# Bad practice



## Short finger (Feb 17, 2013)

After reading some of these postings I felt compelled to contribute to the need of practicing shop safety at all times. Three weeks ago I lost the top of my pointer finger on my left hand due to the absolutely irresponsible practice of free handing a piece of wood through my table saw. I have two hobbies and one is woodworking. The other hobby will suffer the greatest loss because of this accident as I'm also a musician. Fortunately I don't make my living at either, but both are great enjoyments to me and now I have to relearn using my left hand with a guitar and piano. Please practice shop safety at all times and don't take for granted the thoughts that you got away with a bad practice in the past.


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## J Thomas (Aug 14, 2012)

Well... you can save 10% on your next manicure..








>>I can pick on him cause I know him<<
Looks like it's healing up nicely.. Take care
..Jon..


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## gus1962 (Jan 9, 2013)

Pretty bad! I have power tools and luckily, they don't hurt me .It is always important to follow safety procedures in handling your tools in your shop because it could save everything in way of money and time including your fingers! Take care


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## Short finger (Feb 17, 2013)

J Thomas said:


> Well... you can save 10% on your next manicure..
> >>I can pick on him cause I know him<<
> Looks like it's healing up nicely.. Take care
> ..Jon..


Love your sense of humor, Jon............. I think.


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

Made your point well. Or your lack of point...


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## Burb (Nov 30, 2012)

These posts make me sick to my stomach. Now please don't think that I am picking on you as that is not the case. It's just that I have been in the safety field for over 20+ years and I've been involved with many amputations, fatalities, and various other injuries and associated investigations. The truth is most people truly believe that "it will never happen to me". I deal with employees of my company who believe safety is good on principle but it takes to much time. 

I wish you a speedy recovery and commend you for posting your story as most would choose not to. And as bad as it is, I'm glad it's not as bad as it could have been.


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## Short finger (Feb 17, 2013)

Burb said:


> These posts make me sick to my stomach. Now please don't think that I am picking on you as that is not the case. It's just that I have been in the safety field for over 20+ years and I've been involved with many amputations, fatalities, and various other injuries and associated investigations. The truth is most people truly believe that "it will never happen to me". I deal with employees of my company who believe safety is good on principle but it takes to much time.
> 
> I wish you a speedy recovery and commend you for posting your story as most would choose not to. And as bad as it is, I'm glad it's not as bad as it could have been.


Thank you, Burb. You hit the nail on the head. I never would have thought this would happen to me, I was wrong. I posted this because I don't want this happening to any others. Safety is paramount, it should never be ignored. Ignore it an eventually your saw will come back to bite you as soon as your confidence level peaks. Never trust anything that runs faster than you. Thank you again.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*what is safe...really?*

Those who have had a mishap know what's not safe to do. Those who haven't had a mishap ...yet, may or may not know. :blink:
What causes kickback? What are the types of kickback?
How and when do you use a push stick? What is a good effective push stick? 
What does a good outfeed support table look like? How big is "too big" of a panel to manage by your self?
Is cross cutting long pieces using a miter gauge a safe practice? 
How narrow is too narrow to rip.? Where should your hands be? Should you have a helper?

When you can answer all these questions with a quick and definite response, you are probably doing things safely. Experience and close calls make excellent training instructors, unfortunately in some cases. 
I have done some cuts that I thought were "unsafe" but my experience told me I could do them with little or no consequences. My tag line at the bottom sums up my big picture practices on the table saw.... 

The first rule is keep your hands a safe distance from the blade at all times. That means different things to different woodworkers, and that's where experience comes into play. Knowing what the physics of the blade will do, what the workpiece may do and what to expect is all very important. The second rule I have is use a splitter to prevent the work from coming off the fence IF possible. 
Proper push blocks will do a good job of that lacking a splitter in most cases. The splitter also prevents a workpiece from closing up on the back of the blade and riding up an over coming back at you unexpectedly. Plywood and other man made products are much less susceptible to this issue.

An explanation of the process that caused the injury is always appreciated here. :yes:


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## Moark Willy (Jan 10, 2013)

Years ago I was at a local home center where company reps were showing new products and doing demonstrations. One of the reps was showing how to (or not how to) use a biscuit joiner. Rather than clamping the piece down to the Workmate he was using, he was holding it down...until the biscuit joiner slipped and he took the back of his hand off, severing many of his veins. He came back a few days later to pick up his tools, with a bandage resembling a boxing glove. I hope not too many customers had to witness his act of stupidity.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Ouch! That's got to hurt for a long time. 

I remember one shop I worked at the boss was needing to rip a little piece of wood 7/8" and didn't have a push stick. He stood there in front of all of us and held his thumb up and said "That doesn't look like 7/8" and proceeded to rip the wood. You all know the rest of the story.


