safety first - painful lesson learned

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
J

jclark58

Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
206
Location
Mesa, AZ, USA.
I've debated whether to post about this or not and finally decided that if someone else can benefit through my own stupidity then it's worth it.

Lesson learned - NEVER have any part of your body pass in front of the bandsaw blade for ANY reason, EVER.

I nearly lost my left pinky finger during a momentary lapse of reason on Sunday afternoon. The blade cut about 60% of the way through the flesh and about 50% of the way through the bone right at the 3rd knuckle before I was able to react. I had emergency surgery with one of the best hand surgeons in Arizona on Sunday night to pin the bone in place and repair ligament damage. I will follow-up in about a week. Prognosis looks pretty good, I'll need physical therapy and possibly a follow-up surgery in 4-6 months to clean up scar tissue.

Please be careful out there.

Jason
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
That vision gave me the creeping willies... I'm scared to death of all of my saws, band saw and especially table saw... anything that can rip through hardwood can do some serious damage to my much softer digits..

Glad it wasn't more serious and you are on the road to recovery.
 
Originally posted by wudnhed

Glad your OK! I guess the pinky is probably the best finger to damage since we don't use if too much.
Click to expand...

Jason, glad you will be OK. Saws scare the heck out of me, especially bandsaws where you are using your fingers alot to push stuff through.

Becca, I have a really arthritic little finger that became that way from being dislocated many years ago while playing basketball. The knuckle is bigger than my thumb knuckle. I went to the orthopedic surgeon asking what could be done about it, suggesting that if it got really bad maybe they could amputate it. He told me that was a real bad idea, that the little finger is where you get most of your gripping strength from and is actually one of your more important fingers. I would of never thought that!
 
Really sorry to hear that Jason. Bet you found some choice words. But like they say-time heals. Just whatch out for the scar tissue. Some people have more trouble with it than others. And I had to be one of the 'others'.. I was changing a headlamp [sealed beam] out for a customer & it blew. Was turned off. Left hand between the palm & first joint next to the pinkey,. After healing the cut- if I got a grip on something the knuckle would dislocate. Surgery & lots of scar tissue later. To this day, the nuckle next to the palm bends, but the other one won't. Scat tissue.
 
Tom-- Tell Kelly we're still thinking of her. She's been thru quite an ordeal. Keep up the spirits. One of these days not too long from now, it will be way behind her & will have to get a magnifying glass to show a scar.
 
Originally posted by BruceK

Originally posted by wudnhed

Glad your OK! I guess the pinky is probably the best finger to damage since we don't use if too much.
Click to expand...

Jason, glad you will be OK. Saws scare the heck out of me, especially bandsaws where you are using your fingers alot to push stuff through.

Becca, I have a really arthritic little finger that became that way from being dislocated many years ago while playing basketball. The knuckle is bigger than my thumb knuckle. I went to the orthopedic surgeon asking what could be done about it, suggesting that if it got really bad maybe they could amputate it. He told me that was a real bad idea, that the little finger is where you get most of your gripping strength from and is actually one of your more important fingers. I would of never thought that!
Click to expand...

Learn something new every day, thanks Bruce!
 
Glad to hear you will be OK![:0]

We all need a reminder that the equipment we use everyday and sometimes take for granted can cause SERIOUS damage![xx(]
 
Thanks for the concerns everybody, I have no one to blame for it except for myself, working too fast, not paying enough attention to the task at hand, and putting one of my hand where I knew it shouldn't have been.

I don't have any photos (yet) maybe I'll post some on Tuesday after I see the surgeon for my follow-up and to have the pins removed.

Jason
 
Look on the bright side, Jason. At least you know you have a good bandsaw. :)

Seriously, though... Let's be careful out there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom