Another short fingered forumite

Well I never thought it would happen to me............., but here I sit with one of my fingers shorter than it was when I woke up yesterday.:((

I was putting in some new cupboards in the back room adjoining the laundry yesterday.
I had them all finished, just had to scribe and trim the edging strips to go against both end walls. I had been using the handheld planer to trim things all day, but thought it would be quicker to do these in the shed.

Went and cut close to the line on the bandsaw, and started cleaning up the edges on the jointer. Usually i am extra carefull using the jointer, always mindful where my fingers are, keeping them away from the blades.
I had finished one piece and almost done on the second one, I thought one more run through and I would go and check them for fit.
Well all I can remember was the bang, and the realisation that my finger had just been whacked by the blades.
I had a look, it was cut halfway through the nail on my middle finger, left hand.:o

I grabbed a rag and wrapped it up, turned off the jointer and cyclone. Luckily my wife was also home, she drove me the 30 minutes to the hospital.

Spent the next 2 and a half hours there, while they fixed it up. Xrays showed the end section of bone was shattered. Luckily there was a flap still attached to the underside, the Dr pulled this over the end and stitched it up, stitches go right through the nail.
He said this should heal OK, as long as it doesnt get infected, in this case they will have to chop the end off.

So this has put me out of action for a while :~.

My wife took a couple of pics at the hospital with her phone. I'll try and load them later on if they are any good ( she took them while looking away) :U

Holy hell. :yikes:

:console: Dose the finger in some strong alcohol, if that doesn't take the pain away then drink the alcohol.

This not the club you want to join. Hope everything turns out ok.

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Originally Posted by Waldo

Holy hell. :yikes:

:console: Dose the finger in some strong alcohol, if that doesn't take the pain away then drink the alcohol.

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Thanks for the advice Waldo, a few stiff rums were in order last night :2tsup:

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Originally Posted by The Bleeder

This not the club you want to join. Hope everything turns out ok.

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I wasn't planning on ever joining this club.

The Dr said he's confident that it will heal OK, as long as infection doesnt set in.

He thoroughly scrubbed the wound clean, he said he's had luck with a few similar cases, so "fingers crossed" it will be all good. :2tsup:

Bloody Nora, Ironwood! Take care of yourself. I've done similar things, though not on a jointer and well remember just how little inattention is required to mangle an appendage. Sincerely hope you recover speedily. I second Waldo's advice, but skip the dunking bit - it might give a funny flavour to it :rolleyes:

If you need a hand with the pen swap, I'm happy to offer. I can either do the swap for you or help finish off a pen you've already started.

Cheers,
Dave

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Originally Posted by Ozkaban

I second Waldo's advice, but skip the dunking bit - it might give a funny flavour to it :rolleyes:

If you need a hand with the pen swap, I'm happy to offer. I can either do the swap for you or help finish off a pen you've already started.

Cheers,
Dave

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I did skip the dunking bit :wink:, The Dr advised not to get the finger wet.
He didnt say I couldn't wet my insides though :D.

Thanks for the offer of help, but I will be right to finish the assembly of one of the ones I have been working on.
Might take me a bit longer than usuall though :rolleyes:.

Ouch

Hope the Dr is lucky with this one as well

I reckon if it happened to me my wife would take the photos in the same way :doh:

Ouch Ironwood. In just a split second a lot of 'ouch'.

Lucky wifey was home to get you to the hospital straight away. Hope you heal quickly.

Oh, I am happy for the bouncer to refuse me entry to 'that' club too.

Cheers
Pops

When something happened with me and the table saw, I got told to drive to the hospital myself and stop looking at the cut because I'll just make it bleed more and get blood on the floor.

:shrug: Some husbands do have 'em.

Bloody Nora, haven't read/heard that one for a long time. :U

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Originally Posted by Waldo

Bloody Nora, haven't read/heard that one for a long time. :U

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it came from an Italian bloke I worked with 10 years back. for some reason it just stuck with me :rolleyes: Sometimes it just sums it all up nicely :2tsup:

Used to hear it as a kid a lot back in the '70's and got into trouble if I said it.

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Originally Posted by Ironwood

...
Well all I can remember was the bang, and the realisation that my finger had just been whacked by the blades.
I had a look, it was cut halfway through the nail on my middle finger, left hand.:o
:U

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Got to reading this bit and had one of them hot flush thingies.

Hope it heals soon.

