Sunday, July 26, 2009

Dangerous Little Prick...

Holy Crap! Yesterday, I was grooving on the table saw (no, I mean literally cutting grooves in two pieces of plastic decking material I want to fit over some steel for a handrail for Mum for the pool...) and I got complacent (and started daydreaming a little) and cut myself for the first time EVER with a table saw.

I've been using table saws since I was about ten and have never had an accident. Not a single scratch. But yesterday, in a moment I'll relive until tomorrow, I actually cranked the blade up right into the tip of a finger...

If you want a groove in a piece of wood, you simply set the fence and start running the piece through the saw, moving the fence a little with each pass, until you have the width of the groove you would like. BUT, if you don't want the groove visible on the ends of the board, you have to place the wood down flat on the table over the recessed blade, then RAISE the blade up (I do this by counting cranks on the raising wheel). You then push the board along and STOP before the blade comes out the other end of the board, and lower the blade down all the way (so it stops cutting) and then push the board out.

This is what I was doing. Blade down, place board on table to a mark, raise blade ten turns, push until board hits new mark, and then lower blade ten turns THE OTHER WAY.

Theoretically, you can simply keep your hands on top of the board because the blade only comes up so far inside the board (because you are only raising it ten turns).

So my hand was holding down the board (they will "float upwards because of the pressure of the cutting blade if you don't hold it down) and I was counting to ten, up and then back down again.

I had that moron laborer dude over and he was attracting my attention (I was wondering why he was leaning on his rake). I was then supposed to LOWER the blade down ten turns but I cranked the wheel THE WRONG WAY.

I started counting... One ...two... and the blade came up and nipped at my fingertip making me jump back like I had been burnt.

Once I realized that I was dumb and lucky, I took this picture because... well, it is a digital camera and I can take pictures of anything and everything because it is FREE.



I was once nipped in similar fashion by a chainsaw. It caught my jeans and just barely scratched me over my left knee. The good news is that these were both scary reminders of what could have been, and in both cases I managed just a wee little prick of the skin and a giant scratch across my brain to BE CAREFUL!

9 comments:

fairyhedgehog said...

Ouch! I'm glad it wasn't worse but that's bad enough.

Sweeti said...

I know you don't believe it but, I believe that was your guardian angel that saved your finger tip.
I'm glad your ok. That's freaking scary. I use these types of tools also...being even mildly complacent and power tools don't mix for sure.

Did you use trex deck for the whole deck? or just the hand rails?

Jeannie said...

I'm terrified of saws. My son deformed a fingernail using a table saw - the blade was probably set wrong, he hit a knot and it dragged his finger across the blade. My dad lost 3 knuckles to a hedge trimmer. Glad you weren't hurt bad.

Jonas said...

I've worked with power tools practically my whole life. My sphincter tightens each and every time I switch on the table saw (I'm a bit leery of my chain saw, too).

Good thing you came away (relatively) unscathed. My best friend, a finish carpenter, nearly lost his thumb.

Anonymous said...

Jazus, that's serious. Get to hospital immediately!

Sorry, couldn't help myself. When I was in High school, I worked in a butchers shop part time and they let me loose with everything; boning knives, meat cleavers and the coup de grace, the band saw! How things have changed. I was in a butchers shop the other day and these burly meat hackers has chainmail gloves on. Poofs!

secret agent woman said...

Yowie. You'll like this: My mother got home one day to find a note taped to the door from her husband that said, "I've gone to the Er. Don't look in the sink." In the sink were his mangled bloddy glasses. He'd hit himself in the face with a chainsaw!

Cheesy said...

Listen you doof.. pay the fuck attention to what you are doing! You need that finger!

Lucky again I see!

writtenwyrdd said...

Frightening! Glad it was just a nip. I did something similar with an axe years ago. I discovered the reason you don't try to chop a tree with a dull axe when it BOUNCED off the wood and I caught myself in the shin. Just a minor injury, and I was lucky, too.

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