Holy Crap! Glad you're okay. Tom
Robatoy wrote:
Mekon wrote:
[snipped for brevity]
Could I be losing my nerve? Will I get over it?

Every injury comes with an express delivered package. In it are
instruction to NEVER do that again.
As was said in here earlier, every so wisely, that it is important to
know what happened.

Some years back, I was using a 1-1/8 diameter x 1-1/2" long two flute
routerbit with top bearing, so the entire bit was extended. It was
mounted in a 5 speed PC production router. It was running at full
speed. I use it, along with a 45-degree fence to clean out the inside
corners of a 'lazy suzan' corner on a Corian countertop.
I had done one side, and was on my way to do the second corner when I
realized the cord was not going to make it as it was caught behind one
of the legs of my aluminum stands. I held the router, bit pointing up,
running, supported by the top of the countertop as I pulled the cord to
flip it ontop of the countertop so I could continue the cut. As I
flipped the cord, it got snagged behind one the clamps that held my
jig/fence in place, so I reached over to give it yet another flip. I
got a little too close with my baggy sweater... and as the bit grabbed
the material of my sweater, it climbed, router and all, towards my
chest. Like a scene out of some monster sc-fi movie.

The bulk of my sweater was wound around the bit, stalling the router,
and it tripped the breaker in the router. So here I was, with a 3 1/2
HP router protruding from a mass of mangled material, perpendicular to
my chest bone. Somehow, I ended up holding it there, maybe as a reflex
to defend myself. Two of my workers came running over to me, one on his
cellphone dialing 911, and we started to untangle me. I couldn't take a
full breath, as it had wrapped my chest up pretty tight.
I could not feel any pain, but expected some serious pain and blood
gushing at any second now.
Then slowly, as my helper took the router, the whole mess just unwound
itself. The sweater was cut all to ****, but enough material had wound
itself around to keep the bit itself away from my skin...but just
barely. A t-shirt I was wearing underneat, was not tattered. Not a
scratch on me, 'cept a heart rate of Neil Armstrong's moonlanding
proportions. I did manage a mild bit of shock but the EMS guys calmed
me down nicely. One of them said: "Drop your pants, I want to see that
horseshoe up your ass, buddy." Laughter releases tension.

For several years that sweater, with its rips and tears, looking a bit
like a tie-dyed sunburst radiating from the centre of the chest
outward, hung in my mudroom at home. It was a daily reminder till my
new wife threw it out one day with the garbage... something I have yet
to forgive her for. Maybe I should have told her the story behind it.

Those big router bits take forever to wind down to a stop, maybe some
sort of electronic brake would be nice. I think that a lot of accidents
happen during the spindown of saws and ather tools. So never mind the
SawStop's attempt at legislating their saws, a big help would be to
force electonic brakes on these tools. At a friend's lumber store, he
has two Makita circular saws on display. Identical, 'cept one has an
automatic brake. IIRC $ 25.00 difference. That's an easy 25 bucks,
IMHO.

r