owie, owie, owie!!!

Dan Noren

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
7,984
Location
falcon heights, minnesota
well, it was bound to happen. i was having too good a time, and took a dinger on my left index finger (rhyme intended). not too bad, didn't bleed much, but it sure slowed down my woodworking day just a bit. had my nephew drive me over to the hospital, and we got me patched up. took 5 stitches to put things back to rights. with any luck, i should be finishing up the cutting boards in about a week or so, but i will be able to finish the trebuchet. another wake up call from the table saw.
 
Ow is right. :eek: Glad it wasn't worse, but sorry it happened in the first place. For the education of the rest of us, what went wrong to cause your finger to get into the blade?
 
not quite sure vaughn, one moment i was trimming up the board, next i must have bumped the blade somehow. next thing i did was to put a death grip on my finger to control any bleeding, and had my nephew take me to the er. doesn't hurt as bad as i thought it would, but what they shot into my finger kept it numb for quite a while. after about a week, i'll be having a little chat with the tablesaw, that it shouldn't bite the hand that feeds it lumber....
 
Happens to the best. Easy to become complacent about what your doing when thinking about the next step, or after working for a long time. Hope your finger mends well.
 
Glad that wasn't worse. Heal quick. My apprehension kicks into overdrive when I am doing even small "production" runs. By that I mean any fairly repetitive task with a cutter including a hand plane :). You wouldn't think it could happen but, the repetition seems to rob me of focus.
 
Dan,
Sorry about the dinger to the finger... but glad it wasn't too bad.... the table saw is the one tool I am most afraid of in my shop.... I try to pay VERY close attention when I'm running mine. So far only damage I've suffered from it was a kick back of a short piece of 2x4 that I was ripping.... I did talk with a squeak for a while, but I've learned quickly to stand to one side when ripping boards.

I did get a little careless with the band saw a few months back... I was trimming a bowl blank (just taking a little bit off one side) and it slipped off the blade and my thumb hit the blade just in the crease of the first joint... fortunately I had just thought about the idea of a strip of high tinsel steel with jagged teeth running through my hand and was already pulling back to reposition the hand behind the blade... only damage was about a 3/4 inch nick in the skin... didn't cut any deeper, but scare the Bejesus out of me and I think about it when I turn the saw on...

and we won't discuss the bowls to the face off the lathe. :eek::eek:
 
A not so nice little five stitch reminder to us all.....sharp things will get you if you aren't careful. Glad it wasn't any worse Dan. We would hate to have to give you a nickname.
 
Last edited:
I'm with so many others - the TS is scary. My dad ran three fingers across his old craftsman contractor saw about 50 years ago and the image of him slumped over the kitchen sink hold his hand under running water, and the trail of blood drops coming up the stairs from the basement is still fresh in my mind. I think of that nearly every time I hit the switch. Medical technology was not what it is today and he never regained full use of them. The ring finger was nearly severed completely. Glad your experience was not as traumatic and hope healing is fast and complete.
 
Top