What is the closest shave you have ever had in your woodworking shop?
Discussion Forum
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast -
Our favorite articles and videos -
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
my closest SHAVE was belt sander JUST missing my hand when the board sped away and my hand went right twoards it. my biggest injury was a chisel that hit my thumb. pretty good cut, no need for stitches.
Can you hold the laser level while I shave?
Back when I was younger and dumber, I continued using a palm sander during a lightening storm with alot of rain. I actually felt my hair stand up immediately prior to the power pole in front of the house get struck by lightening. My hair stood up, I got shocked and then got a tiny bit smarter. I don't use power tools during a lightening storm anymore.
Regards, Screen
Yes during a lighting storm put down the electric tools and take a bath. LOL
I was ripping a 2x4 late (tired big mistake). The blade had a lot of yellow pine pitch. The 2x4 made it throgh and bound. It kicked back luckily sideways. Hit me in the chest like a baseball bat. Luckily it did not come back strait or I'd been speered. Taught me a couple good lessons.
If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.
And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Two lessons.
First. Once I was ripping thin strips on the TS. Blade guard, splitter and pawls were on, but the thin piece didn't catch the pawl. The blade shot the piece like a bullet, and hit peg board ten feet away. Left a good mark, and a lasting impression. Thankfully I kept the fence between me and the wood, so no injury other than a lasting impression of what happens when you take too much risk.
Second. I was using a ROS to finish a bench I made for our mud room. I hooked up the shop vac to the sander with a lose fitting connector and duct tape. The DC hose fell off. As I reached for it the ROS fell out of my hand, still running. With my left hand I went to grab the ROS. The edge of the pad caught my left middle finger, at the first knuckle, on the inside. A trip to the emergency room, and four stiches later, I was back to normal (sort of). I have no feeling in the injured finger above the knuckle. What was I thinking? Cost of new ROS = $60+; value of left hand in good working condition = priceless.
Both mistakes were operator error and great lessons.
Great thread.
Dorsett
"Thankfully I kept the fence between me and the wood---.
Is this the standard for good practise? It can be a costly thing to be self taught in regards to safety. I never get behind a board when ripping but stand to the left and have the fence on the right of the blade. I have heard you should never let your limb go across the blade but could not figure out how to avoid that. I do use the guard so I think that gives me a degree of safety.
About five, maybe six years ago the issue was discussed (debated) on another forum. In the end a clear majority argued in favor of always standing on the same side as the fence and (as you point out) never reach across the saw. Virtually all kickback occurs on the non-fence side. Since then I have followed that rule. When I can (assuming I am not creating an unsafe situation by reaching too far) I keep the fence between myself and the wood. When ripping a wider piece I stand behind the wood. I never stand behind the wood on the non-fence side.In most (but not all) TV shows and net videos the operator is standing on the fence side.So far no problems.Dorsett
A big thank you. This is all news to me. I'll mend my ways. I thought the kickback was between the fence and the blade and tried to never stand behind any part of the piece being sawed.
(1) I was jointing a board when my wife said something, I looked up to answer her and ran my left "pinky" through the jointer. That was about two years ago on New Years day. Spent the better part of New Years in the ER. The human body is a wonder!!! The skin grew over in time but the "pinky" is a lot skinnier.
(2) I was trimming a small board against the TS fence & had a kickback. It hit me in the chest just below my neck. I was alone at the time, I put my hand where it hit and felt moisture which I thought was blood. I rushed inside with my hand over the "wound" & got some ice. When I took my hand away, no blood?? It was sweat! It was hot (in FL) that day.
Lessons learned: Don't let youself be disracted, & don't try to trim a small pc.
Throw it away & start over!!!
James
One must remember the bandsaw to cut things your not sure would be safe. I use my bandsaw a lot, and consider it an indispensable woodworkers power tool.
When I first moved to Vegas, I had my first experience with case hardened wood. I was 17, and ripping some "kiln dried" 5/4 oak on Dad's old Craftsman saw, that hadn't had a guard on it since I was born.
