Table saw accident (update: gore added with spoiler button)

Hi all,

The purpose of this post is to describe how my carelessness resulted in a preventable accident that had the potential to be life changing; please learn from my misfortune.

On Saturday evening I was using my table saw (late 1990s USA-made Delta contractor saw; beautiful machine) and made contact with the running blade with the tip of my left index finger.

While it wasn't painful, I knew immediately what I had done. I looked at my hand and saw a bloody mess, but I could at least see that I hadn't lost my finger. My immediate reaction was to be angry with myself for failing to prevent this, as I describe below. Because I was in shock, I had my wife drive me to urgent care, who upon looking at my finger, directed me to the ER.

Once I was seen, x-rays were ordered, revealing a non-displaced fracture in the bone. While not a serious fracture, because the fractured bone was exposed to the open wound, this meant I needed to be treated with a preventative course of antibiotics. A bunch of lidocaine and a handful of sutures later (including through what was left of the nail), I was sent on my way.

I don't fully understand how this happened (it happened in a flash), but I clearly I broke the number one rule of knowing the position of the blade relative to my fingers. Here are some other rules I broke:

• My work area was messy.
• It was getting dark and about to rain, so lighting was poor and I was in a rush.
• I didn't have the blade guard installed (in all honesty, no one who uses their saw regularly uses the guard, because it interferes with too many types of cuts and is a PITA to remove and reinstall frequently).

If I did anything right, I guess I should mention that I was cold sober (I always follow this rule; no power tools until the next day if I have even a single drink) and my wife was home and able to help me (I usually follow this rule).

This was a wake up call for me, and in the grand scheme of things, I was lucky as the injury could have been much worse (I am, after all, left-handed, so losing the index finger would suck).

Moving forward, I plan on buying a very expensive sawstop table saw and selling this one, which will sting (I love this saw; my father has the same one, purchased new when I was in high school). I will also make a effort to engage in better safety practices, not just with the saw, but other operations as well.

Thanks for reading. I hope my wake up call serves to prevent someone from experiencing something similar.


MOD ADDITION

 

Well it didnt impact your ability to type

In all seriousness, glad youre okay! Its a good reminder to us all to be extra cautious especially towards the end of a project when we are feeling tired and rushing to finish up

 

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jk glad your ok- Safety 1st !

 

Actually, typing is about half-speed, since I'm making a lot of mistakes (middle finger has to pull double duty for a while).

Maybe I'll see if I can edit the thread title...

 

Glad your okay OP.

To add to what OP said, another excellent way to cause an accident is doing a bunch of repetitive cuts. A cheap power feeder not only makes it more convenient, but also covers the blade.

 

crikey! Glad you're okay OP

 

Thanks for the insight. I was indeed making repeated cuts, although nothing like what you show in your image. I can totally see how this could contribute to an accident due to over-confidence after having done several such cuts. For now, I will budget for a sawstop and consider adding a power feeder in the future.

 

Gnarly! Way to cheat death, Man!

When I was a kid back in the late 60's, early seventies, I was in the garage with my dad when my neighbor came running across the street to us. He was an expert carpenter, builder with a bad-ass wood shop built on to his house. As he approached, he was holding his hands together and as he got close, I could see the blood dripping off his clutched hands. He was a wreck as he asked my dad to run him to the hospital as he had just cut 3 fingers off while using his bandsaw! The gnar part was his wife came across next and she was holding the fingers! One finger was partially attached and they were able to save that one. The other 2 were detached just above the middle knuckle and in those days, they weren't able to reattach those so he was forced to go without. That incident had a massive impact on me and as I grew up taking all the woodshop and metal shop classes I could, I took heed in the lessons we learned about saw and machinery safety.

OP, glad you're not suffering the same fate I witnessed so many years ago. Enjoy your new SawStop! Those things are bitchen! If you're ever feeling particularly wealthy in the future, put a finger into it and post a video! I'm kinda tired of seeing all the hot dogs that are threatened in the videos!

 

Expert carpenter = more experience and more exposure. Hope that didn't end his career.

I had a boss years ago who was ripping a board, and he looked away when someone called his name. In the same instant, he felt the board lift off the saw, so he pushed it back down, right on top of the running blade. Still has those three fingers, but they were reattached at a funny angle...maybe something to do with the "kerf".

 

Tell you what: I'll buy a spare blade and cartridge if you volunteer your finger; I'll even throw in a set of commemorative safety glasses (after all, safety first!). We'll be sure to put it on youtube for the clicks.

 

LOL!

I'm assuming those cartridges are spendy? Any idea what they cost?

 

Ok, here's the gore (just a little boo boo):

Spoiler: click to see bloody finger tip

 

A lil superglue and duct tape and that woulda been fine.

 

Oh hell yea you did good! I cut my left index finger in a very similar way with a butcher knife in college while working in a restaurant. Filleted that sucker to the bone.
Again, grateful it wasn’t worse for you!

 

IIRC, $70 or so. You can choose the blade, but I don't recommend a full dado set; it's a lot more mass to slow down.

 

Glad you're ok

I catch myself sometimes being a bit careless with many tools but a table saw scares the heck out of me.

I've worked in sheet metal shops and been an ironworker where we use all sorts of scary things...but my table saw at home scares me the most. I avoid it as much as possible.

I use my guard but not as often as I should. Mine is actually pretty easy to take on and off.

 

Add angle grinder to the list, and you have the top-two most dangerous power tools. Kickback to the forehead with a knotted cup brush...I saw stars and positively WRECKED a set of safety glasses. On that occasion, urgent care was able to provide treatment.

 

As long as thumbs are good so you can scroll through your feed for some thirst traps amirite?

But in essence, complacency kills. An exploding disc on a grinder without a guard, a one handed sawzall that kicks back, a quick hammer tap underneath the truck that throws dirt in your eye, a glob of molten metal on some sandals while doing a quick tack weld, etc. Comes in different forms but all require a thorough review of what went wrong and how it could have been prevented as you did. A nice wake up call but glad you're alright.

 

I've had many close calls with an angle grinder but I also would use it for hours a day.

Safety practices on jobsites are finally catching up but before guys would hate using my grinders because I always used a guard. Always. They're easier to use without but I've never had an issue making them work with the guard on. Cheap insurance.

Though a gaurd doesn't help much when a cup brush catches and kicks. I try to avoid those too. I prefer a drill mounted cup brush even if they don't work that well.