Do not open if squeamish

[Fumbler]

This happened the Friday before last, trying to trim .05mm from a piece of timber on a table saw with the safety guard removed. I was trying to take it down marginally. I had run through twice and just needed a hair more, so I put a piece of tape on the side and pushed it through. I had a push stick in my right hand, but not my left. Don't ask why but I thought the piece kicked up. I reached out and down and thought I was clear of the blade, I thought wrong. I ended up ruining the hand surgeons Friday night as he ended up stitching me up at 10pm on a Friday night.

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Stitches come out Tomorrow (Wednesday) and then 6weeks of intense therapy

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Atleast i I can't be accused of sitting around with my thumb up my a-se. Hahaha

and please pile on the accolades of stupidity, I deserve every one of them.

I'm definitely not the first, nor will I be the last but please, take care and use a gripper, even the full priced one is cheap in comparison to the possible loss of a body part.

Fumbler.

[Sir Stinkalot]

A like doesn’t quite seem appropriate for a post like this but these posts certainly serve as a warning for us all. Best of luck with a speedy and hopefully full recovery.

[Chesand]

Certainly a reminder to us all. Could be used as an advert for a certain saw brand.
Speedy recovery.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Stupid? No. I wouldn't say that. As you can now attest, it only takes a moments inattention to screw up in a big way.

Stupid is doing it a second time.

Regrettable? Most certainly!

It looks like you may've escaped any serious nerve damage? Here's to wishing you a full and speedy recovery.

[Fumbler]

Stupid is doing it a second time.

Regrettable? Most certainly!

It looks like you may've escaped any serious nerve damage? Here's to wishing you a full and speedy recovery.

thanks Skew, I got the nerves but maybe not all the way as it tingles like hell. I got the tendon about 80-90% through, 1 more mm and he said he'd have to open my arm up to retrieve it to re-attach. So in essence I was a very lucky man. And now a very much wiser one.

[Cal]

Not good Fumbler, I hope that you recover well. It looks like you are very lucky to still have the thumb. It can happen to anyone, rest up and get back on the horse in due time.
Cheers Cal

[BobL]

Thanks for posting and explaining what happened.
Hope it heals quickly meanwhile organise a good supply of push sticks that you can keep handy.

[soundman]

Be happy you still have a whole thumb.

[LanceC]

I'm really sorry to read this Fumbler. I wish you a speedy recovery. Make sure you've got a buddy that you can offload on from time to time.

All the best,
Lance

[Mobyturns]

Never good to hear of an injury to a fellow wood worker. I wish you a speedy recovery.

Thank you for sharing your experience to refresh the memory of others that table saws and other cutting machinery, including metal, have "no go zones" for human appendages.

Folks please NEVER do this!!!

[BobL]

In case you have't followed the chainsaw chaps thread , that's me in that photo and if all you see is the photo then I agree - definitely don't do it.

However, before you all get over excited that is not an angle grinder driving that wheel but a variable speed drive bench grinder running at slow speed. Unlike standard toothed blades running through wood, at slow wheel speed the bench grinder with the thin kerf wheel cuts 3mm thick mild steel quite slowly ie about 1/2 to 1 mm per second. It's absolutely no use pushing any harder as it simply won't cut any faster and just bogs the wheel down so much so that it stops cutting, so the work piece pressures used are light.

Just to put things into perspective I cut a couple of chicken necks with it at the slow speed - would anyone care to speculate how quickly it cut through them?

I am very familiar wth how quickly toothed saws cut through meat and bone as I use my WW BS twice a week to cut up the dogs bones and every time I do it I imagine my fingers going through these blades. For comparison the WW bandsaw cuts the chicken necks in half in a fraction of a second. ie as fast as I can push it past the blade.

BTW I don't recommend any one does any of this sort of thing including cut tests on chicken necks or bones or uses any machinery if they are not comfortable with doing it. For those that are interested I use a 6 tpi blade on the BS to cut the bones.

Interesting that when I posted the same photo in the metal work forum no one mentioned anything. Probably because metal workers are quite used to hold workpieces up against grinders, linishers and wire wheels. The main reason for showing the original photo was to show the significant spark capture possible for this sort of slow speed cutting using a DC connected to a metal dust catching chamber.

[Chesand]

I am very familiar wth how quickly toothed saws cut through meat and bone as I use my WW BS twice a week to cut up the dogs bones and every time I do it I imagine my fingers going through these blades.

Same here whenever I cut large dog bones in half - it is a gentle reminder to watch and keep fingers well away from the blade.

Also keep the guides as low as possible to allow the bones to just pass through.

[BobL]

Photo or video is not what it seems?

Back in 2010 I was doing a lot of chainsawing and my chains got really gummed up so I was looked around for an easy way of cleaning them and came up with a chain cleaning gizmo that uses a portable drill to drive a chain around its bar and made a video of it working.

If you are not interested in details, skip through to the 1 minute mark where it's running and you can see me touch the running chain with my bare hands.

Not gingerly like, but placing all my fingers on it.



The chain is of course running backwards, plus the slow speed of the drill (~1500 rpm) is what allows me to do this safely.

I since discovered diesel. Now when I finish a cut and before I refuel and re-oil I liberally spray the gum on the chain with diesel and most of the baked on gum falls off at the start of the next cut.

BTW if you decide to try this you absolutely have to have the the chain running slowly and backwards!

Failure to do this will cause this.
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This one is staged - that some Marri gum on my hands. I got tired of my BIL repeated sending me pics of the staples on his back from his various back operations that I sent him this.

[Chesand]

That should have solved the BIL problem.

[woodPixel]

Be sure to treat yourself well while that heals. What a very lucky man you are. A few more mm, or the wrong reflex action and.... eeeeee.

Can we have updates on your recovery?