Ugly TS injury **NOT ME**

Saw this post last night over on Lumberjocks:
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/14121

He had a kickback and a dado stack chewed on his left hand.

Today after seeing the hand surgeon he posted this:
**Warning, Very Graphic Photos**

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/14130

to sum up, he'll survive, albeit with some funky scars and a lot of painful work ahead of him.

He posted it for education purposes, I'm sharing it for the same reason.

Wowsers. And to think it could have been worse.

Be careful out there, kids.

oh man, that was painful.

Yikes. Splitter, pawls, guard, push blocks . . . all these things just flashed through my head. I caught myself today; after I had finished changing out router bits in the table, I reached over to re-connect the power cord . . . I had never disconnected it!!! Pick your tool, pick your task, it only takes once. Let's be REALLY careful out there.

been there, done that, got the scar on my left thumb and the really fun ache of feeling the nerves grow back. i learned my lesson, and i wasn't cutting a small piece either. but, if you're cutting a small part without proper safety procedures....

No matter how safe we try to be, we really only mitigate risks. The risks are still there and could happen to any one of us.

WOW, That ave me the chills up my spine that had to hurt real bad.

Ned,
I'm going to copy this for a couple of forums I belong to.

so if i understand correctly, he had his had over the blade when he was cuitting and the board kicked out???

Big OUCH! When ever I've pulled a "stupid" it isn't so much the injury at the time that gets to me but the inconvenience the injury causes in the healing time. Fortunately I haven't had anything as serious as that...knock on wood!

That's why...

That's why I paid the bucks for the SawStop. I am careful. I am cautious. I NEVER do anything dumb with my tools. I NEVER HURT MYSELF INTENTIONALLY! But I'm not bullet proof.

Don't mean to start a debate, and I hope I never need to take advantage of it, but the safety feature of the Saw Stop is just plain worth the extra money to me. As a woodworking surgeon wrote on another forum, "How much are your fingers worth? Priceless."

I can attest to the painful recovery this gentleman is in for. I was also bitten by my dado blade about 16 years ago - tips of the middle and ring finger on my right hand.

I was cutting the final depth cut in a rock maple picture frame. Left hand was holding the piece on the far side of the blade, the right was giving that last nudge as I released to grab the push stick to finish the cut. Then in slow motion "bang" went the wood - I had found a flaw in the wood oh joy. The pulling pressure coming from my left hand pulled it and the wood forward away from the blade. My right hand already in the process of releasing pressure was caught by the trailing end of the stock and pulled forward and down into the blades. There was one last "Bang" as the wood projectile shot through the saws throat with my hand in tow.

My mistakes:
1) not using a zero clearance throat.

2) not using the push stick through the whole cut.

I hope he heals fast and well.


Good post Ned. Not fun to relive, but important remind others of the consequences of their actions.

Wes

Doesn't even need to be a big power tool to cause serious injury. The man I'm doing the remodel for told me yesterday about a Doctor friend in New Mexico, that couldn't get the screw out of his utility knife, so he tried getting it undone with his battery power drill..... well the man didn't have control of the knife and it spun around several times somehow and slice the palm and fingers of his left hand up bad. severed tendons and nerves Dave said the doctor is afraid he won't be able to ever perform surgery again.

Hand injury

Hello everyone , I hate to see anyone get hurt especially that bad , but I guess it could have been alot worse . Well I am writing to share my incident just a week ago , using small table saw 10" that I've owned for years, not my new ridgid saw, still in process of putting together , well to make a long story short I was cutting some cherry lumber that I had planned first and jointed , it was a piece about 11" length and about 5" width, for a shaker style clock I'm building,had guard on and using push stick one that pushes with a nothched tip at front of board, my downfault I believe. Well I also think end of board had tear out from jointer that I had used at a different shop previously also down fault because in running the piece through small saw (table small) it caught some how on fence it bound I shoved or pushed with stick and finished with a good push with left hand at front corner well guard went up because board kicked in up ward fashion my hand still at front , fingers bent forward and my middle finger big knuckle just caught the tip of the blade as the guard landed back on my hand of course I instinctly pulled back, having already realizing that I had messed up bad, I was bleeding pretty badly as I reached down to shut off saw, It all happend so fast that it is hard to put a time on it a matter of a second or so. Well I threw a rag on it and ran upstairs to sink at first I thought I had really hurt my self bad , But I guess in shoving the push stick forward and pushing down to send the large piece of lumber the rest of the way through the saw kept it from exploding or kicking upward worse my down fault was the piece that was to the left of blade went upward hence guard and knuckle got caught together and tip of blade all at once! Well to make a long story longer I didn't loose any fingers just down to the bone on my knuckle and vein cut , it is already healing pretty good , and no visit to doctor yet ,but I am noticing some numbness in it on a daily basis, it's not nearly as bad as what Ned was looking at . I have since looked at the board again and yes there is tear out on very edge ,but I wouldn't have thought that would cause binding ???? Any thoughts, I will have a nasty scar and seem's numbness , and I will not be posting any pictures for all to see but I will say even using safety guards and push sticks things can get crazy real quick if board binds, I have since examined the saw for any mechanical issues as well ,it purs like any meat,knuckle grinder should , I think my pride got hurt as well! The good news I went out and bought a new Bench Dog offset push stick that rides above the fence and is 10" to 12" in length, so I'm not just pushing from front edge, although I have used my old one for a long time and never any problem. Well as I am always safe and not rich enough to own a saw stop , which this technology should be made more affordable so every saw can be equipped that way! what do you think??? everyone please be safe , I got real Lucky as to not have left a finger or two or three in the pile! later Doug

