Add me to the missing digit list!!!

[jzarski1]

It's only a partial amputation says the Doc. Hit it on the table router. To all of you who think it can't happen to you.....it can. I was that guy until today. Don't have pictures yet. Will try and get a few on Wednesday when I go see the Orthopedic. They said I will need a skin Graf to cover the exposed bone. It sucks so bad, and I just ordered new pinions for my machine today. Guess it will have to wait. Off the lala land with a little white pill:p

John:mad:

[steve_g]

"Hit it on the table router"


That's what got me... doing something I had done a thousand times before.
The Orthopedic surgeon wanted to wait ten days to see what meat was dead and what lived... ten days was when it stopped hurting and I wouldn't let him near it!

Sorry it happened to you...

SG

[MogulTx]

John!

I am so sorry! I wouldn't want to wish that on anybody! I did this with a table router in approximately 1981.... I blew up the tip of my right thumb. I was yound and it healed rather nicely... I hope your issue will too.

Get well quickly! Get back to botting!

Monty

[gene]

There is only two types of woodworkers .
1 Those who have been cut by a saw or tool
2 those who will be cut by a saw or tool

I am a #1

[myxpykalix]

I have not had any MAJOR cuts just minor ones and I think it is because of the examples that my woodshop and metalshop teachers showed us...

They BOTh were missing fingers! I also had a customer who used to be a meatcutter who only had half a middle finger...sounds like somebody got a treat in their hamburger meat:eek:

[Greencarvings]

Lately you guys have really been scaring me!:eek:

[pkirby]

I'm sorry to hear that and I hope you have a quick recovery.

Do you guys, who have had accidents on the router table, mind sharing what exactly happened and what you do now to avoid it? I'm still relatively new to woodworking, so anything I can glean from you guys is always appreciated.

[adrianm]

Sorry to hear this. I hope you make as full a recovery as you can.

Accidents nearly always happen when we're doing something we've done a thousand times before so we're not as aware as we were the first few times.

The scar halfway through my left forefinger and the complete lack of feeling in it always reminds me to be careful these days....

[gene]

Paul,
They touched a spinning cutter , DONT DO THAT !
sorry i couldnt resist that:eek:

[steve_g]

Paul

"Do you guys, who have had accidents on the router table, mind sharing what exactly happened"

I was not unfamiliar with industrial accidents. I was in every shop class offered and sought out unique summer employment opportunities. I even got my degree in industrial education. I always talked to the men I worked with about their missing digits and was even on investigation teams to clean up the aftermath. A common thread seemed to be "a moment of inattention". As a plant engineer I tried to make my setups "brainless" because even the best employee is numbed by repetition.

In my case... A lifetime of abuse has caused my hands to become stiff and arthritic, clenching a fist is impossible. I've lost the strength I once had in my grip and my reaction times aren't what they used to be... all this happened so slowly over time as to be unrecognized by the male ego. All the "super safe" setups I had become known for... those were for "employees" and not me! I was too smart to get hurt.

It was a part just a little smaller than normal... a bracelet that needed the inside edges rounded over. My grip was poor and the middle finger doesn't tuck in like it should... BOOM, the realization that I've become an old man is thrown in my face in an instance of time!


"and what you do now to avoid it?"

Number one... Attitude. I now know I personally can get injured... I'm not too "smart" to get hurt! The tool doesn't care who you are or how smart you think you are or how badly your ego will be bruised by a missing digit. Number two, age has limitations... For example, I order full sheets of material (like 3/4" MDF) pre cut into blank sizes. My Bot is a 48X48 and I can't cut full sheets anyway. This eliminates a wrestling match at the table saw of my one man shop. Three, make more use of jigs and push sticks. I now have a holder for bracelets and actually use my push sticks on the table and band saw.

If I had employees, I would have a "Saw stop" table saw. As it is, for just me I should have one but I'm having issues with the cost as I'm transitioning from production to hobby and own a very fine cabinet saw.

I apologize for rambling... if this helps anyone become more aware of safety issues, I'm glad!

Now, can anyone help me? how do I remember to remove the zero clearance throat plate on the table saw before crank that new blade to 45°?

SG

[jzarski1]

I'm sorry to hear that and I hope you have a quick recovery.

Do you guys, who have had accidents on the router table, mind sharing what exactly happened and what you do now to avoid it? I'm still relatively new to woodworking, so anything I can glean from you guys is always appreciated.

