate stitches)
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Longview WA
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    Hope you heal well and quickly.

    This is one reason most of my work is done with hand tools. I have fears about table saws. My bandsaw is scary enough.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #5
    Hope you heal quickly.
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  6. #6
    Smoky The Bear , who had been burned in a forest-fire as a kid ,decided that when he “healed up “….( started to just say when he
    was “fully RECOVERED “) but fortunately….his fur was NOT ALL BURNED OFF.
    Now, your painful experience is going to help others stay safe. But I must warn you that , unlike Smoky, you will probably NOT get a
    TV spokesman job. Don’t know if you are a vegetarian….but after seeing your ….raw meat pics, you might make some decide, “Babe , tonight just give me a salad “
    Take Care,
    Mel

  7. #7
    I just came back to this thread, and I got to thinking how many people I know who've been 'digit-victims' --

    My dad lost his left middle finger to the first knuckle in a jointer-

    My uncle-Dad's brother- lost the same finger to the 2nd knuckle on a table saw, about 20 years later he sawed off a half inch of his left thumb with a Skil-saw...

    When I was in high school a friend/neighbor almost lost 3 fingers in wood shop on a table saw-- About 2 weeks after that his brother shot the end of his right pinky off with a .22 rifle...

    A friend of mine ran printing presses all his adult life, one night a co-worker of his was cleaning ink off the print rollers, normally done by jogging the machine a bit and cleaning the rollers in 'sections'. He was in a hurry one night to leave, just turned the machine on real slow, and wrapped a red shop rag around his hand and proceeded to clean the rollers with the machine running... The rollers caught the rag and pulled it and his hand in -- he pulled his hand out and went around to push the OFF button on the machine, and couldn't because his index and middle fingers were gone! My friend found them in an ink well, the doctor just threw them in the trash, couldn't save 'em...

    My wife's first husband also cut a finger off with a Skil-saw, but don't know much about that story other than it happened...

    Worst of all happened to my cousin, a meat cutter, speaking of band saws- he was cutting pork legs on a toothless bandsaw. And he wasn't wearing his steel glove. While giving a leg a good push to get thru a leg bone, the bone broke, and suddenly the next thing in line to cut was his left hand... the blade went between his left index finger and thumb, and cut all the way to his metal watchband. It was bad! He was in a cast from hand to shoulder for over 2 months, and several SS screws were used to screw the cut bones back together. That was nearly 40 years ago, and he's still cutting meat!

    Be Careful!
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  8. #8
    your drill is wrong and most do it. I dont see your material size or just what you are doing but for the most part you are not supposed to pull material back across a cutter after it has been cut. Do your machining and remove the material other side. Watch most on a shaper and they cut and drag it back as its convenient. Most do it at least on ends of rails.

    You are lucky there, that will grow back, sensitive for a year maybe and be fine.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Montfort, Wi.
    Posts
    799
    Cut myself bad on a bandsaw once and went to a cabinet maker in town who had all his digits in place and asked how he did it. He said keep your attention on what your doing at all times and don't hurry anything. If you find your mind wondering, stop and sweep the floor or go for coffee. Great advice. Repetitive process are the worst for me. It sounds like that's what may happened.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    Anaheim, California
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    6,903
    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    About 2 weeks after that his brother shot the end of his right pinky off with a .22 rifle...
    I'm trying really hard to come up with a sequence of actions to do that without resorting to epic stupidity...nope, can't do it.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  11. #11
    ^^^ He/they were rabbit hunting-- *as I remember it* the rifle was standing against a tree, and as he walked by it he picked it up from the barrel end 'backwards', with his thumb down toward the stock... the weight was a bit more than he expected, he lost his grip and the gun headed for the ground. When it hit the gun went off- and his pinky was right over the end of the barrel... ouch!
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Anaheim, California
    Posts
    6,903
    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    ^^^ He/they were rabbit hunting-- *as I remember it* the rifle was standing against a tree, and as he walked by it he picked it up from the barrel end 'backwards', with his thumb down toward the stock... the weight was a bit more than he expected, he lost his grip and the gun headed for the ground. When it hit the gun went off- and his pinky was right over the end of the barrel... ouch!
    Sounds like both stupid and lucky: muzzle could have been pointed pretty much anywhere.
    (I'll reserve comment on my standard skepticism of "the gun just went off" stories.)
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Somewhere in the Land of Lincoln
    Posts
    2,546
    Repetition=familiarity/comfort=complacency=carelessness=accident.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Tampa Bay, FL
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    The number of patients I saw with missing digits was countless. The ones that blew my mind were the ones who had it happen to them multiple times (3 was the most I saw). 3 separate occasions. I had no words.

    Seeing those made me run out and buy a Sawstop. But that's only one tool. Sadly, many other ways for bad things to happen. When you get tired or your mind wanders. Or if you wonder if a particular cut is safe to do - Time to leave the shop and do something else for a while. That little birdie on your shoulder is telling you something, and you should listen.
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2021
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    I have not wanted to see the image but am sorry about the injury : (
    Best Regards, Maurice

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