You have got to be careful!!
- Thread starter dltflt
- Start date
leer
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- Joined
- Oct 4, 2013
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- 262
I hesitate to describe what I did in October of 2012, a little over a year ago. My wife was out of town, and I headed down to the workshop. Something in my mind told me this was not a good idea. I should have listened.
Fair warning, this may not be a story you want to read!
I was cutting some very expensive hardwoods into strips for cutting boards / serving platters. One got hung up on the outfeed stand, and I reached to grab it. The near end of the piece of wood swung into the blade and dragged my hand back across the blade. It felt like I'd been stung. I did not wince, or even cry out. I looked down and the tip of my left thumb was missing.
I ran to my shop sink, rinsed my thumb, and ran upstairs to grab a kitchen towel. Called the neighbor, and she was home -- a rare event on a Sunday morning. I then went down to shop, looked for about 5 minutes to find the tip of my thumb, and put it in a bag of ice. She took me to emergency room, and they told me there was no way to sew it back on. Maybe a 1 in a 100 chance it would heal and stay on. So basically they gave me a shot, cleaned it up, and bandaged it. But I was lucky, I just missed the bone. And the base of the nail was missed. The doctor said that by letting it heal, and not trying to do any sewing up, I would regain feeling. Sure enough, in a year I have most of my feeling in the thumb, and some days I never even think about it.
The worst part about the ordeal was removing the bandage after Day 4. Fell to my knees at the bathroom sink and my body felt ice cold. I guess I was on the verge of going into shock. Nearly fainted from the pain.
Oddly, although my thumb is about a 1/2" shorter (13mm for those metrically inclined ... ), my thumbprints grew up and around the end of the tip of the thumb. That creeped out my wife. [laughing]
I was incredibly lucky. I could have lost several fingers, maybe even my whole hand. The trip to the emergency room was about $4000. Fortunately insurance covered it 100%. I've heard of bad table saw accidents running $250K or more for reattachment and ongoing care.
I delayed purchase of a SawStop table saw this past year, opting for a track saw instead. But I did get some GRR-Ripper push blocks, and stay very far from that blade! I think I'll likely get that SawStop this year. I can feel my heart race whenever I run a board thru "Sting", the name I gave my table saw.
Be careful!
Fair warning, this may not be a story you want to read!
I was cutting some very expensive hardwoods into strips for cutting boards / serving platters. One got hung up on the outfeed stand, and I reached to grab it. The near end of the piece of wood swung into the blade and dragged my hand back across the blade. It felt like I'd been stung. I did not wince, or even cry out. I looked down and the tip of my left thumb was missing.
I ran to my shop sink, rinsed my thumb, and ran upstairs to grab a kitchen towel. Called the neighbor, and she was home -- a rare event on a Sunday morning. I then went down to shop, looked for about 5 minutes to find the tip of my thumb, and put it in a bag of ice. She took me to emergency room, and they told me there was no way to sew it back on. Maybe a 1 in a 100 chance it would heal and stay on. So basically they gave me a shot, cleaned it up, and bandaged it. But I was lucky, I just missed the bone. And the base of the nail was missed. The doctor said that by letting it heal, and not trying to do any sewing up, I would regain feeling. Sure enough, in a year I have most of my feeling in the thumb, and some days I never even think about it.
The worst part about the ordeal was removing the bandage after Day 4. Fell to my knees at the bathroom sink and my body felt ice cold. I guess I was on the verge of going into shock. Nearly fainted from the pain.
Oddly, although my thumb is about a 1/2" shorter (13mm for those metrically inclined ... ), my thumbprints grew up and around the end of the tip of the thumb. That creeped out my wife. [laughing]
I was incredibly lucky. I could have lost several fingers, maybe even my whole hand. The trip to the emergency room was about $4000. Fortunately insurance covered it 100%. I've heard of bad table saw accidents running $250K or more for reattachment and ongoing care.
I delayed purchase of a SawStop table saw this past year, opting for a track saw instead. But I did get some GRR-Ripper push blocks, and stay very far from that blade! I think I'll likely get that SawStop this year. I can feel my heart race whenever I run a board thru "Sting", the name I gave my table saw.
Be careful!