I saw the wood closing in on the back of the blade, quit pushing it forward, started holding it down so it couldn't get up high enough to kick back, and started screaming my lungs out. After a few minutes that seemed like weeks, Dad came out and shut down the saw. Lessons Learned File: I should have just dove for the floor, and turned off the saw.
Dad's was flicking a small offcut away from the blade with his finger. He was just recovering from a minor stroke, and had to switch from being right handed, and highly coordinated, to being left handed, and merely human. So, there is a piece of wood vibrating around the blade, and he reaches over to flick it away from the blade, and flicks the blade instead. He had almost learned to be left handed, and then he split the first two joints of his left index finger right up the middle. Amazingly they managed to graft in some slivers of bone, and save the finger. It never bent right again, but it looked a lot better than I thought it ever would.
I nearly spilt my cocktail once while leaning over the pile of sawdust on the tablesaw trying to friction light my roach on the blade. Scary stuff I tell ya."There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."
-- Daniel Webster
I always ate my roaches. I had better stuff than you obliviously.
p.s. Be sure its out before ingest.
1/2 sheet of 1/4 ply past my neck (as in within 1 foot)and crashed into wall cabinets 15 feet back. Slit cabinet like a guillotine. Twirled like a frisbee. Powermatic Artisan - Taiwan (model 64 I think). Blade alignment was wacky and the catch pawls on the splitter were too high to catch the ply. Never could align that saw. Bad casting. I was cutting right side, standing to the left of the in place guard. Beis fence.
John
You should play the lottery as lucky as you are!
Closest call was when I almost placed the palm of my hand directly onto a spinning router bit (straight bit).
About a year ago I was taking about one sixteenth inch off a raised panel door. I had the guard and splitter off, of course, because I was brand new to woodworking and thought it got in the way. During the cut, I heard a loud noise behind me. It was the door hitting the floor. I bent over to pick it up and realized that my left wrist was growing to twice its normal size. I picked up the door and saw that it was destroyed. Then I noticed that I was bleeding through my t-shirt just above my navel.
Apparently, the door kicked back and hit me on the wrist and on the stomach. The emergency room doctor said I had a bone contusion.
The co-pay was a small price to pay to learn that I need to always have the guard and splitter in place.
On a happy note, I eventually finished the side board and it is proudly sitting in my dining room.
Edited 3/31/2008 4:11 pm ET by Tomster
I had a similar experience, with a smaller piece of wood. Forgot to put the splitter back on after some dado work. Was very fortunate it (a) didn't hit me hard and (b) didn't pull my hand into the blade. It was one of those deals where the board, which was nearly square, spun across the blade. Took me 15 minutes to find where it had launched to. Glad you weren't badly hurt!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Once, I almost considered giving out my name to a telemarketer.
Years ago when I was more stupid I was routing dovetails and I knelt down to see the router bit going in and around the fingers on my Leigh jig and the bit caught a piece of a finger and spun a piece into my eye. Except it hit my safety glasses instead of my eye. Never had time to even flinch. After I changed my pants I looked at the bit and a whole side edge of the carbide was missing from the bit, and I had a chunk out of my glasses. I still use glasses, even for "a quick cut" on the bandsaw, or whatever. Just takes a second.
On the other hand, I have had no guard on my tablesaw for over 30 years - go figure. I feel I'm safer when I can see the blade.
Steve
On the other hand, I have had no guard on my tablesaw for over 30 years .......
Oooooooo. You shouldn't a said that. The safety police are gonna come down on yer asz now, brutha.
He must have been selling woodworking tools. That was a close shave! wow
I was wearing one of those floppy leather gloves. Went to rip a 1/2" off a 2x4 on the table saw. I was nearing the end of the cut when I noticed the glove and thought - "Hmm, probably not good to be wearing that" - and then whack - my hand flew back and hit me in my face. My face hurt, my first finger throbbed - took a few moments for me to decide to take the glove off - feared what it would look like under there. No damage at all to my finger or hand - just a small cut in the tip of the glove finger. My finger was sore for a couple weeks. I figure I had caught the top of the blade with the glove and severely bent my finger sideways.
