After 30 years in business I finally stuck my thumb in the balde of a table saw!
11 Stitches!
I'd post a photo but you really don't want to see what a carbide blade does to flesh!
Posted by mike meyer (Member # 542) on :
Congrats! How about the other thumb? Is it still there?
Posted by Darcy Baker (Member # 8262) on :
It doesn't hurt much but looks a mess.Years ago I got 44 stitches on my leg from a worm drive with a rip blade.Only did that once. I feel your pain.
Posted by Joe Golden (Member # 6870) on :
Sends shivers down my spine man. Glad your OK!!
My son asked the other day why I made a comb lick push stick for cutting wood on my table saw, I think you should post the pic so I can so him your thumb rather then having to see his own one day.
I truely am sorry but so glad it was only 11 stitches.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Darcy...I know what you mean...did that in 1952 while building a roof over the 2nd story! Mine took 56 stiches....been very careful ever since!
[ May 21, 2008, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: Si Allen ]
Posted by Joey Madden (Member # 1192) on :
I will never forget the time I stabbed myself in the forehead with a #1 Grumbacher sword in which the blood was dripping down my face and onto the floor. I was 10 years old at the time and my dad grabbed my arm and told me never to thin my paint again and to wipe the red paint from the floor. I still today thank God that I never have to use a table saw in my line of work.
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
i have a radial arm saw.....and right near it so i see it everytime i use..i got a little sign... BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID))))))
Posted by Kissymatina (Member # 2028) on :
I'm glad you're ok and I thank you for NOT posting picts.
My table saw scares the bejeebers out of me. It's been sitting in the corner thinking about what it did for about a year now.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Ouch! 30 years is a long time...I've got five more years to go....and I'm prone to daydream. But so far, I think about my guitar playing every time I get my hands near the blade and I use a wooden push stick. The band saw and mitresaw make me think of guitars too.... and Skilsaws make me think of femoral arteries. Posted by Jon Butterworth (Member # 227) on :
Arggggggh! But then "no brain ... no pain"
Over the years I've had my fair share of slice and dice. Left fore finger and thumb have a large number of battle scars from acto knives!
Worst accident I ever saw was an apprentice drilling holes in a steel frame. Drill snapped the tip off and he plunged the rest right thru the centre of his left thumbnail.
Panic stations while we tried to take the drill off the bit. Don't know how they removed the rest in hospital, but I bet his eyes were smarting.
Posted by Monte Jumper (Member # 1106) on :
How do you tell a good carpenter after 30 years?
He still has 10 digits!
Glad it wasn't worse ...I drove a piece of white oak half way thru my hand from a "kickback" a few years back so I know your pain.
Oh and for those of you that are afaid of power saws...stay away from them but if you use choose to respect them then use them carefully and there is no need for fear...at least til you try to cut off yer thumb like Vic did.
Posted by Lee McKee (Member # 3533) on :
I nearly cut my finger off when I was a teenager. I sunk a circular saw blade into my finger length wise, straight down the middle - through the knuckle. Passed out on the way to the hospital. Something like 275 stiches. Till this day, everytime I hear a power saw crank my skin crawls and my eye starts to twich. Needless to say I am VERY resectful of power tools now and have not had an accident since.
Posted by Steve Purcell (Member # 1140) on :
Years back, a kickback forced my left palm onto a 3/4" dado stack - I'll never do that again.
Guys in the shop nearly passed out when they saw it. Posted by Deb Fowler (Member # 1039) on :
Oh Come on you guys. Try getting a doberman pincer attack your leg and then tear it away to get it grabbed again. That's when I hit it with my purse! 26 stitches and a quarter inch from my artery. ...that was 1977. I never did mess up with a saw yet, and have run five types: don't want to find out! Take care!
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
I did a little thumb trimming with a band saw one time--no stitches and surprisingly little blood.
I saw a radial saw with a shaper head drive a piece of wood through the wall of a friend's garage about 35 years ago and it made quite an impression on me, if not the wall.
I'm very cautious around my saws.
Posted by Jon Butterworth (Member # 227) on :
My pet hate (and major concern) is Angle Grinders!
Here in OZ they don't have a "Dead mans switch" ,,, that means switch them on they stay on.
The most lethal weapon in any shop.
Grinding a steel sign frame ... phone call ,,, switch grinder off and at the wall socket. Apprentice comes along to finish the job while I'm busy, Switches on grinder. No go, switched off at the wall.
Lays grinder down on soft top stool I had been sitting on and switches on at the wall!!!
8" angle grinder goes 20ft across the shop and the stool about same the other way!
ANY power tool demands respect and understanding!
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
I shared a wood shop with a guy that had a habit of throwing his scraps on the floor in front of the saw and standing on them as he worked. He'd often clean up when the pile seemed worthy. I'd often straddle the pile. This procedure and the mix of ripping some long, wet, heavy lumber cased my had to drop into the blade severing my thumb through the joint. Th joys of modern surgery put it back together. Had there been a guard on the saw this would not have happened, nor would I have been able to work the saw. I still have the safety equipment removed so I can use it, and try to keep the work area clean.
Posted by Barb. Shortreed (Member # 1730) on :
Thanks Tony for reminding us all just how dangerous table saws can be.
Glad to hear you still have your thumb and I sure hope it mends fast.
We have a old table saw that Steve's grandfather gave us years ago and every time it is turned on I remind everyone to BE CAREFUL.
Posted by Tony Vickio (Member # 2265) on :
The funny thing about it was, the whole time I was using the saw I kept thinking of getting cut! I shut the saw off and didn't wait for the blade to stop. I flipped the lever on the guide to move it and grabbed onto the center of it. The bale was higher than usual and my thumb laid right on it. To be honest, the needles in the end of my thumb to numb it hurt worse than the saw did! The doctor said I was in second place that day. A guy ahead of me got himself with a "carpet knife"!
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
What took ya so long?
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
It took about 30 years, but I finally did it too--glued my fingers big time with superglue today.
My wife, daughter, and I were doing volunteer work at my grandson's school the last couple days helping set up the new computers for the staff and classrooms. We were unpacking, assembling, delivering, plugging everything in, loading printer drivers.
This afternoon, my daughter and I were installing the cable locks, which involve using super glue to install some brackets onto the CPU and monitor. After going through numerous tubes of super glue on this project, I didn't notice that the last tube I used was leaking at the back. As I squirted glue on the brackets, it was also oozing out the back and firmly glued the tube to my fingers. No one had any nail polish remover or acetone so after a half hour, I had to carefully pry the tube off my fingers without glueing any more of my body to it. I didn't lose any major chunks of skin but my fingers are a little raw.
I guess a table saw would have taken that tube off but I don't think I want to try that method.
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