wizer
Established Member
- Joined
- 3 Mar 2005
- Messages
- 15,589
- Reaction score
- 1
Just spent some time familiarising myself with the local A&E!I was trimming the parts for my Adirondack chair on the router table using a pattern bit. A momentary lapse in concentration saw my hand get dragged across the spinning bit. Sorry, no gruesome shots. I was too busy wrapping it in a tea towel and driving myself to A&E.
It's funny how you think about these things afterwards. I realise what I did. I'd been having a lot of problems with tearout, especially near and around end grain. After very cautious trial and error I worked out a system which I deemed safe and effective. When it came to end grain I was leaving most of it, destined to finish on the bobbin sander. All went well for 7 parts. The fatal error came on the last part. For some reason I stuck the template on upside down. I realised when I got to the table but assumed it wouldn't matter. Having the template upside down meant I was routing in a different direction. I approached the end grain from a different direction and wasn't expecting it. The bit grabbed hold of the wood and chucked it towards me. Error number two was that I was holding the wood with my forefinger extended. So as the wood passed the bit at speed, so did my finger.
I feel pretty stupid. Pride nearly stopped me from posting. But I guess I have learned all I know about safety on this forum and so I hope this might help someone in the future.
The long and short of it is that I won't be using the method again. Certainly not on real wood. I'll need to practice my bandsaw skills a little more.
A&E bandaged me up well, but I have an appointment with a plastic surgeon tomorrow. It's painful, but I'm used to pain.
