Well… that was stupid…

[BleedingOrange]

JethroB, that has got to be, for me, the funniest joke I have ever read. I,ve read it probably 50 times over my years, and bust out laughing ever time I read it. I can picture that poor guy in terrible pain, but it makes me laugh out loud, every time.

 

[QRTRHRS]

For the op and the others whom have battled with a saw, sorry to hear of that. I never cut myself with a circular or table saw but I did touch my not quite stopped power planer blade which cut up but did not remove two fingers.

I have over the years met a guy that last some fingers with a circular saw so it's not just table saws that you have to respect.

Lastly, my wife knows to stay back and not distract me until I finish a cut.

 

[two_bit_score]

I guess I’ll just wait and see

I hope you enjoy a long and comfortable retirement and things go well with the healing of your hand.

 

[JethroB]

JethroB, that has got to be, for me, the funniest joke I have ever read. I,ve read it probably 50 times over my years, and bust out laughing ever time I read it. I can picture that poor guy in terrible pain, but it makes me laugh out loud, every time.

Same for me. I reread it occasionally and still giggle. The author is a master of painting the picture.

 

[BravoXray]

For all the stupid things I have done over the last 73 years, I'm amazed I still have all of all my fingers. Banged a couple up pretty well a few times, but never broke one and they are all there and still work properly.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I don't think any of us can top that. I do recall a picture of a guy in the ER with an arrow in his chest and his son clutching a bow. That could be a contender but in my book, we have a winner right here.

I thought the Briggs motorized bicycle I set up was pretty ingenious. I fabricated a steel mount over rear wheel, removing about 6" of fender at the top. Bike was a 60's Sears 3 speed with caliper brakes.
Plate was hinged with a lever on it and I had a wide billet aluminum pulley that fit the horizontal motor shaft perfectly, even had a key way. Start the motor, pedal bike a bit and lower spinning pulley onto top of tire. I used right handlebar grip with cable for the throttle. Kill switch close by was a Jake brake since caliper brakes didn't do much.
The next evening after I was released from the hospital I took it out for it's maiden voyage...eyepatch and all . I had calculated the speed and had my neighbor follow me in his car to check the speed.
I had a 2D cell headlight with a horn on handlebars.
Once out on the main road there was a long flat stretch and I opened it up. My neighbor said at that point he clocked me at 65. I passed some guy on a moped and two old ladies in a Mercury...their expression was priceless. I then made a left turn onto our secondary road giving a hand signal and luckily missed a large dog.
Back on our road the last mile went pretty quick and using Jake brake, calipers and dragging both feet barely made the turn up our driveway. I stopped at the garage where the bicycle fell apart. Literally. The pulley on tire worked but the big rubber band spoke protector was outside the tire. The handlebars fell off and I guess from the vibration basically all the nuts and screws had loosened. Both the old tires were shot.
I often think about how lucky I was to make it back home in one piece.

 

[jyoutz]

I was ripping a 2x4 when the accident occurred…

Have you ripped something as narrow? Care to share any tips? (I’m not sure how to balance my circular saw on it)

You can rip it half the length. Lift the board and then rip the other half of the 2x4. That way you stay well away from the blade.

 

[4570Man]

You can rip it half the length. Lift the board and then rip the other half of the 2x4. That way you stay well away from the blade.

That’s what I usually do especially if I’m using a crappy jobsite saw without adequate out feed tables.

 

[WinterDeere]

That’s what I usually do especially if I’m using a crappy jobsite saw without adequate out feed tables.

I have a few adjustable-height infeed/outfeed roller stands, so one is never far away. Priceless.

