Accident on the table saw
I had a trip to the E.R. at the weekend. It's always a bit of a wake up call when something like this happens. I'm not here to brag about it. Seems like it might be helpful to share when an accident like this happens, if only it means you're little bit more careful next time you use your machine.
I was very lucky. It's not super deep, I didn't damage any nerves or hit major bloodlines. And I didn't chop anything off.
But about half of the fleshy pad of my middle finger on my dominant hand has been scraped away by the saw blade. I groaned in pain. It felt like something vicious bit my finger then ripped the flesh away. I guess that's pretty accurate... It bled a lot, in a squirty way. I had a first aid kit at hand, and I had it wrapped up tight quite quickly.
It's healing well and I'm gonna be fine.
So, how did this happen, and how could I have avoided it?
- First, I suppose I got a bit complacent. I was batching out some repetitive cuts on cross cut sled, and my attention had waned a little bit. This is the danger zone. It's almost always when I make mistakes. I've gotten quite good over the years at knowing when just stop. This day, I was being a bit stubborn because I wanted to get the thing I was working on finished and out the door (it's a favour for a family member).
- Second, the accident didn't happen during the cut. I can't recall if I was putting the piece on the table before the cut, or picking it up after the cut. It doesn't really matter. The point is I wasn't paying due care that the saw was running. I was reaching for the piece when my finger grazed the top of the blade.
- Third, I should've been using a blade guard. The silly thing is that I invested in an excellent guard (Shark Guard) for this exact reason. However, I cant attach it to my riving knife because of the style of saw I own, and I don't have space for the massive boom arm style. Instead, I've got the guard mounted to a telescoping piece of SHS hanging from the ceiling. In theory that works, but it means the saw has to be rolled to a precise position to align with it. It's too inconvenient, so I haven't used it for a while.
I've had plans for a while to have a bracket fabricated so I can attach it to the saw in a more permanent way. Guess which shop project just got re-prioritised to position #1?!