Neighbor just lost thumb

[Todd the wood junkie]

Last friday, my next door neighbor lost her thumb in a miter saw accident. They couldn't find the thumb (disintegrated), and it was severed below the first segment. She was laying hardwood flooring, and was cutting the very last piece that would go in a closet. Said she got a bad feeling the way she was holding the wood in the saw, but went ahead anyway.

I watched her 3 girls for a little while before her husband and extended family arrived. Her 10 year old (oldest) daughter saw the whole thing. The shell shocked look in the childrens faces was enough to make me ALWAYS listen to that voice or funny feeling I get when I am doing something risky. Take the extra hour or two to make a jig, if not for your own good for those who may never explore this craft because of your decision.

[Leon]

Ironic, all those perfect cuts and the last one is the one that is tragic.

A good reminder that it can happen to any one at any time. Good advice to remind us to take and use every precaution that we can.

[mac davis]

Sort of what happens when you lose that healthy fear of sharp, spinning metal parts... usually in a case like you mentioned, where you're doing a lot of cuts and start taking things for granted.. bites you in the ass and you say "I knew better than to do that".. human nature, I guess.. BTDT..

Being a devote coward, I usually use a clamp on the CMS if I'm cutting anywhere near my hands.. Mac

[joedog90045]

Do you have more details on what happened. Was the thumb actually under the blade when making the cut, somehow drawn into the blade, was the blade gaurd operational...? With each of my tools I have always spent some time thinking of what can go wrong when using them so I have a mental images of what not to do. I have never come up with to many things for a CMS Thanks Joe

[Vic Baron]

I don't have a miter saw so, when I read of something like this I wonder HOW something like that could happen? I've read of people having their hand in the way of a radial arm saw, so I guess this is the same? Forgetting that your fingers are in line with the blade? Can the fingers be pulled into the blade if in close proximity? Just curious. Don't really have room for one so I probably will avoid the problem BUT still nice to be aware. I've been ww'ing for almost 50 years and still can play the piano with all 10.

Vic

[Bob]

This makes me ill. So did my doctor's story ( he's a woodworker also) about a patient who had cut off both thumbs a few years apart on the same commercial shop table saw. Seems to happen more often than I want to think about.

[Genedoc]

Reminds me of when I was a high school lad, we had a neighbor who was a retired surgon. Had the best woodworking shop I have seen, even though he had severed the fingers of his left hand on a table saw driving him into retirement. He was a very careful woodworker when I knew him. Made a lasting impression on safety. Someone on the rec. a number of years ago passed on their grandfathers advice "where will it go if it slips" if you can't give a good answer to that question, stop.

Work safe, David

[MikeMac]

"Ironic, all those perfect cuts and the last one is the one that is tragic."

Its often why the LAST one is REALLY the last one.

[brianlanning]

When I bought a new miter saw, I intentionally got one with a laser. Partially for the neato factor and partially because I may acutally use it instead of measuing, but mainly because it casts a bright red light on my fingers whenever they're in the way.

brian

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I still like to bring the blade down to see where it is and where my hand is. I don't like the models that must have the blade running for the light to come on. That seems too dangerous to me.

[Greg Guarino]

While reading this thread I was thinking, that couldn't really happen to me. It could only happen to a really careless person. Leave a finger in the path of a mitre saw??? Geez.

As I read more of the posts it occurred to me that that is probably exactly the attitude that got those people hurt.

Thanks for the reminder.

Greg Guarino

[Bruce Barnett]

And don't rush to finish. Especially when you are tired!

[George Berlinger]

My miter-saw doesn,t have a light either. Pay attention to where your hands are. I get nervous when I let go of the trigger n its still going around, the electric brake wearing down. Figured that one out.....the blade nut needed tightening....works better. Lil things that need adjusting should be taking care of....

[Leon]

You are absolutely dead on. It's the people that think that they use all the safety precautions that end up in the ER. It's the people that know that it could happen and know that they do not know every possible scenario that probably have the least amount of accidents.

[brianlanning]

I agree. The miter saw (together with the table saw and jointer) have a huge pucker factor for me. So I'm always ultra careful with those machines (really all of them, but those machines moreso). The laser just gives me one more reassurance that my parts aren't in the way.

brian

[brianlanning]

I have the PC cms. It has a separate switch for the laser. I was equally annoyed by the saws where the laser was attached to the motor switch.

So far, even with the laser, I've still been bringing the blade down (with the motor off) to match up the blade and the cut line.

brian

[Frank Boettcher]

You're right. even those most cognizant of all the safety precautions can have a momentary lapse or become overconfident and it's hard to slow down and think about each action.

I've taken to putting my safety glasses (prescription) in a place where I have to bump into them the minute I walk in the shop. Did this after multiple times catching myself with them off.

Frank

[Lee Michaels]

Same here.

I draw a line on the board and position it roughly against the fence. Then I bring the saw down to move the line to the saw blade. I then position my other hand when the saw is down. I then lift the saw, turn it on and complete the cut. My holding hand is stationary during the whole process. The only hand that moves is the one that grabs the handle on top of the saw.

I like my hand and all its fingers. I take good care of them. I have been known, since I was a kid, as a safety freak.

[Lee Michaels]

"Genedoc" wrote

Yep, that is a good rule. I had a couple of good shop teachers who lived by that rule. One guy was a fanatic about it. He would walk around and give demerits for safety violations. Enough demerits, you got kicked out of the class.

His explanation was simple and a bit dramatic. Get set up on the saw (or other shop equipment). Get your stock in place and be ready to turn on the saw. Now position yourself so if you were to have a heart attack, you would fall AWAY from the rapidly turning part with teeth. He went so far as to put some padding down and have us fall into the padding.

To this day, I position myself at a table saw to fall away from the blade. I have to put my feet a little wide to do this. I also have to lean away. It may seem extreme to some. But my fingers and other body parts have benefited from this perpetual safety exercise.

[Richard Clements]

the next question is, who takes off there rings when using tools?

my high school sh> Last friday, my next door neighbor lost her thumb in a miter saw