Tablesaw Mishap (aka Operator Failure)

jim crockett

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120
Location
Jay, Maine
Yesterday, I was making a zero-clearance throat plate for my tablesaw. Since the blade, when lowered, only sits 1/16” below the table top, I inserted an old insert without a splitter, carefully aligned the new insert atop the old one, held it down with a piece of 2×4 and began raising the blade. I raised the blade a few turns, turned the saw off, and removed the 2×4 to check my progress. Since the slot was only a couple of inches long, I wanted to raise the blade some more and make it longer. But, instead of either using the piece of 2×4 again or lowering the blade and replacing the old insert with the new one, I decided to simply hold it with my hand.

I’m sure you can guess the results – the insert I was holding immediately kicked back and my hand went into the spinning blade. After six hours in the ER, bleeding profusely, and another six hours in the OR and Recovery, I left the hospital with all fingers still attached, the gaping wound and severed tendon and nerves of my middle finger and the the deep laceration on my index finger repaired. I’m typing this report one-handed because of an instant’s lack of attention and a very poor decision. Luckily, I still have all of my fingers and several weeks from now will be able to return to my woodworking hobby!

Please don’t let this happen to you!

Jim Crockett
 
Aw man, I hate reading stuff like this. Glad you still have all the fingers you started out with, but man that hurts just thinking about it. :( Thanks for the sobering safety reminder. Seems it's always the "just this once" operations that come back and bite us like this, too.
 
So Sorry, So Sorry

Jim, I am so sorry to hear about your accident. After all these years of working with my tablesaw I still get that strange feeling in my stomach when I start up my saw. Get well soon, Joe
 
Thanks for sharing. I think it is always important to talk about these things whether it is dropping a chisel and catching it business end first on our shoe or something like you experienced. Vaughn is dead-on when he says it is often the "just this once" or "just real quick" maneuvers that bite us. Heal fast.
 
OUCH!!! Take good care of it and heal fast, Jim, ....... and Now for Everyone......... I'll repeat the little placard an old friend had glued on his toolbox for the 42 years I knew him, exactly as it was printed, (except for one word):rolleyes:....... "Them Lesuns we Larn, ain't wurth a flip, If'n yer Ferget 'em".:D

Be safe everyone.:thumb:
 
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sorry to hear of you troubles ,, get well soon, this as well as vaughns incident will be a wake up call to all of us here.. just the other day i went to the dril press and almost tried the hand clamp method, but chose to head vaughns experience and used a mechanical one instead, and without any incident so your loss will be someones gain ..thanks for sharing
 
Heal fast Jim, so sorry that happened. We always need to be reminded on safety practices on our equipment, as it does only take an instant. Only I would prefer just a good reminder, not reminders thru an experience. I am going to rethink my movements next time I cut something.

Tom
 
First: Very sorry for your accident. Best wishes and hopes that you heal quickly.
Second: At the risk of sounding like a 'I told you so.' I'll repeat what my emergency room physician son tells me. When he sees accidents like that, the injured always says, "I never do it that way. But, just this once......".
 
Table saw Mishap(aka Operator Failure)

Dang,that hurts just to think about it.Sure hope you heal up without any long term problems.
 
Jim,

First, thanks for having the humility to share your incident. You may have saved one of us by raising our awareness.

I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman during Viet Nam. I saw thousands of horrific war wounds. I later worked as an Orthopedic Physician Asst. in civilian life. Table saw and industrial accidents are just as bad as the war wounds. It is because of the techniques learned treating the war wounds that our medical care for trauma has advanced so far. Six hours in surgery is not a minor boo-boo.

Take care and heal fast.
 
I'll second the OUCH!! remark. These things seem to run in cycles - we won't hear about any for a while, then two or three will crop up within a week or so. My boss lost part of the tip of his index finger on just such a "just this once" moment; a local judge lost two fingers at 5:00 a.m.!! (?); and my son's father-in-law lost half of his index finger in a similar way.

To borrow a phrase from "Hill Street Blues" - be careful out there!!

And Jim, heal quickly.
 
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