Tablesaw can get you
Say it aint so
I keep thinking that it is a bad deam but there I real proof in my eyes and the nervous system. The tablesaw won and life has taken a bad turn. Through many years teaching boatbuilding and woodworking, safety has been at the forefront but any bit of carelessness will be seen by a tool looking for it.
The job was making a large outdoor cutting board for Son Mark at his grill and the working day was almost finished.
1. Workday is almost over. Time to be extra vigilant.
2. Never wear a long sleeve shirt with loose cuffs when using a tablesaw. Really good idea that gets
ignored too often and is the main culprit in this tale.
3. Repetitive work can get boring. Ya think?
4. Precision cutting should not take precedence over safety. A 300 piece board of heavy end grain hardwoods takes lots of precision.
It has required a lot of forensics but here is our best version of the sequence.
1. On drawing my arm with the shaved piece, the cuff was caught by the Delta 10” sawblade and jerked into the blade. Damage to the right hand is extensive and the thumb is the only real survivor.
2. While I would think it impossible, the big heavy saw was jerked from its normal spot. The blade was jerked down about ¾” which was hard to fathom. The blade had been set at 90 degrees with precision but moved to about 70 or so degrees, which is also hard to fathom but that is where it wound up.
3. I am 91 years old and getting weaker so I don’t how any of this could have happened.
The thumb is completely functional and undamaged.
The second finger is gone and now a very small nub.
The third finger is gone as well as its main joint. The surgeon was able take the skin/flesh and fold it over the top to cover the hole in the hand.
The forth finger was made workable up to the first joint and will serve to oppose the thumb to allow some use as a grip.
The pinky was crushed but has been saved although the upper tendon is gone. How the pinky will work in the future is unknown. It is now pinned but the finger will be removed if it cannot be workable and gets in the way.
That is where we stand one week after the accident.
A question we all face from doctors is, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain do you have? I’ve never been able to answer that accurately. However, I now know what a 10 is and can be truthful with an answer. Oxycodene pain killer helped but is not perfect and spikes of pain still grab me. Morphine was also given in the beginning. I have the usual sensation that the fingers are still there and can say exactly where each one is and when and where it moves. All in all I think I was lucky.
I refuse to stop doing as much woodworking as I reasonably can when that becomes possible. Family, friends, doctors and nurses are all certain we will be able to make it work. As an old curmudgeon, I will do my part. As a set in the mold right hander, typing this with one left finger has been a task. I’m told that will get easier and I certainly hope so.
We see this sort of accident all too much among our fellows and I do not expect my story to create a system change but perhaps it may cause another boat builder/woodworker to pause a moment before committing a similar careless act.
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Originally Posted by Paul Pless