Mine are some old Sears/Craftsman model they don't make anymore, but there are many other sources:

Toughbuilt Roller Stand

Toughbuilt Roller Stand - TB-S200-7BES from Toughbuilt

www.acmetools.com

 

[MTGreen]

Along similar lines to the OP but not as bad: I recently had a fluke finger problem that I'm told almost killed me. Tiny cut on my middle finger knuckle you can kind of see in the first pic. Got it working in the shop just like the other half dozen small cuts I have on my hands at any given time over the last couple decades. Felt a little funny the day after like it had gone into the joint similar to how a cat bite feels.

36hrs later I wake up at 2am Christmas morning shaking uncontrollably with a high fever and the finger swollen up pretty good.

An ER visit turns into a 7 day stay in the hospital for sepsis to get IV antibiotics with the first couple days semi delirious with hypotension/tachycardia/fever. Fingers/hand/forearm swollen up and red tracks up to my armpit.

Got out New Year's Eve on 3 more weeks of oral antibiotics and daily dressing changes. Slowly healing up but likely will require physical therapy to get the range of motion back.

I'm told that the cut likely got into the tendon sheath which is why it progressed so fast. Doc says good thing I showed up in the ER when I did and didn't wait any longer or I would have been in the ICU on blood pressure support meds. It definitely would not have gone a good direction without access to IV antibiotics.

What gets me is it was such a minor scratch. I get much worse routinely without any kind of issue Apparently it got into just the wrong spot.

Anyhow, I'm happy I'm still alive and retained the finger.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Good grief! And swollen. I don't know if it would have helped but I keep lots of hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin handy and bandage well.

 

[MTGreen]

Good grief! And swollen. I don't know if it would have helped but I keep lots of hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin handy and bandage well.

I did that the day after when it started feeling funny, but I kind of doubt it would have made much difference had I done it immediately in this oddball case.
I don't even remember doing it I just know which day it was

 

[Helogabals]

I recently retired from a rewarding driving career… the most memorable being the last 25 years as a mixer jockey (concrete truck driver)…

Getting ready for retirement I spent considerable time researching “How not to get bored”… especially during the typically frigid Montana winters (not necessarily this year)… one suggestion i found, which stuck in my head, was to become “ruthlessly organized”… I jumped in with both feet, purchasing numerous black-and-yellow totes for all the random stuff in the garage… I wanted to get that stuff off my workbench/waist-level shelves/floor… I also purchased lumber to make shelves for the wasted space over my garage door…

so far so good, eh? well here comes STUPID…

As I was ripping a 2x4 on my somewhat antiquated table saw (read no safety guards whatsoever … you can see where this is going…) I managed, somehow, to get a finger where it didn’t belong… Julie was kind enough to drive me to the ER as I tried my best to keep from fainting…

Fast forward to the next day, in the surgical center, where the doc was hoping to reattach the severed tendon and nerves… and my luck continued to deteriorate… the damage was so extensive, I had the choice of a rigid, basically useless finger with no sensation or amputation… what a choice…

Getting back into the garage today, to begin cleaning up the mess I so abruptly left behind two days ago, I was greeted by the Ryobi… which, in my mind, had taken on a cartoonish, evil grin… two days ago I had already decided to sell the offending contraption… then, as I looked at my bandaged hand and contemplated life with a “stump”, I had an epiphany… I couldn’t, in good conscious, place Another DIY’er in harms way… it was past time for Ryobi’s retirement…

I’ve already come to the realization the table saw is just an inanimate object performing exactly as it was designed…that it was my own irresponsible behavior which caused my plight…

once things are healed, I’ll spend considerable, quality time in my garage… this time, disassembling the saw… nut-by-nut, bolt-by-bolt until it’s a harmless pile of recyclable pieces… unable to inflict any more damage…

