Accident At Work - Lesson to Everyone

[sodapopinski]

Sorry to hear man. Its good see recovery though. I've been working in carpentry for 4 years now and I've learned using the tools fast and pissed off is a bad combo. I ran a piece  of mdf through the table saw very quickly the other day while pissed off. I never checked to see if the fence was clipped on square and i got huge kickback. Shredded my arm up good and gouged my thumb. wasn't as bad as your injury, but i learned from it.
best regards,
            Pete

[Mark70]

I'm pretty damn late reading this one.  I'm really sorry to hear about your accident.  I know you can recover.  My uncle had a snowmobile accident where he smashed the middle bone in his middle finger.  They said they could replace it with nylon bone and he'd have about 20% movement in the finger.  He said, "cut it the F off".  He's still one of the more hany guys I know.  He even makes jokes like, playing hide and seek with his young son, he's told "no peeking", so he covers his eyes with his hand.... of course there's a gap to look through.  It's funnier in person.

I used to work doing hot asphalt roofing.  Asphalt is heated to 490 degrees F for application.  The guys on the crew used to say, "the day that you stop being afraid of that black stuff (they used a more explicative term) is the day you need to quit, 'cause it will hurt you, or kill you."

Same goes for power tools.

I wasn't sure, did you loose your index finger and damage the middle finger?  I was wondering why the middle one was pinned.

Oh, and the television series American Inventor recently showcased a contestant who lost his index finger.  Maybe inspiriational.

[PCtech]

5) Play any arcade game requiring two hands.

Only Pac & Ms. pac for you!

Good luck, hope the recovery goes well

[arcadefever]

this can be move in the woodworking section...

ps: after few months how is your hand ? much better ? i really hope ...

[javeryh]

Wow I just read this thread and it's a great reminder to ALWAYS be careful when working with power tools.  A few months ago I needed a little more depth on a router bit to make a cut so instead of buying an extender of some kind I just put the bit 1/2 way in.  As soon as I turned the router on the bit went flying and could have seriously injured someone.  Thank God it went flying away from my body.  I triple check everything now and always remember to have two hands on a power tool at all times.  It's very scary.

I hope you are still recovering well.

[erictrumpet]

Thanks for sharing and get well soon! It's true power tools are deadly. You are a pro but most of us are just dorks cutting wood for our MAME cabs in the garage with a beer in one hand. As this thread shows even an experienced pro can make a costly oopsie. Be careful everybody!

Eric.

[NightGod]

This thread has definately done wonders for my caution level when working with power tools. Nothing stays plugged in any longer than nessicary and I *ALWAYS* do a two-handed grip on stuff I'm working on now.

My condolences for your pain, but thanks for saving alot of us the potential for a similar accident.

[saint]

When I use my cordless Black-n-Decker multi-tool's saw attachment, I *always* pull the battery first before installing the saw, and always pull the battery as soon as I'm done. These warnings have made me duely paranoid

[ChadTower]

Heh... that's just common sense.  I always unplug a tool whenever I'm going to change settings or blades.

[Bigun]

http://www.sawstop.com

Watch the hot-dog demo.  If I *ever* get a tablesaw, it will be this one.

[fuadramsey]

I know what you mean and that's why they are called accidents.

I am a pretty safe builder and I also work on rc planes so I am very familiar with CA glue (super glue). Well one day I was using it to glue some plastic together and the piece did not mate up well. I squeezed the pieces together and they snapped shut and squirted some glue right into my eye. I wear hard contact lenses so I was very scared the lens would glue to my eye so I rushed upstairs and luckly was able to pull the contact lens out. THe lens was pretty much ruined (as CA melts some materials).

Hours later I had a flush device attached to my eyeball at the hospital and had to see another doctor. The bottom line is always try to be as safe as possible because you never know when something stupid like this will happen.

[dmworking247]

I don't think I want to go back to my workshop this weekend! I know I tend to get impatient and cut corners... As many have said, this is a timely reminder to put that little bit more thought into safety to stop you spending a lifetime regretting that you didn't.

I'm impressed at your positivity in light of the situation, and on a forum like this full of (often times) amateurs using powerful tools... I think your post will (if not already) have saved many more accidents from occurring.

[tk375]

I just bought a porter cable router and I was amazed on how strong it was. I am sorry to read what happened to you and I thank you for the advice. I am new at this and I will be using my router for the first time, and all this tips can help newbies like me prevent accidents. thanks again for posting this lesson to everyone.

[hello21]

it is beautiful leaaon but you can put photo with explain

[Expressline99]

So is Toolaa doing ok now? I know its been along time. Just wanted to know.

[MFfan]

wow, that was tough

[Malenko]

he hasnt been active in a long time, just click his name

[mvsfan]

Heres to a speedy recovery.

I try to be safe but frequently end up rushing through things and not putting on my goggles and things like that

I used to be the same until I had a dremel disc come apart on me once sending fragments flying into my face, they were that hot one of them actually stuck to my lip and left a blister for 2 weeks. Fortunately I had my put my safety glasses on 30 seconds before, now I wear them permanently when I'm working with power tools.

I cant stress this enough. People hear it all the time and still dont do it. A good way to put it is this.

A stone on a grinder is nothing but glued together sand really.

anybody whose ever seen a grinder stone explode would definately think twice. its like rocks pounding you all over. a dremel cutting disk is much smaller, is made out of the same stuff and is running at a much higher Rpm.

[mvsfan]

Oh, one thing i definately do is that i have a lot of Table tools. A handheld router can get you in trouble quick when it binds. when you have a piece of work like the side of an arcade cabinet to cut the groove for t molding then, the hand router is required.

whatever you do, dont take anybodys suggestion to try and cut t molding grooves with a Dremel. their is such a thing as the right tool for the right job. The Most accidents involving power tools besides alcohol and/or carlessness happen because someone is trying to use a tool for the wrong job.

I had a close call once i was using a 3/4 ton floor jack to lift an empty tool shed we moved from our old house up so we could set blocks under it and i had seen my buddy do it before.

what i didnt notice is that he had a 6 ton Jack. i found that out from him later when i called him to see what went wrong.

i set 3 blocks under it and as i was jacking up the fourth one the seals in the jack gave up the ghost and the shed came crashing down.

[thecheat]

That must have been a HEAVY shed if it blew out a 1500 pound jack!

Regarding the dremel disks, I'm surprised I haven't caught one in my face yet. They are so brittle that I usually break one in half prior to even putting the tool on the work.

Another piece of advice; check your tools OFTEN! I was edging my yard yesterday with one of those edging attachments for my string trimmer. As I was pushing it forward, I noticed that the housing was shifting. The three bolts that hold the housing to the gear drive were loose! I'm sure I would have been in for a treat if a couple of those bolts came loose and the plastic housing dropped onto the spinning blade.