# Pocket-Hole Bit



## Grampa_Doodie (Feb 9, 2012)

The following story is *NOT* for the faint of heart. But it's a true story, and I hope many others learn from my mistake.

A few years back, I was putting together a face frame project using simple pocket-hole joinery. Before I go on, I must say that most people know me as Mr. Safety. I'm constantly thinking safety.

This one day in April, and yes…it was the 1st of April, I made a huge mistake. I placed my left hand (free hand) too close to the joint that I was securing with my battery-powered driver drill and pocket-hole joinery bit in my right hand.

While using* very little pressure* with my right hand, the 8" long pocket-hole bit slipped out of the pocket and went completely through the palm of my left hand. Of course I immediately withdrew the bit from my left hand, and then stood there in shock surveying the moment.

When I called my wife to tell her about it, she thought that I was playing an April Fool's Day joke on her. But obviously, I was not.

Seeing that it was a Sunday, I had to wait until the next day to see a hand specialist. He told me that I was one very lucky person. The bit had hit absolutely nothing inside my hand, and I've been very blessed with no damage whatsoever.

Here's the part that bothers me the most. On many occasions I've seen professional woodworkers on TV making this same exact mistake. I've also seen professional woodworkers at woodworking shows do the same thing as well.

*Remedy? Keep your free hand away from the end of that bit!! * Use proper clamping techniques folks. Please, learn from my mistake.

Dale.


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## live4ever (Feb 27, 2010)

Thank you for the warning and I'm glad to hear you didn't experience any major lasting effects.

Could you clarify a little about how it happened? Was this with the pockethole drill bit or driver bit? If drill, were you using a pockethole jig or drilling pockets freehand? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to visualize where and how it went down.


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## Viking (Aug 26, 2009)

Dale;

I am curious also? I use PH joinery all the time.

If this happened with the drill bit, the work piece should have been clamped in the jig.

If it was while driving the PH screws you should always clamp the face frame joint to keep both sides aligned flat.

Hope you healed up!


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## renners (Apr 9, 2010)

That long bit has a mind of it's own. I only use when absolutely necessary, and then, with extreme caution.


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## Grampa_Doodie (Feb 9, 2012)

live4ever,

This happened while using the driver bit. I was securing the corners of your typical flat face-frame.

Viking,

I was using a clamp at this corner, but my hand was simply in a very poor location. Simply way too close to the business end of my bit. It was totally "user error" on my part. No fault of any of my equipment.

But I must again stress the fact that I was using very little drill pressure when this accident happened. And in a split second the 7" or 8" drive bit slipped away from the square-drive screw and was instantly all the way through my palm. The bit went in the very middle of my left palm and out the back side of my hand almost dead center.

As mentioned earlier, my hand surgeon could not believe that I didn't hit any nerves, tendons, bones…nothing. I was extremely lucky. It could have been much, much worse. All I have to show is two very small scars.

I have since built myself a similar product that Kreg offers. It's a dedicated table top with sliding clamps down two sides. Now I keep my free hand far away from the business end of my driver bit.

When my wife and I are watching woodworking shows on TV, and we see either Norm or others with their hand in the same location that I had mine in…we just cringe!! I even emailed Norm about one of his videos. No reply.

Dale.


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## tt1106 (Dec 31, 2009)

I would suspect in the case of this accident, the blunt nose may have helped you out and moved some stuff out of the way instead of just severing everything in it's path. When working with power things and sharp things and rapidly turning things, there is or should be an understanding that Safety doesn't completely eliminate the possibility of harm, it only reduces the likelihood of a mishap. The only way to rule out all inherent risk, is to abandon the hobby. This is not chastisement, merely me working it out in my own head. To explain, in 1993, I was unloading my pistol and it misfired. The bullet actually missed my hand but hit a piece of metal I had in my hand and fragmented, The fragments went back through my hand and effectively severed two of my fingers. I took alot of ribbing from my PO friends, but I consider it an occupational hazard. When you handle dangerous items on a regular basis, any slight variance could spell disaster, even if you do absolutely wrong. humans+machines+chance=bandaids. Very glad you were not hurt more seriously.


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## Grampa_Doodie (Feb 9, 2012)

Todd,

*The following is not for the faint of heart!!* Consider yourself warned.

