Serious injury from a power carver....warning very graphic image

[Roger Chandler]

the link below is a story on the WOW site where a turner got very seriously injured by a power carver..........looks like he was using the wrong technique...........please, for your health's sake pay attention to the dangers and be safe everybody!

www .thewows.com/isapi.dll/c/content/f/viewproperty/siteid/G6kOAI/contentclass/PICT/contentid/ZZZZYLUL/propertyname/Original/~/2011_09_11.jpg


The story was posted by Chris Ramsey and you can read the details there.............a terrible mishap!Carving_Accident.jpg

[James Combs]

Sure looks like it got away from him. Can't imagine how it could have happened but things like this happen every day. Be careful out there folks.

[Marty Eargle]

I can't imagine he was using any worse of a technique to come away with that kind of injury...but it's hard to judge him without being present.

Really shows how quickly things can escalate unexpectedly in life.

[Chris Burgess]

Jeeze was he holding the piece under his chin?

[Steve Vaughan]

Kickback I bet. Just like a chainsaw, only shorter, and as dangerous. Wow! Very, very lucky!

[Tim Rinehart]

The thread on WoW goes like this, to clarify questions and speculation: (as submitted by Chris Ramsey on Dennis' behalf and request)

"The purpose of this post is to help prevent others from having an accident while carving legs on a bowl. I have posted several pictures of natural edge bowls with carved legs and feel a sense of responsibility to warn others of the dangers of using a King Arthur’s Lancelot carving disk. The 4 “disk is made with a small piece of chain saw chain with 22 teeth that circle the disk. The disk is mounted on a 4 ½” grinder and is extremely aggressive and dangerous and runs at 40,000 RPM’s.
WoW member and friend Dennis Doebler had seen several of my 3 leg bowls and wanted to turn and carve a bowl with legs. I had offered to show Dennis how I carve the legs so he would have a total and complete understanding of how to safely carve the legs. I made absolutely sure that Dennis understood how dangerous the Lancelot tool can be.
All of the carving I do is performed between centers on the lathe. The piece is jam chucked and the tail stock is brought up to secure the piece so that it can not move. The headstock locking pin is engaged and the pressure between centers is very strong to insure that the piece to be carved will not move. TWO HANDS AT ALL TIMES is the only way I ever use the Lancelot.
Dennis decided to carve the legs in his shop with no direction or supervision. Dennis will tell you that this was a huge mistake. The bowl was turned and ready to carve. Dennis removed the bowl from the lathe, set it on the work bench, plugged in the grinder with the Lancelot carving disk and was ready to begin carving. He sat at his stool, picked up the grinder, turned it on and held the grinder with one hand and the bowl with the other. The instant that Dennis touched the grinder to the bowl, the grinder violently jumped out of his right hand striking his left hand then surged upward striking him under the chin then powered around his neck to just below his right ear. He was air lifted by Life Flight to the University of Kentucky Hospital. His little finger, ring finger and middle finger were badly injured requiring 2 hours of initial surgery to close the wounds and an additional 3 hours of surgery yesterday to reconnect the tendons and ligaments. The knuckles and bone were ground into powder by the Lancelot and no useable bone fragments existed. The Lancelot cut into Dennis’ neck more than two inches deep, missed his jugular vein by 2 millimeters, miraculously skipped over his carotid artery, dug back in and continued cutting around his neck to just below the right ear. It took well over 100 stitches to close the injuries to his neck. Dennis said the doctors quit counting when they reached 100 stitches then continued sewing him up for over one additional hour.
Dennis called this evening, assisted in the writing of this and asked me to post this information for him. He is facing several months of healing and physical therapy before he can get back to turning.
Dennis insisted on posting this information in an attempt to help keep others safe from doing the same thing.
If you are going to use the Lancelot, please make sure the piece you intend to carve is mounted solid so that it can not move and use both hands when carving with the grinder and the Lancelot."

[Harry Robinette]

Could someone post the whole story please ( if allowed ) some of use aren't part of WOW. And I use a power caver allot!!!!!!!

