I'm happy for those that haven't been hurt - yet.
I've been making sawdust recreationally for over 30 years, and a few years to put food on the table.
A year and a half ago, I had a simple cross cut to do on a clear 2x4, just to cut off a couple of inches.
It was crowded with some boxes near the shop saw, so I set up in the driveway - 3 cars wide, nothing there.
Sawhorses, 1 2x4, extension cord, and the circular saw. Nothing in the way.
Made the cut, trigger released and saw slowing down. Went to set the saw down.
My best guess is that I stepped on the cord, the saw whipped into me, rode the guard up, and went through my arm, inside, just above the elbow. I was on the ground in a pool of blood.
Grabbed the arm and squeezed as hard as I could. My 13-year-old was at home on summer vacation, heard me yelling as I crashed through the door, took one look and called 911. Yes, he saved my life. I could not have dialed the phone. I lost 1/3 to 1/2 my blood as it was by the time the paramedics got me on the helicopter.
It severed the artery, two of the three nerves in the arm, and the bicep and tricep muscles. Two surgeries tied things back together.
After a year and a half, I now have some very limited movement in my hand and some feeling in my thumb and parts of my forefinger. The arm and hand has felt like I'm holding an electric fence as the nerves regenerate and relearn the different sensations. Pins and needles - knitting needles. Cold is painful. Cold is defined as less than 71 degrees.
This started as a simple cut with safety in mind from the beginning. Go to a construction site and watch people cutting a mitered bevel on a 12 foot 2x8 across their leg, and try to figure out how more don't get hurt.
It happens fast, and I hope Mike O's post is taken seriously enough for someone to not get hurt.
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From: Mike O. <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Be Careful
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
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My wife went to the hand surgeon today. She has a repetitive motion
situation that the Doc is treating.
He told her that he was on-call Friday (last week) through Monday
(today) at one of the local hospitals. During that time, he had 12
calls for table saw related injuries. Some more serious than others
of course but still serious enough to call a hand surgeon. That seems
like a lot for a city with about 400,000 in the metro area..... and
over a weekend.
Be careful and watch those fingers!!!
Mike O.
**********End Of Post*************
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From: "Swingman" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
References: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Be Careful
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2006 06:14:00 -0600
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Too many DIY shows, catering to too many idiots.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/29/06
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From: "Leon" <[email protected]>
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"Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
No kidding. The DIY channel should have a DIY show for how to treat
injuries or have a disclaimer that you should never try this at home.
**********End Of Post*************
You know, thinking of all the DIY guys who buy the tools they do, I
have always wondered why they don't take classes on how to properly use
tools. I have seen a lot of really bad accidents on the jobsites over
the years, but rarely see any as bad as the ones that hobby guys get
themselves into. I think back to some of the posts here from the guys
that take issue with guards, blade stopping devices, etc., and how they
feel like "being careful" and being a "serious woodworker" is enough.
They easily dismiss and make snide remarks about some injuries.
I think the reason my friend that is an ER nurse sees more
homeowner/serious woodworkers (by her estimates 20 to 1) over
construction trades that do their jobs all day, every day, eight hours
a day is the over confidence that the home guy gets. Make a couple of
birdhouses, then a coffee table, watch some Norm, then makes some
shelves, put a few months into a storage room, read a Time Life book,
and make some new cabinets for the bathroom and the confidence is
really high. Missplaced, but high. I know that not all are that way,
but in my almost daily contact to sell my remodel/repair services to
the public I see an awful lot of it. Sometimes in an effor to impress,
or to put me on notice that they aren't dealing with a neophyte,
clients will actually be using their tools when I come over for an
estimate. I guess in their mind this sets some kind of boundary. Then
I really get to see some bad techniques, techniques that have become
habits. And bad habits are something that can be gotten away with for
some time (kinda like smoking), but in the end they will get you.
My commercial rep at HD and I have often wondered how long it will take
a crop of bored lawyers to sue HD or anyone else for selling a tools
that are as dangerous as table saws, band saws, planers, circular saws,
etc., without having to take some kind of safety class. He has shown
me some of the tools that come back from home guys; bent blades in
miter saws, horribly broken blades in band saws, and month old table
saws that look 20 years old. If that is you public, think how many
accidents there must be over the years that no one knows about. And
when we think about it and he gets through deriding and abusing a
customer that got hurt using an HD tool we always ask, "why didn't
someone stop that guy from buying that?" Why did someone let their
accountant or IT guy buy a table saw without including a safety class?
I dunno... after seeing so many wounded home guys I think about those
things. I have come to appreciate 10 fingers and ten toes a lot more
over the last few years. Over 30 years on the job and I still have
'em.
Robert
"Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:O574h.6099$MO6.604@trndny06:
>
>
> Safety classes are for sissies. As long as there are people that
> insist they are safer with no seat belt in their car, you have the "it
> won't happen to me" mindset.
>
> I took a Woodcraft basic course a few years ago. Safety was stressed
> on the power tools. When I bought my tablesaw, the salesman went over
> at least some very basic safety procedures.
I haven't taken a formal safety class, but I have taken shop classes.
The first thing most of them do before you even touch a tool is by taking
and passing instructor selected safety tests. Yes, there's still been a
few accidents, but what I saw in my short time in shop was fairly minor.
(I got bit with a belt sander once, I respect it much more now.)
> Many of the DIY guys are self taught and have never been exposed to a
> real safety course from anyone, but just watched their father, uncle,
> or Norm so they figure they can handle anything. Bring back shop
> classes in school too and that would help with the basics of power
> tool handling.
>
Shop safety should be one of the manditory classes for all students. It
could be as annoying to students as Consumer Education, but it's just as
important if not more important. Everyone at some time is going to turn
a screwdriver... Otherwise they might have to move to Las Vegas to get
Tom Silva and gang to come over.
Puckdropper
--
Wise is the man who attempts to answer his question before asking it.
To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> You know, thinking of all the DIY guys who buy the tools they do, I
> have always wondered why they don't take classes on how to properly use
> tools.
Safety classes are for sissies. As long as there are people that insist
they are safer with no seat belt in their car, you have the "it won't happen
to me" mindset.
I took a Woodcraft basic course a few years ago. Safety was stressed on the
power tools. When I bought my tablesaw, the salesman went over at least
some very basic safety procedures.
Many of the DIY guys are self taught and have never been exposed to a real
safety course from anyone, but just watched their father, uncle, or Norm so
they figure they can handle anything. Bring back shop classes in school too
and that would help with the basics of power tool handling.
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> You know, thinking of all the DIY guys who buy the tools they do, I
> have always wondered why they don't take classes on how to properly use
> tools. I have seen a lot of really bad accidents on the jobsites over
> the years, but rarely see any as bad as the ones that hobby guys get
> themselves into. I think back to some of the posts here from the guys
> that take issue with guards, blade stopping devices, etc., and how they
> feel like "being careful" and being a "serious woodworker" is enough.
> They easily dismiss and make snide remarks about some injuries.
I totally agree. It's the accident that you are not prepared for that is
going to get you and NO ONE is prepared for all accidents.