Need advice on woodworking hobby future

[DaveS]

While I personally do not have any experience with this particular problem - I have read enough accounts to suspect that many accidents of this nature end exactly as you have described and fear - and those people had normal feeling in their fingers.

[JSUPreston]

The brain is the most important safety device we have. The eyes are a close second.

Then I'm screwed! I've been blind in one eye my whole life!

Just an update...I seem to be getting feeling back in the finger a lot quicker that I anticipated. I was concerned because when I was in high school, I cut my right thumb on "z channel" and lost feeling in the thumb for years. Took 3 or 4 stitches for that one.

I've also cut my right pinky on a computer case. Did that one several years ago, and it was a trip to have that finger taped back together.

You guys noticing a pattern here?

[mschrank]

You guys noticing a pattern here?

Ummm, didn't want to say anything but since you mentioned it first

You might consider a pair of semi-fingerless gloves. I have a pair of these that I wear most of the time.

They won't protect the tips of your index and middle fingers, but the tradeoff is that it's easy to grasp small parts (screws, etc) while still keeping a level of protection.

I try not to wear them while using things like the tablesaw, but I sometimes forget. They fit pretty snug, so not as bad as a pair of regular work gloves. They really help reduce splinters in your hands when handling rough stock.

[RockyJohn]

Sorry to hear about your accident, Preston. Give it time. Sorry this post is a little long, but it's gotta be said. It may benefit you, or someone else.

I was recently in a similar sitiuation. On Oct 20, I severely cut my right pinky finger on my BT3100. I was making small cuts to a glue-up for what became 12 oak drawer handles for my workbench. I was so darned careful to set up the cuts so they could be made safely, with my hands well away from the blade. There is no way I could have made these cuts with the blade guard on, even if I used it regularly. After safely making the last cut, I switched off the saw, then for some reason I can't remember, I reached across to the left side of the saw table, by the sliding table, picked something up, and as I moved it forward to the right side of the saw table, I grazed the top of my hand across the top of the still spinning blade. I nicked the other three fingers, too, and have permenant blade scratches in my nice gold diamond ring I wear on my right hand. But the pinky finger really got it. The cut was from the base of the finger up to the knuckle below the fingernail. Near the main knuckle, the cut was down to the tendon, which is close to the bone. It took 12 stitches to close it up.

The stitches are out now, and the skin is mostly healed, but I still have a lot of pain at times. I have been "back on the horse" since then, but now after I turn off the saw, I just step back until it stops. Excellent "think" time.

I was in Woodcraft about a week ago and told George what happened as I was looking at their beautiful SawStop on display, and he confirmed that it could have happened on the SawStop, too, as it only stops the blade if the power switch is On. Food for thought. Not everything can be 100% foolproof.

I had some of the same thoughts about giving up the hobby. I didn't touch my saw for a week. Used my jigsaw instead with the wood clamped in my vise. Later, I remembered reading years ago about a blind guy who does woodworking. Where there's a will... I like this hobby too much to give it up. It's just unacceptable. I'll learn from my mistake and adapt my methods of doing things. And I'll never forget what I did so I can be safer with all of my tools.

We are blessed with bodies that are highly adaptable. We learn to compensate. I now do a lot of things with my pinky finger up in the air! Give yourself some time to heal - physically AND mentally. Hope all gets better.

[Greg.B]

Best bet is to just relax and let yourself heal. Don't get all worked up over it. I know your thinking that's easy for me to say, but I was in the same situation almost a year ago, where I pretty much cut my middle finger with a bandsaw down to the bone. I repaired the injury myself and have healed beautifully. I had pain for months, due to the depth of the cut and the area, but now all is good, and I was back playing sports this past summer after 3-4 months. Only thing left is a scar to remind me to be careful.

Just read the post above mine, that is how this happened. I shut the saw down, and went to reach for something under the saw, not realizing that a small portion of the blade is exposed under the saw. Now when I shut something off, I don't move until its not moving. That is the game I play and I'm going to keep playing it.

[Bruce Cohen]

OK,

Misery loves company and we're all confessing how clumsy (stupid?) we've all been.

Here's my story:

About 30 years ago, I caught my right thumb in a belt sander (believe me, its possible. This particular sander was borrowed from a friend? who somehow forgot to tell me the about this machine.
He had replaced the trigger switch with a slide switch and the wheel lock mechanism was non-existant, there was no way to take the tension off the belt when replacing it.

So, here I am sitting on the kitchen floor (I was living in an apt in Manhattan and sanding down a slab of butcher block to use as a counter extension). It's now about 8:00 PM and my not yet wife is taking a shower and yelling for me to finish as we had dinner plans with friends.

I'm just about finished, and all I have to do is give the slab a final once over using 220 grit.
I place the sander upside down on my lap and start to work off the coarser belt (and the sander is still plugged in). All of a sudden a little voice goes off in my head, JERK YOU'RE DOING THIS ALL WRONG, when the sander moves forward and turns itself on pulling my right thumb into the front wheel. As I'm still sitting on the floor and this 10 Lb. monster is rapidly chewing up my thumb, I cna't get up to unplug the sander. So I wrap my foot around the power cord and pull it out of the socket.