[Bernie Weishapl]

I think you need to read what happened. That unit is like a small chainsaw. He had set the piece on his bench to carve legs on it. He started up the machine and as soon as it hit the wood it jumped hard out of his right hand into his left hand then jumped from his left hand to his neck missing his artery by 2 mm. It took about 100 stitches in his neck and about 2 hrs of initial surgery on his hand and 3 hrs of surgery to reattach tendons and legiments in his hand. It pulverized the bones in his left hand. This thing has a chainsaw blade with 22 teeth on it and is running at 40,000 rpm. It was just a terrible accident and he admitted he was inexperienced which caused the problem. Most of the comments of people that do use them leave the piece on the lathe and use two hands to run it. I for one think it is a mean looking, scarey machine.

I was thinking of doing a copy here but wasn't sure it was allow. Maybe someone will.

[Steve Kubien]

Harry, the whole story is he was making a bowl with three legs to be carved into it. He took the piece off the lathe, was holding the bowl in his left and the grinder in his right. The Lancelot kicked, just like a chainsaw does if you hit wood with the top of the tip.

Well, that plus the fact that Dennis will be ok, is the whole story.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Folks.....if you can copy and paste it here....you can.....you cannot,however, link to another forum as per the Terms Of Service....

The only thing I did was disable the link to a graphic photograph at another forum. That is not allowed. Beyond that, this thread and that photo had already been reported as requiring a warning as it was extremely grotesque and graphic.

[phil harold]

got to keep 2 hands on a side grinder,
or it will get away from you

[curtis rosche]

what do i have to do to see the pictures?

[Roger Chandler]

A picture is in the original post now.

[curtis rosche]

i hope he has a speedy recovery with no complications

[Josh Bowman]

This is copied from the WOW turners site. I thought it had some value here since not all can access the site. Read below.

Chris Ramsey - Sep 14, 2011 View | Viewers Categories: Safety, Protection of Eyes, Lungs, etc. The purpose of this post is to help prevent others from having an accident while carving legs on a bowl. I have posted several pictures of natural edge bowls with carved legs and feel a sense of responsibility to warn others of the dangers of using a King Arthur’s Lancelot carving disk. The 4 “disk is made with a small piece of chain saw chain with 22 teeth that circle the disk. The disk is mounted on a 4 ½” grinder and is extremely aggressive and dangerous and runs at 40,000 RPM’s. WoW member and friend Dennis Doebler had seen several of my 3 leg bowls and wanted to turn and carve a bowl with legs. I had offered to show Dennis how I carve the legs so he would have a total and complete understanding of how to safely carve the legs. I made absolutely sure that Dennis understood how dangerous the Lancelot tool can be. All of the carving I do is performed between centers on the lathe. The piece is jam chucked and the tail stock is brought up to secure the piece so that it can not move. The headstock locking pin is engaged and the pressure between centers is very strong to insure that the piece to be carved will not move. TWO HANDS AT ALL TIMES is the only way I ever use the Lancelot. Dennis decided to carve the legs in his shop with no direction or supervision. Dennis will tell you that this was a huge mistake. The bowl was turned and ready to carve. Dennis removed the bowl from the lathe, set it on the work bench, plugged in the grinder with the Lancelot carving disk and was ready to begin carving. He sat at his stool, picked up the grinder, turned it on and held the grinder with one hand and the bowl with the other. The instant that Dennis touched the grinder to the bowl, the grinder violently jumped out of his right hand striking his left hand then surged upward striking him under the chin then powered around his neck to just below his right ear. He was air lifted by Life Flight to the University of Kentucky Hospital. His little finger, ring finger and middle finger were badly injured requiring 2 hours of initial surgery to close the wounds and an additional 3 hours of surgery yesterday to reconnect the tendons and ligaments. The knuckles and bone were ground into powder by the Lancelot and no useable bone fragments existed. The Lancelot cut into Dennis’ neck more than two inches deep, missed his jugular vein by 2 millimeters, miraculously skipped over his carotid artery, dug back in and continued cutting around his neck to just below the right ear. It took well over 100 stitches to close the injuries to his neck. Dennis said the doctors quit counting when they reached 100 stitches then continued sewing him up for over one additional hour. Dennis called this evening, assisted in the writing of this and asked me to post this information for him. He is facing several months of healing and physical therapy before he can get back to turning. Dennis insisted on posting this information in an attempt to help keep others safe from doing the same thing. If you are going to use the Lancelot, please make sure the piece you intend to carve is mounted solid so that it can not move and use both hands when carving with the grinder and the Lancelot.