Shopsmith Forums

In over 30 yrs of diy projects I finally got hurt by being careless with a power tool. I was cutting some base board with my miter saw and managed to get my wrist caught in the blade. Luckily I had already let go of the trigger and the blade was not spinning under power. My wrist bone actually stopped the blade. My mistake was being too fast and not waiting for the blade to fully stop before moving my hands. The hit the back of my wrist so no veins and somehow I missed yhe tendons. I was very lucky.

Thankfully this might be considered a "minor accident".

No tendons and no major bleeding. All to be thankful for.

This must be taken by all of us that when in the shop we must

"Make sawdust safely".

BTW: I am beginning to believe that years of experience in the shop begin to work against us. As I gain those "years of experience" I find that I often do things in the shop that I ought not do.

My latest example of this was cross cutting 1x3s with nearly the entire blade above table top.

Wishing you a quick and complete recovery. Curious, did this chop saw not have one of those spring-loaded blade guards?

Hey soldier;
My club recently had an amputation injury in our community wood shop and I was wondering if you would be willing to document a full debrief of your accident to pass on to other woodworkers. Just something to help us understand the mechanics of what happened.
Bill V

algale wrote:Wishing you a quick and complete recovery. Curious, did this chop saw not have one of those spring-loaded blade guards?

Thanks. It did have the guard in proper working order. I was actually doing another unsafe act by cutting with my body in an awkward position. I was standing to the right of the trigger and operating the saw with my right hand. I let go of the saw and moved my left hand up and into the blade before letting the blade move all the way up and to a complete stop. Just plan carelessness and moving faster than my brain.

wa2crk wrote:Hey soldier;
My club recently had an amputation injury in our community wood shop and I was wondering if you would be willing to document a full debrief of your accident to pass on to other woodworkers. Just something to help us understand the mechanics of what happened.
Bill V

Sure I can do that. Would probably be good for me to recall the incident and reinforce proper safety.

Ouchie! I hope you heal quickly and correctly. AAR time? So now you really "own" the saw, or is it just the blade? As in, a knife isn't really yours until you cut yourself with it.

Skizzity wrote:Ouchie! I hope you heal quickly and correctly. AAR time? So now you really "own" the saw, or is it just the blade? As in, a knife isn't really yours until you cut yourself with it.

Thanks. In that case I own just about every sharp object in my house. He he.

When working for a utility that was very safety orientated and pro active. We had a monthly safety film and discussion and it was not always based on work environment. One month it was on hand safety/awareness. That month after the meeting had the highest amount of hand injuries. Go figure. Over cautious/over thinking awareness?

Soldier
Thanks for the info. I know that it was painful to do. The person that was injured in our shop doesn't know, or can't remember, what happened. all he said was that he heard a bang and he grabbed his hand and when he looked down he saw his pinky finger on the table saw table. This happened in the beginning of March and he is still unclear as to what exactly happened. He is also a retired shop teacher with 30 years teaching experience which just proves that accidents can happen to anyone.
I started a thread in Woodworking tool review describing our response to the accident. Cost $2800.00 but well worth it. Once again, Thanks for your input.
Bill V