Devildog

this thread is simultaneously revolting and oddly compelling. i've had no substantial injuries woodworking... although when I was shopping for a miter saw at the hardware store, a large pole with a banner ad hanging from it randomly snapped off and crashed down... the jagged end of the snapped pole hit me in the skull... eight stitches, puddles of blood, and the concerned staff learned some vernacular English they hadn't been exposed to before. So is that a tool accident? a shopping disaster? an omen?

Besides macabre, this thread is also useful: a colleague has been bugging me to teach her son some basics of woodworking.... he's 10 yrs old, a bit of a spaz.... I dreaded the idea. So today I said 'ok' under the condition that she look through this thread first... took care of that problem right quick!

bsharding1982

Dang, talk about bad Karma. What did you kick a little kid or something?

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jaguar75

I am so glad that our misfortunes benefited you in warding off this potential 10 year old statistic...I will say though that our "accidents" are not cases of carelessness but instead victims of probability...When working with power tools on a regular basis, the question is not will I get hurt but rather when and how severe...

daryl in nanoose

Very good point Jaguar75, not if but when.
I started putting around in my dads shop at around that age and remember being very scared around the tools but then I never hurt myself either. Was probably a good thing being that way around the power tools.

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johnjf0622

All I know is I am just glad that the tools have the yellow insert that can be pulled out to prevent starting the machines. My little guy goes right for the table saw whenever he goes out in the garage. Never once thought I had to toddler proof the garage to the extent I do. But it saves me trips to the ER so I am not complaining. When he gets older I am going to use this thread to scare the living bejesus out of him from messing around in there when I am not around.

john

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Nate1778

Sweet thread, I don't feel to alone anymore. Mine was a 10" cabinet saw, kickback and stupidity unleash. I feel fotunant that I still have all my digits.

Ironically enough two months later I stuck a 1/2" razor sharp chisel into my middle finger right at the knuckle. Severed an artery so back to the hand surgeon. Its a bit embarrassing showing up for another injury to the same hand when the first hasn't healed yet. Here are pics from the table saw incident.

Most pain I had ever been through was the day after the surgery, pain pills didn't touch it, not even with the help of Mr. Daniels.

bsharding1982

My injury has affected me in more ways than a limited function finger. The worst has been the recurring nightmares and flash backs. Waking up in the middle of the night sweating and almost hyperventilating has really gotten me lately. The healing and physical therapy is long gone, but the mental effects seem to be getting worse. The only woodworking I can do anymore is scroll sawing.

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djonesax

I for the most part fear my equipment and this causes me to be extra careful but I still find my self doing the occasional stupid thing just because I don’t know any better.

bsharding1982, Can you explain how your accident happened? My router table probably makes me the most nervous out of all my tools. My middle school shop teacher told us that if you are cut with a saw or a knife you can sew it up but if you hit your self with a router you’re left with a hole. That has stayed with me for 20 years. If its doesn’t bring back too many bad memories I'd like to hear how you did this so I can avoid it.

By the way for the record, you all have totally freaked me out. I hope I learn to be more careful after reading this thread and can honor your injuries by learning from your experiences.

David

Handyman

Lady's and Gentlemen I know some of these stories make you want to sell your tools and get out of woodworking. And some of the picture are quite gross, but this needs to be a wake up call. It is so easy to become complacent and let your guard down. It is then when you will injure or loose a body part. There isn't anything safe about working with wood. But it can be a lot safer if you pay attention to what you are doing. If you have injured your self due to stupidity, you should take the time to post your gross pictures and tell the story. It may serve to be the wake up call someone else needs.

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furbeerl

Perhaps I can help, my accident cost my 80% of my finger 2 1/2 years ago (description and pictures posted). I could not use my saw until I knew at a subconscious level that the accident could not happen again. I researched as much as I could even reading old accident reports on the web. I discovered there were a couple keys; our woodworking culture and poor safety devices.

