Tweet
TL;DR - Fucked up my thumb on a table saw.. Pics at bottom:
A while back I purchased a new table saw, and a few weeks ago I finally took the time to get it all tuned and square, and to modify my wooden stand for the height of the new saw.
I spent much of the day getting the blade parallel to the miter slots, adjusting the blade bevel stops at 90 and 45 degrees, lining up the riving knife with the blade kerf, and ensuring the fence was parallel..
I finished late, around 8PM, and figured i would go ahead and cut the 2x4's to height for the stand.. No problem, a few quick cross cuts with the miter gauge. Then decided, I wanted to resaw a little off the face of one of the 2x4's, for what I don't know..
I was in a poor position, working on the ground, in poor light, and since I had not yet made a sacrificial face for the fence, to make the cut the safer way, I just flipped the fence to the left side to run it through that way. This required the blade to be pretty high, and prevented use of the blade guard.
I rarely make cuts with the fence on the left side, so am not really used to the motion. I was working in an awkward position, on the ground, I was tired and hot, etc.. Plenty of reasons I should not have attempted any further use that night.
Never-the-less, I proceeded. I had my left hand holding the board to the fence, pushing it through with my right hand. I got to the point where I needed to switch to using the push stick, and grabbed it, put it on the board and while watching the stick closely, resumed feeding the board. Only, I had forgotten to move my left hand to the other side of the blade, to catch the out feed. Instead, I left it holding the board to the fence, but since I was effectively working 'backwards' to usual, instead of letting the board slide, I moved my hand with the board, and let he fence slide through my fingers, and fed my thumb right into the blade.
As soon as I realized my error I yanked my left hand away, but had already been cut. I only looked briefly, but saw a lot of missing flesh, and a flap hanging.. I thought for sure I cut the whole end off my thumb. I immediately wrapped it in a clean shop towel, held pressure to stop the bleeding, and let Lea know we needed to go to the ER asap.
Fortunately, I didn't hit the bone nor ligaments, and was 'lucky' in that most of the damage is limited to the fleshy part of the thumb pad. They could not 'close' or suture in any way, instead referred me to Plastic Surgeon for possible skin graft.
After a consulting a him, and another hand surgeon, I chose not to do the graft. It will take a little longer to heal, but should heal 'better' as far as nerve sensation and all.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures from the night of. Although I could no longer feel it after they did a nerve block, I still couldn't make myself look at it.
So the first pics are from 2 days later, when they unwrapped it for the first time at the Plastic Surgeon's office.. The skin is all shriveled because of the type of dressing the ER used. The scabbed over pics are from today, 3 weeks later.. I can bend and move my thumb fine, and can put some pressure on the wound, but mostly cannot use it yet. Tying my shoes is a PITA.. lol
A while back I purchased a new table saw, and a few weeks ago I finally took the time to get it all tuned and square, and to modify my wooden stand for the height of the new saw.
I spent much of the day getting the blade parallel to the miter slots, adjusting the blade bevel stops at 90 and 45 degrees, lining up the riving knife with the blade kerf, and ensuring the fence was parallel..
I finished late, around 8PM, and figured i would go ahead and cut the 2x4's to height for the stand.. No problem, a few quick cross cuts with the miter gauge. Then decided, I wanted to resaw a little off the face of one of the 2x4's, for what I don't know..
I was in a poor position, working on the ground, in poor light, and since I had not yet made a sacrificial face for the fence, to make the cut the safer way, I just flipped the fence to the left side to run it through that way. This required the blade to be pretty high, and prevented use of the blade guard.
I rarely make cuts with the fence on the left side, so am not really used to the motion. I was working in an awkward position, on the ground, I was tired and hot, etc.. Plenty of reasons I should not have attempted any further use that night.
Never-the-less, I proceeded. I had my left hand holding the board to the fence, pushing it through with my right hand. I got to the point where I needed to switch to using the push stick, and grabbed it, put it on the board and while watching the stick closely, resumed feeding the board. Only, I had forgotten to move my left hand to the other side of the blade, to catch the out feed. Instead, I left it holding the board to the fence, but since I was effectively working 'backwards' to usual, instead of letting the board slide, I moved my hand with the board, and let he fence slide through my fingers, and fed my thumb right into the blade.
As soon as I realized my error I yanked my left hand away, but had already been cut. I only looked briefly, but saw a lot of missing flesh, and a flap hanging.. I thought for sure I cut the whole end off my thumb. I immediately wrapped it in a clean shop towel, held pressure to stop the bleeding, and let Lea know we needed to go to the ER asap.
Fortunately, I didn't hit the bone nor ligaments, and was 'lucky' in that most of the damage is limited to the fleshy part of the thumb pad. They could not 'close' or suture in any way, instead referred me to Plastic Surgeon for possible skin graft.
After a consulting a him, and another hand surgeon, I chose not to do the graft. It will take a little longer to heal, but should heal 'better' as far as nerve sensation and all.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures from the night of. Although I could no longer feel it after they did a nerve block, I still couldn't make myself look at it.
So the first pics are from 2 days later, when they unwrapped it for the first time at the Plastic Surgeon's office.. The skin is all shriveled because of the type of dressing the ER used. The scabbed over pics are from today, 3 weeks later.. I can bend and move my thumb fine, and can put some pressure on the wound, but mostly cannot use it yet. Tying my shoes is a PITA.. lol
I haven't cut the length in around 3 months, and it was already several inches long then.
Comment