Yowee!

[Russianwolf]

Dang it! It tried to take out my thumb!

I had a request from a former customer for a pair of new Wenge wands for her sons. The one she got last year was broken by her oldest son. So I go down to the shop and start to cutting up my big block of Wenge to smaller blocks and then cut a 16 inch board off the side on one. I knew there was a crack in one side but wasn't paying attention. Got the board ripped down to one inch spindle stock and head over to the lathe. Set up the first one and get to turning. I was just about to the point of having the blank round when it went in about 4 directions at once. unfortunatley one of those directions was directly over the top of the gouge I was using and into my thumb. At 3000 rpms and less than 2 inches away, the thumb lost.So now I have a nice cut about half the width of the nail and some of my blood on the floor from where I stood there cussing for a few minutes. :frown:

I went up and sat with the dogs for a few minutes after I got it cleaned and bandaged. Then I went back down and finished one of the two wands. Then decided to do another needed project. I got rid of my old belt sander and I needed something to sharpen my lawmower blades. So I glued up the pieces of 1 inch thick wood and screwed my faceplate to it. The I set it up at the lowest speed and turned that critter round and slowly took it down to the diameter of the left over belts I still had. It worked. I now have a 6.25 inch diameter drum sander. :biggrin: Then I went back and made three more wands from Padauk, Purpleheart, and Irish Bog Oak in a much simpler design.

I have to got to bed now, and go to a wedding tomorrow (don't they know it's football Saturday!!! ) but I'll get pics of everything up on Sunday.

 

[DocStram]

Whoaaaa Mike. Glad to hear it wasn't more serious. I reckon the price of those wands just went up.

 

[wdcav1952]

Mike, count me in as being glad it didn't involve the ER! BTW, Al is right, having the blood of a famous wand maker as an integral part of the wand makes it far more powerful!!!!!!!

 

[les-smith]

Mike,

I'm also glad it wasn't any worse. Nothing like the love of a good dog to make you feel better.

 

[Daniel]

I did that sort of thing turning a peppermill blank. smacked me pretty hard on the thumb and tried to bend it backwards. I feel lucky it did not get broken. Had I had my hand at just a slightly different angle I'm sure it would have been. It doesn't look like the wood is moving that fast until it decides to go in some other direction than an endless circle.

 

[NewLondon88]

Ouch!

I did something similar when cutting pieces for a segment turning. You'd think a chop saw running at high speed should cut cleanly through a 1" strip of wood, but it kicked .. and hard!

After the swearing and marveling at the size of the thumb and fingers involved, (and stopping to take pictures of said thumb and fingers swelling) I looked at the saw and realized why it was much more dangerous in practice than in theory.

Seems that a 1" strip up towards the back of the saw isn't so stable. By the time the blade touches the wood, the back side of the blade is on it's way UP, and not coming down through the wood. So as you're bringing the blade down, the blade is digging upwards into the wood.

Well, it came up. And out.
Now that I think of it, I may not have used that saw since then..

 

[TellicoTurning]

Ouch!

I did something similar when cutting pieces for a segment turning. You'd think a chop saw running at high speed should cut cleanly through a 1" strip of wood, but it kicked .. and hard!

After the swearing and marveling at the size of the thumb and fingers involved, (and stopping to take pictures of said thumb and fingers swelling) I looked at the saw and realized why it was much more dangerous in practice than in theory.

Seems that a 1" strip up towards the back of the saw isn't so stable. By the time the blade touches the wood, the back side of the blade is on it's way UP, and not coming down through the wood. So as you're bringing the blade down, the blade is digging upwards into the wood.

Well, it came up. And out.
Now that I think of it, I may not have used that saw since then..

These chop saws are handy and seriously efficient tools, but they can also be dangerous as H***. I did something similar on mine last year... I had a 3 or 4 inch log that I picked up on the river. It was wet when I got it, so I let it dry for a year, then decided to cut the end off where the wood had been chewed by a beaver (I think) so I could see the grain. I stuck it on the chop saw, got a good grip on the log and the fence of the saw, pulled down the blade which immediately kicked, jumped and threw the log back into my hand, jamming my thumb halfway to my elbow. When I stopped cussing and got the tears of pain out of my eyes, I realized that the kick had also moved the blade enough that it caused the housing on the motor to shatter and ruined the saw. The blade wobbled and made awful noises... That one went into the dung heap and I had to replace it. I think about how lucky I was that I only got a jammed thumb out of it... now I double check and hold my breath every time I use the chop saw.

BTW, the log was a piece of birth that I got 3 pepper mills out of.. Beautiful piece of wood.

 

[Fred]

Now, Chuck, where on earth did you find a "piece of birth wood?"

Seems both of you were very fortunate to have not been hurt worse. Be careful with these tools that we use ... they seem to be developing a taste for human flesh and that ain't good for us folks!

 

[NewLondon88]

Seems both of you were very fortunate to have not been hurt worse. Be careful with these tools that we use ... they seem to be developing a taste for human flesh and that ain't good for us folks!

True.. It could have been much worse.
I keep these pics to remind myself that I can be a dumbass at times