Please be more careful than me!

[Rslaugh]

Just came back from the Doc's where I had the stitches taken out of my hand from a kickback accident on Sunday. I had been ripping down some pine stair treads to make some doggy gates to confine our new puppy in the kitchen. I should have switched to the sled for the next cut and didnt. Long story short a piece of wood kicked back, hit my shark push stick and drove it into my palm. It bled profusely and I was a bit scared for 20 minutes until pressure got things under control while LOML drove me to the ER where we spent the next 7 hours.

Here's what the floor of my shop now has for a decorating scheme (Pen inserted for scale):



This is what the Shark push stick looks like.



Here's where the wood hit the push stick.

All in all I know I was very lucky. Please learn from my mistake.

[Popeye]

Dang Rick!!!! Hope this heals quickly. Take er easy mate. Pat

[cabinetman]

You're very lucky. Sorry to hear of the mishap. Think of it as a warning. Maybe a little more concentration, or maybe slowing down a bit, and for whatever sake, make your push sticks out of WOOD.

Now is a good time to evaluate all your steps and procedures and figure out exactly what went array.

About the blood...not that bad...at least there are spaces in between the drops. And since you typed your post flawlessly, you seem to be in better spirits (and able to type).
.

[Bruce Cohen]

Not to knock the stuff Lee makes, I'm big fan of his and own at lrast 3 iterations of his Shark Guard and Riving knife,
but I ALWAYS at least one, if not two of Henry Wang's GRR-Ripper's when ripping wood. And if I really concentrate on what I'm doing, I make the rip on the bandsaw. Or at least, move the fence on the saw to the LEFT of the blade.

Haven't cut myself, at least that way for years.

Bruce

[Stytooner]

Wow! Sorry to hear about the injury. I know it had to have been scary and painful. The worst was probably the wait at the ER. They seem to want to lets cuts start healing before they even look at them.
I know that had to have been a pretty good kickback to have bent the stick like that. They can take some abuse, but this is the worst I have seen. I even tested some of these myself by hitting the saw blade. Controlled of course with the feeder on a longer stick. The blade usually just cut the aluminum away or pushed it back off the blade. The noise it made was kinda scary.

Were you using the riving knife or the guard? Can you clarify the setup and how the cut went?
I have to say that a wooden push stick may have yielded bad results as well depending on its design. I have used everything from a 2 by 4 to a stylized push stick. I don't yet use a gripper, but I can see how they would be useful as well. Especially on a saw with a riving knife.

I no longer am setup to make these push sticks, but I will give you a refund on it and you can put that toward a Gripper if you like.
Let me know what you think, and I hope you heal up quickly.

[Ed62]

Wow! Sorry to hear of your misfortune. I guess it could have been worse, but it was more than you wanted, that's for sure.

Once again, Lee is going the extra mile. He has the right mix for a successful business.

Ed

[Rslaugh]

....I no longer am setup to make these push sticks, but I will give you a refund on it and you can put that toward a Gripper if you like.
Let me know what you think, and I hope you heal up quickly.

Lee,

Thanks - I appreciate it but the push stick was not at fault and you certainly have no part of the liability. This was just plain dumb being in a hurry and not taking the time to take the fence off and hoist the sled up to make 1 cross cut. Sure saved a bunch of time. About minus 2 days including 7+ hours sitting around the ER soaked in blood, all day Monday under the influence of pain killers and most of Tuesday recovering from said pain killers.

[Rslaugh]

Wow! Sorry to hear of your misfortune. I guess it could have been worse, but it was more than you wanted, that's for sure.

Once again, Lee is going the extra mile. He has the right mix for a successful business.

Ed

Lee is the greatest. Now on version 9. I think mine is a version 2. it would have been easy to milk that design forever. Only someone who cares keeps on making improvements. Lee has always been moe than fair with everyone here. I'm not going to take advantage of that because his product happened to be on the scene in the middle of my mistake.

[Stytooner]

I do appreciate it Rick. My offer still stands even though it may not have been at fault. I do get some warranty items from time to time, so there is really no set limit on time. After a year, I generally ask that they pay shipping, but the rest is usually on the house. As long as it's within my power, I will fix or replace stuff. This is just the way I like to do business.
My goal was and still is to provide the best safety devices I know how to make at a reasonable price and take care of customers issues if and when they arise. It's because of feedback and generally minor incidents that I have been able to make the guards as good as they are. I think I am competing with AOL on version numbers.
The difference between me and a larger company besides the length of time it takes me to make these, is that feedback is received and considered by the designer, the builder, a user and the company owner. Input is always valued and considered.
Thanks again and just shoot me an email. Mmmm maybe a bad choice of wording there.

[gettools]

Rslaugh, I hope you heal quickly. kickbacks are very scary

[Uncle Cracker]

OUCH! My hiney just took a big bite out of the chair...

I swear by my Grrrippers.

Be careful and take your time (not that you'll need reminding from here on out)...

[sparkeyjames]

This is primarily why I got a 2 slot miter table add on. Being a lazy sob sometimes I just don't feel like setting up the sled for a quick 90 degree crosscut. So I installed the dual slot table and modified the router miter guage that comes with the SC 21829 to work in it. Hope your hand heals quickly.

[jhart]

One of the reasons I love my RAS for a quick crosscut. However, that too can be a dangerous tool if not used correctly.

[footprintsinconc]

sorry to hear that. i hope that you heal quickly.

thank you for bring to our attention the importance for using the correct techniques when cutting.

[Gator95]

First: I really hope the wound heals well. Glad it's just a flesh wound.

Secondly: I Hate to ask this, but just to help me work more safely, I'd appreciate it if you could share more details for us newer woodworkers.

What was the dimension of the piece you were trying to cross-cut with the rip fence?
Were the splitter, riving knife, or anti-kickback pawls engaged at the time of the kickback?
What do you think caused the kickback?
How were you using the pushstick, and where on the wood was it applying thrust in relation to the fence and the blade?

Not being nosy for fun, just want to know exactly what you did, why it caused the kickback, and how I can avoid the same fate sometime in the future.

I appreciate you shared the accident with the forum so we can all learn from it.