Everything above is great advice. Exactly what was stated above happened. My wife and cut and route 10+ sheets of .5 MDF a day. All those parts go through the .125 round over process. This is where I got complacent, the repetitive process and the fact that the parts have to ship ASAP caused me to grab for the next piece before the one in my hand was done. My advice is treat the tool with the caution you would the first time you used it. O yeah and I will tell you that the pain of this injury sucks!!!!!!!! It's like how Chinese torture would be, a constant sharp pain every 3-4 seconds.

John

[feinddj]

Sorry about your clipped digit. I must agree with all the comments before, especially the two kinds of wood workers. I caught a finger in a circ saw and luckly, it was just hamburgered and healed up just fine.

I had a friend whose father was a safety expert. He testified at trials. His normal line was, This accident could not have happened if the guards were in place. That was true of 95% of the cases.

I don't ever work while distracted. Its just a recipe for disaster. Think about what you are doing, not about what happens in ten minutes or should have happened last week.

As to scaring people, as a 30 year veteran of theatre and film construction, I stopped telling those stories as it put people off their meals for a while. The reason we tell them is so that maybe, just maybe, someone who hasn't been in the business as long will listen and not do what we did.

David

[myxpykalix]

The main thing you have to do is turn the volume up and listen to the "common sense channel" when it's playing in the background:eek:

Many times my intuition has said.."stop what you are doing"" as i'm pushing that piece of wood between a fence and a spinning blade on the tablesaw with my fingers because i can't find a pushstick and i just want to finish.

I turn the saw off and go find something even if its a stick. One of the reasons I like centurions bits is that its is a cylindrical bit that doesn't have "wings" that you are more likely not to see because they are spinning.

[pkirby]

Thanks for the advice. I have a Table Saw safety question that made me nervous yesterday as I was ripping some 2x4s into 2x2s. I was also using a featherboard before the blade to keep it tight against the fence. As I got near the end of the rip, the wood would bend away from the fence behind the blade (see attached pic). So in an effort to keep it going straight, I reached behind the blade to hold it tight against the fence. It made me nervous because it just doesn't seem like a good idea but I don't know how to otherwise hold it tight against the fence. Any suggestions?

15639

[mtylerfl]

Thanks for the advice. I have a Table Saw safety question that made me nervous yesterday as I was ripping some 2x4s into 2x2s. I was also using a featherboard before the blade to keep it tight against the fence. As I got near the end of the rip, the wood would bend away from the fence behind the blade (see attached pic). So in an effort to keep it going straight, I reached behind the blade to hold it tight against the fence. It made me nervous because it just doesn't seem like a good idea but I don't know how to otherwise hold it tight against the fence. Any suggestions?

15639

Perhaps adding a Riving Knife attachment would help. Maybe your saw model has that accessory readily available - worth a check.

[adrianm]

I have the fence on my table saw set so that it's at a very, very slight angle getting wider towards the back. Less than half a mm difference between front and back so it's not noticeable on cuts but it makes a lot of difference to the likelihood of a cut binding up.

I always use the riving knife as well.

[bobmoore]

As a plant manager in manufacturing for many years I was in direct contact with the escalating medical, litigation, and insurance costs of injuries. Serious accidents are getting expensive enough to threaten a company's very existence. During the last 10 years or so of my career I actually had a six inch rule where employees caught with a body part within 6 inches of an exposed cutting tool was subject to strict diciplinary proceedures( it even included box cutters and razor knives). There was almost always a way to accomplish a task without threatening body parts and if not the job would be handed back to me.
I am not trying to pick on anyone and I feel bad for the injured botters, I am just trying to give some perspective to those not familiar with the cost of injuries.
Bob

[jzarski1]

What is a solution to my situation? Let's say I am cutting circles 3.25" dia. on the Bot. What can I do with the Bot that will reduce work on the table router. Each circle has to have .125 round over edges on both sides. What can I do on the bot so I can get a 100% finished part?????

John

[myxpykalix]

John people will likely not see this. You would be better off starting your own thread so more people will see it. I'm not sure i understand your question.

If what you want to do is have the bot run your roundover toolpath rather then doing it manually on the router that can be done by inputting the diameter of your round over tool in your tool dastabase in whatever pgm you use.

Then taking the vectors for your cutout circle, choosing that tool for cutting, setting your depth and making the profile toolpath.