…I might even get some resolution out of my stupidity…

Well, ultimate goal was to entertain yourself.
Mission completed


We here have those jokes about guys from sawmills at bars ordering beers

~~~~~~~~

Sorry man

 

[WinterDeere]

Tiny cut on my middle finger knuckle you can kind of see in the first pic. Got it working in the shop just like the other half dozen small cuts I have on my hands at any given time over the last couple decades.

Geez... glad you're okay. My wife sometimes harasses me about stuff like this, as probably like most of you, I have a half dozen similar scrapes or cuts at any time from various workshop and wood splitting activities. Never time to stop and wash it out properly, I usually just stick the scraped knuckle in my mouth to clean, which is probably the worst thing one can do.

 

[MossRoad]

For all the stupid things I have done over the last 73 years, I'm amazed I still have all of all my fingers. Banged a couple up pretty well a few times, but never broke one and they are all there and still work properly.

I had never broken a bone until 2019 (pinky toes on doors don't count). My left hand met a malfunctioning freight elevator door. Ouch!

 

[kenmbz]

Many years ago I cut the end off of my left hand little finger. I was using 120v hedge clippers, holding a branch back and felt a tickle. At the hospital a surgeon reattached it, it wasn't completely severed. It doesn't look that bad.View attachment 842406View attachment 842407

I did the same thing, only one small bit of finger with one side of nerve was still attached.
Other nerve, bone etc clean cut. That wasn't fun

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a SawStop panel saw when I get tools for my new shop. I've heard of lots of accidents involving table saws between people I know personally and stories like this one. My FIL has put his finger in his 3 times in the last 8 or so years. Luckily no lasting damage any of the 3 times. Most of the injuries are to experienced people, scary.

 

[tradosaurus]

I recently retired from a rewarding driving career… the most memorable being the last 25 years as a mixer jockey (concrete truck driver)…

Getting ready for retirement I spent considerable time researching “How not to get bored”… especially during the typically frigid Montana winters (not necessarily this year)… one suggestion i found, which stuck in my head, was to become “ruthlessly organized”… I jumped in with both feet, purchasing numerous black-and-yellow totes for all the random stuff in the garage… I wanted to get that stuff off my workbench/waist-level shelves/floor… I also purchased lumber to make shelves for the wasted space over my garage door…

so far so good, eh? well here comes STUPID…

As I was ripping a 2x4 on my somewhat antiquated table saw (read no safety guards whatsoever … you can see where this is going…) I managed, somehow, to get a finger where it didn’t belong… Julie was kind enough to drive me to the ER as I tried my best to keep from fainting…

Fast forward to the next day, in the surgical center, where the doc was hoping to reattach the severed tendon and nerves… and my luck continued to deteriorate… the damage was so extensive, I had the choice of a rigid, basically useless finger with no sensation or amputation… what a choice…

Getting back into the garage today, to begin cleaning up the mess I so abruptly left behind two days ago, I was greeted by the Ryobi… which, in my mind, had taken on a cartoonish, evil grin… two days ago I had already decided to sell the offending contraption… then, as I looked at my bandaged hand and contemplated life with a “stump”, I had an epiphany… I couldn’t, in good conscious, place Another DIY’er in harms way… it was past time for Ryobi’s retirement…

I’ve already come to the realization the table saw is just an inanimate object performing exactly as it was designed…that it was my own irresponsible behavior which caused my plight…

once things are healed, I’ll spend considerable, quality time in my garage… this time, disassembling the saw… nut-by-nut, bolt-by-bolt until it’s a harmless pile of recyclable pieces… unable to inflict any more damage…

…I might even get some resolution out of my stupidity…

Lesson learned. It's cheaper to buy or rent new equipment than to pay the hospital bills and live with an injury.

 

[S854]

…Most of the injuries are to experienced people, scary…

The two large companies I drove mixer for (Lafarge and Martin Marietta) had very comprehensive safety programs… one item both stressed was the “accident likelihood envelope”… which included new operators (1 to 3 years experience… no surprise there) and veteran drivers (over 20 years)…

complacency in any endeavor is not your friend…

 

[Jchonline]

Thanks for sharing. What I am really afraid of is the band saw. I will not buy one because I am afraid of forgetting and lopping a finger off. So much for fine woodworking!