Sharp Is As Sharp Does...

[Mark Singer]

Jim,

Sorry to hear about it! Take a break and let it heal!!!! It happens...

[Michael Stafford]

Sorry about your injury and hope it does not interfere with either your vocation or avocation. 20 years ago I managed to cut three fingers rather badly with a fillet knife. Many stitches, much pain, miserable sleeping... Hope you are doing better and not experiencing tremendous discomfort.

[Jim Becker]

No blood on the bench OR the workpiece. I guess my aim was prioritized... Feels a little better today--I can bend it a bit without "hurt". 'Will not cause a problem with working in the shop today other than having to pay attention a little more...which is a good thing.

[Kevin Murdock]

Hey Jim,

Can you describe exactly what it is that you did wrong, resulting in the thumb cut?

I always worry about using an unsafe technique.

Hopefully we can all learn from your mishap.

Thanks,
/Kevin

[Jim Becker]

Can you describe exactly what it is that you did wrong, resulting in the thumb cut?

Excellent question...and I should have addressed it earlier.

Rather than setting the chisel down while I shifted the workpiece around, I kept it in my right hand. I was moving the workpiece with my left and wasn't paying attention to where the business end of the chisel was...

And the gory results...

[Michael Stafford]

And the gory results...

Oh the humanity I'm really sorry you were injured but at least it was not too seriously.

I've told this story before but it is too good and too true not to retell.

When I lived in Virginia some 30 years ago I had two woodworking buddies, Richard and David ( names changed to protect the innocent).

Richard was the best of the three of us and undertook projects that David and I would only talk about. We all worked at the same company.

On this particular day, Richard took the day off to stay at home and work on some new cabinets he was building. He was careless or in a rush and reached across the saw to steady some oak he was ripping for face frames.

He let his thumb drop into the blade and the blade grabbed his thumb, forefinger, middle finger and ring finger and slice them off at the middle joint.

Richard wrapped a towel around his hand and drove himself to the emergency room. Once everything was under control he called the office and asked for me. I was unavailable, in a meeting but he did reach our mutual friend David.

"David, I had an accident on the saw and sliced off part of 4 fingers," he said.

David interrupted, "You want me to find them and bring them to the hospital?"

Richard responded, " Nah, they're too chewed up to sew back on. I was hoping you could go over to the shop and get the blood off of that quartersawn oak."

True story. Next time you think about doing something you know better than to do, think about part of 4 fingers going through the table saw slot!

[Jim Becker]

Mike, "Richard" really had a true woodworker's attitude! (Scary, too...)

[Stefan Antwarg]

Sorry to hear about your cut. But mistakes make you more careful. At least it was not a more permanent mistake.

On the bright side - it looks like you got yourself a nice remote. They do make life a lot easier when you have a lot of components with several settings on each. I use a Home Theater Master remote. It's hard buttons - I don't like not being able to feel where I am on the remote. It's nice to just press one button and everything is set.

Stefan

[Jim Becker]

On the bright side - it looks like you got yourself a nice remote. They do make life a lot easier when you have a lot of components with several settings on each.

Yea, the gyrations necessary to work the TV, Home Theater box and Cable box were "interesting". Now, I have everything "normally needed" on a single screen and the more esoteric functions of the cable box on a second. Being able to program everything custom right from the computer was great! $216 shipped from ecost.com (less the ebates.com rebate... )and worth every penny!

[Dave Malen]

Jim,
Sorry to hear about your mishap. It happened to me about 5 years ago. I was carving a shell and very stupidly pushed the gouge towards my other hand. Right before I did this I was thinking to myself that this was not very smart. But I did it anyway. Go figure. Ended up in the emergency room. The doctor said hand tool injuries were quite commom. Anyway, heal quickly!

Dave