Ask as a new thread and you'll get other replies that might be better then mine and if you don't understand (guys would write "shopbot shorthand") that i didn't understand (like this) and if you need more info i'll explain it in more detail:D

[genek]

That is not a good idea.... Never reach across a table saw...

[genek]

Accidents will happen... No matter how careful one is... No one is at their peak at all times of the day... Most of you know i am still recovering from an accident with the cnc... I went through 7 conflicts or wars, never got injured.. Spent 30 years in the military... Been retired since 03 had grown up working in my grandfather and dads wood shop... Seen boards fly across the room and fingers get removed...
I thought i had learned all there was to learn about safety... Lol
the morning of my accident. Everything was going great... Until the board split off a section... I turned off the router with the kill button. Reached down and started to pick out the split section and it jerked my right hand under and into the router bit.. (my finger stopped the bit.)
my hand at the time of the accident was at least 10 to 14 inches away from the router... What i learned from this lesson is to wait till all moving parts come to a complete stop...
Like some of the other guys said. There are only two types of wood workers.. One that have been hurt and those that are going to be...

Look at the bright side... You got bragging rights now...
Tell the dr to put some butter on it... That way you can have a butter finger..lol learn and move on..
They finally took out my stitches thrusday... A section came out like they thought it would... Plastic surgen want to wait and see how close the open section grows back... Then he will close it... Until then i keep the brace on for the broken finger wash it and soak it . I asked if i could return to working in the shop.. He said it was up to how much i could handel... So i am back in the shop running product... A little wiser..

[bleeth]

I'm very glad that at least so far Eugene, the surgery's results seem good. It takes so little of an error to have major problems result. I could go on for hours with the shop stories of stupid errors in operation I have seen. I even had my men sign a document accepting a 100 dollar fine if they were caught using the sliding saw incorrectly.
Paul-the biggest issue you are facing is there are so many "rules" and so many things that can happen that the advantage lies only with those who have spent years in shops where there were more experienced men keeping an eye out for their blunders. Although it nearly doesn't exist today, and in fact didn't exist for me when I went into the industry where I worked, there is virtually no apprenticeship program or even proper OJT in most places for our trade. As a fairly new woodworker in your own shop the best advice I can come up with overall is if any particular move makes you nervous there is probably a reason!!
Experiences differ. For example, I have never used a riving knife in my life although I recognize them as a very good, though limited, tool. So many types of wood have a tendancy to curl at least somewhat (try white oak) and end up binding past the blade that I came to a different answer for this one. As soon as the blade starts to be affected by the friction I turn the saw off and, of course, continue to hold my workpiece until the blade stops. Then I'll either wedge it and restart the saw (again while holding my part the correct way) or flip the part end to end and restart the cut from the othe end.
By the way, if your stop button can't be hit with your knee move it! Cabinet saws, even the 3HP Basic models can eat your hand in a heartbeat and kickback a board that will cause much damage quicker than you can move. The general rule is to keep your eyes on the contact between your workpiece and the fence as this is where the problems start. Watching the blade is useless.

[cabnet636]

been cut here as well,, i call it the "numb thumb club"

after it began to heal i wrote the paychecks for the fellows and off they went to the bank, shortly i got a call from the bank manager asking me to come down ansign a new "signature card" as my hand writing had changed!!

[myxpykalix]

Makes you want to save up for a SawStop huh? Here is something that is comperable in function but I don't think it is available yet:
http://www.whirlwindtool.com/

[beacon14]

I added an overarm blade guard to my tablesaw some years ago and I have a strict rule, no human flesh under the red hood for any reason, even when the saw is off! Just to make sure no one (mainly me) gets in the habit of reaching under to remove an offcut or something without realizing the blade is spinning. Fortunately we don't use the tablesaw as much as we used to. I also keep push sticks and a long hooked stick within easy reach, so I can grab one without letting go of the workpiece if I start to get nervous during a cut.

If you have to reach around the blade I would only do that with a long stick - my hand would not go past the front of the blade in that situation. Dave's ideas are even better.