Ironwood - can I ask how thin these strips were, i.e. how close were your fingers to the blades as the wood passed over the cutterhead?

Hope you mend fast :2tsup:

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Originally Posted by rod1949

Got to reading this bit and had one of them hot flush thingies.

Hope it heals soon.

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Yeah, I went down to the shed before to check things out. rotated the cutterhead on the jointer to see if any bits were still there, got a bit of an uneasy feeling doing that.
No chunks or any blood visible on the blades, must have got sucked into the cyclone:no:.

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Originally Posted by Mr Brush

Ironwood - can I ask how thin these strips were, i.e. how close were your fingers to the blades as the wood passed over the cutterhead?

Hope you mend fast :2tsup:

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The strips were about 30x16mm, one was 900mm long , the other about 1900mm long. I was planing the thin edge.
Through most of the process my fingers were'nt over the blades, as I kept moving my hands on the workpiece to keep them clear.

I vaguely remember the workpiece begin to chatter, I think I moved my hand back closer to the cutterhead to try and reduce this.
My hand may have slipped off the top of the strip because of the chatter. Not sure because it all happened pretty fast.

Ironwood, did you find it hard to remove the bloody stains from the blades? :U

Seriously, I hope you feel better soon.

I did the same thing 33 years ago, Jointer took 5 mm of bone of the end of my left ring finger. Luckily the blades were not sharp enough to completely take the first flap of skin off the end and the docs sewed the flap back up like yours. I remember it was the first and only time I had pethedine - I finally understood something about drug addiction. Last august that finger was again traumatized by being crushed in a goods lift door..

Anyway I hope you recover soon.

Ironwood, that is most unfortunate. I hope it heals quickly and painlessly. Having fed my fingers into a router and a Domino (don't ask) I know it is a bit of a shock and painful.

I guess the bright side is that it was just one finger. Hope it heals quickly and the memory doesn't.

How groggy? Tell us. :D

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Originally Posted by Wongo

Ironwood, did you find it hard to remove the bloody stains from the blades? :U

Seriously, I hope you feel better soon.

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I had a look for blood and chunks not long ago. Blades were clean as a whistle.

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Originally Posted by BobL

I did the same thing 33 years ago, Jointer took 5 mm of bone of the end of my left ring finger. Luckily the blades were not sharp enough to completely take the first flap of skin off the end and the docs sewed the flap back up like yours. I remember it was the first and only time I had pethedine - I finally understood something about drug addiction. Last august that finger was again traumatized by being crushed in a goods lift door..

Anyway I hope you recover soon.

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Sounds pretty similar to mine Bob, even the same finger.
They didnt give me any peth. just some local anisthetic in what they called a ring block. They needle up both sides of the finger, deadened they pain pretty well, and didnt wear off until 3.30am this morning.
They gave me some NO2 (laughing gas) when I first went in, Doesn't that stuff make your head spin :U

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Originally Posted by Groggy

Ironwood, that is most unfortunate. I hope it heals quickly and painlessly. Having fed my fingers into a router and a Domino (don't ask) I know it is a bit of a shock and painful.

I guess the bright side is that it was just one finger. Hope it heals quickly and the memory doesn't.

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Gave me quite a shock at the time allright, the pain didn't kick in for a few moments though.

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Originally Posted by Ironwood

Sounds pretty similar to mine Bob, even the same finger.
They didnt give me any peth. just some local anisthetic in what they called a ring block. They needle up both sides of the finger, deadened they pain pretty well, and didnt wear off until 3.30am this morning.
They gave me some NO2 (laughing gas) when I first went in, Doesn't that stuff make your head spin :U

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I had the ring block when my fingers got crushed then for painkillers they gave me Oxycodone - horrible stuff. It was then I discovered the value of ice as a pain suppressant for a crushing injury and can strongly recommend it.

The pain of it all. Bad luck mate.
I have spent a lifetime using and making all sorts of machinery, some of it very homemade that included a lawn mower made from an aluminium washing bowl, an electic motor and a wooden handle. All of it fairly dangerous stuff. But, and I've read this on these forums, that the thing that usually gets you is the unexpected and least dangerous tool in the workshop.In my case it was the bandsaw, perhaps the safest saw to use. I was lucky enough to lose only the tip of my finger. It was entirely my own fault after trying unsuccessfully to blow a small piece of dust off a cutting line, I moved it with my finger.
I quickly retrieved my finger tip from the floor as the dog started to head towards it.
Don't forget to keep it clean.
SlimAttachment 159919

youch!!!! :o

hope it all heals up o.k for ya ironwood !

least you know youll "probably" never do it again :doh:

Oooo. I scrolled really fast over that last reply. I felt a contraction go all the way from one sphincter to another.

