Thumb in the table saw. Warning - pictures

k0ua · Dec 17, 2015

GPintheMitten said:
Thanks Stanley.

How is your "grapple lid" healing up?

GPintheMitten · Dec 17, 2015

It's ok, no feeling yet but can't complain, given that I could have lost it altogether. Let's see if I can get a pic or two.

TomSeller · Dec 17, 2015

GPintheMitten said:
It's ok, no feeling yet but can't complain, given that I could have lost it altogether. Let's see if I can get a pic or two.

All in all they got it stitched back on pretty good.

k0ua · Dec 17, 2015

Give it another year, it should be in pretty good shape. The nail should be grown out by then too.

GPintheMitten · Dec 17, 2015

Yah, I think 8-12 months will make a big difference.

Oldpath05 · Dec 17, 2015

This thread is a good reminder for sure and I prefer to learn from other peoples mistakes, no one's perfect so accident's do happen. I don't like reading or seeing stuff like this, but I need to so that when I use my table saw I can keep this in mind, thanks for posting.

I don't think anyone here has this kind of saw, this my son's shingle mill, and this past July he found out how sharp it is, part of his trigger finger is now gone, saw work is another one of those pay attention job's, for me Ill stay with welding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpd3ZOoI7kk

scott_vt · Dec 27, 2015

Good Morning GP,

Glad to see that it healed up well. You definitely have working mans hands now !

I was a toolmaker/modelmaker all my life and fortunately still have all fingers still intact. Also an amateur wood worker at home, and I have found that under powered table saws and rip fences that are improperly adjusted, are the causes of many accidents. Cant tell you how many times I have heard people say that pieces that they were ripping kicked back at them because the fence was slightly turned in on the back side of the blade, binding and then shooting back at the operator ! This gets magnified when the saw is low on HP or the blade is dull creating an accident.

Good Luck with your recovery !

George2615 · Dec 27, 2015

GPintheMitten said:
Yah, I think 8-12 months will make a big difference.

It will be 6 months next week since I sliced my finger with a knife. Mine required 10 stitches and healed nicely with barely a scar. In the attached pic the arrows show where the cut was. Finger was just hanging by the skin. Still no feeling, nerves have not grown or attached yet. Doc said I may or may not get feeling back so don't get your hopes up to get feeling back.

big bubba · Dec 27, 2015

glad healing is going well!! at least this was not a chain saw injury. i'll bet you wear chaps too from now on when cutting firewood, etc i try to, since i work alone. best regards & season's greetings....

k0ua · Dec 31, 2015

George2615 said:
It will be 6 months next week since I sliced my finger with a knife. Mine required 10 stitches and healed nicely with barely a scar. In the attached pic the arrows show where the cut was. Finger was just hanging by the skin. Still no feeling, nerves have not grown or attached yet. Doc said I may or may not get feeling back so don't get your hopes up to get feeling back.

Wow! that sure did heal up nicely. Now if you could get some nerve regeneration going.

wcampbell47 · Dec 31, 2015

Looking4new said:
That surely sux, but it is a nasty reminder to you to use a piece of scrap as a PUSHER and keep your dam digits away from the blade.

I have had a table saw since the 70's and used it extensively for about 5 years building custom cabinets. I for sure use a pusher stick when the material gets small and choose to push the material all the way through usually picking it up from the floor. I try to never let the piece come back to me as too much of a chance for the blade to catch it and throw it at me. The fence always needs to be aligned parallel to the blade as well. Read through the thread and glad the OP is healing.

PILOON · Jan 1, 2016

For sure the fence needs to be 'dead on' parallel to the blade.
My only close call was ripping a board that had a belly curve(?) to it and it chattered as I was ripping it.
Somehow my finger got jammed between the fence as the board was being slit.
Not a blade cut but a painful slamming.

Now ripping with a radial arm saw can be a scary exercise at times as I have had more than a few boards launched at me.
I learned to stand out of the way of the launching path .

Don't know if I'm lucky or cautious but have been around power tools fo about 60 years and still have all my fingers. LOL.

The first table saw I used had the table tilt rather than the blade*, really a rather silly design but I guess back then it was the latest design, heck skill saws did not exist then and only the service station had air compressors and a power drill was a device that you turned a crank with the best design having an extension on the crank for more leverage.

* Ripping a 4 X 8 sheet was a 2 man carefully orchestrated exercise.

spangler · Jun 27, 2017

I am a wood shop teacher. I always insist on a riving knife at the minimum, full guard with riving knife and anti kickback devices whenever possible. I also have been successful in purchasing a saw stop brand table saw which i keep "tuned up" square and clean religiously. All of this however, is no substitute for good practice and
attention to dafety protocol. Nobody says "thats exactly what I thought would happen" after an accident.

rustydollar · Jun 27, 2017

Been there done that, cutting up a large aluminum rim into smaller pieces that would fit into the crucible of my home foundry. The saw I was using a large upright band saw fitted with a bi-metal metal cutting blade.

The blade getting dull required more force to get the metal into the blade, when the aluminum made it ways through in went my gloved hand, blade went through the leather glove and nearly to the bone of my left index.

Lesson learned never use a dull blade.

oosik · Jun 27, 2017

Man, I hope that thumb works OK for you and soon. Things like this and my extensive use of my chain saws makes me worry at times. I'm out here all by myself and its a 15 mile drive to the nearest medical facility. So far, 35 years and no serious accidents. Knock on wood.

JRobyn · Jun 27, 2017

It's interesting how when one uses proper safety equipment and takes proper safety precautions, mishaps almost NEVER occur!

rustydollar · Jun 27, 2017

Not me, this guy purposely puts a finger into a saw blade.

GPintheMitten · Jun 29, 2017

A year and a half later, thumb works OK. I have an extra joint at the base of my nail because I sawed through the bone and it didn't reconnect. Still mostly numb but looks and works almost normal.

Be careful guys.