Ouch!!!! Be Carefull out there!!!!

[Alan in Little Washington]

I took the following report/confession of a very good friend and fellow woodworker from VA, off another forum. No pics- too gruesome!!!

So, you do something you've done a thousand times in the shop and think what could possibly go wrong! That's what I was thinking about 7:00p yesterday as I was face jointing some maple and the board caught on something and my paddle AND left hand met Mr. 12" Byrd Cutterhead. Yep, I was working quick but I always have a pretty fast pace when doing this..think I'll slow down a bit in the future. After that whole shock thing made up it's mind, I called my FIL asking if he wasn't busy at the moment can ya take me to the ER?

It wasn't a pretty sight at all and they took me back pretty quick. Did a hatchet job my middle finger and they thought it best to send me up to Union Memorial in Baltimore for the surgery - they apparently have some great hand surgeons. Gotta say the 25 minute helicopter flight looking at the night balti skyline on morphine was a little surreal

2 hour surgery around 3am and back in my bed after postop by 7:00a. this morning. They pinned the bone back in place but couldn't save the joint above the knuckle so they fused it. Lost the tip of my thumb and laserated my ring finger pretty good...the other two were A-OK!

All in all it could have been worse and all will heal except for the loss of flexability after the joint in that middle finger....but that should come in handy sometimes, huh?

So, I'm home with my big bottle of percocets and will doing a little R&R the next 7 days till I go back for a follow up.

How'd I do with one hand typing?

Hey, gotta laugh guys....beats crying anyday and yes I have a pic so it did happen - just thought I'd spare you the gore

Be safe guys.

Power tools can be dangerous!! Oh, as of a few years ago, he is a full time, self employed, WW, so is now out of work for a few weeks! It could have been worse.

 

[Brent Harral]

Hey Alan, good to talk to you tonight. Yep, my own dam fault for rushing and trying to hog to much off in one pass. I still have the tendancy to skew the board at an angle when face jointing even with a byrd, and the board simply didn't want to face the cutterhead at my pace :eusa_thin Lesson learned...slow down and don't work when your tired. Speaking of confessions...as you know, I do not use the guard on my jointer so I can't expect any sympathy, but I have to say I've been doing this for a long time w/o guard and never had any remote close calls...its just the way I use a jointer. So, another 10 days with this thing on and hopefully I'll be able to wean back into work come 9/1 with an install I have to do. Could have been much worse if I severed some nerves so I actually feel lucky.

I'm going to hang all my lovely wrist band souveniers in the shop as a reminder :BangHead:

 

[NCPete]

Brent, I have had my hand wrapped up like that after a cycling accident. OUCH! Hang those wrist bands strategically around the shop, one by the jointer, table saw, and bandsaw.... that should be enough.


P.S. welcome to the forum, head on over to "Who we are" to tell us about yourself!

 

[LeftyTom]

At least your hand will still be functional.

Last week, when I was jointing some oak, I decided to take off than the 1/8" minimum per pass, because I felt like I was forcing the board (yes, I was jointing with the grain). According to the gauge, I was taking off less than 1/16" per pass, but it didn't feel like the square-peg-in-the-round-hole fit.

 

[TracyP]

Hope everything heals up ok. You are right it could have been a lot worse, thank you for sharing.

 

[garymuto]

I hope you get well soon Brent. Thanks for reminding the rest of us to slow down. I have to say the jointer scares me more than the table saw. No one ever discusses the jointer where you have to let you hands pass directly over the cutters

 

[Glennbear]

Thanks for sharing Brent, as bad as your injury is I am glad it was not worse, hope you heal quickly. I too have a tendency to rush and this incident will give me reason to slow down. I am a bit persnickety about using the guards on my machines and try to listen when the little voice says "do you really want to do it this way ? " Just because we have "always done it this way" gives us no immunity from that fateful split second when things go awry. Thanks for the reminder to be safe Alan. With VA woodworkers being a minority on this forum we need as many functional as possible. :wsmile:

 

[cpowell]

Brent - very sorry to hear of your accident.

Unless someone else has your name I remember you from another forum several years back. I remember admiring your work and appreciating your willingness to offer help to others.

I hope you heal quickly and get back in the saddle soon.


Chuck

 

[WoodWrangler]

Brent, take care of your hand and thanks for sharing this warning. Never want to hear of this for anyone. You seem in good spirits ... keep attitude.

 

[jeff...]

Brent - God Speed healing to you my friend.

 

[Brent Harral]

Thanks for the well wishes guys...very much appreciated!

Thanks for the invite Pete. I've been meaning to spend more time on this site since Alan introduced me to it a while back...you guys have done a great job with it! Very personal and informative..:eusa_clap

Well Chuck, never heard of another BH so I guess I'm it! Thanks for the compliment and I've learned way more from others than what I've been able to share!