I hope it heals well Ironwood.

I saw a bumper sticker on the way home which I thought was a little appropriate...

"I'm not a complete idiot - some parts of me are missing"

We've all done stupid things in half a moments inattention, but with varying degrees of luck in the outcome. Sincerely hope you heal up ok.

Cheers,
Dave

Awwww nasty. :no: Not good to read about your accident, I hope it heals up quickly mate and your back in the workshop.

holy crap brad:o hope the finger gets better soon

maybe you took the saying " blood sweat and tears " a little to far
,

Just from the description I can almost feel it - not a great feeling.

Keep out the infection and I hope it heals up well - really soon.

I can sympathise with you, I have just got back from the hospital after a doctor sorted out an argument between a circular saw and my left thumb. Hope your finger heals well and quickly without complications.
Jim

What can any of us say?
This one of those occasions none of us anticipate and it only needs just one step in the well worked process to be missing.
Best of luck Ironwood and lets hope the outcome is as good as can possibly be.
Dave

Another one in the club. Its amazing how quickly it happens. Good luck Ironwood. I'll teach you some tricks to freak out the grandkids....

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Originally Posted by Ironwood

My wife took a couple of pics at the hospital with her phone. I'll try and load them later on if they are any good ( she took them while looking away) :U

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:rofl: I have only read the first post in fear of there actually being pictures! :rolleyes: At least you have an excuse for the typos for a while! Hope things go well! :U

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Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Oooo. I scrolled really fast over that last reply. I felt a contraction go all the way from one sphincter to another.

I hope it heals well Ironwood.

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I too had to scroll past fast! Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! I'm not even gonna read about it! :C:rolleyes:

Ouch, Hope it heals up real quick.

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Originally Posted by tea lady

:rofl: I have only read the first post in fear of there actually being pictures! :rolleyes: At least you have an excuse for the typos for a while! Hope things go well! :U

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Sorry to dissapoint with no photos TL :D.
I only use 2 fingers to type normally, so it hasnt slowed me down too much :-.


Went to the Doc for a checkup on Monday, looks OK so far. Booked in to get the stitches out on Friday morning.

I can almost feel the pain. Hope it heals quickly. Take it easy.:2tsup:

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Originally Posted by munruben

I can almost feel the pain. Hope it heals quickly. Take it easy.:2tsup:

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Thanks John.

It only hurts when I bump it :C, and thats quite often trying to do my job:(

Ironwood and EVERYONE please note:

UVEX Bamboo gloves with a cut proof rating of 5 are FAB-U-LARSE. You lose minimum dexterity, they are exceptionally comfortable, and come in five different finishes (no non-slip coating through to full non-slip coating). They last for ages and cost around eighteen bucks. When my current pair finally wear out I'm going to test them in a few different ways (knives, scissors, axe etc) and will post some pics. That could be a while though - they look like crap now, but don't show any signs of expiring (and that's with 2-3 hours a day, every day, for the last eight months).

Only yesterday my dopey left forefinger bumped into a savagely sharp Miebach BP drill spinning at about 1200 rpm, and whilst it gave me a belt of adrenalin :o, I hardly felt anything - just a bit of vibration. Granted that it wouldn't have done a lot of damage without the gloves, but there certainly would have been blood. I even use one on my left hand whilst hand planing (I'm right handed) to save against a cut from the timber edge, and I've been saved a few times.

I use these gloves for many many tasks and they just don't interfere. Available from Blackwoods and others.

Looky hear Profas COM EN

What's more, they are made in Germany - nuff said?

UVEX also make a whole host of other safety equipment, and I'm particularly interested in getting a helmet and perhaps a baseball cap.

Regards, Brett

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Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Only yesterday my dopey left forefinger bumped into a savagely sharp Miebach BP drill spinning at about 1200 rpm, . . . . .

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I'd be very, very careful about using any gloves around anything spinning at any decent rpm. The only spinning power tools I use with gloves are angle grinders and a chainsaws and that's because I never put my hands anywhere near the spinny bits.

Besides they wouldn't help a jot against a set of jointer blades.

Hi Bob, is that because the gloves (and fingers) could be drawn in? It's a tough choice eh?

I wonder what the OH&S eggspurts have to say on this matter.