Re: bandsaw accident report

[V.E. Dorn]

I'm glad to hear that you were not inured worse than you were. For some reason, bandsaws seem so benign but they seem to always be "waiting" for their moment.

djd

Submitted in hopes it might save someone else from injury. > > Today, I decided to resaw a piece of red pine left on my property from > the loggers to see how it looked inside. While inspecting the saw, I > noticed that the rear roller (thrust) wasn't adjusted correctly as in > not touching blade on top and bottom guides. > > No problem, just take a minute and fix it. Just kneel down, loosen > adjustment screw on bottom guide and let the band run free. Then make > adjustments. > > The lower cover was open so I could see if I was pushing band off of > band wheel as I adjusted things. > > My left ring finger wrapped around frame as I used my right to loosen > above mentioned screw. > > The tip of my finger met a 1 tpi blade and it sliced 1/2 way through > finger tip. I was lucky. It could have pulled my finger under the > band wheel. > > It isn't pretty, didn't lose the nail but it sure has given me a > reality check. > > After I bandaged myself up, I went back out and was going to finish up > cutting that piece of wood. That is when I said to myself, what are > you thinking??? Flip the breaker for the saw, go back inside the > house and leave dangerous things alone for the rest of the night. > Maybe tomorrow also. > > All those guards matter, I screwed up and it is my fault and my fault > only. I use the one hand rule working on electrical systems at work. > I think it applies to adjusting woodworking tools that are running > also. > > Wes > -- > Reply to: > Whiskey Echo Sierra Sierra AT Gee Tee EYE EYE dot COM > Lycos address is a spam trap.

[Glenn de Souza]

A 1 tpi blade cut you? Ouch!!!

Glenn

[V.E. Dorn]

Posts such as that continue to remind me that complacency can have tragic results. To be frank, I worry more about those who feel they are above such reminders because they feel it can't / won't happen to them. Unfortunately, that is where such complacency normally strikes sooner than later.

DJ

[Other Brother Kevin]

I feel no sense of complacency when working with my tools. It's the gloat status people assign to these injuries, even posting pictures to a.b.p.w

kevin

[The Man I Am]

Unfortunately,

[Leon]

No kidden?

Those of us that are not "super humans" appreciate the fact that accidents happen no matter how careful you THINK you are.

To those that are observant it may make a difference but will probably not for those "super humans".

No Doubt. Trolls usually don't.

[Leon]

Unfortunately,

You are absolutely correct. Never think that it could not happen to you.

[bay area dave]

I'm of the opinion that these posts are a reminder to the rest of us that accidents happen in the blink of an eye. I don't share your idea that they are "gloats"? The OP didn't appear to be bragging, did he??

Yesterday while chatting with my neighbors, the husband had his Crapsman TS on the sidewalk next to his house so that he could cut 2x4"s "on-site" for trimming out a bay window. I watched in fasination at his stupidity in freehanding oblique cuts with no eye protection, and while standing in line with the blade. After he did that a couple of times I mentioned to him the mantra of standing to the side, ALWAYS wear goggles, and NEVER freehand a cut. He even had a miter gauge sitting on the TS!! Needless to say, when I mentioned the goggles, his wife got on his case too. She's got more sense than he does, apparently.

dave

Other Brother Kev> Why do people post these type of posts?

[Silvan]

I can only imagine. Never have used a wood bandsaw. They turn fast, don't they? My metal bandsaw stays permanently dialed for 80 fpm. I'm ever aware that the thing cuts through steel like butter, but yet I don't find it terribly intimidating because it's so slow, and fine-toothed (28 tpi).

I never really thought about the two-hand rule, but thinking about it now, it's a *good* idea. I had a similarly bone-headed misadventure grinding off one of my knuckles on my spare hand.

[Godsword]

I think that "I don't get it" is going to get it, the hard way. After he runs his hand up against a moving blade one time, he will forever tell people to be careful. Until then, I think that just the idea that it could happen to him scares him so badly that he doesn't want to even think of it, much less being reminded by others that it will happen to him. And if he is lucky, like some of us, he won't loose anything.

I wish him all the best, and hope that he never finds out the hard way how easy it is to loose parts on himself.

Jack

[Howard Lee Harkness]

One thing that constantly scares me anytime I get around power tools (or guns, or aircraft, or cars) is that a mere moment of inattention can do irrepairable harm. Private pilots tend to have their first (and last) accident at around 300 hours, when they they get too comfortable behind the stick. I'll bet the same thing happens to woodworkers after they've used a TS or BS for a couple hundred hours.

I hope I never get less respectful of my power tools than I am of my handgun.

-- Howard Lee Harkness Texas Certified Concealed Handgun Instructor

[e-mail]

[bay area dave]

Gee, I must not be the norm; I almost stuck a wing into the ground at the San Jose Airport on my second or third ever landing. There was a bit of a crosswind and my training hadn't covered that yet!! Fortunately for myself and my instructor, she quickly grabbed the controls and punched the throttle to get us heading straight and level. That gave me quite an adreneline rush. The only manuevors that provided that much of a thrill was a stall in an unfamiliar plane. I usually trained in one or two planes, but I ended up training at a different flight school, Amelia Reed near the end of my flying days. The planes I usually flew had a noticeable instability when they reached stall, but that last sucker I flew kept its nose pointing straight ahead, and wings level. BTW, I was flying "under the hood", so I had no visual reference or our attitude. Then the instructor calmly informed me to take a look at the altimeter. We were falling straight down like a rock and I couldn't feel it. She warned me to gently recover or we would be in deep doo doo. The feeling of recovering from that stall was like the wildest ride at an amusement park times 10. Whoa!

dave

Howard Lee Harkness wrote:

[Mike Reed]

Sorry to hear of your mishap, and I hope it heals quickly.

Is it common to adjust the bandsaw while it's running? I've only had a bandsaw for two years, but I always make my adjustments with it unplugged.

-Mike

[Other Brother Kevin]

I have a Healthy Respect for my tools and whether I've been bit or will be bit by one of them is not the issue. I say again it's the GLOAT STATUS people that with these accidients.

[Other Brother Kevin]

There you go Howard mentions planes crashes and someones got to go OT and Gloat about a near miss

[bay area dave]

They were one lucky group! I'm envisioning your buddy telling his friends, "I was just showing off my stunt flying skills for you guys; we weren't ever in any real danger". Like Chevy Chase acts when he's asleep at the wheel of the Queen Family Truckster in "Vacation" and the car ends up in the motel parking lot--he said something to the effect of "OK, everyone, were here; up and at um!" . He is nonchalant about their sleeping car ride.

dave

Leon wrote: snip

[bay area dave]

not gloating; merely reminiscing. get over it, bro.

dave

Other Brother Kev> bay area dave wrote:

[Leon]

No... I thik he almost "Sheet" his pants....

[Fred the Red Shirt]

I heard you the first time. No need to keep repeating yourself unless you think couting coup is better than Gloating.

I do agree that some folks do GLOAT about how much they suffered, how they narrowly avoided death, or whatever.

That's fine by me. I prefer learning from their mistakes over in- dependent discovery.

[Bob Haar]

...

Some people learn from history. Others are doomed to repeat it.