Took my eye off the ball

[keith53]

G'day all,

Well after nearly 30 years it's finally happened. This afternoon I was trying to finish off a box to house a profile sander. The body of the box was a nicely dovetailed cyprus pine unit, intended to house my Gifkins jig but I buggered it up. So, I thought I'd use it for something else.

I put a bottom on it then started on the lid. In cutting the bits (on the table saw) to hold the sliding lid, I was pushing the timber into the blade with a push stick (right hand) and pulling the finished end with my left hand. What happened was that I was watching where the right hand was positioned and accidentally introduced the left thumb to the ripping blade. Ouch!!! I won't forget the feeling of blade contacting bone in a hurry. Didn't have any surgically clean stuff to dress it with so used the shirt I was wearing to stem the claret flow. Went to Doctor, yada, yada, yada...

I'm totally disgusted with myself because I'm always so careful with this stuff.

Anyway, there's a sore & sorry 10 finger typist writing this post with one finger at the moment. Point is, I could have done the same cut on the router if I wasn't so bloody slack. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Be really careful,

Keith

[Cliff Rogers]

From one who has had 9 & 1/3 for 34 years now.

I can still remember the throbing...:(
Here is a tip... when you are walking, standing, sitting, put your sore hand on your head, palm up, rest the wrist in the middle of you head so the hand is slightly over the other side of your head to stop it sliding off. (Your hand, not your head.:rolleyes: )

Sleep on your back with your hand on a pillow or on your chest.

The blood pressure to the sore bit is reduced & it helps relieve the throbbing.

[RufflyRustic]

YYYyeeeeoooowwwwhhhh!!!

Not good:( Hope you manage a good night's sleep all the same.

Currently I'm nursing a small chisel nick, not the same, but you always know it's there:rolleyes:

cheers
Wendy

[Wongo]

Keith, sorry to hear that mate. Get well soon.:(

Something is going on here. We have had so many accidents lately. What is the position of the moon at the moment?

[Ashore]

Ouch to the bone , thats gotta hurt for the next few days/weeks, and it always happens so quick.
Keep it clean and away from infections your've got enough Problems

(BTW good one finger typing)

Rgds

[Groggy]

Eeeyyccchh! I feel sorry for you Keith. Get well soon and thanks for sharing the reminder to the rest of us.

[DavidG]

Thank "G" for 'panadine forte' (sp).

OOOooooooooowch

[bitingmidge]

The trouble with this board is you get to know (and like) so many people, and this sort of news just sends a shudder down our collective spines.

What can we say Keith, other than "We feel your pain".

I hope it left enough for you to do your shoelaces up without needing therapy.

P (shudder.)
:eek: :eek: :eek:

[BobL]

. . . . What happened was that I was watching where the right hand was positioned and accidentally introduced the left thumb to the ripping blade.

Deepest commiserations from a 9.9 fingered member (lost my ring finger tip on a joiner 28 years ago). The issue of trying to monitor too many variables is a classic problem around tools. You especially need to know where all your body parts are around tools.

This evening I really frightened myself. I was doing some work on extending my table saw mitre and had the blade guard up because I was checking the length of the mitre extension. I drilled a couple of holes in a piece of timber and reached for the dusty switch because I was going to suck up the drill shavings. However, instead of the dusty switch I absent mindedly turned on the TS! Luckily nothing (including me!) was touching the blade. Yeah I know, for a start the TS should have been turned off at the switch, and I should have put the blade guard back down.

If your story does nothing else it helps remind us all to take it all very carefully

[bsrlee]

When I stuck my finger into the router bit, I could swear that time slowed down & I could feel every slice it took off. Luckily I pulled my finger away before things got too serious & all I have is a small pale spot/scar.

And then the nurse asked why I hadn't kept the missing bit - I had to explain that it was a thin red mist across the back yard:eek:

[zenwood]

Yerch! A very sober reminder. So sorry about your accident. Hope you can relax, and that there're no complications.

Suggest rum and coke for medicinal purposes.

[Wongo]

We need a new forum for all the casualties. :D

[CameronPotter]

We need a new forum for all the casualties. :D

It is beginning to seem that way! Maybe I should give up while I am still intact. ;)

Anyway, sorry to hear about your accident Keith! I reckon that Cliff's advice sounds like sage advice from someone who knows...

Cam

[Zed]

[QUOTE=bitingmidge]

"We feel your pain".

[QUOTE]

I certaininly hope not!

[jmk89]

As a relatively recent participant to WWF, the greatest number of these reports relate to power tools. Is this the best argument for going over to the darkside?

[CameronPotter]

Darksider's probably cut themselves more, it just isn't any near as serious. My most frequent injury comes from cutting a nice deep slice into my finger when using a jewellery saw... But I don't quite make the bone and it heals up very quickly as the cut is so fine.

[coedcae]

Keith sorry to hear about you're accident.Hope that you recover quickly. We all need that reminder that we need to take lots of care when using power tools.

By the way I have read you're message again and am just wondering did you have the blade guard and riving knife on?

Currently neither of mine are on as they can be a pain in the butt.
Must put them back on.

Peter

[Auld Bassoon]

Aina! I hope that the cut wasn't too bad mate.

So far I've avoided any nasties with spinning sharp objects (but did once introduce a small chisel to my gut :( ), and hope to keep things that way...

