Thread: it hurt something fierce

Jeez Lynette - It always makes my eyes water when I hear of a woodie lopping off a bit that bleeds.

Some may say you have been initiated into the woodworking fraternaty. But they are only the other ones with war wounds like yours.

Don't wear it as a badge of honour, but more as a reminder that stupidity realy hurts.

And remember in future, do not put anything that bleeds, anywhere near anything that cuts, chops, lops, rips, spins, tears, or makes any kind of whirring, grating or grinding sound.

Had a bloke in a class many years ago. Took him 4 hours to put his fancy new bench saw together and 3 minutes to take off his thumb. Every time he told the story his wife laughed uncontrolably and he had a cold shiver that shook his whole body. This made his wife laugh even more. Bloody funny.

I'm sorry it happened to you. Try not to let it happen again. And stay away from those stiched up cow fannies they can make a real mess of you if that stiching ever breaks.

Cheers - Neil

Sorry to hear about your amputation Lynnette. Re the comment about saws not being able to tell the difference between a thumb and a piece of wood, apparently some clever people in the USA have come up with an attachment that can do just that. It's based on some electronic wizardry, and stops saw blades almost instantaneously. It's claimed to turn an amputation into a laceration. I think it works by throwing a pin into the teeth of the saw. Saw a photo of a sausage that it had been demonstrated on, and all it had was a nasty nick. Unfortunately, it can't be retro-fitted, has to be a factory fit. Bring it on, I say.

And don't forget safety glasses.

The other night I was cutting some small pieces on the table saw. Don't know how it happened, but one of those little suckers just picked right up and came off the saw at a huge rate of knots. Just about drove my safety glasses through my cheek. I've still got both eyes though!

The same goes for hearing and dust protection. The damage is a little slower, but eventually.....

Cheers,
Pete

Sorry to hear ya got chopped there Lynnette. One of the most important things now is to figure out WHY and HOW it happened, and thereby LEARN how to avoid it in the future. In the old days it became safer and safer for a woodworker as they had fewer digits to get in the path of a blade! Anytime something goes wrong in the shop it truly is beneficial to figure out what caused it to happen. I find that being tired or distracted are the two most common causes for injury, and trying to hurry up the project a close second. Although it is painful to do, think back through the sequence of events until you have it figured out. An ounce of prevention.....


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"Always cutting corners...!"

Lynette,
I recently sold off the last of my cows and and am now concentrating on the wood stuff. In the years we did have cows the words crow bar and fanny never seemed to make it into the same sentence. Are you sure you aren't in the Territory? Every thing is bigger out there. In fact another thought, how big are your bloody cows!!
Cheers
Shaun

NEIL
Thanks for advise. whenever anyone asks"WHAT
HAPPENED" I reply "STUPIDITY"
Did teach me one thing though forget learning on little stuff get straight into the big picture. Little pinkies are futher away from those whirring grating things you mention.
I am currently half way through building new kitchen cupboards and haveing a wonderful time.

Alex
what a marvellous invention, do you reckon you could find out if the company is listed,it would be a good thing to have in the portfolio which is looking a bit sad at the moment.

Pete
Thanks for the reminder I have been remiss and wearing eye glasses instead of saftey glasses. Glad to hear you are not one eyed.
Hey maybe we could invent magnified safties for us visually deprived!

Jeff
The WHY was stupidity
The HOW was pinching the timber behind the saw causing it to run in reverse.
As for the LEARNING well it took me two minutes to rig up a few peices of timber 1/2" under my work table to catch "the drop". Look ma no hands, figuretively speaking.

Doorstop
What a wonderful word dedigitalisation.
I try to bring it into every conversation wether it is relevant or not and guess what nobody has asked me what the hell I am talking about!
Are you accusing me of not being a boofhead?
Nah dont worry about my blade needed a new one anyway (any excuse)

Shaun
You obviously made a better decsion on the breed of cattle you ran than we did.
needles as big as crow bars + fannies= prolapse, Had the worst year ever last season. Betcha sorry you have retired and are missing out on the best prices ever.
I dont envey you your retirement, honest.

Sorry about the delay in replying Lynnette, I'll dig it out this weekend

The device is called a Sawstop (makes sense) it's in Fine Woodworking December 2000. You can see a video on the company's website www.sawstop.com
Anything that can make woodworking safer gets my thumbs up. Could be worth buying some shares in Lynette.