Ouch...

[Philly]

Yow! Sorry to hear about this - wishing you a full recovery.
Philly

 

[woodbloke]

Sorry to hear about the accident...get well soon - Rob

 

[wizer]

I've used the router much much less since my little incident last year and when I have used it I've taken my time and prayed to Norm before and after the cut. Which, I guess, is a good thing.

 

[ste_5150]

Crikey, that's a bad one! With a little luck it's not as bad as it seems, and it'll heal well. Check out Wizer's post about his router 'incident' - he's got the gory 'before' and the rather surprisingly well healed 'after'. Hopefully you've got that level of recovery to look forward to. I'll speak for everyone and say we hope so!

Like Degas, I've just bought my first router, so please believe me when I say that people posting these things really does directly avoid others falling foul of the same accident. I know I'll be doubly careful after seeing this.

You'll have to give us an 'after' pic in a few months once things are healing!

 

[Peter T]

Ouch..........Ouch............Ouch

Just seen this thread. That looks awful, to say the least

I've had one or two experiences with casualty departments but nothing that even comes close to looking like that.

Hope it all heals up OK and you have no lasting effects.

Good luck,

 

[Anonymous]

Jeremy

hope you recover quickly and fully

I too had a similar experience some time back and my hand was actually pulled through the 1/2 router cutter - lost the end off one finger and from the last knuckle onwards on the other.

9 months down the line and you had to look to see the scars, otherwise all appeared OK. Movement was 70-80% or so. I LOVE plastic surgeons!!!!

A couple of years further and no feeling from the last knuckle, about half strength of the other fingers when gripping, 90% movement, but otherwise a pair of fingers that pass on casual inspection as never damaged

I wish you all the best and as good a recovery as mine

 

[Vormulac]

Hellfire! That's making me shudder just looking at it. All the best for a very swift and successful recovery.

V.

 

[RogerS]

Ouch...but for the Gods go........brave of you to post. Hope it heals quickly and any lasting damage is minimal.

If you can bear it, can you tell us excatly what you were trying to do?

Roger

 

[DeepBlue]

Ouch indeed!

This brings back memories from about 6 weeks ago when I did something similar. In the middle of a workshop reorganization at the end of the day, I decided I needed a couple of little cleats, found a scrap of 1x1 and went to my trusty SCMS. Squared the end, slid the thing along, made the cut, raised the head and with the blade still running reached over to get the offcut....OUCH!

I consider myself lucky to still have all my fingers, but I now have a nice scar to remind me to 1) think before doing and 2) think twice if its late in the day!

Hope you get well soon
-Tom

 

[wizer]

I LOVE plastic surgeons!!!!

I've said this before, but I know you guys love to read my musings....

I agree entirely about plastic surgery. From accident to skin graft was less than a week and they saw me twice a week for the next 6 weeks to check progress. They couldn't have done enough for me. However, you can imagine what a shock that was after all the misery I've had with the NHS and my back. I'd rather have lost my finger and had that sort of service for something which has taken over my whole life and will eventually see me out of regular employment. I just think it's an odd priority system.

 

[big soft moose]

P.S, I'm a little surprised how many people consider a router one of the safest tools considering it spins at 24,000 rpm and cuts wood as easily as it does!!!!! :shock: :wink:

yep i'd concur with you on that - one suspects that most of the serious accidents occur with the router mounted in a table tho - as if you were using it hand held you'd have both hands on the machine out of harms way.

Its funny that although we shudder at the thought of people mounting circular saws, planers, jigsaws etc etc in tables upside down, we all happily accept mounting a router like that despite its high rpm and cutting abilities.

After seeing a few of these threads ive decided that i wont be making a router table and all my routing will be done cutter down as , presumably, the original designers intended.

wish you a speedy recovery jeremy and like others said kudos for posting - its much easier for us to be wise after the event , when in fact something like that could happen to any of us at any time.

 

[wizer]

Router tables are fine if used with a fence and guard. As safe as any other piece of machinery.

 

[big soft moose]

Router tables are fine if used with a fence and guard. As safe as any other piece of machinery.

so how did you come to rout your fingers ? (* curiosity not sarcasm*)

 

[wizer]

without a guard and fence...

 

[studders]

After seeing a few of these threads ive decided that i wont be making a router table and all my routing will be done cutter down as , presumably, the original designers intended.

Using a table often makes performing the cut a lot safer than routing freehand. The exception is table routing without the fence which can get a bit confuzzling sometimes with regard to feed direction etc. esp on end grain.

 

[wizer]

Complete coincidence I just cam across this

http://finewoodworking.taunton.com/item ... n-tablesaw

 

[Steve Maskery]

It's all very well FWW saying gloves are bad practice on that page there, but it would have been much better if the original program had pointed out the (several) mistakes that led to that accident. It wasn't just "putting down his left hand for support" that was the cause.

No blade guard
No riving knife
No mitre fence
Wearing gloves
Wearing a ring

No, no, no, no, no.

And yes, it's easy for me to sit here and criticize, I know. We all do stupid things now and again and just about every accident I have ever had has been my own fault. But that was a golden opportunity to show good practice rather than just the trauma story.

S

 

[Digit]

Based on my own experiences J the injuries often look worse than they are, hopefully so in your case.

Roy.

 

[Jeremys]

thankyou for everyones kind words, hopefully things will be on the mend soon...

to answer a few q's...

Basically I was rushing to get something done and didnt think through the consequences... I didnt have a fence on but was using the table freehand with a pin. The disc i was routing kicked, and i pushed it back into the bit...it then caught on the bit and spun my left hand into and through the bit. My hand was vertical so the bit effectively took the finger between the wood and bit lengthways. I wasnt using a push pad or handle (they are hanging above the table for frig sake :roll: ) Yes, I know it was dangerous, daft, etc... 2 minutes to screw a block to the wood to hold would have saved a lot of hassle (its just a blanking plate, it doesnt have to be beautiful)

Every other time I use the table it has been with a fence and usually a sacrificial layer with the bit broken through. This was the first (and last time) without a fence...lesson learnt.

Fundamentally I still think the router is one of the safer in the shop (when used correctly), and the table is safer and more accurate when used correctly than freehand. The way I was using the tool was unsafe, not the tool itself.

The photo looks odd, but it is my left. Thankfully I am right handed, so managing ok. Everything takes longer however...try putting socks on with one hand...

One thing I did want to say is that I am completely in awe of the nursing staff at Frenchay. I was taking into a trauma ward at midnight and I was amazed by the grief get from patients (not me), and their unending care. They are heroes, and the country cannot pay what they are worth to all of us. We could however pay them a damn site more than we do and show in a superficial way that we appreciate the work they do.

All in all the NHS really came through for me...2 lots of surgery in 2 days with a specialist plastics team, and little things like the anesthetist staying past her shift to do the second phase. Makes my job in IT seem very inconsequential.

In the meantime I have been back in the garage...had a look around and decided to leave it locked up for a while. A few weeks off with some good wood books I think. In the meantime I will live my woody life vicariously through the forum :lol: :lol:

thanks all

Jeremy

 

[wizer]

very very similar to what I did Jeremy.