# Drum Sander accident



## CanKuhn (Feb 21, 2010)

Pictures are a bit disturbing: http://www.woodworkforums.com/f67/incident-jet-drum-sander-gore-warning-116562

OUCH!


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## manumurf (Mar 4, 2010)

Ouch! I guess you shouldn't try to use it to file your nails.


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

You normally don't think of a drum sander as being one of the dangerous tools in the shop. This proves you have to be careful around every machine.

I wish the victim would explain a little about how this happened so that we can learn from that.


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## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

Nobody should be that stupid and operate powered machinery.
Before we know it the Goverments are going to try to legislate who can operate equipment and perhaps even who can own same.

All because stupid people do stupid things.

Don't get me wrong accidents happen but, by and large, most equipment injuries are caused by stupid people doing stupid things.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

Pretty gruesome … but a good safety reminder. Thanks for posting!

Somebody asked him how he did it … here's the text of his response:

How did I do it?

Its a recently new machine for me. I was practicing some sanding.

The machine has two motors and a seperate switch for each. One motor drives the drum and one drives the in-feed table (its now evident to me there are some safety issues with this set-up). I had turned off the in-feed table and this may have put in my mind that everything was off. I then for some unknown reason put my right hand under the drum head, then the next thing I knew my fingers were jamb up in the machine. I quickly reailsed the drum was still going and reached over to turn it off. Then I tried to pull my fingers out and they wouldn't budge without pain. I thought about calling out to the Missus (but she wouldn't of heard me) to get the fire brigade but they probably would have wanted to destroy the machine, and I wasn't going to have that. So I un-did the allen key headed screw that holds the cover shut, thank christ I only had this finger tight. I flipped the cover open to see my fingures caught between the drum and a 15mm dia roller bar that sits about 6mm off the sanding drum. After a couple of goes at getting them back out I decided that I just have to gritt my teeth and go for it… to hell with the pain… and got them out.

Before I started sanding I changed the sandpaper from 80 grit to 40 grit.

The sanding drum spins anti clockwise so it just grabbed my fingers and pulled them in an up in a flash.

As I'm walking inside I'm wriggling the fingers and everthing seems okay. Gets inside says to the missus I need bandage. She comes with a bandade, she sees it and says you need the doctor. So around to the local we go. I says to the doc just needs to be pulled together and stitched. The doc says no no it needs more than that you're off to the Royal Perth.

My stay and treatment at the Royal Perth was absoultly fantastic.

This one fingure typing sure buggers a person out.


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

aaaauch
thank´s for the reminder

TheDane Thank´s for the explanation

Dennis


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

He is lucky he didn't get pulled in more!!


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## luckydawg (Mar 17, 2010)

Hope the graft takes and have a speedy recovery!


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## HanselCJ (Feb 11, 2010)

Wow that looks painful! hope you make a good recovery, and thank you to the lesson for us all.


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## LateNightOwl (Aug 13, 2009)

I hate to pick on the guy, and I hope he heals fast and well, however… 
I hope to never utter the words that I put my hand *anywhere* "for some unknown reason." Especially in the shop. The #1 safety rule in my shop is to ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION to what I am doing where my body parts are. If I feel my attention drifting even a little bit, it's time to get the hell out there for a breather.

I have this same model sander, and one of the first safety decisions I made was to make it a habit to turn off the drum first, then the feed belt; turn on feed before turning on drum to give myself one more small layer of protection. If I get stupid and turn off only one thing, it will be the drum. The drum motor is very quiet and if you have any noise in your shop, you will not hear it. I have trouble hearing it with no ambient shop noise. Even so, I can't imagine sticking my hand in there without making sure it is turned off and unplugged.


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## msdameng (Apr 24, 2010)

Never even thought about getting hurt with a sander before now!


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## Dez (Mar 28, 2007)

Bet you didn't think your fingers were that sticky! (Stuck to the wood and got sucked in and sanded)!
Ouch! Please be more careful, I can't take too much gory stuff without loosing my lunch!


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

The tissue on your hands face arms etc is softer than wood.If you have a machine which can chew up wood don't you think it will make an even more unsightly mess of the tissue skin e muscle etc of your body.It's not rocket science.I undrstand that this was an accident but we all need to realise more often ME INCLUDED that we take chances with wood machines at our peril..In the meantime I hope you get better soon and remember this should be a sound lesson to all of us.Alistair


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

That doesnt look good at all.


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

Don't try this at a nudist workshop.LOLAlistair


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## KnifeL (Apr 27, 2010)

Ow.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

WOW, I hope not to ever do that. I will say that I will never allow my hand anywhere near the drums when it is running. Ouch!


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## MyFathersSon (Apr 30, 2009)

Do my tired old eyes deceive me?
Have I stepped back in time?
Did I REALLY just read an article about someone getting injured in a tool mishap-- 
and no where do the words ==
"And my lawyer says . . . ." appear.

My hat is off to you sir-
Your hand may be scarred - and your pride bruised-
but your self respect and common sense are clearly still intact.
May your recovery be quick and thorough.


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## RyanBrown (Aug 31, 2009)

You can't unsee something like that. Uff.


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

I'm not sure if it needs to be wired up separately but seems like it might be reasonable to make both operations on this run off of the same switch.