having taken 11 stitches in my left thumb, i concur that accidents like that can happen very quickly, and all it takes is that split second of inattention.

It does happen fast! One night in my old shop Cathie came out to see what I was doing. I had been making what felt like a thousand 3/4" spindles on the table saw for a mission style bed. Cathie came around behind me and sat on the stool there. I stopped what I was doing and asked her to move the stool off to the side to watch. It miffed her a bit thinking I was being weird (you know the look) but she moved. Just as I made the next move on the TS the piece of wood kicked back so fast I didn't even see it but I flew back and slammed into the wall so hard it knocked a bunch of jigs down. Cathie looked at me, turned white and went into the house. Later she told me I didn't have to be so dramatic in getting her to leave the shop It would have hurt her bad had she not moved and it was so darned fast!

It just happened to me

After reading about the virtues of the "Gripper" on this site I got one for Xmas and use it all the time having vowed never to be one of those guys missing digits.
I hate to say it but I am currently recovering from serious injuries to my left hand while performing a plunge cut on the table saw (couldn't use the gripper). I think that I inadvertently didn't lock the fence properly? Not really sure it happened so fast.
I lost my ring finger between the first and second knuckle, cut the tip of my baby finger, missed the middle finger (don't know how), cut the index and thumb very severely. The surgeon saved them but I had a pin in the index finger and it may require joint replacement some time down the road.
The accident happenned Jan 27th and I am healing well, pin was removed yesterday (that was an ouchee!!!).
I write this note to say " Please work safe."

Geez Bruce, sorry to hear of the accident! Hope you heal well with out complication.

i chose to not look at the video ned posted to start this thread-though i have seen it happen-and after so many years go by you can look back and usually find some humor-i'm sure most of you have heard the story of the guy who cuts a finger off and the cat eats it-it was 1974 i was running this little cabinet shop in austin, this kid who was kin to the owner was working the tablesaw (12" powermatic) it wasn't like he had just started he had been there over a year-he was cutting shelf facing and i noticed he had the blade way up -i walked over and when he finished the cut i was going to tell him to lower the blade- then it kicked back-when you work around table saws awhile you develop reverse reflexes-he hadn't -grabbed at the piece being kicked back-i know he set a record for a standstill backward broad jump-we had him at the hospital in less than 15 min, the ring finger was hanging by skin so was the middle finger the index finger was gone-the doctor said go get it fast-off i went got back to the shop and looked and looked and looked-no finger but we had a shop cat-it was the only explanation we could come up with-well the other two finger were put back pretty good-but just a nub where the index had been-only the cat knew for sure--to this day i keep cats in my shop,not because i like them-i just want to keep an eye on them-true story.

if you don't hide the snake oil
then buster you don't have a show

alex

Ive got huge fears of blades so Im the type that says, ok, fingers, check, arms check, loose clothes, check....when I work the mitre saw I always say to myself, wheres your hands, wheres the blade...etc....

thursday I was cutting all the excess ipe into 3/4 strips for ben blanks, and I was pushing a small piece through with my two push handles, having cut almost all of it up, just finishing, and I didnt notice a piece I cut off, maybe 1/4 inch fell up against the motor and wedged itself under the motor and actually lifted the motor just a tiny bit, but enough to stop the blade while I pushed a piece through, so I immediately smacked the off button.
I had no clue what had happenned, so I walked to the back to look at the motor and saw the wood wedged into it, took it out, checked the belt tension, went around, turned the machine on, forgot I had a piece an inch into the blade, and zooooooooom, that piece of ipe shot out like a rocket, caught my hip and flew sideways.
beginners mistake, something new to put on my check list when I turn on the saw.

i'll take a good whack on the backside to losing a digit. after almost losing a thumb, the first would be preferable. not that i'm looking to get whacked on the backside mind you....