Quarterly Reminder - Work Safe!

GBCues

GBCues

Damn, still .002 TIR!
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Well guys, it seems like about once every 3 months someone reports an injury - guess it is my turn. I was cutting some excess point stock off of a forearm, using a push stick to push the forearm through my tablesaw. I had reached over to hold down the front. Once the piece was pushed though, I simply brought my left hand straight back across the top of the blade instead of up and over. Just dumb carelessness!:o
So be careful out there.
FWIW, missed the bone and tendons - lucky this time!
 

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Wow!

I hope that heals up well Gary. Take it easy for a few days for sure.

Many, I really don't like the table saw.

I've gotten to the point where we don't even use it. I don't think it's been plugged in for months. Usually the only time it's used is when I need to do something crazy or stupid like cutting 1/2" aluminum plate.

We use 2 band saws instead. I have one old 14" chinese that we've upgraded with Carter guides, and a beast 18" Laguna. When you get them set up right, and bands saw is pretty sweet for most things.

Royce
 
That is why circular saws and wing cutters on routers scare the sh-- out of me.
You just can't be too careful around those things.
It only takes a moments inattention, and you get bit.
The problem is the tips can't be seen by the eye, and you think the danger area is less than it really is.
Otherwise this would not of happened.
I am just glad the outcome was not worse than it already is.
 
damn gary. get better soon buddy
table saw scares the hell out of me
the least used tool i own
 
conetip said:
That is why circular saws and wing cutters on routers scare the sh-- out of me.
You just can't be too careful around those things.
It only takes a moments inattention, and you get bit.
The problem is the tips can't be seen by the eye, and you think the danger area is less than it really is.
Otherwise this would not of happened.
I am just glad the outcome was not worse than it already is.
Click to expand...

That's a lesson you won't forget.... lucky the fingers are still attached.... I hate the table saw... stuck my thumb in a wing cutter and learned my lesson...........

Kim
 
Gary take care of yourself. I hope for a speedy recovery...... Sit back, relax and crack some of that fancy brew you stock. Get better Frank
 
Did something similar while making raised panel cabinet doors a few months ago. Ran my fingers across a dado blade, too a 1/2" groove right out of the them. Felt like putting my hand in a box fan, could feel the vibration but not the removed flesh. Heals up ok but leaves your fingers numb and a lil disfigured.
 
Like everyone else, I hate the table saw.

I hope you heal fully. Sorry to see this type of thing happen.
 
Count your blessings as you almost got it real bad. I know what happened was bad enough, but you came close to doing some really serious damage.
I pray you heal up completely and soon.
 
Joey,
Thanks I might get them anyway.
I try to stay away from the table saw for close woirk - more-so from now on!:yikes:

FWIW I had tried to use my bandsaw to cut off the excess point stock, but the blade kept pulling the forearm away from the fence. I could only guess that it is something to do with the direction of the Ziricote grain and the bandsaw blade wanting to follow the grain of the Ziricote. Dunno
Here's a simple drawing of what I was trying to do.
Actually I drew that wrong and the forearm and points were in between the blade and fence.
But I'm going to build a skew ala Bob Dzuricky and do it that way from now on - plus double the number of points from each piece.
FYI
 

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No reason to fear a tablesaw. Like any other tool, it has to be respected & you must be familiar with proper use. I cut a lot of wood so a tablesaw is a staple tool for me. At most, it will cut your fingers off. A 13x40 machine lathe will rip your entire arm off.
 
JoeyInCali said:
I don't even use my Delta table saw.
Click to expand...

Neither do I. I almost put an eye out when a chunk came off the blade and hit me flush, crushing the eye. Life's gotten a whole lot more interesting with only 1 1/2 eyes.

Man, I hate seeing those photos. When I worked at Woodcraft one of our best customers came in after a long absence. After talking to him for a few minutes I noticed that he had his right hand in his pocket the whole time. When he saw me glance at it he got all red in the face and pulled it out to show me. Four fingers, no thumb.

Same story I've heard a thousand times. It was late, he had a deadline to meet, he was tired but decided to keep pushing through. Never did meet that deadline.

The guy's a real good woodworker with a lot of experience, even taught a class or two at our in-store woodworking school. He had the presence of mind to find the thumb and pack it in ice before being driven to the hospital. Once there, though, they pumped him up with morphine and he passed out. They never did get that thumb and him together in the same room. He woke up and freaked, but it was too late. By the time they located it, the ice had long melted and the thumb was no good.

Glad to hear the OP got stitched up OK. Reminds me, though. Need to put an ad in CL for that damn saw. Only thing I've used it for in six years is to hold up the router lift I installed in place of one of the table wings.
 
qbilder said:
No reason to fear a tablesaw. Like any other tool, it has to be respected & you must be familiar with proper use. I cut a lot of wood so a tablesaw is a staple tool for me. At most, it will cut your fingers off. A 13x40 machine lathe will rip your entire arm off.
Click to expand...

When I took my mentor to the hospital after a purpleheart piece flipped on him and his left hand's momentum took it to the blade and nearly cutting all of his fingers off, the hospital attendant guessed right away it was a table saw accident.
Table saw accidents are so common and scary.
But, most ( if not all ) are likely avoidable.

We went to woodworking show one time, we watched one guy demo his blade. He had a nice Delta box table saw. He was cutting and talking all the time. The pieces he was cutting for veneers weren't all that big.
He must have done the demo hundreds of times. He was probably a career woodworker.
We looked at his hands. He had 10 fingers and showed no scars .
 
qbilder said:
No reason to fear a tablesaw. Like any other tool, it has to be respected & you must be familiar with proper use. I cut a lot of wood so a tablesaw is a staple tool for me. At most, it will cut your fingers off. A 13x40 machine lathe will rip your entire arm off.
Click to expand...

I agree that you shouldn't fear the tool, but a big saw can easily kill a man. I have a friend that used to be a shop teacher. He was using the 5 HP Powermatic when a student was walking by with a board. It slipped out of his hand and the end fell right into the running blade. The board instantly found it's way to my friend's skull and put him in the hospital, nearly killing him. His face is a bit deformed from the injury, but thankfully there was no lasting brain damage.

The problem with the tool is that is was designed for ripping boards, but clever woodworkers have found untold other things they can do with it to save time. Some of these things really push the limits of safe use, even in skilled hands. I read somewhere that most power tool accidents happen either within the first year of a woodworker's career, or twenty years later when they get too familiar and become complacent. My accident happened just about 20 years after I got my saw. Something to think about.
 
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