The belt sander post below reninded me of another lovely and entirely avoidable woodworking accident. If you're in a hurry to sand dried glue off the back of a board, be very ginger with it, slow down a bit. If you're loosely holding the board while pushing it up against the belt on a power hand sander and push it too hard, the wood can slip out and you will find the palm of your hand inside the machine. I was about to wind up for the day and can remember cursing to myself about having to clean up a blood mess. The belt can grab the glue (liquid nails) with a lot more force than you might be anticipating. It just tore the skin back, can't even see a scar, but the sander WAS hanging off the palm of my hand.
- posted
20 years ago