DIY DAN 31st October 2007, 04:37 PM Just a 'heads up' for all woodworkers. On Monday I had an argument with a Felder saw blade, and lost. Seems I found a new way to lose weight, like the top of my middle finger of my left hand. The fingers on either side were badly lacerated but repairable.
I was by myself in the workshop, cutting a series of shallow grooves in a piece of 3 mm ply, and so couldn't use the splitter or the saw blade guard. Then I raised the blade up to rip long strips in the same ply. I was on the last cut when I reached over to the right hand side of the saw table and completely mis-judged the height of the blade and BANG.
That's when the disbelief kicks in, and in those first few seconds you think, this is not happening.
Anyway, I just want to remind everybody to be ever vigilent when it comes to safety, cause it can happen in a split second.
Sorry guys, but I got no pictures of mangled fingers to show you. I was otherwise occupied at the time.
Regards
DIY DAN
ss_11000 31st October 2007, 04:49 PM ouch! sorry to hear about your fingers mate.
Rookie 31st October 2007, 04:58 PM Sorry to hear that Dan. Hope the damage is not too restrictive. And thanks for bringing it up and posting as a warning. We all like to belive we have things under control all the time and it would be too easy to hide behind the embarrassment and just keep it to yourself. Good on you.
wheelinround 31st October 2007, 05:07 PM Dan a timely warning is always needed :club::smack:
Remind us of how human we are
hope your wound heals fast and your back in the shed
Just a word of warning if on pain killers or other meds etc it can slow you down and your judgment too SO BEWARE
weisyboy 31st October 2007, 06:07 PM :-sorry to hear:oo:
:2tsup:hope you recover soon.:2tsup:
i had the same thing happen to me it cut threw the first nuckle on my ring finger and cut the nerves in all the other fingers so i now have a hand with little fealing and a ring finger that dose not bend.
don't let this dicourage you from using your table saw or even worse woodwork.
nothing makes my more disapointed than when someone gives up.
never let anyone (anything) beat you.
hope you recover soon so you can finish the peice you were working on. even if it has a few red stains.
:2tsup:
TrevorOwen 31st October 2007, 06:29 PM Sorry to hear of your accident DIY DAN. I hope you recover soon and get over the emotional scarring as well. I still have your beautiful box in my mind and now wonder whether making small things such as your box presents greater risk hence a need for greater concentration and application of safety than bigger things. Of course accidents can and will happen no matter what we are making.
Regards from Adelaide
Trevor
fred.n 31st October 2007, 06:58 PM Thanks for the timely warning Dan, hope things get better soon
Al B 31st October 2007, 07:03 PM Awwww nasty DAN, sorry to hear about your misshap with the tablesaw. Hopefully you wont be out of action for too long.
swiftden 31st October 2007, 07:23 PM Dan,
I feel your pain having done it to my left hand on the jointer. I lost half a finger. I hope you get well soon. were they able to save it ? or like me was it pretty much saw dust ?
Best of luck with your recovery mate
Regards
Allan
Pops 31st October 2007, 07:35 PM Hi Dan,
Thanks for the heads up. Like everybody else said, sorry it happened for real to you though. All the best with the recovery.
Cheers
Pops
orraloon 31st October 2007, 08:10 PM Dan,
Sorry for you,r injury and hope things heal soon and hats off to you sending out the warning to the rest of us when it must still be painful. I have seen what saws can do. My first job was in a sawmill that made fish boxes and pallets. Most of the sawyers had a lot of missing bits and the foreman had only 2 whole fingers out of 10. It was regarded as a badge of office for his position. They all said that they were distracted at the time and it always happened on the small saws. You have too much respect to get near a 60'' blade. I only worked there 6 months and ran away to sea all digets intact.
Regards
John
watson 31st October 2007, 08:22 PM Gasp!
My worst nightmare.
Heal quickly.
scooter 31st October 2007, 09:10 PM Arrrrggghhhh. Get well soon, mate. :)
Colin Howkins 31st October 2007, 09:18 PM Ooooooh, mate, I bet that made the fundamental orifice pucker up.
Hope you get over it quickly.
I am concerned though, I have a new Felder saw on the way, complete with Felder saw blade.
Should I send it back? I think I've got a bit nervy
All the best
Colin Howkins
Graceville Qld
specialist 31st October 2007, 09:26 PM That's bad. Too many time I hear of this happening. Just two weeks ago my father in law cut half of his right thumb nail off. It seems that just a moment of inatention is the cause.
I really hope that you come good in time.
Robert
blockhed 31st October 2007, 10:18 PM good luck with the recovery mate!
my next door neighbour has been over about 6 times over the last week and a bit wanting that stick on flooring ripped down to size.
i did'nt mind doing the ripping etc, but he kept bringing his 2 little kids over. one is 4 and the other is 6 years. they would'nt keep still for anything, it was off-putting for me, but i managed to get out of it in one piece. in the blink of an eye anything can happen.
regards
the block
DavidG 31st October 2007, 10:35 PM Sorry guys, but I got no pictures of mangled fingers to show you. I was otherwise occupied at the time.
Some guys just have no sense of priority.
You should always capture the evidence first.
Worry about the blood later.
You will have to do better next time.:roll:
Take it easy and hope you recover soon.
pawnhead 31st October 2007, 10:54 PM Sorry to hear your misfortune.
Best of luck with recovery, and remember it could have been worse.
mbirnios 1st November 2007, 05:06 AM Sorry to hear that! :C But I'm very happy to see that it may be repairable.
If it comes OK after all, I'm sure it will be positive for you, to prevent that in the future. I touched the blade with one finger once after a kickback (the piece flew out the way, and my hand was upon the blade, shame on me). I was incredible lucky: just broke my nail and took a super little piece of finger, it bleed, etc.. after a few weeks, it was absolutely unnoticeable (no marks at all).
