Be careful fellows!

[fastfredracing]

My morning customer could not sign his credit card receipt because he only has his thumb left on his right hand. Self employed carpenter, about my age. Been doing it his whole life. One slip on the table saw, and he is done for life. Said it hurts like hades.
I can find hundreds of ways to mess myself up on a daily basis. I am going to be a little more aware of the dangers around me after seeing his hand

[vash]

I can't even turn on a table saw. The sound stops me. My last thumb cut taught me its best just to hire a carpenter.

[ckelly78z]

I routinely use a machinist's mill, ban saw and a metal lathe in my prototype lab at work, and have to slap myself mentally occasionally to pay attention to what i'm doing and stop taking for granted the safety of using these tools. It's very tempting to move your hands or your work while the cutting edge is turning and it takes discipline to stop the saw to adjust. I enjoy having all the digits of all my fingers remaining at 50 years old. I personally know of at least 4-5 people who are missing several.

[Craig T]

My father was a 9-fingered cabinet maker. Lost his index finger to a table saw.

[red-beard]

My grandfather was a carpenter/farmer. His was missing part of a finger.

[Evans, Marv]

I always stay alert when using power tools, saws, etc., especially since I don't use them on a daily basis. I've seen a few results of inattentiveness. As a young guy, I worked in a yard for fabricating rebar. The shear would cut up to number 18 rebar, which is 2.25 in. diameter. Both of the senior operators had fingers missing in a diagonal pattern. That comes from familiarity and not being attentive.

[LeeH]

Stuck my finger in a table saw blade while it was powered down, but still spinning pretty fast. Made a bloody mess, but didn't do any permanent damage. Got my attention for sure and probably kept me from doing worse later.

At my business we had large saws for cutting aluminum for window screens. Those things scared me. Business's prior owner had one of his guys lose 4 fingers on one of those. As a business owner I can't imagine what that was like.

[john70t]

Moving machinery is dangerous.

The last ski runs of the day are when most injuries occur.
Sun setting. Shadows. Fatigue.
The searching mind looking for the limits is still stronger than the environment and self awareness.
A three+ hour dislocated shoulder later, I found that out.

He needs a SawStop. SawStop | America's #1 table saw | SawStop.com | SawStop

It is cheaper than an ER visit.

Tell him to put on music. Slow it down. Think smart.
He can still do all of the same things.
It will take a little longer.
Only a little adjustment is required.

[Bugsinrugs]

I had a nasty kick back on my table saw last year. It put a two and a half in piece of oak into my palm. 5500 dollars and ten stitches later taught me some humility.

[MikeD930]

My late uncle by marriage accidently cut off part of his middle finger from slamming the tailgate closed on his truck while not paying attention to where his other hand was resting on.

Another story...years ago my neighbor lost his thumb on the table saw which was successfully reattached. Three weeks later he broke his reattached thumb from going back to work too soon requiring more medical care!

[plumb4u2]

I was cutting out a bad section of copper water line when my hand slipped and I hit the freshly cut pipe with my knuckle (middle finger) I wrapped it up and finished the job. I few hours later when the pain started to go away I noticed that I could no longer lift my middle finger.

I called my primary doc and the women said to go to ER asap

yup I severed the tendon that enables you to pull up your finger, it snapped like a rubber band

I got to watch my surgeon open my hand and splice the tendon back together, after 4 months in a splint and 2 months of PT I am back to normal

[recycled sixtie]

Thanks for the reminder Fred. I still have my circular saw sitting in the garage collecting dust. I accidently let the power cord get cut by the blade and so it does not work any more. I just use a handsaw now. Similarly with with electric hedge clippers I just use the manual hedge clippers now.
Guy

[HardDrive]

I have a table saw and a miter saw rig. I have a healthy respect for them. The table saw came with a push bar to feed stock into it. I use it every time. I clamp down small pieces on the miter saw so they don't get loose and become projectiles.

[Dantilla]

I've used electric power tools of all sorts with no hesitation whatsoever, and have never had an incident.
I'm always aware of where my body parts are, and keep them away from the sharp spinning things.



Chain saw?

That's the one tool that requires enormous respect.
Not only does it cut quicker than anything electric, it chews out such a wide swath of flesh, while injecting bar oil into the wound.

Yikes!

[fastfredracing]

Had my wake up call with a chain saw a few summers ago. I was cutting all day in the august heat. Had set the saw down, and already quit for the day, but wanted to whack down one more bushy little tree. I should have known better, I was exhausted, and could barely feel my hands.
I cut the little sucker down, and shut the saw down, and when I started to walk, My leg felt warm, I looked down, and my leg was covered in blood. I got lucky, It went right into my knee cap, but was only superficial. Deep , and ugly though.
That was my warning shot, I am much more careful, and always wear chaps, goggles, gloves, etc..

[Crowbob]

My uncle and my dad were cutting up brush with a chain saw. Uncle was using the saw, it got jammed in the brush so he yanked it out-right into my dad's knee. Shredded his carharts. Dad took one step back, afraid to put weight on the leg. No pain. Stood there for a second. No blood. The blade had hit him in the knee cap and the chain tore up his pants. Not a scratch.

He made up for it later that spring while riding a horse in the mud. The horse, startled, reared up and his hind legs slid out from under him in the slick mud, fell sideways right on to dad's leg. Horse struggled to his feet. Dad didn't try to get up having noticed his foot was pointing backward.

[wdfifteen]

I used to show new owners how to use a chain saw when I worked at the hardware store. Homelite gave us a seminar on it every spring. I've seen some dumb things done by people. Never stand behind the saw. Hold the saw to the side so if it kicks back the bar goes past your shoulder not into your face. Don't work alone, and as Fred said, don't keep working if you're tired.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Father in law is missing most of two fingers thanks to a miter saw. He's a contractor and was distracted by a customer asking him a question. I had a worm drive circular saw with a bad guard catch my jeans and pull the blade into my leg, taking a chunk out just above my knee. That was fun......

[slodave]

Never come up behind a person using power tools and tap them on the shoulder to get their attention.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by slodave

Never come up behind a person using power tools and tap them on the shoulder to get their attention.

Did you mean to say "never have a woman around?".