Woodworking Accident (another's) and its Psychological Effect on me

[Neuromancer]

At Christmas I got wind of an accident that happened to the brother of an old national guard friend of mine who I have not spoken to in some time. While working late at night, tired, his brother cut off the fingers on one hand on his table saw. Apparantly he had been turning the saw off and on and due to fatigue forgot to turn it off. I believe 4.5 fingers were cutoff, and he has since had a number of surgeries to reattach them.

I can think of no more sober an accident to someone you know in passing to really make you re-evaluate shop safety. What I am finding is that I am to some degree scared to work on my table saw now. I have always been a safe hobbyist, but I just cant help but feel scared. I don't think this is normal, but I thought I might see if you all had any advice. Thanks in advance.

-Neuromancer

[Dave Balderstone]

It's smart to get the heebie-jeebies about power tools and their digit removal capacity from time to time. Just don't obsess over it.

djb

[Lazarus Long]

It's a normal reaction. You'll get over it, but won't forget. Learn from his misfortune and treat your tools with the respect they deserve. They don't care what they cut, cutting is what they were built for.

I had a jo>At Christmas I got wind of an accident .... 4.5 fingers were cutoff, and he has

since had a number of

[James D Kountz]

Fear and respect kind of go hand in hand (no pun intended). My father sent the blade of a chop saw through his hand a few years ago and we were all a little skittish of it after that. Try turning your fear into respect and knowledge and you'll feel better about it.

Jim

and he has since had a number of

[Mark]

[<manzanar]

I have seen two instances of guys accidently letting a skil saw kick back on them, cutting to the bone in their upper right thighs - scares the shit out of me to this day, and believe me, when I HAVE to use a skil saw, I always, ALWAYS recall those two guys, and then proceed with caution.

manzanar

[Tom]

Someday, it'll all be over....

[John Crea]

Tom

I guess the non-fatal skydiving accidents are sorta rare

John

[Keith Carlson]

Like some others have said, it's probably a good reminder.

My hand-me-down table saw took a couple of fingertips from my grandpa, and that's never far from my mind. I'm fairly new at this, but I sure hope I don't grow complacent over time.

[Bruce]

Incidentally, I was told my an EMT that is trained to secure detached limbs, the proper way to do this, should anyone need to.

1. Wrap the fingers in gauze and place in a ziplock baggie
2. Fill another baggie with ice and place the first baggie in the second.
3. Hit the emergency room.

[Juergen Hannappel]

How fortunatley small that "tired" accident was! Usually you hear about the kind "Bus driver went to sleep and killed a lot of semi-innocent passengers when hitting the lorry in front". Working when tired should be considered a criminal ofence, especially on the part of the employer who allowed it to happen!

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

Right.

Respect and understanding the operation keeps the parts intact. Fear causes accidents.

It's the same while driving, flying, or wooddorking. Ever been in a car with frozen, white-knuckled driver?

Barry

[Peter C. Goodman]

in article [e-mail], Neuromancer at [e-mail] wrote on 1/18/04 9:21 PM:

I too had a go around with my jointer several years ago. I took off most of the first joint of on three fingers. It was the worst pain I had experienced for the longest amount of time. I am self employed and I lost most of a month's work. Months more of healing and difficult adapting to the loss. They are super sensitive to the cold, the ends split and crack and the thought of cold weather, and my keyboarding, fine touch ability, nose picking, personal hygiene and just about everything else has been affected negatively. There isn't a day that goes by that I am not reminded of the stupidity of my actions. However, there's not a tool that I use now, not a power switch that I throw, that I am not keenly aware of where my hands are, and how to safely keep intact the remainder of my digits and whatever else I was born with. For as much bad as it was, I have probably reaped more in safety awareness and possibly saved myself from doing something *really* stupid that would have more dramatic results. It's great to be a bit scared. Now turn that fear into more respect and share it with everyone else who wanders into your shop, an use it to your advantage. The world is full of things we all need a healthy respect for. Guns, automobiles, woodstoves and power tools. Continue to use those you enjoy working with, and rejoice that you learned your respect without having a personal tragedy. Thanks for allowing me time on the soapbox.

-still healing-

[Scott]

I read a lutherie article a few years ago, writen by a guy who cut his fingers on a bandsaw. He and the surgeon were chatting during the repair, and the surgeon asked him what the "most dangerous" tool was in a woodshop. The answer was "jointer." He then asked what tool caused the most injuries, with the answer being "bandsaw." Why? The bandsaw "seems" safer, so more people relax when using it. And cut their fingers off while doing so. Being more aware of the potential for injury on the TS means you are much less likely to get injured while using it.

[David Hall]

Now why did you have to go and turn this into some kind of Socialism rant? I am quite sure that German Unions would be the first to go ballistic if the employer fired an employee who came to work hung over or for failing to get his

8 hours of sleep.

Dave Hall

[Scott]

I believe fear can _prevent_ accidents; fear forces you to consider what you are about to do, and stimulates you to learn more about the situation. Fear of failure drives the performing artist to practice, practice, practice his/her craft. Fear of dying drives the pilot to learn all he can about his airplane, and the flying environment. Fear of falling motivates the climber to develop the skill and knowledge needed to prevent falls, or to allow a safe fall.

Panic, where fear has taken over the mind, is when poor judgements are made and accidents take place. Panic is more often than not the result of poor preparation. Someone who fears a spinning TS blade is someone who will learn techniques to keep his/her fingers out of the way.

[Tom]

Not at all. Lots of broken legs, ankles, vertebrae, etc. And we hope to learn from them all. Tom Someday, it'll all be over....

[Neuromancer]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I think in part what the amount of spooking I feel comes from the fact that I am a very novice wood worker. I think experience and time lends a person the confidence they need to know, understand and feel comfortable with the tools they work with.

I can recall an incident that happened to me maybe 8 years ago. I was at my fathers house, pushing maybe a 4 foot long piece of wood through the table saw, using a push stick, cutting a strip maybe 2 inches wide off. I was standing directly behind the saw.

Everything was going well until something pinched, and that strip came flaying back at me. It hit me int he thigh/hip area, did no damage, but I know it could have been much, much worse, maybe even fatal. Thing was, I didn't have a clue that that *could* happen. Since that time I have tried to read newsgroups, articles, anything I can get my hands on for tips of all sorts.

It always seems a little more real to me when someone I know in passing has an accident. That being said, I think woodworking is a great hobby that I really enjoy. Anyway, thanks so much for the advice, I feel better now.

[Jim Campbell]

[e-mail] (Scott) wrote

And it's not just power tools. I try to be compulsively rigourous in my power tool use - just like flying, you use the checklist and do it the same every time. But the one serious hurt I've gotten came from hand tooling. While working on a mortise with a 1/2" chisel, I rested my left hand beside the mortise, leaned on the chisel, the board split and the chisel went right through my index finger. Incredibly, it missed all tendons and arteries, but it doesn't quite straighten out anymore.

It's all sharp, it all can hurt you, always know where the edge is going to go *when* it slips.

Jim

[C]

What's your point? Accidents happen, many of them due to stupidity.

If you understand Darwin, then these accidents shouldn't bother you.