I had a minor shop accident yesterday. I was trying to be clever by making a handle for a carpet cutting blade and ended up slicing two of my fingers . It was probably the stupidest thing that I have done!
I attempted to make the handle out of wood that would have a bolt running through the center of the blade. So that when you tightened the nut on the bolt it would pinch the blade in between the wood. Silly me decided to hold on to the blade while I drilling a hole through it into the wood underneath. Anyway the blade caught in the drill bit and spun, slicing open the fingerprints of my left thumb and pointer finger.
The cuts were perfectly clean and I bled all over the bathroom sink. Brandy wanted to take pictures that I could post, to show what not to do. But for the sake of our viewers I decided to spare you the gore! I put some butterfly strips accross the wounds and then wrapped them well with some gauze and they seem to be healing fine. But man it sucks!
Dave Says:
October 2nd, 2006 at 7:14 amVisit Dave
Yes, I think the pictures might be a little gory on further thought. I’m not quite sure how the accident happened, though. Maybe a sketch of what you were trying to do?
largenfirm Says:
October 2nd, 2006 at 7:23 amVisit largenfirm
Anytime you are drilling metal on a drillpress, you *must* clamp the workpiece!
Metalworking is exponentially more dangerous than woodworking.
Kirk
Nathan Logan Says:
October 2nd, 2006 at 12:36 pmVisit Nathan Logan
Glad to hear your tendons/arteries/bones are still intact. A friend of mine permanently messed up the function of his hand by doing something far less dangerous, so count your blessings!
And that’s not a lecture - no doubt you know more about woodworking safety than I - just a “glad your fingers still work” post. =)
Doug Says:
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:17 pmVisit Doug
You know, They do sell things that hold those blades.