Safety requires constant vigilance

psargeant · Post by **psargeant** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:42 am

A couple of weeks ago a fellow "Shopsmith addict" woodworking friend and neighbor of mine lost parts of his "bird" and "ring" fingers to his Shopsmith Mark V mounted planer. He began planing some walnut and heard an unusual noise. He lifted the front cover guard off the planer and carelessly placed his hand into the cutter blades as he looked to see where the noise was coming from. My friend is in his late 70's and his eyes evidently failed to observe the cutter blades as they were whirling around dangerously exposed when he lifted the cover guard. He said that it occurred so fast it took several seconds for him to realize what had happened. He has been woodworking with his Shopsmith equipment for at least 30 years and this is the first accident he has had. I know he has mentally relived this incident over and over again wishing he had shut the machine off first before proceeding to troubleshoot the problem. I post this here as a reminder to all that woodworking has attendant dangers that require constant vigilance on our part to insure we do not injure life and limb.
I am happy to report that my friend is healing and is back in his shop finishing the project he was working on when this accident happened although he admits it is taking some getting used to the "hole" in his hand as he reaches to grab hold of something and satisfying an itch in the tip of his injured fingers by scratching the back side of the lower joint.
Sarge

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:29 am

Great Advice! Always Always shut the machine down before you open or remove a safety cover.

I learned that lesson early in life. When I was a young lad we had a lawn tractor and it was my job to maintain it, mow the lawn, and culivate the garden. I was having a problem with a slipping belt (belt was worn and needed replaced) and I had determined I could jerry rig it by tightening the idler pulley. Simple enough until I watched my finger go around the pulley under the belt. Talk about HURT, let me tell you that put me on my knees. Lucky for me being young my bones more or less bent instead of being cut or broken but I lived most of the summer with a one finger that was a very interesting color and having a v shaped bend in it. I will say it gave me an air of notoriety being the only kid with finger with such a bend.
Did I mention it hurt?
Since that day I have never tried to adjust anything running, with one exception. The timing on the car, and I learned another lesson from that. When I was all done, my wife said what did you do to your shirt. I was wearing an unbuttoned shirt and tail on one side had the undeniable tale tale marks of having been running through the fan belt. I was sick when I thought about what could have happened. Lesson learned never, never work on machinery with loose clothing.
Ed

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:42 am

When I was in JR High shop class, I witnessed a class mate with long hair lose some of it when she was operating a drill press. It happens sooo fast.

Don't take shortcuts and try to think of all the things that can go wrong before turning that switch to on.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:07 am

Yes, The brain must be in gear before you can save your body parts.

jma · Post by **jma** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:22 am

When I was 14 or 15, framing a house with my Dad, I wired the blade guard open on a circular saw to more quickly cut a bunch of fire blocking. After going at it for a while, I set the saw down on the deck before it was finished turning. The blade walked the saw across the plywood subfloor, then cut through my boot ankle and two pairs of socks before it touched skin. It only left a fine, white scratch on my ankle, but scared the heck out of me.

In the many (many...) years since then, whenever I’m tempted to ignore or modify the safety equipment on any power tool, I try to remember that day, or think of various friends who have lost fingers, limbs, or LIFE doing something thoughtless. Sometimes we need a little fear to keep us safe - it only takes that one second of inattention to thoroughly mess up a life.

Visualize disaster, then avoid it like plague!

mtobey · Post by **mtobey** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:07 am

And, don't hunt with those who hold high public office! Please, before you get upset, I have the right to post that. When my Junior High(1950) best buddy and I were hunting rabbits, he shot me in the backs of my calves- a .410 and 7 1/2 shot and Levis helped. Only about two dozen embedded. We were so afraid that our parents would not ever let us hunt again, we/he used a razor blade to take out some of the shot. I had my own bathroom and bedroom in the finished lower level of the house, so all healed up without Mom or Dad seeing. There are still some little blue spots on the backs of my legs. Close calls are, unfortunately good teachers, in the shop, field or about anywhere.mt

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:54 pm

jma wrote:When I was 14 or 15, framing a house with my Dad, I wired the blade guard open on a circular saw to more quickly cut a bunch of fire blocking. After going at it for a while, I set the saw down on the deck before it was finished turning. The blade walked the saw across the plywood subfloor, then cut through my boot ankle and two pairs of socks before it touched skin. It only left a fine, white scratch on my ankle, but scared the heck out of me.

In the many (many...) years since then, whenever I’m tempted to ignore or modify the safety equipment on any power tool, I try to remember that day, or think of various friends who have lost fingers, limbs, or LIFE doing something thoughtless. Sometimes we need a little fear to keep us safe - it only takes that one second of inattention to thoroughly mess up a life.

Visualize disaster, then avoid it like plague!

My dad, in his 70's now, is a general contractor. I have seen him circumvent safety devices plenty of times over the years. He still has all of his body parts, but is a perfect example of who to watch to see what not to do. He too, is known to disable the saw guard on his circular saw. I personally watched him lay his thigh wide open with his saw because of it. It healed. I watched him slice his palm open with a utility knife; cut the tip of his thumb, just behind the nail, clean off (they sewed it back on and it was "pinned" for imobility for many months); he even sliced the skin off of his chin with a rigging axe (lots of framers use them in place of hammers). I have seen him free hand cuts with his table saws, and use ungaurded chop saws. He does what he wants to. I feel that I am much "safer" then he is.

termite06 · Post by **termite06** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:20 pm

jma wrote:When I was 14 or 15, framing a house with my Dad, I wired the blade guard open on a circular saw to more quickly cut a bunch of fire blocking.

Visualize disaster, then avoid it like plague!

In my senior year of high school, I took construction. A couple of really dumb kids wired the safty presure foot on the framing nailer. when they pulled the trigger, atleast 3 shots went 25'+ into the parking lot:eek: . Kids these days have no brains.

they kept working with that setup. one nail just scrathced my left shoulder, the next scrathed my right leg. i thought i was just stung by some bees, ontop of a roof. after i told them they just hit me, they laughed

!! hope they thought it was funny when i cut the air and reported them:D

8iowa · Post by **8iowa** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:39 pm

Last Summer when the work crew was building my shop, one of the guys started to cut roof overhang extensions, thirty boards about 18 inches long with a diagonal cut almost the full length. I watched as he hand fed the board through an unguarded contractor's saw, with his hands passing on both sides of the blade. I couldn't stand it. I said, "Eddie, give me those boards and I will cut them on my bandsaw". He didn't argue with me.

john · Post by **john** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:49 pm

Not woodworking related, but....

When taking a high school chemistry class we were teamed to do an experiment and my partner was about to mix two ingredients. I told him I didn't think it was wise, don't remember why, but an assistant teacher said it was OK. Well a minor explosion and lots of flame later, we knew it wasn't safe. Still don't know why but who cares. Fortunately nobody was hurt except the assistant's pride when the prof came running over.

Have fun BUT be safe

John

Ps: A new story to come in the blog.