What are you afraid of?

Allison,

The fact that you were not hurt is surely a blessing and for that I am thankful.

Although it was scary, you now know what to do if it ever happens again. Opening the doors slowly, standing to the side will now become part of your safety routine. A safety lesson with no injuries- a real good thing!

Lew

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the Universe's finest custom rolling pins.

And you know Lew I have always done that when I thought it had broke. But yes from now on (if I dare) I will pretend like the thing has busted even if it’s been sitting for awhile. I can not even BEGIN to say how shook up I am right now. Plus I want to kick my own ass, because I am always so safe, or so I thought. I need to go eat a piece of humble pie, if I can keep it down. Thanks for replying!

-- Allison, Northeastern Ca. Remember, Amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic!

Allison,

I have had a couple of incidents – mostly at the tablesaw. I broke a finger once and I have a scar on my abdomen from kickback. I do my best now to respect my equipment and stop when my brain says I’m about to do something dumb.

I can say the bandsaw is one the safer things in my shop. I wonder what kind of bandsaw you have and what kind of blades you are using?

Count yourself lucky!

Tim

-- www.craftedbytim.com - A Woodworking & Renovation Blog & www.craftedbytim.com - I make. You buy.

Allison:
I echo Lew’s sentiment on you escaping injury.
Thanks for posting this. I’ve been bitten by kickback on my TS and always looked at my band saw as a pretty safe tool. I now know better. I will change the way I open mine up from now on.

-- Gary D. Stoughton, WI

Good job ducking & weaving to escape that blade, Allison. This is actually a good topic to address. What are the most fearful machines in our shops? I say #1 table saw. We all know the guards must be removed to do many things. #2 drill press. How many times have you thought ” I should have clamped that a little rather than holding it with my hand”? Just a thought. Any others?

-- bbqKing, Lawrenceville

Important is that you are ok. You’ve now had you annual, sorry, at your young age is probably 1ce a decade,EKG and passed with flying colors (your still breathing right). personally when something goes wrong (any thing mechanical, not just the shop) I just shut it off and wait for all the noise to stop befor doing any thing, other than possibily ducking.

-- RTB. stray animals are just looking for love

Allison – I’m so glad your not hurt, your awareness kept you from possible serious injury. No matter how safe we try to be, things can happen that cause pain or injury, such is life. I try to be safe as I can be, but things have still happened, my left hand middle finger tip passed over a set of 3/4” dado blades, due to a piece of wood shooting a sliver of wood into my right hand that was pushing the wood through, caught my attention and the wood bound because I was distracted by this, and shot back bringing my left hand with it. Shattered the tip of the bone, and took 2 surgeries to repair, and I could use a 3rd to remove a bone spur that wants to make an exit now. When I got home that day from the hospital, the first thing I did was go to my table saw, and turn it on and stand there and look at it. With arm in sling, I wanted it to know that I was back and it was not going to beat me or make me stop what I loved to do. This was my way, you will find your way to beat this and be back. The point is that I’ve been very safe, and yet it will happen to the best of us. Let fear be turned to a stronger resolve to safety, but don’t let it stop you, all good things come with some pain. My best to you, and happiness that your okay. – Dan

-- Dan Wiggins

Allison,

I lost the end of my left middle finger back to the knuckle eleven years ago to a table saw. One brief second of inattention created some real change in my life. for several months after the accident I broke out in a cold sweat every time I used a table saw. I still think about it everytime I fire up the saw. I know that’s not much consilation but don’t let it stop you from enjoying your woodworking.

Mart

Statistically the band saw causes the most (not the most grevious) injuries in a shop. Probably because people perceive it as relatively benign.

I had a 3 wheel Inca do the same thing to me. I know the feeling, nothing like trying to duck a 104” sharp spaghetti noodle flying around your shop.

-- The only easy wood project is a fire

My recent run in with my table saw is well documented here (somewhat ad nauseum), and it took me almost a month before I even plugged the saw in, much less running it to “teach” it that it wasn’t going to get the bet of me. (only partly). I still somewhat hesitate and repeat the words in my sigline, before I turn any saw on anymore. Not sure if this hesitation will ever go away or if I even want it to go away. It may have been a blessing in a way. It for sure is/was a lesson I needed.

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

Allison-

I’m glad to hear your OK.

I had a run-in with a table saw about 3-4 years ago. I reached around it to grab the short 14” stock (that I was ripping at 45 degrees), and I pinched the blade. It happened so quickly, that there is no way I could have ever reacted. It cut the very tip of my right middle finger off, from just under the nail to just on top of the bone. Believe it or not, it ALL grew back with no surgery or loss of feeling.

I then experienced a time of maybe 2-3 years where I couldn’t hardly use it. I was MORE dangerous AFTER I had my accident with the saw than I was before, because I wanted to tip-toe around it. Something would bind a little, or whatever, and I wanted to cower. Please DON’T DO THAT. You know how your saw works and what to listen for. Use it carefully and attentively, just like you did before.

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17) †

Glad to hear you were not hurt my Philosophy is all machines are out to get you so I treat them accordingly with great respect and never let my guard down for give the pun.don’t be afraid of the saw just be aware. I use to work in heavy engineering and did metal friction cutting with a band saw and flying broken blades were a common thing can be quite scary the first couple of times .so when you calm down jump back in and cut something on the bandsaw don’t let it beat you

Thank goodness you escaped without injury…. that’s the most important thing.

Having said that, my warped sense of humor is conjuring up a mental image of you looking like a person who just opened one of those gag jars where the big springy thing jumps out at them. <g>

I’ve not experienced a serious injury yet (knock on wood), but early on when I was just becoming familiar with the table saw, a kickback threw a piece of wood all the way across my gara… er, shop where it lodged in the sheetrock wall. That was a wakeup call. I try very hard to always stay focused on what I am about to do, and what could possibly go wrong, before I flip the switch on a machine.

I also agree with bbqking about the drill press being deceptively dangerous, because it seems pretty harmless until you get whacked with an unclamped workpiece when a bit binds.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Sheesh, I’m so glad your ok physically. That is something that I will always be aware of for now on.

-- Jerry

It almost sounds like after it broke it gathered in one compartment. The only thing holding it in place was the door. As soon as you opened the door it wanted to straighten out. I break blades all the time … thanks for the warning.

-- Odie, Confucius say, "He who laughs at one's self is BUTT of joke". http://woodstermangotwood.blogspot.com/ (my funny blog)