Edited 3/31/2008 9:43 pm ET by tkb
I was putting in the last spindle of a set of chairs. Spindle #60 of 60. I put glue in the hole in the seat and tapped the last spindle home. The seat began to crack. I knew I had to hurry before the glue expanded the wood. I quickly grabbed the spindle, straddling the seat, and pulled the spindle up....and into my eye...or so I thought. I stood up and reached for my eye expecting to feel gushing blood. I was very lucky and only knicked my eye and took a tiny piece of my eyelid. I had an ugly looking eye for the holidays but learned to take two seconds to put on eye and ear protection.
There are more old drunkards than old doctors. Ben Franklin
Bleu, I was test fitting spindles on chair and did the same exact thing, grabbed with both hands and pulled into my eye. Ended up having to go to specialist who put stitches in my eye. WHEW!!! got to watch the whole procedure at very close range.
In a hurry, and did not clamp a board to the drill press table. I was drilling an angled hole with a toothed forstner, yes it grabbed and pulled my thumb into it. Ripped out an M&M sized chunk and part of the nail.
Funny now, not then. When about 8years old my mothers old maytag wringer washer for "some unknown reason" sucked my left arm into the wringer and ground off a good patch of flesh.
I was actually stuffing sticks through it and watching them shoot out the back.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Cheez, I feel like a real dummy (probably for good reason). My dad brought me up (almost 60 years ago) on woodworking and table saws and have been doing it ever since, with no incidents. Then, about 2 years ago, using a new DeWalt bench top saw (awkward blade guard), I was feeding a piece of 5/4 x 6 maple, w/o guard, and suddenly... very suddenly... the board jammed and my hand didn't... nearly lost two fingers. Doctor said he couldn't stitch hamburger. Healed OK, no loss of use or disfigurement. 3 months later, same thing. Same results. Ah hah... maybe the saw is the culprit; sure enough, the arbor and table were misaligned; repaired saw under warranty, not fingers! Got rid of that saw ASAP.
OK, so I AM a dummy... was doing a "production" run on my old Delta contractor saw last month, ripping wet, treated 1x6x96 boards, had about 100 cuts to make, made the mistake of getting in a rhythm, moving too fast, lost critical concentration. Again, board jammed, hand kept going. Nothing TOO serious but made a mess of the end of one finger.
You know you're pushing your luck too often when your son sees your bandaged finger and quips "dad's been working on the table saw again".
Moral: no matter how routine the operation, don't get lulled into losing that critical concentration!
(durn... lot easier to write this than to actually post it)
This weekend I stacked up 10 sheets of 3/4 hardwood ply on end. I did not clamp them or hold them on the wall. Next day I notice that one piece is in the wrong way and the warp was moving the pile. I tried to put a clamp on them. A gust of wind came through from the house side, under the pile and dumped them onto me. Smacked my face hard, and pined me on my wifes car in the garage. I can hardly get a breath, but managed to hollar enough for her to hear. Luckily my neighbor was out and ran up to help her so I could slither out across the hood. One broken mirror, some scatches and a bloody nose later.
Need to store this cr... on its side and the heck to saving space....
-----------_o
---------_'-,>
-------(*)/ (*)
Good thing she still likes you. A golden opportunity for a wife who doesn't like her husband. I bet you had a good laugh afterwords.
Yes we did, can you see me looking like "mother" from Pscho. Dried and shriveled pinned under the plywood. "Mother I told you to be careful..... but did you listen.....nooo"
Good to laugh, but still a good lesson.
AZMO <!----><!----><!---->
-----------_o
---------_'-,>
-------(*)/ (*)
9michael9, My closest shave?, my right index finger, at the first joint. garyowen
Mike,
I knicked my pinky on a carving chisel while putting it back in the drawer. Since I was also reading a post from Mel, it's all his fault!