I think you may be right about the blunt tip moving things out of the way. One thing I did not mention earlier in fear of grossing people out, was that the surgeon made a fairly bizarre discovery while clean my wound.

Near the end of the cleaning of my exit wound, I heard him say, "Well, look what I found!!?"

Needless to say, this instantly sparked my curiosity. With tweezers in hand, he held a perfectly square piece of my palm in front of my eyes. It was about 3/16 inches square. He then asked me if the drill bit happened to have a square end.

I won't go any further into detail than that.

Dale.


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## Lenny (Sep 28, 2008)

Dale, I just want to say thanks for sharing your accident and cautionary message with us. It's appreciated and as others have said, I am glad to learn your injury was not more serious.


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## Grampa_Doodie (Feb 9, 2012)

Thanks Lenny. I just now took a peek at your work bench. Wow!! You have me thinking now.


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## Uncle_Salty (Dec 26, 2009)

Doodle: I was working late one night in my garage and drove the driver of my kreg jig set through the palm of my left hand! I quickly pulled the bit out of my hand and set the drill down as I assessed the damage. I saw a drop of blood fall on my workbench below so I turned my hand over… And darned if I not only drove the bit into my palm… Heck I drove it all the way through the back side of my hand! I gave myself the stigmata!

Wrapped up my hand and walked into the house. Went back to the bedroom and I asked Wifey if she wouldn't mind taking a short trip to the hospital emergency room. The ER staff was bored so I got in pretty quickly. X-rays and a bandage wrap; antibiotics and a kind word about safety and I was out the door. Fortunately, no damage.

Yep… Kreg Jig driver bit can tear through ski pretty easy! A person must be careful!


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

This story reinforces one of my observations about my own safety record. I have several scares on my hands and arms. Most of them came from tools we don't consider particularly dangerous. The longest scare came from a hand saw. Another came from a chisel.

My safety alert level goes way up when I am using the more dangerous tools (table saw, jointer, etc.). I think I get too casual about safety with hand tools and, in theory, lower risk power tools - like drilling a pocket hole.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

WAHHHHHH! Ugh! Urp! Gag!
Glad there was little damage.
Bill


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## cutmantom (Feb 2, 2010)

while using a phillips driver i slipped and it hit the side of my finger, didn't go through but left a nasty wound the took a long time to heal


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## terry603 (Jun 4, 2010)

did you not clamp down the pocket jig?

i cannot picture this in any other method

glad your hand will be Ok


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## Grampa_Doodie (Feb 9, 2012)

Terry,

Not too sure if you mean the main Kreg jig used to drill the actual holes. ?? If so, I was not using this at the time of the accident. All holes were already drilled, and I was at the "assembly" stage and using the screw-driving bit.

Dale.


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## Grampa_Doodie (Feb 9, 2012)

Just one more eery note. I saw a photo on the web a while back of a woodworker securing a pocket-hole joint. He had both hands on his drive-drill, and was driving the bit towards his abdomen.

That photo just about made me sick to my stomach. 

Dale.


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## Uncle_Salty (Dec 26, 2009)

When I got my injury, I was using the square drive screwdriver! I had the frame clamped and was holding/supporting the frame with my left hand. Bit slipped out of the screw and right through my palm!


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## Grampa_Doodie (Feb 9, 2012)

Uncle Salty,

Your incident is identical to mine. And the part that I just have to reiterate, I was *not* pushing very hard at all with my drive-drill in my right hand.

Dale.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

You were using substantially more pressure than you realize. A blunt driver isn't going to run through your hand from a casual slip.


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## Grampa_Doodie (Feb 9, 2012)

With all due respect wormil, your comment is 100% inaccurate. I know exactly how much pressure I was using, and it indeed was very little. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe I was using soft pine at the time, so a low torque setting a little pressure is all that's needed to secure the pocket-hole screws.

The "blunt" tip of the Kreg screw-driving bit is not as blunt as you may think. Especially when it hits soft tissue like the tissue in the palm of your hand.

Regards, Dale.


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## TexasJim (Jul 16, 2009)

Air nailers can do the same. I've seen people hold the joint together while the nail it. If they miss or if the nail hits a hard spot and reroutes itself, they will have it in their hand.

Thanks for the heads up.


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