Workshop accidents - AKA, conversation pieces

[Todd Burch]

This thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...59#post2296159
got me to thinking about workshop accidents. I am wondering what stories you might have about accidents you have had in your shop, that you leave around to discuss with other people.

Case in point for me.

I was ripping thin strips of wood on the tablesaw to adjust some moldings I had made. I knew I could experience a kickback, but only really thin shavings were at risk of being kicked back, so, no big deal, right?

Anyway, standing off to the side, sure enough, a "thicker than anticipated" strip was thrown back. 12' in font of the saw (the direction of travel for a kickback), I had a bathroom with a thin vertical strip of sheetrock pretty much inline with the blade. The projectile happened to be pointed this time. It drove into the sheetrock about an inch, and stopped, like an arrow hitting a target. Surely it would have done the same to my leg.

I left it there, and it did strike up conversation. Especially when someone was over watching me on the tablesaw and they were standing in the wrong place. I used it as a reference to show what could happen.

(And last night, I was using the saw, explaining kickback to my wife, after she asked about my technique I was using for a couple cuts to avoid kickback. About 5 minutes later, when making a new push stick, a little 3/4" x 3/4" x 3/4" piece of ply was kicked back. It traveled about 45 feet before it stopped. She then understood.)

[ray hampton]

experience is the best teacher EXCEPT WHEN someone get hurt

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Years ago I was ripping strips off a very long piece of redwood. I had feather boards top and side, hearing protection, push stick. The blade guard had to be removed for fence clearance to rip 1/4" strips. I got to the end and the board was hard to push so in a moment of stupidity I reached behind the blade to finish pushing. It kicked back and took my thumb over the top of the blade.

The photo was early days of digital so it is grainy. This was post skin graft, about a week after the accident. They actually drilled holes in my thumbnail to thread the stitches through. Today the thumb looks good as new. The plastic surgeon was even amazed that I did not lose the nail (it cut through the quick, and he said when that happens the nail bed usually dies), and my thumbprint regenerated except at the very tip near the nail. The skin graft gradually got smaller and smaller until now there is just a sliver that looks out of place and the rest regenerated with new skin.

[Todd Burch]

Wow! Wow! Wow!

[Rod Sheridan]

Wow! Wow! Wow!

One too many W in those words Todd, I was going OW! OW! OW! looking at the photographs............Rod.

[Andrew Kertesz]

+1 on the too many W's.... it hurts just lookin' at it.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

It did hurt like heck, and until it regrew the protective fat pad on the tip of the thumb, any time I bumped the thumb it was like hitting the bone. I cannot describe the pain. I still refused to take pain meds because those things can be very addictive. As long as I did not bump it the pain went away after a week or so, but for months I had to keep a band-aid over the tip to pad it in case I hit it on something. I took one pain pill the night it happened, and it made me loopy, so I never took another one. I believe that if pain meds can block pain, then it can block the body's ability to know where it needs healing. Call me crazy, but I basically regrew a thumb tip, nail and all, and today you can barely tell the difference between the two thumbs. There is a curve in the nail at the cut line, but only noticeable if I put the two thumbs side by side. I believe not taking pain meds helped my body heal properly. Anyone who disagrees with that is welcome to prove me wrong by cutting off their thumb and doing it their way. :-)

[ray hampton]

It did hurt like heck, and until it regrew the protective fat pad on the tip of the thumb, any time I bumped the thumb it was like hitting the bone. I cannot describe the pain. I still refused to take pain meds because those things can be very addictive. As long as I did not bump it the pain went away after a week or so, but for months I had to keep a band-aid over the tip to pad it in case I hit it on something. I took one pain pill the night it happened, and it made me loopy, so I never took another one. I believe that if pain meds can block pain, then it can block the body's ability to know where it needs healing. Call me crazy, but I basically regrew a thumb tip, nail and all, and today you can barely tell the difference between the two thumbs. There is a curve in the nail at the cut line, but only noticeable if I put the two thumbs side by side. I believe not taking pain meds helped my body heal properly. Anyone who disagrees with that is welcome to prove me wrong by cutting off their thumb and doing it their way. :-)

If the bone were damage , then you may feel pain again this winter if the thumb get cold