I know, I should have known better and will be more careful next time.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 4/2/2008 11:24 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
I was trying to cut something too short on my mitre saw, it got caught and bashed the crap out of my thumb. I am pretty sure it was fractured as it hurt for weeks.
I was using a rotary tool to clean the threads on an outside faucet with the little steal brush. My wife hollared at me and when I looked up I jambed the brush into my arm and got a nice four inch long scar out of it.
Once I was bevelling the edges of a raised panel at my table saw and dragged my pinky across the blade.
Using a bench mounted 12' disc sander, with a coarse grit disc to dress a 4"x" x!/2" steel block that I had previously cut to size on my metal cutting band saw.
I sanded both sides to remove some oxidation. Then I sanded the four edges which were rough. (from the band saw)
Being a perfectionist, I then lightly chamfered the edges to remove sharp burrs. I hand held the blank at a 45°angle and lightly traversed it across the spinning disc.The machine has a groove like a table saw for a miter gauge.
The blank got wedged in the groove and slammed down and smashed my thumb clean off to the cuticle. At the same time the blank flew up and hit me in the head just above the eye and it felt like a mule kick. I was dazed for a while, before I noticed my finger was smashed.
We had the piece of thumb put into a jar and we raced to the hospital.
Doctor stitched up the 'stump' and I had to have follow up visits at his office for a few weeks. I asked the Doc why he didn't attach the piece we brought in the jar. His answer ?...." In the trade, we call that road kill"
Steinmetz.
Edited 4/3/2008 1:50 am ET by Steinmetz
WOW! Looking back one can see how it could have been much worse. I suppose you were doing a job better suited for a metal lathe or a milling machine. Spinning things are dangerous by their very nature and sometimes one just can't see the danger till after the fact. This particular operation could have been just as bad with a piece of wood and I'll always remember the danger involved because of your post. Thanks for posting this;
Mike
Mike,
My closest shave was with a Gilette Sensor II blade. To me, the electric shavers just don't do the job. With blades, I prefer the two bladed Sensor to the newer models with four or five blades.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
I use my 2 inch chisel to shave with. Saves lots of money because those 4 and 5 blade razors are EXPENSIVE.
Yep, and they dull rather quickly being made from inferior steel and all.
BUT, fear not. Order our new Walkenson 4-26 blade handheld never dull sharpener; a 499.75 value for the low price of 19.99.
AND you can resharpen those blades yourself. You and your ancestors will save thousands of dollars!
WHAT can I say that could possibly be better than that? Amaze your friends with this remarkable new invention.
NOW if you act in the next 7 seconds we'll send you 2 for the platry price of one! That's right just 19.99! Your ancestors will be double happy!
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
where do I send my check? I need it!
Here's mine. I sprayed my saw table with a product that makes it slick. (boshield) I then cut a thin strip off a board so it went to the outside of the blade as I had done many times before with no problems. I had on a new work apron from lee valley that was very heavy nylon (which they don't make anymore) with lots of nice pockets. After cutting the strip the spinning blade acted like a vacuum and sucked the cutoff into it and shot the piece into my apron. The piece hit a pocket that was close to being directly over my heart and went through the pocket and into the layer under it and stopped before going through the last heavy layer. The slick sawtable was the cause of this almost fatal accident. I got some mineral spirits and removed the slick coating and continued cutting strips standing well to the side and have never had another strip sucked into the blade. I would recommend not making the areas around the blade slick as it can be extremely dangerous.
"There's no fool like an old fool"
I was routing a plastic insert for the router table I built. The bit grabbed the round insert (poor feed control on my part), as I cut a lip on the outside. It chipped the plastic and spun the part in my hand. No permanent damage but a fine gash and a major case of nerves when I attempted to finish the job a couple of hours later.
