Unfortunate shop safety Reminder *Warning Graphic*

Oh man! I was holding my breath and my chest was pounding watching this video. I knew what was coming and was reminded of an accident I had years ago where I sustained similar damage to three fingers on my right hand. Kickback was the culprit in my case but it shows that you can’t let your guard down for a second. As a result of my incident, though the wounds have healed, I never have fully gotten the feeling back in the tips of my fingers.

I hope your recovery is speedy and complete. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully, we can all learn from it.

-- "You know, I'm such a great driver, it's incomprehensible that they took my license away." --Vince Ricardo

Sweet mother of wtf were you thinking!?

There’s no such thing as a ‘smart’ table saw accident but there are degee’s of dumbness….thats got to be one of the dumbest ones I’ve ever seen.

Sorry to be so harsh….no other way to describe what I just watched.

-- It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Aristotle

Totally unavoidable really isn’t an accident, it’s a choice. Using your finger as the push stick, falls into totally unavoidable. Especially when your fingers come that close to the blade. Something tells me you may now know this.

Thanks for posting though. If one person wakes up, it will have been worth the post.

-- Think safe, be safe

Thanks for posting this reminder but…...

You are lucky you were not hurt worse but it was an accident waiting to happen.

No feather boards…

No push stick or something….

Look what is on top of my fence… Also, look at the previous clip in the beginning of the video.. I took the finger guard off, and the rithing knife, and I left the second push stick sitting 3 inches away from where it was needed to save me from this whole situation…

I hope this video spares someone from a similar accident.

Sorry you were injured.
Since I have made some questionable cuts myself, I don’t mean to add to the dog pile that’s already started and is going to continue.
Having said that, seeing the techniques being used right from the beginning really made me think this was going to be even worse.
Under the best of circumstances (riving knife, tall feather board, out feed table, a single push stick to push both pieces through the blade) that is a difficult if not dangerous cut to make on the tablesaw.
Doing a series of repetitive cuts (especially cuts like this) begs for additional setup.
Thanks for posting the link to the video, perhaps others (and I know there are others out there) using similar techniques will reconsider and take the time to create a safer way to do this operation.

-- Regards, Charlie in Rowlett, TX --------I talk to myself, because sometimes I need expert advice.---------

I’ve been there and it was also totally avoidable in my case. Was it a stupid mistake? Sure. I dare say there are very few, if any, examples of someone cutting themselves on a table saw that weren’t stupid mistakes. But in the moment, I’d say you were focused on the fence side hand and not cutting it and keeping the piece tight to the fence to avoid kickback with the pusher and…. the human brain has a limited ability to focus intently on multiple things at one time. Glad it wasn’t any worse than it was and appreciate your willingness to post it in the interest of others!

-- Kenny, SW VA, Go Hokies!!!

yeah i was holding my breath all the way through this knowing what was coming.it was a situation weve all been in and most of us lucky to not suffer your fate.it’s just that moments lapse of judgement and it’s over.im not a saw stop preacher,dont even have one but that was a case where it would have prevented an injury.thank you very much for sharing this and taking the verbal beating,we all need to see this stuff.

-- sawdust the bigger the pile the bigger my smile-larry,so cal.

Sorry for your injury. Thanks for the reminder to have good setups and safe practices.
I know I’m not immune to the stupids, so… I bought myself a Sawstop. And it’s a hella-better saw than my old Rigid. I get glue-line rips now too.

-- Jim, Georgia, USA

Don’t stand behind the blade when ripping, don’t put anything inline with the blade you want in one piece, don’t touch the blade, and use a push stick when it makes sense.

-- Rick M, http://thewoodknack.blogspot.com/

Sigh… I chose not to click the video link. Ya, I’m a coward about this. I’ll take your word for it that it’s bad. I leave all my safety guards on my saw. Only remove them if I have to do a trench cut, and then I’m wary and super super careful. Twelve foot push sticks (joking here actually, but you get the point).
I used to have a Delta/Rockwell and was very wary of a fast spinning blade with hooked teeth.
I also now have a Sawstop. Hoping to get an advantage someday should it happen.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful.

what scared me was your stock moving away from the fence as you were pushing the stock through.right before the accident.

While I think you made a bunch of mistakes, you are brave to post it here and be reminded numerous times about your mistakes. I am certain you have gone thru this in your mind a lot of times.

So, what changes have you put in place to prevent this in the future.

How bad was your injury. It looks like you may have nicked a bone and if so, not good. I bet it really hurts. I hope you heal quickly.

I had a good cabinet saw, and several years ago, bought a Sawstop PCS just for this kind of potential accident. While I try to be very safe, getting a bit older, I just do not want the risk. My wife was behind this purchase completely.

Sigh… I chose not to click the video link. Ya, I m a coward about this.

If watch the video from the 1:15 mark to the 1:30 mark you can see what happened without seeing any blood or gore. All you see is him jerking his hand away quickly.

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

I started to watch the video, but like Craftsman, chose to stop it before the moment of truth. The first 30 seconds was sufficient to see what happened and why. I’ve taken risks in the past – most of us probably have. But if something doesn’t feel right when your ready to push that piece through the blade, then I assure you it isn’t right and it’s time to step back and revisit what you’re about to do.

I appreciate your honesty and boldness to post a video that shows what could have been a life-altering event. (even if I stopped short of watching the whole thing). Hopefully we can all learn a valuable lesson.

-- Mike - Waukesha, WI