My saw had a really bad guard and the company was out of business. All of the shows show the guard off so who need it. I corrected this impression reading the accident reports and decided to get an MJ splitter, upgrade my fence and most important was getting an overarm blade guard. I promised myself I would not use the saw without the guard or use a hand tool.

I moved on to other tools and evaluated their safety. This meant replacing some of my cheap tools with ones that been designed with better safety(e.g. Festool track saw, Triton router). I also learned to sharpen tools better. I also reworked my jigs to include guards and hold downs. I moved my router table to the table saw so the same safety jigs could be used.

As I started out saying, you need to convince your subconscious that your tools are now safe. For me that meant treating my tools as though they were radioactive.

Cole

Worm drive saw with no guard, I was putting a roof cut on a joist that did not have one which was hanging out of the roof before my roofers showed up to sheathe the roof. It binded the blade and it shot back at me and was coming for my stomach so I had nothing to do but grab it with my hand or risk taking a saw to the stomach which I would rather not think about. Was on the job site by myself that day and did my best with one hand to wrap it up and head to the ER. A bunch of stitches later and one hell of a hand surgeon bill, I still do not have feeling in it. *The cut when all the way through the thumb to the other side, the plastic surgeon said it would have been better for me just to have cut the thumb off.*

Lesson learned: All my saws have guards on them (I was rasied working without them)

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thekctermite

Here I am in the emergency room last week. I was running a new electric circuit through my workbench to add a receptacle on the edge of it. I was drilling holes for the romex with an 18v cordless drill and a 1" ship auger bit. The bit bound, and the drill battery swung around and hit me harder than I ever got hit in a bar fight...I was knocked completely stupid and ended up with four stitches and a very black eye.

More funny than anything...Just goes to show that a tool doesn't have to be super-powerful to hurt you!

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Cole

I hear you, I have had the same thing happen to me a couple of times. I have not been knocked out, but I have thought I broke my arm.

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thekctermite

A lumberyard I used to work at here in KC had an on site mill...HUGE pieces of machinery. One of the operators was in the wrong place when a molder had a massive kickback (unusual) and shot a piece of molding through his lower abdomen and impaled him like a kabob. The other mill workers had to cut the molding from in front and in behind in order to get him into the ambulance. He had a long recovery, which included a stroke from a blood clot that broke loose and went to his brain...He had to learn to walk and talk again. He did eventually return to work and made a full recovery.

Cole

Wow, I cant and don't want to imagine that.

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Allthumbs27

I got a splinter once from handling some rough cut boards. The days turned into months before my momma could use the tweezers and some alcohol. I am just kidding with you guys. I am waiting for my proud moment of stupidity. I know its coming and my money is it is gonna be the ol tablesaw.

rocklobster

My most recent and damaging moment of stupidity came about a year and a half ago when I was using a nail gun to build the frame for a shelf in the shop. I wasn't using nails for all of it, but I'd pop a few in to hold certain parts in place until I could get some screws in.

Anyway, things can get moving kinda fast when you're pluggin' away with a nail gun and at one point I found myself butting the ends of a few 2X4's together and nailing them. I had the nail gun pointing back towards the board that my left hand was holding.

I thought my hand was back far enough (if I was even thinking at all), but the nail hit a knot or something and barely hit enough wood to even slow it down as it shot out the side.

I ended up with a 10d nail through the knuckle of my left index finger and into the meat of the middle finger. I stood there for a minute saying, "I can't believe I just did that!" The pain started to really set in on the drive to the hospital.

I took some pics on my cell phone while I was in the ER, but that phone has since been lost in a lake. I had it long enough to freak out some people at work, though.

I'll still use the nail gun, but a whole lot more carefully. It took me a year to be able to make a fist again.

Rob

Nate1778

Well be careful on the table saw, hate for the name to change to "Halfthumds" or "Nothumbs" or "Onethumb6digitsandhalfapink".

Cdat

Ain't hurt myself too badly yet in the shop. I have been known to damage things outside the shop...

Allthumbs27

Ha did the Iraqi version of bugs bunny stick a carrot in the barrel?