Well, I leaned my lesson the hard way! (WARNING, GRAPHIC PICS)

[BigguyZ]

Well, I've gone and done something really stupid. My finger got in a fight with my router table, and the router table won!

I was working on a speaker set I've been planning out for over a year, and I needed to adjust the bit height a bit. I didm't bother to turn the router off, and when the crank that adjusts the height slipped, the hand landed right on the turning pattern bit!

Well, long story short, I cut into my index finger pretty bad. 25 stiches on that finger alone. I severed a small artery and the nerve along with it. I still have some sensory sensation, as there's two nerves in the finger, and the flexor tendons are intact, but half of the finger is numb and it'll be a while for the skin to heal (getting the stiches out on the 8th). I can kinda type, but I'm using the mouse left handed. Since I work an office job that relies a LOT on using the computer (mouse and keyboard), it's hampered me quite a bit.

So ladies and gentlemen, learn this: Do NOT get too comfortable with your tools! ALWAYS pratice patience. 30 seconds of letting the router spin down before I adjusted the height would have saved me a lot of time, pain, and money! I'm so ticked at myself for being so stupid, and you don't want to feel the same. I'm so lucky- just thinking that an inch more into my finger and it's be gone with no effort!

Please, PLEASE use this as a lesson!

Thanks,
Travis

[Black wallnut]

Been there, done that still have the scars and numbness to show for it. Hopefully others will heed our warnings to take more care and thought in their wood working.

[crokett]

That is scary. Thanks for the reminder. I hope you heal fast. I know I've been more lucky than good sometimes. I did much the same thing once except all I did was get my fingernail on the bearing on a bearing guided bit. Ended up with a dull spot on the fingernail but it did scare the bejeezus out of me.

[Ed62]

I remember when Mark decided to chop up his finger. Router bits contacting skin doesn't make for pretty photos.

Thanks for passing the info on. We can always use a reminder when it comes to safety.

Ed

[SHADOWFOX]

Thanks for the reminder! Glad you did not lose your index finger. The pics did give the chills.

[Richard in Smithville]

Wow....Thanks for the pictures and I hope things start healing soon.

[BobSch]

Routers scare the crap out of me so I always turn them off before doing anything.

[cabinetman]

Oh yeah...BTDT. Router bits shape fingers much faster than wood. All it takes is a split second of distraction or lack of concentration. I hope you heal up fast. Your immediate pain will go away, but the memory will not.
.

[leehljp]

I did that to my thumb this past November. The plastic surgeon took over my case (from the emergency doc) and placed some kind of miracle skin over it. Two days later, the meat on the thumb was smooth and skin was growing. It cut about 1/8 inch of the length and a patch about 1/2 by 1/2. Believe it or not, the thumb print grew back too.

That picture sure brings back recent memories. I have had more damage and stitches from my routers than any other tool . . so far and hopefully no more.

[MilDoc]

FIRST rule of keeping body parts:

Turn the darn thing off!!!!!!!

Machinery, water pipes, auto engines, etc etc etc.

[RAFlorida]

Thanks BigguyZ for the pics.

It only takes a split second to hurt one's body. Hope you heal fast and don't have too much pain; it does look bad, and I know it could've been worse, but that was bad enough.
I also tagged your post over in Woodwerker's post about his family distraction when he's trying to do some work in the kitchen. Hope you don't mind.

[Uncle Cracker]

That's why I try to remain slow and methodical. Some things don't grow back...

[jgrobler]

Ouch. Thanks for posting to keep us on our toes. I also have a numb left index finger tip where I lost the battle with the table saw.

I hope it heals quickly, and you'll be able to continue the speaker set.

Johan

[herb fellows]

Ouch! My private parts went up into my stomach looking a that.
A picture truly is worth a thousand words, I'll remember that one next time I'm in the shop. Feel better!

[Norm in Fujino]

Ouch! I have a scar (and minor numbness) in my left thumb from a run-in with an angle grinder about 15 years ago. Funny (?) thing is, it happened not five minutes after giving my kids a warning lecture about how dangerous the tool is.