Kickback Hurts! (WARNING! GORY PICTURES!!)

[Kevin W Johnson]

When I first got into school shop,and had never used a table saw,I was running a 3' long piece of mahogany through the saw,with the blade tilted TOWARDS the fence. The piece was long and narrow,not more than 3/8" thick at the most. The piece of wood got grabbed by the blade,of course,and shot out of the saw,and stuck into an old wooden boat like an arrow. I was standing in the proper place and was not hurt.

That was the last time I tried cutting something with the blade tilted towards the fence. I've always wondered WHY Delta made their Unisaw for many,many years,with the blade tilting towards the fence. Always a bother having to lower the blade,and put the fence on the other side of the blade. Actually,I knew better even then,but as an impatient kid,I thought I could get away with it. I HAD seen the shop teacher demonstrate the proper use of the saw. HE had 2 kick backs while doing it!!!

My first year in shop in high school..... The teacher, who was new, had went into the shop one day before the school year started and was checking out the equipment. He started the planer..... one blade flew out the infeed side, into the lumber stoage room, the other two went out the outfeed side, thru the roll up garage door. He actually quit that day, and had to be talked into coming back. Someone the year before had not properly tightened the screws upon reinstalling the blades.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I've received a few requests for some updated scar pictures. So here I am today, a year and a half later. It's a meaningful scar, no doubt! Be careful guys. Respect your tools, and listen to your instinct!

[Mike Cutler]

Peter.

Glad to see that it healed up. I guess you could invent good bar stories for it, but thank you for being honest about how it actually happened. Will you have further surgeries to hide the scars?

I remember in the 8th grade the Wood shop teacher demonstrating kickback to us. He launched a piece of wood about 30' through the air and took a 4" section of an old slate blackboard out the board. That hole was there the entire time I was in school, and his classes.
It was more of an object lesson than he intended to give, but 40+ years later, I've not forgotten it.

[John Piwaron]

With enough time the scar will "melt" away. But that's on the order of decades.

When people that don't know me ask about mine I make up a good story before telling the truth. If they're going to be intrusive, I'm going to tell a whopper. But leave them with the truth which is a lot less interesting.

[John Piwaron]

Good for you. You came through it fairly unscathed. Lose any IQ points? (just kidding)

What'd you learn from your experience? I learn something from everything I do with them. Sometimes it's "that's a good chisel for that task", sometimes it's "damn! don't do that again!" There's a lot fewer of those nowadays.

Kickbacks happen. I had one once from my planer. the board shot back and shattered when it hit the basement wall. yikes. Good thing I don't stand behind my tools. I use my TS to cut tenons. sometimes one of the little offcuts will get launched. I'm also to the side for that.

[Peter Aeschliman]

You came through it fairly unscathed. Lose any IQ points?

Ha ha, probably. Problem is, I'm must've been pretty dumb to attempt that cut in the first place. So you get to a point where you're so dumb, you don't notice a change!

What'd you learn from your experience?

Overall, I learned to listen to the voice inside my head (or what's left of it anyway!). I had a tinge of fear before i made the cut. I actually said outloud to myself "this is stupid", yet I went ahead and did it anyway.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Peter.....you aren't alone about ignoring that little voice. Ignoring that little voice and being distracted is what caused my recent accident that resulted in 14 stitches in my right wrist. Even a router that has been shut off can be dangerous if you don't wait for it to completely spin down before flipping it over.

[John Piwaron]

Overall, I learned to listen to the voice inside my head. I had a tinge of fear before i made the cut. I actually said out loud to myself "this is stupid", yet I went ahead and did it anyway.

God knows I've done that too. Being young with the feeling of invincibility works against you. Thinking you've got it all "under control" is an illusion that takes a long time to see through. I listen to that little voice now too. I'll consider other ways to make the cut and go with the one that presents the least risk to me.

Maybe without knowing it, this group has helped me a lot. When I read postings I see other people have taken the cuts and built the things I'm building. It's the descriptions of how they made the cut that show me the alternate method(s).

[paul cottingham]

Overall, I learned to listen to the voice inside my head (or what's left of it anyway!). I had a tinge of fear before i made the cut. I actually said outloud to myself "this is stupid", yet I went ahead and did it anyway.

Let me assure you that you are the only one. I never ignored that little voice telling me to be (much) more careful with the piece of plywood I was cutting. Nor did it kick back and render my thumb useless for a week (but not broken, thank goodness.) The little voice is rarely wrong.
Of course, the real lesson I learned was to stop using plywood in most of my projects, but that's a different story.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm glad yr ok. Every time I see a post like this, I feel a shudder and hear that tiny voice saying "you're next".

[David Hanames]

Glad you're okay.

You have absolutely convinced me to use my bandsaw for small pieces.

Hope that heals up quickly.

[Stephen Olson]

Ouch! I sometimes think that I'm a little over the top about safety, but incidents like this are a reminder that there is no such thing as being too cautious when dealing with power tools. I have a shredded push stick that I kept as a reminder of just how much damage can be done (and how quickly it can happen) when dealing with a table saw. Not only did the saw blade blow apart the end of the stick, but it also launched it out of my hand and ten feet back into the wall (fortunately I was standing to the side of the blade and was out of the line of fire). When I upgraded to a 52" fence on my TS, I made it a point to re-mount the power switch as far to the left as I could as a constant reminder to stay safely out of the way of flying pieces (I keep my hip next to the paddle and always bump the power off as soon as the workpiece clears the rear of the blade).

[Jeremy Sullivan]

Peter,
I'm glad you're able to type, think, and be alive. Personally, I've been knocked back into a wall by kickback, driven to the ER for a bandsaw, and knocked silly by my own tool handle while hollowing a bowl and getting a nasty catch. I have some "modern art" blood spatter on my pretty white wall from years ago, which I use as a reminder to myself. We've all been there. Even when we are being smart and exercising our due diligence, accidents happen.
When I had some skin torn off my face (I was a bike messenger in NYC back when I was invincible), a VietNam vet friend of mine told me he had used Palmer's cocoa butter cream (not lotion - the thick cream) when he was hit in the face with shrapnel, and it saved him from the uglies (he still wore a mustache for where the cuts were too deep). I tried it, and it saved me from being the scary guy in the supermarket I hope your cut heals well. Let us know, and don't be too hard on yourself - now you are a more careful woodworker than you were last week!

Jeremy

[Dave Mura]

Wow good to know you're ok!

[alan whitehead]

I had a kick back with my table saw. I never saw the kick back, but I heard it hit the wall in back of me. I decided right then that I could not trust myself to follow the rules 100 % of the time. Rarely did I use it again. I ended up giving it to someone. I now use a jigsaw to cut my wood, much ,much more safer in my case. I cut , then sand to perfection using my jigsaw.
I am glad you are OK. Thanks for sharing your mishap.