I ran into a former co-worker today. As I reached out to shake his hand, he
offered me his left hand to shake and held up his right. That's when I saw
the bandages on 4 of the fingers on his right hand.

A few weeks ago he was finishing up the remodeling of his bathroom. He
had 3 cuts left, just some trim for around the door. After he finished
ripping a board to width, he reached over the unguarded table saw blade
to retrieve the piece. One second of carelessness and his fingers are now
a little bit shorter than they used to be.

In his panic, neither he nor his wife even thought about looking for his
fingertips. They just jumped in the car and sped to the hospital. His middle
finger tip was still hanging on and the plastic surgeon offered to try and
reattach it, but said it would be an 8 hour operation with no guarantee that
it would take. In addition, that finger would be so much longer than the
other 3 that it would end up being more of a hindrance than an advantage.
He opted not to have it reattached.

After about 3 hours of "bone retraction surgery" so that they would have
enough skin to close up his fingertips, they sent him home.

The next day, SWMBO was sweeping up the garage workshop. Lots of bloody
sawdust. She found one fingertip on the hood of her car and another on the
floor. The 3rd one was either swept up or is still in the garage someplace.

She said she was OK with the blood, but finding body parts almost made
her puke.

Let's be careful out there, fellas.

I lost 3/4 of my left index finger to a table saw. It was all due to a brain fart. Carelessness kicks in at the worst times........

On 10/17/2019 4:24 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I ran into a former co-worker today. As I reached out to shake his hand, he
offered me his left hand to shake and held up his right. That's when I saw
the bandages on 4 of the fingers on his right hand.

A few weeks ago he was finishing up the remodeling of his bathroom. He
had 3 cuts left, just some trim for around the door. After he finished
ripping a board to width, he reached over the unguarded table saw blade
to retrieve the piece. One second of carelessness and his fingers are now
a little bit shorter than they used to be.

In his panic, neither he nor his wife even thought about looking for his
fingertips. They just jumped in the car and sped to the hospital. His middle
finger tip was still hanging on and the plastic surgeon offered to try and
reattach it, but said it would be an 8 hour operation with no guarantee that
it would take. In addition, that finger would be so much longer than the
other 3 that it would end up being more of a hindrance than an advantage.
He opted not to have it reattached.

After about 3 hours of "bone retraction surgery" so that they would have
enough skin to close up his fingertips, they sent him home.

The next day, SWMBO was sweeping up the garage workshop. Lots of bloody
sawdust. She found one fingertip on the hood of her car and another on the
floor. The 3rd one was either swept up or is still in the garage someplace.

She said she was OK with the blood, but finding body parts almost made
her puke.

Let's be careful out there, fellas.


Can't be too careful. I got bit on the thumb from a saw-blade that was spinning
down when I flicked a small piece of scrap off the table. It was an old style
Sears carbide blade with the large space between the teeth. Between that and
the fluorescent lights I realized later that I couldn't really see the edge of the
blade in the dimly lit area. It made a believer out of me. As an electronic tech
I worked on high voltage transmitters and such and never had a problem.
I realized the danger and always managed to keep that in the forefront of my
mind like a big bright red POWER ON light. Proper respect can keep you safe.

On 10/18/2019 6:56 AM, wrote:
I lost 3/4 of my left index finger to a table saw. It was all due to a brain fart. Carelessness kicks in at the worst times........


It sure does. I was drilling a piece of brass on my un-bolted down drill press
vice when
the bit broke and slammed the vice through a sheet rock wall. I later learned about
breaking the drill bit edge for proper brass work.

gray_wolf wrote:

On 10/18/2019 6:56 AM, wrote:
I lost 3/4 of my left index finger to a table saw. It was all due to a brain fart. Carelessness kicks in at the worst times........


It sure does. I was drilling a piece of brass on my un-bolted down drill press
vice when
the bit broke and slammed the vice through a sheet rock wall. I later learned about
breaking the drill bit edge for proper brass work.

un-bolted down drill press vice

Make sure you don't miss the other lesson, bolt that sucker down!!! I
realized a few years ago how dangerous those benign-looking drill bit
spinners can be after a friend's coworker got killed by something
similar. Bolt it down, use a fence, do what it takes to keep things
controlled!

Puckdropper

On Sat, 19 Oct 2019 20:43:36 GMT, Puckdropper
wrote:

gray_wolf wrote:

On 10/18/2019 6:56 AM, wrote:
I lost 3/4 of my left index finger to a table saw. It was all due to a brain fart. Carelessness kicks in at the worst times........


It sure does. I was drilling a piece of brass on my un-bolted down drill press
vice when
the bit broke and slammed the vice through a sheet rock wall. I later learned about
breaking the drill bit edge for proper brass work.

un-bolted down drill press vice

Make sure you don't miss the other lesson, bolt that sucker down!!! I
realized a few years ago how dangerous those benign-looking drill bit
spinners can be after a friend's coworker got killed by something
similar. Bolt it down, use a fence, do what it takes to keep things
controlled!

And do it right even when it seems ridiculous--you want to form a
habit.

On Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 7:36:12 PM UTC-4, J. Clarke wrote:
On Sat, 19 Oct 2019 20:43:36 GMT, Puckdropper
wrote:

gray_wolf wrote:

On 10/18/2019 6:56 AM, wrote:
I lost 3/4 of my left index finger to a table saw. It was all due to a brain fart. Carelessness kicks in at the worst times........