Round things seem more dangerous, particularly on the bandsaw, which is normally the safest power tool in the shop. Rounds on the Radial Arm saw, and the table saw must be cut with attention to every detail.
A jig with a V slot cut into a block of wood tames round thangs like dowels in short order for bandsaw cutting to lengths.
If ya can fit it through the BS for cutting then certainly a jig can/could be made to make it safe. I agree with you, the BS is/can be a very safe powered cutting tool
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
A lot of people grab a round and try to feed it through the band saw free hand-not a wise thing to do. You are right-make a jig to perform this operation. Even the safest tool can be made dangerous if one doesn't think ahead.
Ever see Sam Maloof free-hand stock on a bandsaw. Not for the feint of heart!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
When I first started carving, before I had invested in proper tools, I was whittling with a utility knife. The blade was much longer it needed to be and while carving, I slipped and put a 1/2" long deep gash in my left index finger. I raced upstairs and washed it off and put a bandage on it. I was fortunate not to need stitches and was back carving the next day. I kid you not - the same thing happened again, this time 1/2" above the first cut. There are some things you only do twice.
Chris @ flairwoodworks
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I assume that you have figured out where you made you mistake. There is an old Chinese saying I always loved.
"If you try to act like a tailor you will only cut yourself"
When I was a junior in high school woodshop I was cutting the profile for a molding on the bandsaw. The wood slipped, or I pushed too hard, or both (I honestly don't know and it's been thirty years). My right hand bumped the front edge of the table and continued forward into the blade. The guard was set about two inches above the wood (too high, I know) and my right middle finger brushed against the blade. The resulting laceration required over forty stitches to close and six weeks of rehab. I think of this as my closest shave because even though I recovered full use of my finger I could just as easily have cut it off or suffered permanent disability to my right and dominant hand. Every time I look at the scar it reminds me to put safety first.
2 incidents, both with routers. the first was routing out an inlay with a laminate trimmer when the (tiny) bit broke and shot the fragment out. it bounced off the bench dog which was holding the piece being routed and took a chunk out of my right index fingernail. i found the fragment later and keep it with its other half in the original tube as a reminder. the mistake was hogging out the center of the inlay with the small bit instead of setting up a second router with a larger bit.
the second was with a 3.5" tall profile bit at the router table on a 3/4" x 4" x 48" strip of trim. going a 1/16" of an inch at a time, pass after pass, i slowly deepend the profile. as i got close to being done, the strip got more flexible, but i didn't realize it. i had a split fence at the router table, and didn't bury the outfeed side, although the gap was less than 1/4". the strip must have bent just enough to catch the outfeed fence lip; the bit grabbed the workpiece, threw it across the shop, then proceeded to take a nice chunk out of my push paddle. now, i use a continuous "zero-clearance" fence for such operations.
since i always work with a powered respirator helmet, i'm particularly spooked by some of your stories about being "surprised" while working. i shudder to think if someone were to come up behind me without me noticing, and tap me on the shoulder...
work safely,
bert
DrC, I always keep my shop doors locked, to prevent such surprises.Grey
I was cutting shingles for a gable end wall on a TS, and had the fence well away and was using the miter guide/ slider. Well of course a cutoff got thrown back at the speed of light, and being tall, it hit me where no guy wants to be hit, dropped me like a hot rock and while I'm writhing on the garage floor, in walks the GC, the clients and the architectural team. I managed to stop them from calling the EMT's, but it did ruin my afternoon!
I was...
Heck who knows what I was doing-working.
When a weasel came running in for it's life, followed
by Two full size poodles.
Those critters ran over, under and through every
machine and pile of wood in there.
It was all I could do to stay out of the way.
You were in the eye of a tornado and its lucky your still around to tell the tale. LoL
You know the funny thing is the Weasel
was the only one that came out unscathed!
While ripping thin planks for a jewlery box a piece got caught a kicked bac and I knicked my thinb on the saw. It cut the nail but it didn't bleed. very lucky
John
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled