Just getting back to posting because I did a dumship thing.. Hopefully others will learn from my mistake..
I fractured my tibula and shattered the wrist bone
A piece of wood flew off my table saw and did the damage. Tiny piece really considering the big timbers I often work with.. Maybe about 3/8ths of an inch thick, 2 1/2 wide and 5 or 6 inches long.
I had been sawing thick 4×6 timbers and used a ripping blade with too few teeth for the thin wood I was now sawing. In addition I’d removed the safety guard with it’s anti kick back teeth since big timbers wouldn’t fit under the guard anyway.
I own a 12 inch table saw to single pass cut the thich timbers I work with and if I’d changed the blade and put the guard back on I wouldn’t be doing this with just my left hand.
No excuse. I blew it and I’ll pay for it.. Luckily everything will heal and I still have the number of fingers etc that I started out with.
Replies
Your accident validates my preference for resawing at the bandsaw.
I hope you feel better soon , Frenchy!
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Scary! Stuff happens so fast.
Good luck in your recovery. During rehab after I had some surgery to my hand the PT gal told me "You can't deny (defy) the Law of Tissue Healing." It took about 9 months for the residual pain to disappear.
Jerry
frenchy
Glad to hear that you are ok. My one and only tablesaw kickback resulted in a broken rib and stitches 11 years ago. Take care of yourself, and look on the bright side. Now you'll get a chance to get better at everything left handed.
Jeff
Best wishes for a quick recovery, Frenchy.
I hope you're fully recovered quickly and get back to posting pictures of your impressive work. I'm sure that I speak for many others when I say that we've missed you!
Regards,
Ron
frenchy, I can relate. I did something unsafe with a come-a-long 8 weeks ago and fractured my humerus and shattered the ulna. I know have a steel plate and 6 screws and 2 months of physical therapy just started. I was in a hurry (was late for a meeting) and didnt pay enough attention to the safety issues. I am okay and back working but what a reminder! Hope you are wll soon. aloha, mike
I wanted to see what kickback looked like on my TS, so I removed the guard and ripped a piece freehand, pushing through with a stick from the side. What shocked me is that there was no warning before it launched. I thought there would be a moment where I perceived a difference. I was immediately convinced kickback was not my friend, and my garage door's dent is evidence. My number one safety rule became "Don't have body parts where kicked back stock could go."
I'm about three weeks into a twelve-week rehab on a tendon repair from an actual TS accident (hand on blade). Looking forward to picking up paper clips in February! This created my second safety rule, "Watch where my body parts could go if the stock disappeared instantaneously or a pusher slipped."My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
Frenchy, I'm so sorry to hear about your accident, but also really glad there are no missing body parts (just think if it had hit your ear or something!). Take care and mend quickly. Thanks for the accident report.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Frenchy
Haven't seen you in a while, sorry to hear about the mishap!
Hope you mend OK.
Doug
Yuk ..................... but at least you didn't cut anything. This brings to mind something I read years ago -- a study in one of the early FWW's about wwing accidents. The guy said hardly anybody gets hurt during the first 5 or so years. It usually comes after you have done "that cut" thousands of times and get complacent.I've been doing this for nearly 30 years without a mishap, and I keep thinking that I am way overdue. Good luck, and heal fast........********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
" been doing this for nearly 30 years without a mishap, and I keep thinking that I am way overdue."too true.....
..........after almost removing my left thumb on the ts, a friend commented :Aw, it'll heal.......but it will be scared for a long time". Good healing to ya.
Life may be short but it can be very wide!
Frenchy,
"Tibula"??? :-)
"Tibula" too funny. Hopefully it was the fibula, which is the smaller, and much easier healed, bone as far as I know. the Tibia is the big shin bone, and would be a major owie.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Hey frenchy,
Tibula? That one caught my eye too, particularly since you messed up your wrist as well. Hopefully, your tibia and fibula are still okay. Load bearing bones can make you wish for better weather this time of year. My fibula has become quite a barometer.
Tom
I hope it is just a fibia.
Hi frenchy,
Sorry to hear about your accident. Rest assured that we all will think twice the next time we're at the TS and do the best we can to keep ourselves safe.
We're all routing for you,
Bob
Sorry to hear about your incident but thanks, I think, for your posting the details. I say "I think" because your incident is costing me about $300. :-)
I told SWMBO that for my birthday next week, give me the PSI PSGuard. Then today, I replaced my face shields and full goggles with new ones as the older ones were awfully badly scratched. I always wear eye and sometimes ear protection (router/planer use) but never use a TS guard. Now I will. Oh yeah, I'm the one who posted the "How to ceiling mount a PSI TSGuard".
So again, good luck on your recovery and don't so anything else which will cost me money!!!! LOL
To everyone who responded earlier, Thank you for you messages and yes it was the fibula and not the tibula.. (ya'd thinx it hit my head as well, ;<)
As for the additional costs regarding your additon of a overhead guard, In the words of a former president, I think I soon be feeling your pain (er, finacial pain that is) I definately go9ing to consider the additon of something similar I doubt that one will work forme since I need to move the tablesaw in and out freqently in order to work with the big timbers I do..
If you had a kick-back fracture your fibula you must have been pushing the board through with your foot. I admire such agility.
I saw the effect of a large kick-back abaout 40 yrs ago, when I was called to give anesthesia for a man hit by a very heavy plank thrown the length of a large room by a powerful rip saw at a lumber mill. It had struck him square in the belly rupturing the stomach, so that the abdominal cavity was full of stomach contents. Surprisingly, he made a good recovery.
Tom
Tom,
I've had several kick backs in my life and on occasion they've hit me, usually I just wind up with a bruise.
In the past I tended to blame them on either dull saw blades or gummed up saw blades. On a couple of occasions I felt that they were simply the result of too small of a saw asked to do too big of a job.. That's why I went with a 5 HP 12 inch tablesaw instead of the normal 10 inch and 3 hp.
So it was a shock that such a small piece could do so much damage.. Especially since the blade was near new and very sharp!
I have my own horror story of major kick back.. Connie Johnson, the guy I buy my wood from, once had a 2x4 shoot all the way thru his body (his abdomine)
That was over 30 years ago!
I just saw the doctor and she tells me I need to keep wearing this darn cast for another three weeks!
The portion of the radius that was sheared off hasn't yet completely grown back, darn! the last time I broke my arm it only took a little over 5 weeks to heal. Now It'll be 9 weeks.. I hate getting older!
<<I hate getting older!>>
The alternative is grim. :-)
A bad day woodworking is better than a good day working -- yes, I'm retired!
i had a similar experience on my ten inch rockwell--i usually stand to the left of the blade as a precaution. it didnt help when a piece of scrap about the same size as the one that hit you flew off and hit me in the abdomen--incredibly painful and a large black and blue mark developed. fortunately i healed just fine. i attribute my accident to being sloppy about letting small scraps accumulate as i work on the saw.i constantly have to remind myself to slow down and think about the safety of whatever tool i use or whatever operation i'm performing.
Glad it was nothing permanent! Get well soon we miss your wit and insight.
My one and only accident happened when I was cutting a piece of plywood with my TS and the end tilted into the blade at the end of the cut and threw the piece back into my stomach area - luckily it hit flat side to me and I ended up with only a bruise. - Valuable lesson for me and no real damage.
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