Safe Saw

Sting wrote:Sam - I shared your view

Until Sunday about 3 in the afternoon

what happened then?

We have one here at work. My company is nuts on safety. All we use it for is ripping plywood to make shipping crates. But since almost anyone in the shop could be using the saw, it makes sense vs. Workers comp and payment for missing fingers.

The cartridge has a block of aluminum in it that gets jammed into the blade while the whole unit simultaneously drops below the work surface.

No one has tested it yet.

The overall construction is quite good. At least as good as the high end Craftsman unit that it replaced.

I had a job in a machine shop once. I had been given a run of 10,000 short brass tubes to set up and put a bend in. These tubes would end up as the nozzle that dispenses the coffee into the paper cup, in coffee vending machines. It was a die bending machine with no guards on it. You set the straight tube in and clamp it down. Then hit the lever and it would bend around a die. After a few thousand of these my right pinky somehow got caught between the tube and the die. It started feeding into the die. I let out a yell that stopped the whole machine shop. I reached my left hand under my right arm and hit the reverse, which was the same lever, just in the nick of time.
Those bastards let me walk to the hospital by myself. X-ray showed a fracture of my end pinky-bone.
The next day I came back to work, and the sleazy manager handed me a stack of papers to sign. I was too young and dumb to sue. Soon after that I took a gig in a milk carton factory.
Fully recovered. Masterson Metal Products went out of business I heard, this was many years ago.

Sting wrote:Sam - I shared your view

Until Sunday about 3 in the afternoon

Pictures.....Pictures.....We all like pictures.

Here's mine:

Rick 386 wrote:Pictures.....Pictures.....We all like pictures.
Here's mine:

OHHHHHH, Good one Rick. Bet that left a scar?

OOOOHHHHHH Gnarly.

YES, for that price of a new cartridge, WELL worth it!! I wasn't sure how much them were. THanks for the info. They may have been more when they first came out a few years ago.

I nicked my finger a few years ago when the small piece of wood caught and jerked my hand. Not has bad as Rick's, no stitches or anything, but very lucky.

pictures are just too much information.

but from all the kind folks I have encountered this week - I am beginning to believe 20 fingers a week are injured/lost on saws

tonight I have some gauze trapped in scab - just a small bit that isn't soaking free from a large hole

think ill leave it there - the clear fluid was leeching from that spot and now appears to be stopped.

Rick - you had skin left to pull back - my reaction wasn't as good

beer has helped - holding a bottle of ice too - finger is stiff from soaking and not holding it above my heart - almost time for sleeping pills and if lucky, Ill be following John Belushi



William Shakespeare question: In romeo and juliet who says No 'tis not so deep as a well nor so wide as a church door but 'tis strength 'twill serve? ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man.

Myth busters rerun 2nite -- pain tolerance

DVC500 at last wrote:
OHHHHHH, Good one Rick. Bet that left a scar?

Yes definitely left scars. That was the second time on the same 2 damn fingers at almost the same damn location. I lost some meat from the tip of the ring finger and it also altered the finger nail on the second attempt at losing them entirely. I have real sensitive finger tips now. And in winter, they will get cold in the blink of an eye. The second time, happened last Labor Day. I was making a change to the chute of the outdoor bin. As soon as I felt the sting (pardon the pun) I knew immediately to quickly shut off the saw and run like hell toward the house to get them under the sink. The wife was out getting ice for the afternoon party. when she came home and saw me sitting at the sink, she asked if she had to take me to the E.R. ? I told her yep and asked how soon she was ready ? She dropped me off there with instructions to call her when the docs were done and she would come back to pick me up. The delay came as I had nicked the end of the bone so they had to consult an orthopod. About 3 1/2 hours and some IV pain medication and I was good to go. Luckily it was on my right hand as I'm left handed.

I shudder each time I have to use that saw. I do get flashbacks. I have been saving up to get one of them saws. I saw the video after the first encounter. I figure I have been lucky twice. I don't want to tempt fate the 3rd time.

Sting - one word "Percoset" They come in 2 power ranges. 325 or 500 mg. You make the call.

I definitely can relate to your situation. Typing 1 fingered sucks especially while under the influence. I hope it was on your off hand. Brushing your teeth, combing your hair and "wiping" (you know what) with a different hand is challenging to say the least. Good luck and I hope a speedy recovery.

Rick

Geez guys! Ever hear of a push stick? I'm a jackass half the time and a table saw is one of the few things I give automatic, unconditional respect.

I guess if you use them all day, you can get to comfortable. I've zinged my knuckles a few times polishing parts in my lathe. Got away with it so far.

Although, I had a tap break in my machine today while I had my head resting against the window. Piece of tap shot out like a bullet and shattered the glass. Never saw anything happen so fast in my life.

You got all that right jpete Power-Tools 101---it's that common sense issue--some of us just learn harder & if we live through it all, we usually come out the other side wiser

I guess I`m in much the same boat as jpete, my saw is a real old one, no blade guard at all, I don`t use it all that much but when I do it has all my respect & attention. The only thing I was saying about that saw is that in my shop the small amount of use it would get doesn`t justify the expense, sure if I have a accident today I might have a different opinion tomorrow but right now with finances the way they are thats it, thats why my newest vehicle is an 03 Kia instead of a new BMW, just the way it is.

Sting WAS using a push stick. I asked via PM. accidents still can happen,, even a push stick will put your hand over or near the spinning blade..

I've been slapped, stung and punched by flying wood, kickbacks, jammed auger bits etc etc.. power tools can bite back..no matter how careful you are.

Give the guy some credit.. he's no neophyte

Greg L

My woods teacher in high school got into a dado saw blade. The wood jammed/kicked back and severely cut several fingers. I wasn't there when it happened but I vividly remember how maimed his fingers were after they were healed even though it's been more than 25 years now.

I don`t think that anyone was seriously implying that it was stings own fault, I know I wasn`t. Most of us would like to have the safest of everything but simply can`t afford to do so IMO. An accident can happen anywhere at any time, one can do everything right & still get hurt, myself I seem to have a real talent for that, just been lucky enough to not get hurt too bad. But as I get older I find that a lot of the things I shook off & didn`t get care for are coming back to haunt me, I just chalk that up to male ego.