[Terry1]

Hello Keith,
Sorry to hear about your little mishap.I also lost half a finger(left hand ring)around ten years ago under somewhat different circumstances but with a similiar ring to it(doing something I'd done heaps of times but really shouldn't have for safety reasons)I was running late after work and decided to leave my steel capped working boots on instead of putting my riding boots on to shift some cattle into another paddock for a mate.We got the job done and on the way back the mare I was on spooked in some water by the side of the road and dropped her head and bucked me off but I was "hung up"in the stirupp iron (because of the work boot)and she continued to buck as I tried to kick my foot free.She trod all over me and my hand was mashed up quite abit but I only lost the end of the finger so I got out of it alright because it is really a nightmare to get caught up like that and lots of people have been killed or badly injured in the same way.Anyway Keith that is my little story and now you have yours mate
Regards
Terry

[fred.n]

Keith

All the best and a speedy recovery:)

This thread is a good warning to us all that it dosent take much
to drop the ball. It makes one shudder...

[Rocker]

Keith,

Sorry to hear that you have joined the casualty list. I count myself very lucky that my argument with the table-saw back in January was relatively trivial - I am only missing a couple of mm off the side of my finger-tip, and neither the bone nor the nail was damaged. I hope yours heals as well as mine did. I am trying to discipline myself to stop work in the shed as soon as I begin to feel tired.

Rocker

[Lignum]

So far I've avoided any nasties with spinning sharp objects (but did once introduce a small chisel to my gut :(



I shouldnt laugh, but i will:D How did you manage to impale yourself in the gut with a chisel:rolleyes:

[keith53]

Thanks for your commiserations guys, I'm really touched. I had a fairly sleepless night but tonight I have a Mr Ballantine helping me to fix that problem. I wasn't using a blade guard or riving knife and the reason is that with the new Jet saw its just too cumbersome.

The model I bought is the American one which takes a dado blade (bought the dado at the Brisbane WWW show). For some reason they put this huge guard on with anti-kickback fingers that would ruin any piece of timber put through it. The spring tension is unbelievable and would score the timber. I had a chance to see the European model at the WWW (demoed by another of my hero's The Bush Tucker Man). The blade guard for this model is a more flimsy plastic unit and I probably would have installed this one.

To be honest, I didn't use the blade guard or riving knife on the Triton either. Again, too cumbersome. I've conditioned myself to recognise a 100mm 'danger zone' around the blade and have conscientiously observed this for over 10 years.

I don't do any machine work if I'm tired - I'm just happy to be in the shed and there is always some cleaning up to do.

I've thought about what happened many times today and I still think it was just an accident. I should have pushed the timber further past the blade before reaching for the push stick. I will definitely be much more careful in the future. I'll also see if I can modify something to act as a guard that is not so restrictive. There aren't many men that can type with 10 fingers and I really value that skill and I don't want to lose it.

Once again, thanks for your comments and I also commiserate with those of you who have suffered a more severe form of 'blade disease'.

Cheers,
Keith

[E. maculata]

Keith, this is why most of us are born with 10 fingers, so the others left on never forget what happened to their mates:o bleedin lucky mate, I meant that too, as most don't stop at the bone.

[adrian]

I can feel that!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:
Apart from minor cuts my latest was to fire half a 50mm brad into the end of my thumb down to the first joint. The worst part was pulling my finger off the brad. The brad had taken a right angle detour through the wood.
Now I'm very particular about where I put my hand when using the nail gun.

[Shannon Nash]

Mine was a relatively low powered belt sander in an inverted position working with a tiny piece of timber. Finger contacted belt ended up jammed between the belt and the housing and fumbling for the 'locked on' switch took a couple of seconds as did the relisation that my little finger was being sanded away. Sanded to the bone and was bleeding only around the edges of the wound. This was about 10 years ago. Your incident has been a timely reminder!

Same rules as some of the others no power tools when tired. Safety space around tools spinning parts. Push sticks & clamps where possible and rool up the sleeves.

Feeling for you.

Cheers
SN

[RufflyRustic]

........
Something is going on here. We have had so many accidents lately. What is the position of the moon at the moment?

I think this happened just after the full moon:confused:

Hope you sleep better tonight Keith

cheers
Wendy

[Iain]

Hello Keith,
Sorry to hear about your little mishap.I also lost half a finger(left hand ring)around ten years ago under somewhat different circumstances but with a similiar ring to it(doing something I'd done heaps of times but really shouldn't have for safety reasons)I was running late after work and decided to leave my steel capped working boots on instead of putting my riding boots on to shift some cattle into another paddock for a mate.We got the job done and on the way back the mare I was on spooked in some water by the side of the road and dropped her head and bucked me off but I was "hung up"in the stirupp iron (because of the work boot)and she continued to buck as I tried to kick my foot free.She trod all over me and my hand was mashed up quite abit but I only lost the end of the finger so I got out of it alright because it is really a nightmare to get caught up like that and lots of people have been killed or badly injured in the same way.Anyway Keith that is my little story and now you have yours mate
Regards
Terry
Which is why we use safety stirrups.
Having said that I was setting up my lather thismorning and some local 'ole diggers came in and surprised me as I was closing a draer with chisels in, succeeded in slamming my fingers in the drawer as I jumped and impaled my middle finger on a chisel, blood pouring out from under finger nail, stings like buggery and I'm out of action for the rest of the day:mad: