Happy New Year all. Ran the end of my index finger through the table saw a couple of days after Xmas. Simple cut…small piece…was in a hurry… should have grabbed the jigsaw.
The small piece I was holding jammed and was thrown back with an audible BANG! against my thumb, forcing my wrist back and rotated my hand, and put my finger into the blade. The scratches on my middle finger show how close it came to being next on the saws cut list.
Be careful out there. This certainly has been a wake up call for me.
The nurse in emergency said she gets alot of table saw related injuries this time of year.
This is the second table saw finger injury for me in 30 years. Occasionally reminding myself how stupid I am.
Gord
Replies
Twice in 30 years ... maybe you'll learn this time. :)
Ouch. What's all the blood on the tip of the finger? Did the blade tear off the nail? Looks like it could have been a whole lot worse. (reminds me of a cliche: it's only major surgery if it happens to you)
So which was worse ... cutting your finger, or dealing with DW on the way home form the hospital?
My father did something similar many, many uears ago. Ran his finger into the blade along with the board he was ripping. Split the first inch of his finger right down the middle.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Edited 1/1/2006 10:58 am ET by FastEddie
Caught the fingernail?
Nah, that whole chunk was kinda dangling in two pieces. The good doctor sewed em back on.
Looks like he did a good job.Gord
Looks like it's all still there, just decorated for the season!
;)
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Yeeowwwwwch! That's NASTY lookin', man!
I've heard that BANG! a few times when using my radial arm saw, too. That's a sobering experience, to say the least.
Had a real good carpenter working with me a few years ago, and he was out installing an oak handrail. Came back to the shop unexpectadly, visibly shaken. He was cutting the angle on a (what's that piece that connects the straight handrail to the newell at the base called, "sweep" maybe?) without clamping it in a 14" miter saw (think SERIOUS rim speed here) and it got away from him. He said all he heard was that "BANG!" and next thing he knew that sweep was across the room. Bent the crap out of a very stout fence on the miter saw, threw the saw all out of whack. Scared him enough that he says "you'd better do this, Jim".
Very scary stuff, gordsco. Thanks for the reminder. I'll be slowing down a little Monday.
Great photo , should use it for a shop safety Poster . The funny thing is every time I've gotten hurt , I disregarded that little voice in my head saying "I should not be doing this " .
DAVE
Glad you still got your finger, and that it wasn't hurt any worse.
Thanks Boss. It will be all healed up in a few weeks.
Just want to remind everyone how fast this can happen.
No matter how experienced.Gord
Did the same thing on my thumb about a year & a half ago. Was more pissed that I did it than the actual sudden numbness. Took awhile to heal up and about 9 months before I got rid of the numbness in the tip, but all healed up well. You'll feel that one for a while, but at least you didn't lose it
you went to the hospital for that?
you went to the hospital for that?
Know what you mean, I usually throw a bit of tobacco and some electicians tape on the flesh wounds but, what the hey, stitches are free up here.Gord
Super glue when you have it handy?
Superglue! I've heard that.
Never sprang to mind in a moment of need.
Yet.Gord
In about 1971, a doc "superglued" a dangling bit of my ear back on (that little piece in front of the ear canal) - except it smelled like model airplane glue, I remember - I was 8. I've only got a faint white line for a scar - no railroad tracks.
You'd think I was too young to get hit in the head with a beer bottle walking home from school . . .
Forrest
I usually throw a bit of tobacco and some electicians tape on the flesh wounds but, what the hey, stitches are free up here.
LOL. Down here they aren't free. See above posts about super glue.
I had the tip of my finger reattached 6 years ago, and it is all good now. Took a year or so for the nail to grow back. Keep it clean during the work day. Scrubbing saw dust out of the scabs doesn't tickle.
Thanks. Had the end of my thumb reattached (same hand) in 88.
Bummer then
Bummer now
No wiser
LOL
Gord
I do like the almost sinister looking saw blade shadow in the back ground of your picture. Looks like it should be a movie poster, "The night the saw blades got even!!"
Last August I caught the back of my right thumb in the table saw.
6 stitches & a bit of an infection --- oh what fun.
I was helping a friend put in his snap together laminated floor.
I had the blade as high as it would go so I could make square cut outs in the flooring.
The factory supplied hammer blocks had the wrong bevel cut on them---- so I said well I can change this in an instant.
Tilted blade set fence.
The guy I was helping was telling me my blade was too high.
My responce was somethin like --- up yours i'm the expert here----- then in a blink of an eye TAG OOPS
Good thing was he didn't rub it in as he was driving me to the emergancy room to get stitches.