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## Kristoffer (Aug 5, 2009)

Best wishes to ya! I'll pray for a quick and full recovery. I've done a *LOT* of stupid things with power tools and have been very lucky. The older I get, the more careful I get, but I still find myself doing questionable things in the shop. Thanks for the reminder!!! You may have saved a couple of fingers with this post.


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## Stuey (Apr 21, 2010)

OUCH! Hope the guy has a speedy recovery.


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## dusty2 (Jan 4, 2009)

How long do think it will be until we are reading about this going through the court system? I'd bet that Jet has already assigned lawyers to the case….what a miscarriage that would be.


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## rod1949 (May 13, 2010)

G'day Dusty2,

I'm the victim. So do you think there is case? I think there is some design/safety issues with the machine.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Wow scary


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## Ger21 (Oct 29, 2009)

>>*I think there is some design/safety issues with the machine.*

I've worked in large cabinet shops for the last 15 years, and have seen and used many large belt and drum sanders. They all have separate switches for the feed table and the sending heads. It's not a design flaw. It's common sense. Never stick you're hand in a machine unless it is *Unplugged.* Any machine. I've seen table saws turn on by themselves due to bad switches. When you change a blade or router bit, unplug the machine.


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## TheWoodsmith (May 28, 2010)

owwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!! reminds me of high school woodshop when my best buddy was running and old standalone belt/disc machine, industrial grade, he was pressing down on the workpiece on the belt side when it kicked out from beneath his hand and sucked it right under the guard at the end that was a nasty sander bite and one of my biggest fear!


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## Gatsby1923 (Oct 22, 2009)

I am coming in late to this discussion but one big thing to keep in mind is abrasives don't "cut" like a tool does but "remove" material. One of the worst accidents I have seen a machine shop is someone who turned on a surface grinder by accident while changing the wheel. In about 2 seconds the grinding wheel had done serious damage, and there was not much to stitch up. Add in an infection a week later and the guy was in serious trouble…

Also even in my home shop i practice something along the lines of "Lockout Tagout" whenever I reach in, around, or under a guard. Make sure you have steps to be sure a tool is unplugged and won't be plugged back in by any one but you.


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

That hurts and I wasn't even involved.
Good luck.


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## BelleCityWW (May 28, 2007)

Sorry it happened to the guy….....BUT WHY in the world would you have your hand near the business end of a drum sander?


> ?


????


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## tyskkvinna (Mar 23, 2010)

We all like to think that we "would never" do something "as stupid" as that. But we all have our moments. I've certainly had mine. In fact, I will even admit that the single tool I have injured myself on the most in my shop is… my table top sander. I am constantly nicking knuckles, fingernails, etc. And the worst injury I gave myself in recent memory was a broken foot because I stepped on a roofing nail. (right on the bone connecting your little toe to your foot. Would have been easier/better if I had done it basically anywhere else on my foot)

It is important to remember that injury can happen with every tool. And that no matter how strongly we pride ourselves on being safe, it's a practise that never stops.


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

I always unplug machinery when working on it, changing parts, blades, etc. I make sure that all machines are *unplugged at the end of the day*.
Makes you want to do nothing but climb in bed and stay there for decades. My luck, I'd fall out of bed and break a leg or arm.

I was scrolling back to the top. The poster- what is the lock hooked up to? The lever can still be switched to the on position.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

*All*
I have never had a serious accident on the shop machines. But I have done some stupid things, and lucked out.

Years ago had some crazy stuff happen trying to rip with a RAS, so I immediately went out and bought my TS. Then, and it was less than a year ago, I had a spectacular kick back, and that was with the guard on. Between feather boards, new Vega fence with 'Finger Saver', better blades, and careful alignment of the fence (the blade has been dead on since I bought the saw) that is much less likely. In fact, I haven't had even a suggestion of a kickback since that last one, it threw a light piece of wood into my abdomen with only a slight bruise the result. But now I set up every cut very carefully, and every month, I do something, it seems, to make the saw safer and more accurate.

If I had to say there is one thing that might lead me into trouble, it is too much focus on one thing. Not stopping, before I do something, and reviewing the safety issues. I am extremely careful when machines are running. I think my greatest risk would be turning on something inadvertantly (hence my shop made TS switch), or perhaps not taking the time to really set things up, too focused on getting the cut done. With my RAS, I have all kinds of safety habits, having made thousands of cuts with that 40 year old saw. But I am just getting there with the TS.

Recently, with new shiny blade in hand, I started to change the blade on my circular saw and realized for some strange reason it was plugged in. Fortunately it is essentially impossible to start that saw without a major effort. So I have resolved, as per Knothead, to unplug all small tools after use. I frequently leave my orbital sander plugged in, because it is not much of a risk. But I am going to start unplugging it too, just to get in the habit.

I leave my big saws and all the stationary equipment plugged in, but they are hard to start inadvertantly. When grandkids come, I unplug the big saws with their unique 220V plugs, flip the switch high on the pillar for 220V and flip off the breaker. Even I have trouble getting those saws started then.

Thanks for the post, there is a never ending source of safety issues to be found in the shop, and the more we know the better.

Alaska Jim


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## Ken90712 (Sep 2, 2009)

Wow glad it wasnt worse….Thinks that make you go Hmmmmm


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