Right thumb 1/2" shorter - OUCH!!!

[BradNaylor]

Well,

I got the new year off to a good start by taking the end of my thumb off on the table saw on Tuesday!

It was a classic error - I was ripping a sheet of MDF down into 70mm strips for door frames. Repetitive work and your mind wanders. Reaching to remove the strip I'd just cut I must have left my thumb dangling and WOOMPH!! it's gone!

So PLEASE guys, be careful when working on machines. I'm lucky, I've still got a useable thumb and I'll be back working in a week or so. I so nearly lost my livelihood.

The hospital did a great job patching me up. They want me to go back in a few months so they can fashion me a new thumb out of a piece of my big toe! I'm a little nervous about that idea!

And yes, all guards were in place.

 

[skelph]

Bad luck there Dan, hope you recover quickly.

I did something similar about 20 years ago - I had been running grooves in some red pine frames on the table saw (riving knife removed) when I had to run some narrow strips of wood for someone. I didn't put the riving knife back in and in a lapse of concentration I put my left hand on to the spinning blade instead of on the timber behind the blade. Result was end of thumb missing and severed tendon of index finger, because I am right handed they left me with a stump for a thumb on my left hand.

While I was running back and forth to the hospital for physio etc I met a guy who had lost most of his right thumb in an accident on an oil rig - they had made a new thumb for him out of his big toe. In those days it was a fairly new procedure in Aberdeen but the surgeons had made a beautiful job and apart from the fact that he had no joint in the middle you could hardly tell that the thumb wasn't the original. He had almost normal movement for picking things up etc.

Hope it all works out well for you.

 

[Chris Knight]

Dan,
Sorry to hear that - it sounds like a lot of thumb :shock:! I hope you are soon back in action.

 

[woodbloke]

Dan - sorry to hear about this...hope you're back in action soon - Rob

 

[devonwoody]

I am sincerely sorry to hear your news.
Will you still be able to maintain the freemasons handshake? :wink:

 

[woodbloke]

I am sincerely sorry to hear your news.
Will you still be able to maintain the freemasons handshake? :wink:

...with difficulty :wink: - Rob

 

[Waka]

dan

Sorry to hear that, it just goes to show what a lack on concentration does. I take it you weren't using a guard?

 

[devonwoody]

dan

Sorry to hear that, it just goes to show what a lack on concentration does. I take it you weren't using a guard?

Actually would a plastic guard be of any use if you hand collides with the guard with sufficient force. I reckon a blade would come straight through the plastic.

Perhaps sometime in the future we will all have one of those new saws, "sawstop".

 

[chippy1970]

Sorry to hear that Dan I am sure it can happen to anyone, one second of not concentrating and WOOOPH its gone.

I caught mine in a chopsaw about this time last year. I was working on a very badly lit building site, so that wasn't a good start.

I was cutting up oak spindle spacers for a staircase and an offcut shot up into the saw making a loud bang, my immediate reaction was to pull my hand away but the guard was still up so I pulled my hand straight thru the blade Whoops!.

I didn't look at first I just grabbed my hand and went to first aid, I was lucky it had just smashed up the top of one or two fingers and made a mess of my nails. After a few weeks it had healed on its own.

 

[gidon]

Dan
That sounds really nasty - hope they can manage a good repair.
All the best
Gidon

 

[BradNaylor]

dan

Sorry to hear that, it just goes to show what a lack on concentration does. I take it you weren't using a guard?

No, I had a full crown guard in place.

I guess that one of those guards that you have to flip up with the wood as pass it through would have saved me - I'm going to look into that!

 

[Corset]

OOOHH that sounds painful, I hope that you make a full recovery.
Owen

 

[Paul.J]

Sorry to hear this Dan.
Just shows how easily these accidents happen.
I done a similar thing years ago but i just caught the thumb nail,which was half ripped off,between the blade and riving knife,and felt badly bruised and numb for weeks.
Just made sure since to keep all loose fingers well tucked in.
Hope it heals up quickly.
Paul.J.

 

[Danny]

Sorry to hear about your accident. It's amazing how a simple but repetitive job turns dangerous. Hope you make a full recovery

Danny

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Yet again "There for the grace of god go I" It can happen so easy to any one of us, no matter how careful we are 99.9% of the time.

On the brighter side there's not many of us who can pick there nose with their big toe :lol:

 

[Andy Pullen]

I was at a show in the Midlands about five years ago when alarms started going off in the building for ages then a helicopter was heard landing outside. Turned out that the Kity demonstator had gone to flick a piece of wood of the table saw table and took a digit off instead. :shock: . Only takes a moment.

 

[mudman]

:shock: This is why I don't have a tablesaw, they scare the willies out of me.

Dan,
Sorry to hear of the accident, hope you get better soon.

 

[DavidE]

Dan, I’m sorry to hear of your accident.

As the owner of a Table Saw for less than a week I am still very very cautious. It's interesting that you mention the flip up style crown guards. My saw cam with one of those and I am quite impressed with how much blade coverage there is. The only thing you have to remember is the wood tends to get deflected from the fence slightly as you push through. The good thing is this is quite a distance from the blade so gives plenty of time/space to correct.

I do wonder though with such a good guard whether it does give a false sense of security! I do think though it would take quite a bit to get a finger under as it is quite sprung and there is also the distance.

I hope it heals and that it gets back to as normal as possible (with the potential toe repair)

David

 

[MrJay]

Pics please

 

[Anonymous]

Pics please

Seconded! Some before and after shots of your thumb & toe would be good as well.

Now I'm glad I didn't buy that saw off Lynx.

Dave