Don't just think about the cut. *Gore warning*

Well, just got bitten by the saw.

I've got a hammer c3-31 combo machine with a sliding table. I consider myself to be pretty safe when it comes to using it. I always have the guard just above the timber as I did in this instance but that only works when there's a piece of timber in the machine :).

Here's the story. I've been making cabinets out of ply for my house renovation for the last 3 months. So far I've broken down nearly 60 sheets and never have my hands anywhere near the blade as the ply is always clamped down to the slider as with this time. Here's the way the scene looked just after the accident.

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/...5495041B4B.jpg

As always I was focused on the cut. I went to remove the offcut and my hand slipped under the blade guard into the blade. First I knew som`ething2 was wrong was the ringing noise from the saw blade. I'm still not 100% sure how it happened but all I can think is after the cut my focus moved from the blade to the off cut.

Broken finger and the tip is a pretty mangled mess but they have managed to put something together that'll resemble a finger tip.

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/...348B013FBB.jpg

Guess the message from this is, don't just think about the safety of the cut. You need focus through the whole process.

We live and learn (hopefully).

Dale

Hope you cleaned the blood off the blade before it rusts. :;

Dale's misfortune should remind us all of the potential danger lurking every time we use our machines. I hope it heals well for you.

The blood on the saw blade is one thing but picking the soft tissue out of the inside of the safety guard was a little bit harder to deal with...

"Where were you when I needed you, you pathetic piece of plastic!!!)

Hope you heal well

Hope it heals soon Dale, it'll be one fingernail less to trim now. I know how easy it's done, I've got 11 fingernails now :?. Was doing some trenching on the Triton, just finished doing a cut and one of the dogs barked behind me, 4 stitches in the fleshy part of the finger, and none anywhere else, the saw nicked the tip, over the nail and back to the knuckle.
Dogs aren't allowed in the shed anymore.
Kryn

I can usually handle gore but that photo made my toes curl!!

I hope you heal well and heal fast. Injury is always a double whammy - 1st the trauma aspect and everything around that, but then 2ndly just being out of action for a period of time really sucks!

Jane

Had a similar incident few years ago... damage was on a much smaller scale than yours (lucky me).. I've removed all of the skin from the tip of my thumb... it took about 4 month for tingling sensation to quiet. And damage was done the same way as you.. while removing piece of offcut... I was lucky that in due process I've managed to touch the blade sideways rather from the front... It all happened so quickly...
I thing the main issue is while doing something repetitious for extended period of time your brain goes into the cruise mode... And of course damage happened on a last run of the wood... I've ripped about 60 metres of timber and did the damage on last few runs.. was like ahh just quickly nudge this piece so I can finish the job and move onto another part.. and bang...off to emergency department...

I feel your pain... even now with the weather change.. thumb is tingling... lost a bit of a feel and fair bit of finger print but luckily nothing major...
One way I've reduced this risk is to replace old saw with the sawstop.. lets hope I never test it.. :)

Anyway.. wishing you speedy recovery...
Alen

[emoji16]

Good luck with the healing process.

I will now attempt to release my sphincter after looking at that photo.

[emoji30]

Thats some nice ply you're cutting :)

Lucky you aren't a PC gamer. That finger is needed for your Left Lean or Strafe Left. You wouldn't last 3 seconds in Counter Strike now!

Dale,

What's the verdict on the finger?

Hope all goes well for you. I did something probably a bit worse than that and you don't forget.

Just look at my profile for the original pic.

Been here for nearly 12 years. This image is by far the worst I've seen and I don't want to see it again. Get well soon.

Hope you get a good surgeon & you heal fast.

Very easy to do - yuk!

Sadly it only takes one small moment of inattention.

I have seen many mates & acquaintances over the years who have mangled fingers in everything from using fingers to support/stabilize thin bowls while turning on a wood lathe, radial arm docking saws, band saws, table saws, electric planers, jointers, angle grinders fitted with "meat axe blades", portable electric saws - all of them have been gruesome and life changing. Worst is a toss up between a client of my fathers who loved Dads DeWalt RADS in the 1970's when we built the client a house. A matter of a few weeks later he was missing all fingers down to the palm and most of his thumb after feeding them into the RADS while ripping timber; OR a mate who managed to strip the skin off a considerable part of his right leg with an electric planer as he swung the running planer towards his side.

A timely reminder that the machines we all use are not toys.

A moment of inattention, distraction or getting tired and in less than a second we can be bitten.

Hope you recover quickly and that there are no lasting issues.

Bloody ouch @ Bleeder....

Thanks for the well wishes people. Needed some sympathy from people that know what it's like :)

I debated about whether to put this up but I figured the more people that think about it, the less chance there is of it happening to someone else.

The thing I really wanted to drive home is that we all get into all these safety devices for the cut like push sticks, grrripers etc but it's easy to forget that the danger is still happily spinning around after the cut until you turn it off.

I won't be playing any counterstrike Evanism but I just bought a steering wheel and Forza 6. Can't let this 2 weeks go to waste!