# How not to...



## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

I was cutting a mortise, something I haven't done very often, and was cleanin up the top of the mortise to give myself lines to cut on, when the chisel slipped and moved violently in the direction I was pushing it. This would have been OK, except that I had stupidly put my left had in front of th chisel, and it made a deep gash in the end joint of my left index finger. I went back to the house immediatey and ran some water on it to see how bad the damage was. It was obvious that I would need stitches, so I called out to my wife, who brought me a towel, helped get the dogs in, and drove me to the hospital. 

After waiting the required hour to get into the treatment area and for the death panel to decide I was worth treating  I got eight stitches and a dressing, and was advised that it would take a week for the stitches to come out, two weeks to stop hurting and up to seven weeks to be fully healed. The doc says I cut the artery and the nerve to the finger tip, and will probably be numb on one side of my fingertip. Could be worse.

My record is intact still - I have only ever hurt myself on hand tools, never on a power tool.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Ouch bummer man! Hope you recover quickly and fully! I sawed into the tip of my right middle finger last June on a table saw. Didn't lose much meat but its still numb. Win some lose some lol


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Wow, that must have hurt. Best wishes for speedy recovery. Good reminder for the rest of us.

I try to have both hands behind a chisel blade. I expect you normally do the same. 

Back in the days when straight slot drive screws were the norm, I had a screwdriver slip and put a decent cut in my right hand. I still hate having to work with slot drive screws. These days it is only to remove. I never use them in new work.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Sorry for your pain Roger but glad things will eventually work out for you. Thanks for reminding us to clamp our work or to use bench dogs and push sticks. I know we all try to cheat once in a while to save a minute or two. Hand tools can also hurt. Be careful everyone!


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

It's odd but I've done more damages with a pocket knife than any tool.


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## Day in Paradise (Oct 11, 2012)

Wow I hope you heal quickly. Good luck.


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

If its any consolation I have cut my left hand pretty decent on a RAS that wasnt running. Only power tool injury Ive suffered (wrench slipped in a blade change)


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

*Bandage off, stitches out!*

Just to show the damage. I call this my clown finger now. Why? you ask. Because it feels funny.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Dec 9, 2012)

One summer, about 15 years ago, I was helping a friend enlarge a basement window as an egress window. I was using a hammer and mason's chisel to clean out the corner of the opening (concrete). A piece of concrete flew into the tip of my left ring finger that was holding the chisel (stupid for not wearing gloves). It still has a weird, semi numb, semi tingly feeling when something pushes into it.


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## fire65 (Apr 27, 2013)

OUCH, hope you are OK. I always love seeing the boo, boo's. I make many of them and plan to try and show them.
Problem is when I screw up, I do not take the time to film it.


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

fire65 said:


> OUCH, hope you are OK. I always love seeing the boo, boo's. I make many of them and plan to try and show them.
> Problem is when I screw up, I do not take the time to film it.


This photograph was taken after the stitches were out. At the time of the injury, I needed both hands to stop the blood flow. Even the doctor kept telling me I didn't need to watch, but I'm a curious guy.... Now the dead skin around the wound is begining to slough off, and it looks quite awful, but it is healing as it should. I've been wounded enough times that I'm used to this part.


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

Hubbard said:


> If its any consolation I have cut my left hand pretty decent on a RAS that wasnt running. Only power tool injury Ive suffered (wrench slipped in a blade change)


I once changed the blade on a bow saw, with my children watching. I told them that I didn't know how, but I was going to injure myself during the process. Sure enough, when I moved my hand down the saw to tighten the bottom end, I cut my finger on a tooth.


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

Roger, I cannot count the number of times my left hand has been on the business side of the chisel when it slipped and cut something. The difference is that until recently, my chisels were never very sharp, so the cuts weren't very bad. The danger of it has finally slowly started to sink in, but too often, I still find myself steadying something with one hand and coming at it with a chisel in the other hand.

You are not the first or last to have this happen to you. By labor day, it will be a distant memory.


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## BigBadBuford (Jan 13, 2012)

There was a kid in shop class with me in high school who did something similar.. He was using a chisel with one hand and holding the workpiece in the other. The chisel slipped and tore into his hand pretty good. However, instead of learning his lesson he proceeded to do it three more times in the next few minutes until he finally wised up and asked to go to the nurse... I don't think he was allowed to use sharp objects after that.


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