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## vinnypatternmaker (Mar 27, 2011)

Hi!
You all make great points.
Woodnthings pretty much caught many good points in his "safety net".
I (Vinny) split my right thumb down the middle (parallel with thumb nail) thirty years ago :thumbdown:! ER stitched it up, healing process was long and painful, and I lost some feeling in that thumb.
I was trying to rough out a 30 degree cone from a rect. solid stock on the BS. Table tilt @ 30 deg.
The blade exited right thru my thumb !
Old timer taught me to use a push block, even on the BS.
Also, if anyone is looking to by a new TS, please consider a SawStop!
Best,
Marena and Vinny


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## preacherman (Nov 29, 2011)

Sorry about the accident. Hope you have a speedy recovery. 

My dad had an accident back in 1998 with a skill saw and cut his had severly. The saw blade entered backside of hand just above the pinky finger half way between wrist and knuckles and exited through the middle of the palm severing his three fingers. After extensive surgey to reattach everything and extended recovery he plays a guitar better than ever. So you can do it and thanks for the reminder to always be safe!


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## tcleve4911 (Dec 16, 2006)

Although I'm sorry you had an accident, I don't think it's necessary to share the results.
I have my own scars, as do others, that remind us everyday of how quick we can change our lives forever.
I don't need to look at other people's mishaps.
Thank you 
Tom


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

tcleve4911 said:


> Although I'm sorry you had an accident, I don't think it's necessary to share the results.
> I have my own scars, as do others, that remind us everyday of how quick we can change our lives forever.
> I don't need to look at other people's mishaps.
> Thank you
> Tom


to me, it just makes it all the stronger a statement.

it is not pleasant to look at, but it will definately help me to think about safety first every time i use a power saw.


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## Short finger (Feb 17, 2013)

tcleve4911 said:


> Although I'm sorry you had an accident, I don't think it's necessary to share the results.
> I have my own scars, as do others, that remind us everyday of how quick we can change our lives forever.
> I don't need to look at other people's mishaps.
> Thank you
> Tom


My apology, tcleve4911, for posting the gore. My thoughts were, (1) I didn't want to see anyone else make the same mistake I did. Hopefully this will incite making safety first and foremost in the things we all do. And, (2) I have had a rough time dealing with my accident. Though it was only the top of one finger, it is incredible how much of life is affected by an accident like this. I play piano and guitar, and now I have to learn to adjust, or give up playing music. My grand kids are scared of my finger and that hurts more than my finger. It has even affected my work, to some degree, on a computer keyboard; more adjusting. Picking up small objects with my left hand is tricky at times. So, sharing this has been good for me. Again, I'm sorry for the picture.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*For the weak stomachs...*



tcleve4911 said:


> Although I'm sorry you had an accident, I don't think it's necessary to share the results.
> I have my own scars, as do others, that remind us everyday of how quick we can change our lives forever.
> I don't need to look at other people's mishaps.
> Thank you
> Tom





Short finger said:


> My apology, tcleve4911, for posting the gore. My thoughts were, (1) I didn't want to see anyone else make the same mistake I did. Hopefully this will incite making safety first and foremost in the things we all do. And, (2) I have had a rough time dealing with my accident. Though it was only the top of one finger, it is incredible how much of life is affected by an accident like this. I play piano and guitar, and now I have to learn to adjust, or give up playing music. My grand kids are scared of my finger and that hurts more than my finger. It has even affected my work, to some degree, on a computer keyboard; more adjusting. Picking up small objects with my left hand is tricky at times. So, sharing this has been good for me. Again, I'm sorry for the picture.


There is a thread here "Show us the Damage" where there are explicit photos and "gore". One would expect from the title and from your user name something of like nature. 
A way around this would be to link the photo to your ablum or other source and post a warning.... "See the results here:"

My sympathies also as a guitar player, keyboard user and lover of all you can eat chicken wings... :yes: I suppose getting the worm on the hook would fall into that category also.
The real message as I posted above is "What is safe?" 
When in doubt, don't do it. Think about it until you do feel comfortable. Think about every thing you do, at all times..."Is this safe? " What can go wrong? It's a mindset that you have to develop. I've watched contractors make cuts with "blinding" speed, but only after years of doing them repetitively. But even they will get a lapse in concentration and the result will be a mishap. :thumbdown:


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Short finger said:


> Three weeks ago I lost the top of my pointer finger on my left hand due to the absolutely irresponsible practice of free handing a piece of wood through my table saw.


What exactly did you do, or what exactly happened? Was your blade guard on?









 







.


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## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

cabinetman said:


> What exactly did you do, or what exactly happened? Was your blade guard on?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I also would like to know how it happened. I believe it would make sure some of us less experienced woodworker understand what the bad practice was.
Tom


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## Hollyfeld (Jan 15, 2013)

Short finger said:


> the absolutely irresponsible practice of free handing a piece of wood through my table saw.


I too, would really like to know what happened and what this means.


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