Live & learn.
Glad it missed your other finger.
Looks like my thumb once did 45 years ago , happily never have done that again.
I did basically the same thing about 20 years ago, except it went all the way under the nail. I still cant feel anything with the end of it.
Sorry it happened to you, and glad it wasn't worse. Hope it heals up soon. Sleep with it elevated on a pillow, it won't throb so much.
Nearly ten years in the meat industry taught all I needed to know about respecting power tools.
Many scars on my hands and a fingertip that permanently has no sensation except dull pain in cold.
Respect that tool! They used to say. In other words as soon as you think you got it licked, your in for getting kicked.
I know what you mean about the cold. Nasty.
What can we do?
Move south?Gord
Thanks for the reminder....
I made a stupid rule for myself a few years ago...
Every time the table saw is on, I say, (to myself) "fingers...fingers...fingers"
I know, it's stupid, but it slows me down and makes me think about things other than getting the thing cut. I dbl check the outfeed area to make sure the board wont hit something, the blade height, and of course my body and hand position. The SLCM saw gets the same chant...
So far, so good.
years ago i nipped the finger just a 1/4" in when I was tired from 4 hrs sleep and was rushing to hit a deadline, and the numbness lasted a year or so.
Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
Gord
Looks nasty but as others said, coulda been worse!
Glad you'll be ok.
The super glue that others have mentioned was used in Viet Nam for such injuries, well not table saw stuff but you know what I mean.
Doug
I had a "BANG" moment last night. Was trimming the lip off a cabinet door and it got a little crooked as I pushed it through. My mistake was not using a feather board. The door kicked back and the cut edge folded back a large chunk of flesh on the back of my hand. I looked down and thought "So this is what bone and tendon look like". Really painful and boy was I shaken. Urgent Care was closed and I didn't want to sit in the ER for 4 or 5 hours so I just washed it out real good, folded everything back in place, put peroxide and a big bandaid on it. Thank God it wasn't worse. I'm real happy that I can type with all fingers this morning! No tendons harmed.Accidents happen so fast there's not even a remote chance of getting out of the way before you get hurt. Lesson learned....I hope!At one of the Woodworkers Shows I saw a magnetic feather board that looked much easier to use and was more versatile than the "fit in the goove" kind. Has anyone here used one and have thoughts about it? I'm thinking of getting one.
I bought a magnetic featherboard a few years back. Have to say, I rarely use it... it's a lot more of a PIA to get it set just where you want it then it appears to be watching the demo. But, that said...I do use it if I'm making a cut that seems seriously dicey.
PaulB
Every time I use a table saw, I remember the film they showed us in apprentice school (the one where the guy saws off 3 fingers!) Keeps me focused! Closest I came to serious injury to a digit has been dropping a miter box saw down too fast into a tall aluminum threshold. Kicked it back (happens SO fast!) noticed in shock that my little finger was dripping...OW OW OW!
Horror stories are good...
Jencar
Here's one of the best finger (or no finger) stories I've heard. Years ago, I worked in a paper mill during the summers to get through college. For a couple weeks, I worked on a machine that printed and cut apple wrap. The job was exciting. Two or three of us stood at the output end for 8 hours and tramped the wrap into boxes for shipping.
The boss was a guy that looked ninety years old and was missing several fingers. I asked another guy how he lost the fingers. He told me that he only knew about one. The press was next to a type casting room that had one of those steel, rolling fire doors with a lever actuated lock. When a friend went into the room, our boss (the ninety year old) thought he would play a joke. He rolled the door shut, threw the locking lever, and stuck his finger in the hasp. You know the rest, the friend tried the lock and, when it wouldn't open, gave it a good yank. The lock opened and the finger went to the floor.
I didn't ask about the rest of the missing fingers. I later found out that the ninety year old was in his fifties. I doubt if he made it to ninety.
If there's a moral to the story, it's to raise hell with the guys on the job who like to play jokes on their friends and fellow workers.
Thanks for the heads up post. Not a bad idea to be reminded from time to time just how lethal our toys can be.
Cut the cord on my circ saw last week end. Just kept trying the trigger, lookin like a dumb ####, until I saw the cord mangled around the guard...........sobering event.
Good luck with the healing; I'd recommend lots of vitamin C and even more Sammy's.
Carl
Got the Vitamin C covered
What's Sammy's???
Some type of antibiotic ointment?
I'd try just about anything to speed up the healing process. ;~)Gord
That'd be Samuel Adams lager. I know C helps with the healing of wounds; the beer is for chillin.
Carl