It sure does. I was drilling a piece of brass on my un-bolted down drill press
vice when
the bit broke and slammed the vice through a sheet rock wall. I later learned about
breaking the drill bit edge for proper brass work.

un-bolted down drill press vice

Make sure you don't miss the other lesson, bolt that sucker down!!! I
realized a few years ago how dangerous those benign-looking drill bit
spinners can be after a friend's coworker got killed by something
similar. Bolt it down, use a fence, do what it takes to keep things
controlled!

And do it right even when it seems ridiculous--you want to form a
habit.

I remember a time when I had spent a week planning a project that I was
going to spend all day Saturday working on. I was really looking forward
to a full day in the shop. Saturday came, I got up, got dressed in my shop
clothes and went into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. SWMBO said
something about something, I replied, it got heated and I got ****ed. I
mean really ****ed.

After we argued for a few minutes over something stupid, I stormed off to
the shop, just about ready to boil over. I opened the shop door, slammed it
behind me, looked at all those nice sharp power tools and said to myself
"Are you an idiot? Are you really planning to use a table saw *now*?"

I walked right through the shop, went out the back door and started raking
leaves. Screw the project, it can wait. Raking mad is a lot safer than
sawing mad.

On Sat, 19 Oct 2019 18:07:49 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 7:36:12 PM UTC-4, J. Clarke wrote:
On Sat, 19 Oct 2019 20:43:36 GMT, Puckdropper
wrote:

gray_wolf wrote:

On 10/18/2019 6:56 AM, wrote:
I lost 3/4 of my left index finger to a table saw. It was all due to a brain fart. Carelessness kicks in at the worst times........


It sure does. I was drilling a piece of brass on my un-bolted down drill press
vice when
the bit broke and slammed the vice through a sheet rock wall. I later learned about
breaking the drill bit edge for proper brass work.

un-bolted down drill press vice

Make sure you don't miss the other lesson, bolt that sucker down!!! I
realized a few years ago how dangerous those benign-looking drill bit
spinners can be after a friend's coworker got killed by something
similar. Bolt it down, use a fence, do what it takes to keep things
controlled!

And do it right even when it seems ridiculous--you want to form a
habit.

I remember a time when I had spent a week planning a project that I was
going to spend all day Saturday working on. I was really looking forward
to a full day in the shop. Saturday came, I got up, got dressed in my shop
clothes and went into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. SWMBO said
something about something, I replied, it got heated and I got ****ed. I
mean really ****ed.

After we argued for a few minutes over something stupid, I stormed off to
the shop, just about ready to boil over. I opened the shop door, slammed it
behind me, looked at all those nice sharp power tools and said to myself
"Are you an idiot? Are you really planning to use a table saw *now*?"

I walked right through the shop, went out the back door and started raking
leaves. Screw the project, it can wait. Raking mad is a lot safer than
sawing mad.

Good risk assessment there.

On 10/19/2019 8:07 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 7:36:12 PM UTC-4, J. Clarke wrote:
On Sat, 19 Oct 2019 20:43:36 GMT, Puckdropper
wrote:

gray_wolf wrote:

On 10/18/2019 6:56 AM, wrote:
I lost 3/4 of my left index finger to a table saw. It was all due to a brain fart. Carelessness kicks in at the worst times........


It sure does. I was drilling a piece of brass on my un-bolted down drill press
vice when
the bit broke and slammed the vice through a sheet rock wall. I later learned about
breaking the drill bit edge for proper brass work.

un-bolted down drill press vice

Make sure you don't miss the other lesson, bolt that sucker down!!! I
realized a few years ago how dangerous those benign-looking drill bit
spinners can be after a friend's coworker got killed by something
similar. Bolt it down, use a fence, do what it takes to keep things
controlled!

And do it right even when it seems ridiculous--you want to form a
habit.

I remember a time when I had spent a week planning a project that I was
going to spend all day Saturday working on. I was really looking forward
to a full day in the shop. Saturday came, I got up, got dressed in my shop
clothes and went into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. SWMBO said
something about something, I replied, it got heated and I got ****ed. I
mean really ****ed.

After we argued for a few minutes over something stupid, I stormed off to
the shop, just about ready to boil over. I opened the shop door, slammed it
behind me, looked at all those nice sharp power tools and said to myself
"Are you an idiot? Are you really planning to use a table saw *now*?"

I walked right through the shop, went out the back door and started raking
leaves. Screw the project, it can wait. Raking mad is a lot safer than
sawing mad.


Good thinking!! Proper state of mind is everything!! I haven't had a woman
upset me in a very long time. I did have one tell me something to the effect
that "tears don't even bother you." I grinned inside and thought to myself
"I wonder when that happened?" I was very proud of myself. :-):-)

"neither he nor his wife even thought about looking for his fingertips."

No point in rushing off the the hospital, there will be time. When I did mine (only cut one clean through) there was no one home to drive me. Then my three on the tree Chevy wouldn't start. Went to a neighbor's house (they all spoke Spanish!) and finally got a ride the the E.R.

Sat for a while with my paw bundled in a bloody towel 'till the surgeon arrived to take a look.

The knocked me out and I awoke the next morning with my arm elevated and an administrator there with forms for me to sign.

Can't curl that finger and it twists a bit to the left below the cut line.

Two points: Do not panic - absent a sucking chest wound, there will be time to collect pieces. And, two, get a copy of everything you sign when you wake up 'cause it don't mean a thing - they cannot enforce a contract signed by someone under the influence!