All that said the two times I've needed stitches in my hands (aside from surgery for "trigger finger") were from hand tools, one was a nice sharp chisel (lesson learned - never push the chisel towards another part of your own body! - should have learned that in Boy Scouts). The other was an angle grinder, for whatever reason, I grabbed the tool, turned it on, then started positioning it to make the cut and wrapped my hand around the handle in such a way that the end of my pinkie wrapped past the shroud and into the disc. I was very lucky to not lose the end of my finger, although I did manage to cut the bone clean in two. I guess the lesson there is to plan the work, and don't turn anything on until you have your hands in the right place to get the job done. It still bothers me, only a little physically but mostly mentally knowing I was dumb enough to do that.

[pkirby]

It still bothers me, only a little physically but mostly mentally knowing I was dumb enough to do that.

Don't feel too bad, about 2 years ago I managed to shoot a framing nail through my big toe:eek: It was a cheap campbell hausfield framing gun that weighed around 16 pounds. After using it all day, my arm was a little sloppy and I missed the board completely that I was holding down with my foot. The worse part was pulling out the nail. Needless to say, I went out the very next day and bought a much nicer framing gun that only weighed 7 pounds so I would have better control of where I was pointing that thing:D

[harryball]

That hurts to hear. I've been very fortunate, nicked a couple of times with the most serious being a disc sander of all things. Sanded the tip of my finger off (about 1/8") and remarkably it has all grown back.

Hope you have a good recovery and it can all be a memory with a souvenir that won't impact life too badly.

/RB

[genek]

Mr. Zarski: Have some fun with your accident... I have made jokes about my accident as well as a few on here... But the best ones to do... Is when someone asked what happened to your finger. Tell them that you wife or girl friend got so excited during sex she bit it off. My wife got so red in the face when i told a waitress that......
Be sure to ask your dr if he thinks you can play the piano ... If he says yes tell him he is a great dr... You never played the piano before.
The way i looked at my accident was to learn from it.. I could not go back and undo what i did.. So i moved on and made jokes to ease the pain and to have fun...

[jzarski1]

Mr. Zarski: Have some fun with your accident... I have made jokes about my accident as well as a few on here... But the best ones to do... Is when someone asked what happened to your finger. Tell them that you wife or girl friend got so excited during sex she bit it off. My wife got so red in the face when i told a waitress that......
Be sure to ask your dr if he thinks you can play the piano ... If he says yes tell him he is a great dr... You never played the piano before.
The way i looked at my accident was to learn from it.. I could not go back and undo what i did.. So i moved on and made jokes to ease the pain and to have fun...


Hahahaha:D

Thank you for that. I just left the doctor and got ok news. He cleaned it up and cut all the dead stuff off. Said that we will have to wait till next Wednesday to see if the tissue starts to heal. If not then they will have to cut the top of my finger off :eek: not excited about that news. So it's a waiting game.

John

[myxpykalix]

One of my uncles had his finger cut off down to the first knuckle and when we were real young he would show us this trick where he could stick his finger in his ear all the way down his ear and we finally figured out that he didn't have a finger! We kept trying to stick our fingers in our ears that deep:eek:

(Hey I was five years old at the time!:D)

[shilala]

Sorry for not introducing myself yet, I haven't found the proper place yet. :)

I only have two numb fingertips left, all the feeling came back in my ring finger. I had pushed a piece of wood all the way through the table saw when it kicked back, literally slapping my fingertips into the blade. It sawed the pads clean off my ring finger, middle finger, and index finger on my left hand. What a mess.
It hurt, but my first thought was "it's going to take me forever to heal this and it's gonna be a royal pain in the ass."
That was 3 or 4 years ago.
Now I have a beautiful Sawstop Cabinet Saw. I'd pay 3 grand so I could feel those fingers again, in a heartbeat. I am crazy careful nowadays, take my time, wear my PPE, and just enjoy not bleeding. :D

[twelchPTM]

There is only two types of woodworkers .
1 Those who have been cut by a saw or tool
2 those who will be cut by a saw or tool

I am a #1

Personally I believe your not really a wood worker until you've been cut (or nailed or screwed to something).

"where did you get that lovely red colored stain?"
-"that's not stain...."

[twelchPTM]

What is a solution to my situation? Let's say I am cutting circles 3.25" dia. on the Bot. What can I do with the Bot that will reduce work on the table router. Each circle has to have .125 round over edges on both sides. What can I do on the bot so I can get a 100% finished part?????

John

Round over end mills, following either the same vector or an offset of the vector for your circles

[dlcw]

Right on with the round over bits. I cut thousands of 4" circles for a sports plaque company and I use a .126" roundover and then cut the circles out with a .1875" downcut. Works great.