Greetings all

Well I have finally been bitten by one of the big machines in the shop. Thanks be to God it was not as serious as it could have been. I am typing this pretty much with one hand, although I am able to use a few fingers of my left hand with some difficulty.

I was drilling pieces on the drill press, 7" square blanks with an arch sawn out for the foot of a footstool. The fence and a stop block were set for repetitive cutting, and as is my nature, I was holding everything nice and tight. Anyone who has ever tried to loosen anything I have tightened will attest to the fact that I don't leave things loose in any way.

So I am drilling a 1" hole using a huge brad point bit, which although it is made in China runs as true as can be. About the third hole, I was releasing the quill and somehow the bit grabbed the board, pulling it up above the fence, at which point it commenced to spin at approximately 1800 rmp. The sharp edges of the oak (it had to be oak) smacked the back of my left hand several times as I pulled it back out of the way. At first I thought I was going to get away with just a few superficial cuts on the surface, but literally within seconds my hand swelled up like a balloon and my fingers became very difficult to move.

A call down to the house brought ice and a wet rag to clean it up. SWMBO was at the store, but promptly came home to take me to the emergency room. It looked real bad, and I was visualizing six to eight weeks in a cast. Even with ice applied within two to three minuted after the accident, my hand was swollen up like I had a golf ball stuck under my skin.

We made it through the emergency room in short order. The very good news is that I did not break any bones. The doctor figures I broke open a few of the large veins that run just under the surface. So, while it looks real bad, and feels the same, I should be back in the shop in days instead of weeks.

I don't know that there is anything I could have done differently beyond having the board clamped down as well as against a fence and a stop, but who does that for repetitive drilling operations? I do not know that this will change any of my work habits, but I just may hold onto things even tighter (if that is possible). Now it is off to happy land for a while. The good doctor gave me some good pills, and I can see by the number of corrections I have had to make to my spelling that it is already taking effect.

Bill