Well, at least the sander no longer running, but I can't get my thumb out of the machine. AIso, I cant see what I did to my thumb (and I can't feel anything either).

During this whole time, I'm yelling and cursing, not from pain but panic. My girlfriend enters the kitchen and totally freaks out. Finally I grab a knife and cut the belt off and out pops my thumb.

It's hardly bleeding, but it looks like someone took a spoon and spooned out the flesh and part of the knuckle. I wrap it in a towel and luckily, there's a really good hospital 2 blocks away.

We walk into the hospital, now remember it's Saturday night and the "Saturday Night Knife and Gun Club" is in full swing. (The hospital receives ambulance cases from a good part of the city.)

I tell the triage nurse what I did and tht I'm right handed and I'm an artist (I was the art Director for a magazine called "Emergency Medicine" and have seen numerous hand reconstruction photos. I tell the nurse they have to get a hand surgeon in and repair the finger as best as possible.

They operate that night, and to make a long story less long, I ask the surgeon the next day what would have happened if I didn't ask for him. He replies that most hospitals would have amputated the the thumb at the knuckle, but this hospital had one of the first micro-surgery units in the city and would have called him anyway.

So after about 5 months, I finally get to try out the thumb, looks awful, but it does work. Almost as good as before.

If you want to see what bad judgement and trying to rush looks like, PM me and I'll send you a photo of the thumb.

PS, Still beats getting laid-off right after Thanksgiving.

Bruce

[footprintsinconc]

as everyone has put it, DONT panic and give it some time. DO NOT think negatively. positive thoughts really help. i also think of all the negative things first and stress myself out, but thats completely unnecessary.

so give it some time, think positively and do the exercises once the finger brace is off and you WILL do just fine!

[cabinetman]

There's not much we can say that will totally settle your nerves. You can read this thread as it is about those here working with disabilities. You have to give yourself time and do all of the rehab suggested.
.

[Ed62]

A few years ago I had an IV inserted. When the nurse put the needle in, she hit a nerve near my thumb. I had no feeling on one side of the thumb for about 3 months, then it came back gradually. So even if you have nerve damage, it might heal well. But as someone else pointed out, if you had good techniques for safety before, there's no reason to worry. Good luck with it.

Ed

[JSUPreston]

Well, final update for you guys on the finger:

I had a rough day last Friday here at the office, and with the stiches digging into my skin, I removed them myself (temporary loss of mental capacity).

A few folks here at the office freaked, wife was pretty calm about it. As a matter of fact, she agreed that the finger did look better. By Sat., I could see a real difference in how the finger looked. Cancelled the doctor appointment.

As of right now, I still have a decent scab, and I've had some dead skin peel off, but I have almost my feeling back. Right above the nail before the first nuckle still feels numb, but the skin now feels calloused, so I'm not worried about it.

Needless to say, no fears about getting back into the shop...if I can survive the next two weeks finishing my Master's degree.

I am very thankful that things weren't worse and I appreciate everyone's advice on this.

Preston

[Hellrazor]

Preston, give it time. I crushed the tip of my thumb and didn't have proper feeling for about a month or so. When the feeling came back, it wasn't right at all. Every time I touched something it felt like an electrical shock. It slowly returned to normal.

I also managed to crush the tip of my middle finger too. The nail fell out and I lost all feeling for a few weeks. Feeling slowly returned over a month.

[cork58]

You will take everyones advice about waiting to make a choice! Not an option, but an order. I have little feeling in my index finger do to an accident. It also will not stay straight. I cannot get it to do what I want it do either. I still use all the power tools in my shop! Am I maybe more cautious, maybe, I just do what all smart woodworkers do, and do it safely. Will you need to be careful, yes, but we all should be.

Just my thoughts.

[JSUPreston]

I think my last post may have been a little confusing, so I'll clear it up. The finger (other than a scab) is doing fine. I have no doubts now that I will be able to go back to the shop. The only thing keeping me out is that I am in the last two weeks of my master's degree at one of the online schools. Once that is done, I plan on a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG nap, a Christmas trip with the family, and then some shop time.

[dkerfoot]

I did something similar to my left pointer finger. I used a table knife to do the deed. It was very numb for a long time. 4 years down the road, most of the feeling is back.

[chopnhack]

Hang in there!

As others have said, give yourself time to heal. I had a crushing injury that saved my life but left me partially numb in one finger for a time. To explain better, I slipped on some scaffolding that was pretty high up and caught myself on the way down on a side bar - as I gripped the bar, most of the fall and my body weight, crushed the side of my right ring finger down low where the finger attaches to the hand. The tip of the finger was numb for over 2 months. I am happy to report 99% return of feeling and I hope the same for you!