From that day, I learn that it could have been much worse, and I try to work with all my sense ON with the TS. I took that as I warning, and that's why I always appreciate posts like this.
Thanks!!
Mariano
Sebastiaan56 1st November 2007, 07:55 AM Hi Dan,
Welcome to the half fingers club, :B, no its not funny, but I lost a similar bit on a die cutting machine. I can still feel the horror of it.
Get well soon, dont let it stop you,
Sebastiaan
Wood Borer 1st November 2007, 04:23 PM Thanks for the reminder.
On a less serious note, how will you give rude signs to the tailgating drivers behind you now?
DIY DAN 1st November 2007, 04:42 PM how will you give rude signs to the tailgating drivers behind you now?
Thanks for all the good wishes guys. Woodborer, I still have 4 good fingers and a thumb on my right hand.
DIY DAN
munruben 1st November 2007, 05:20 PM Sorry to hear about your accident Dan. Just a reminder to all of us to be more careful in future. Hope you recover real soon.
DIY DAN 3rd November 2007, 07:19 AM Ooooooh, mate, I bet that made the fundamental orifice pucker up.
Hope you get over it quickly.
I am concerned though, I have a new Felder saw on the way, complete with Felder saw blade.
Should I send it back? I think I've got a bit nervy
All the best
Colin Howkins
Graceville Qld
Colin,
Don't send it back mate. It's a beautifull machine and worth every cent. This was entirely my fault, not the Felders.
DIY DAN
BobL 3rd November 2007, 09:07 AM I just caught up with this thread. Sorry to hear about that Dan. I lost 5 mm off the top of my left hand ring finger 30 years ago and every time I read about missing fingers I habitually touch the "still sensitive" tip of my missing fingerwith my thumb and wince.
Anyway, hope you have a quick recovery.
s_m 3rd November 2007, 11:41 AM but he kept bringing his 2 little kids over. one is 4 and the other is 6 years. they would'nt keep still for anything
Well it's YOUR shed and YOUR rules. My rules would be that the saw doesn't get switched on unless they are sitting where I can see them well out of reach of the table saw. And if they can't do that then they have to go outside or go home.
My daughter is coming up to 4 next March and even using hand tools she has to be where I can see her or not in the shed. If I'm using a router outside then I put a chair where I can see it but at least 5m away and tell her to sit there.
Dan so sorry to hear about your accident and thanks for posting. Hope your recovery/rehab goes smoothly.
Steph
Ticky 4th November 2007, 12:18 AM Sorry to hear that Dan, & I think it is very good of you to post this warning. Your wakeup call is also our wakeup call. I am on some pills at the moment that knock the stuffing out of me. I was'nt game to hit the shed yesterday, but I did today after sleeping in until about lunch time.
This can happen to any of us & we all need to be reminded of this fact from time to time.
Thanks for your post Dan.
Steve
jow104 4th November 2007, 12:46 AM I've heard of that sort of accident before specially clearing dust off a table.
Some nice home comforts is what you need for a while, and make a quick recovery.
Harry72 4th November 2007, 02:39 AM "Anyway, I just want to remind everybody to be ever vigilent when it comes to safety, cause it can happen in a split second."
Yup amen to that, had a close call today.
Silly me not thinking while resawing some turning blanks attempted to cut a out of shape roundish log side on... not a good thing to do with a 1.5tpi resaw blade.
It grabed the log spun it around then slammed it back down on the BS's table then bounced up hitting me right in the chest, it lifted my feet off the ground and I got a nice mark on my chest:( lucky it didnt pull my hands into the blade.
I think its actually bent the cast table... and wrecked my blade:(
jow104 4th November 2007, 04:31 AM lifted your feet off the ground. you good have gone to heaven.
And I thought the BS was the safest tool around.
Tex B 4th November 2007, 06:08 PM Ouch, Dan. So sorry to hear about your mishap.
It's easy to get too relaxed around power tools. thanks for the reminder, and hope the recovery is speedy.
Tex
Harry72 4th November 2007, 07:19 PM lifted your feet off the ground. you good have gone to heaven.
And I thought the BS was the safest tool around.
Yes it hit me hard considering I tip the scales at 95kg
I think if I wasnt a gym junky it may have done more damage!
The log would've weighed about 6~7kg, it landed 20' away at the end of my shop after ricocheting off've me.
The BS is safe as the person using it... I just proved that:(
Chris Parks 4th November 2007, 07:52 PM Commiserations Dan, we all need to learn from other's mistakes. How is the hand clinic going? I have my last visit the week after next for my crushed finger. I have developed a new habit in the past few months, I lower the blade under the table before putting my hands near it to retrieve anything if the guard is not on, it only takes a second and I do feel safer.
TrevorOwen 4th November 2007, 08:02 PM I've heard of that sort of accident before specially clearing dust off a table.
I found myself tempted to do that on my router table just recently, while the cutter was spinning at about 25000rpm of course. And the dust collector was on but not picking up everything. Then I thought, what the hell is going through my mind!
Regards from Adelaide
Trevor
Brian 1520 5th November 2007, 06:43 AM The minute you take these things for granted,they will have you.
haosiliu235 5th November 2007, 01:52 PM Accidents can happen when we are not using power tools. I stabbed my thumb with a very sharp chisel while I was trying to remove some glue. made a 5mm deep cut. :C But i think it's better to learn from the small mistakes than experiencing a major power tool mistake!! I am now very careful around sharp tools and machines:!:!
Christos 5th November 2007, 09:17 PM Sorry to hear that you had such an accident.
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