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

[C]

Good Lord! They use bandsaws in butchershops. Need we say more?

[Frank Ketchum]

Fear is good, where appropriate. You should have fear set in when you are doing or are about to do something unsafe. Fear should be your warning signal, not your mode of operation. If you are afraid of your tablesaw, then I would suggest that you don't have a good grasp of what causes accidents with it. By understanding what causes accidents and by taking the proper precautions, you will be able to think about what you are doing instead of being paralyzed with fear.

What did this person do wrong? Obviously, working while tired. It should be like second nature to you that when you start to get tired, stop working or do something which will not maim you, like switch to sanding, scraping or sweeping the floor. Next, I assume there were no guards in place since he was able to shove his whole hand into the blade. Get a proper guard and use it. Use feather boards where appropriate as well as pushsticks. Learn what causes kickback and how to prevent it and there will be nothing to fear.

But don't loose your appreciation for your tools. Frank

[Dave Miller]

Some will, many won't.

Dave Miller

[David Binkowski]

How did the saw get his thigh ? Did the guard not snap back fast enough ?

[ken]

only way for you is to get back on the horse. Review what you know about TS safety and then go out and cut something. Something that is going to keep you far away from the blade. Gradually work your way in to more difficult cuts until your fear is gone. The alternate choiced is to sell your TS. If you are scared of your table saw then you will probably be scared of any other power tools that you have. I remember being scared of working on my wood lathe. To start turning large pieces of wood to make something as big as a PV (spelling) handle requied quite a big piece of rough wood. To me this was always (and still keeps my heart rate up) a scary moment. I learned to make sure that the wood was well secured and to always start with very sharp tools. When the bark started flying it was scary. Good luck, i hope you overcome this and carry on with your woodworking. Ken, makin dust in NS

[Donnie Vazquez]

I would add to this that if you are near a major metropolitan area call

911, instead of going directly to the hospital. My wife called 911 which sent an ambulance who in turn called in a state police helicopter that whisked me to a hand center 50 miles away in Baltimore that I didn't know existed. (took less than 15 minutes) I like to joke that if I'd gone to the local hospital, I'd probably have a hook right now.

[Mutt]

When non-woodworking types come into the shop, after eyeing the TS, BS, jointer and planer the first question they all seem to ask is "aren't you afraid these machines might cut off your [fingers] [hand] [arm}" etc. My standard answer is "Yup, every time I push the 'on' switch and until I push the 'off' switch." Knock on wood, {inside joke, eh?), I've never had an issue, but perk up every time someone else has an unfortunate experience. Someone said its better to learn from another's negative experience than to experience a negative yourself, and I try to live by that phrase. Fear is really the wrong word, the word really is respect. I started as an apprentice butcher at 16 (which convinced me college was the way to go) and learned the semi-hard way (after about 20 stitches in various places) that you never cut yourself with a sharp knife, its always the dull ones which don't go where you want them to go without forcing the cut. When you get paid by piece-work, you get rather aggressive with big band saws, and you learn early to pay attention to spinning sharp things, and pay attention consistently.

I take both lessons to heart when in the shop. Keep tools sharp, hand and power tools. Respect the big machines - they don't discriminate between wood, flesh, or bone. Think of the 'on' switch as the 'it can cut my finger off' switch and pay attention until whatever stops spinning. If the cut seems dangerous to you, it usually is, find another way to skin that cat. Nobody ever has enough clamps, or enough pushsticks or featherboards. Always, always use splitters (and blade guards, but we all tend to take them off sooner or later)on table saws. Make jigs to be sure of safe cuts. Keep a first aid kit in the shop, and put in a phone, 'cause you never know. Mutt

[Andy Dingley]

If you asked them nicely, they might have given you a push stick instead.

[Clarke Echols]

Happened to me when I was 12 or 13 years old. Still have the scar in my left thigh. I've had some close calls with my Unisaw too. Nicked the tip of my left index finger at the nail. HURT!!! (Lots of nerves in that area). It healed up over a period of months and you can't see where it happened, but it's still a little sensitive. I was doing some repeating cuts on the Unisaw about 15 years ago and suddenly realized my fingers were getting too close to the blade.

It takes DISCIPLINE, but there is no substitute for a very healthy respect for that machine you're using and a constant awareness of where your body parts are, relative to the blade. And SAFETY GLASSES: I was trimming the rough edge on some ash recently when a splinter nailed my right ear. When I pulled it out, it drew blood. It passed less than 3" from my eye. I ALWAYS wear industrial safety glasses around machines. No exceptions.

Clarke

[e-mail] wrote:

[Mike]

I don't think woodworking is markedly different than any other activity with a potential for injury. Take driving for instance. Every day people are maimed and killed because of careless or inattentive behavior. To make matters worse, many times the biggest victims are not the ones who were careless. At least with woodworking, *you* are in control and it's up to you to work safely. Working tired is a bad idea in many ways. Aside from a higher potential for injury, there's also a higher potential to mess up a perfectly good project.

Cheers, Mike

[Dave Balderstone]

Did that in high school shop about 30 years ago. 3 or 5 stitches (I forget) and I'm aware of the scar every day.

Never got my flesh that close to a sharp spinning thing again.

Chisel scars are a different story, however.

djb