Ouch...

[Jeremys]

does anyone else have those moments where you stand back and think 'that was a really stupid thing to do'... cos i had a biggie on sunday...

Inspired by seeing others fitting air filters to 2 bag extractors, and being a little concerned about the dust in my small garage shop I bought a big filter and set about making 2 rings to seal this to the extractor. small job, nothing difficult...I reckoned on it being done in an hour or so...

In the process of making the second ring on the router i managed to rout the index finger on my left hand down to the second knuckle.

A few days in Frenchay hospital, reattaching what they could find of nerves, tendons, muscle etc and I have had a bit of time to mull things over I always thought of myself as very safety conscious, and cannot believe I did something so stupid...but in reality I became over confident with a tool I thought of as one of the safer in the shop. A momentary lapse which for me will have lasting implications. I still think the router is relatively safe, but it demands the same respect as some of the bigger kit, as it will go through flesh even more effectively than wood. (I may be the only person who needed reminding of this.)

Even if you think you are safe, experienced etc etc. take ten seconds to think it through before you turn the machine on.

No pictures i'm afraid, I didnt even want to look, let alone take pictures... this is the 'after' shot...

So next time I will know better...but I can do without any more lessons like that! In the meantime I have 3 months of reconstructive surgery to look forward to. ho hum.



take care all,

Jeremy

 

[chris_d]

You poor thing! I hope the recovery goes to plan.

Thanks for your courage and honesty in posting this - a lesson to all of us.

Good luck,
C

 

[miles_hot]

f*ck me! Sorry to hear about that - 3 months of it! Kudos to you for posting!.

Do you actually know what happened - have you worked it out or is it all too horrible? I ask not to pry but to better understand the error that you made... (other than had a mental "blink").

Miles

 

[Steve Maskery]

Best of luck with the recovery Jeremy.

We all do stupid things. In fact, I've done so myself today. I'm filming, it was getting late, I'd had enough but wanted to get this segment finished. I set the shot up (I'm filming bandsaws) and made a cut. Or at least tried to. It wouldn't go, and instead of stopping and finding out why it wopuldn't go, I pushed harder...

Result - very big bang, a knackered blade (although not broken, it just wrapped itself around my wheels, pulleys and belts) and left me with an engineering clearing up job. It was stupid, it could never have cut the way I'd set it up and I should have known better. So we all do it. You just came worse off than I did.

I wish you a speedy return to your workshop.

Cheers
Steve

 

[wizer]

ooops. This rings a bell. I know what you're going through. Pay attention to all the physio. I hope yours heals as well as mine did.

 

[Paul.J]

Jeez.Sorry to see this Jeremy :shock:
Just hope all heels up well and quick.

 

[xy mosian]

Bloody Hell Mate!
Thanks for the warning
I hope you make a full recovery

xy

 

[Paul Chapman]

Get well soon, Jeremy.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[brianhabby]

It's always good to be reminded of just how dangerous our power tools are - sorry it had to be at your expense, Jeremy.

I've had a brush with a router but nothing like you've had and I know they take no prisoners. As Tom says, pay attention to the physio and get well soon.

regards

Brian

 

[gasmansteve]

Strewth Jeremy sends a tingle down the old spine picturing what you`ve gone through. Respect for posting it

Steve

 

[skywriter]

Ouch indeed, I know the feeling well, suffice it to say I lost the very tip of my middle finger,on my left hand, to a router cutter. The stupid thing was, I did EXACTLY the same thing a week after the bandages came off, only this time to my right hand. The look on the Doctors face when I arrived for surgery was priceless lol. I can look back on it now and laugh - albeit ruefully. The one good thing to come from it, is that I put a lot more thought into how i'm going to do something, safely and without injury. I was lucky, managed to retain full use of my hands, kept me awake a few nights thou, was the 'how lucky am I' and images of bits of finger splattering all over the workshop that did it. Top tip - get swimbo to mop up, while you recuperate with a good woodworking book and a cuppa!

Wishing you a speed recovery
All the best
Adrian

 

[Shadowfax]

So sorry to hear you are hurt.
I hope the surgery and the physio goes well for you.

Just to show how easy it is to do yourself an injury by not concentrating hard enough for a second or two consider this:
I was routing (hand held) a fairly large piece on a medium height "bench" top, say somewhere between knee and waist height.
Came to the end of the piece, lifted the router off the end and let it swing backstill held tightly in my hand, so that I could put it on the floor. It's still running at this point but slowing down.
This does not stop it cutting a swathe through your jeans just above the left knee!!!
Two or three seconds of "dung.............that was close!!!..............followed by a solomn promise not to do that again!

I really wish you had come close , Jeremy, rather than much too close. Take care and heal well.
Best wishes,

SF

 

[Degas]

As others have said, it was brave of you to post.

Your misfortune is a timely warning to me, as I'm awaiting delivery of my first router, a tool I hadn't previously considered particularly dangerous. I assume your router was mounted on a table with the cutter uppermost.

I did receive a small nick to the end one of my fingers on a table saw once and that was enough to scare as I considerer myself to be a careful person but it was nothing in comparison to your awful injury.

I hope you will soon make a full recovery.

David

 

[OPJ]

Very sorry to read this, Jeremy, and I hope it heals up soon!

I'm not clear from your description... Were you routing freehand or was the router in a table? Apologies if you don't want to think about it again... :?

 

[Night Train]

That looks and sounds really nasty. I hope you heal up quickly.

I've had a couple of close calls in my time but fortunately no machinery damage to me, mainly because I hand work most things and avoid machines where I can.:wink:

I have to be spot on with H&S as I can't afford a lapse or careless shortcut when teaching at college in case the stsudents pick up on it and do likewise. On that front if in doubt I always refer to the technicians as they are the experts both on the machines and with H&S.

 

[Majorlarf]

I did a similar thing last year but not as bad.
I had kickback on a router table & caught the front of finger across the nail on the blade luckerly it did not hurt :shock: but had a tingerling feeling like pins & needles for a few months.
everytime I think about it it brings me out in a cold sweat but i still use the router but with a lot more respect.

 

[Richard Findley]

Get well soon mate!!!

All the best,

Richard

P.S, I'm a little surprised how many people consider a router one of the safest tools considering it spins at 24,000 rpm and cuts wood as easily as it does!!!!! :shock: :wink:

 

[stevebuk]

Feel your pain mate, but excuse me from asking but isn't that your right hand???

 

[TrimTheKing]

Feel your pain mate, but excuse me from asking but isn't that your right hand???

Photo taken in the mirror? :wink:

 

[Ironballs]

Bloody hell, get well soon. As much as I love the router for the useful tool it is, I always approach it with caution as it strikes me as being one of the most dangerous tools in the shop