: Hi Malcolm,

: Thank you for putting aside your embarassment and warning others of a
: dangerous situation.

: We are all guilty at some point of disregarding some safety procedure, most
: of us are lucky enough to survive the experience intact.

: At work a couple of weeks ago I ignored a safety precaution that I had used
: thousands of times in the past. As luck and fate would have it, this
: turned out to be the first time in my career that that safety precaution
: was really required. I had a 7 pound frame clamp whistle past my knee at a
: very high rate of speed. The only thing that saved my knee was pure luck.
: I would probably have needed major reconstructive surgery to repair the
: damage. I am betting that it will be a long time before I fail to observe
: even a minor safety precaution again.

: I hope you heal quickly and return to building kayaks soon,

: Ian

I agree with Ian, and am glad you brought it up. Yeh, it's an embarassment, but more than that, it's a great motivator. I've seen two fellas lose a couple of finger tips, one to the first joint, and trust me, everyone in the class and shop stood up and took notice. It isn't till something like this happens that most people actually take the safety rules to heart.

Both situations were probably identical to yours, they reached around and tried to help something along, or pick it up and closed the kerf on the blade and caused the kickback. It happens so fast that you don't even realize it till it's over.

I'm glad you pointed out one other thing and that's blade height. NEVER raise the blade over a 1/4" above the work, and for that reason Only. Damage was minimal and you still have your fingers and thumb.

I've also had some very close calls. My worst was with a router in a table. All done properly, except wasn't keeping my mind on my work. Had a loose grip on some trim and the router caught it and sent it and my hand across the cutter at some 20,000 or so RPM. Fortunately, my fingers were high enough to hit the nut on top of the cutter and only bruised an scratched the skin. You can believe My eye were opened by that. All I could think about for a week was the two accidents listen above.

My pitch is, the most important safety factor I know of is: "PAY ATTENTION and FOCUS" on what you are doing. Do the step through in your mind first and then turn the power on.

Sorry to hear of your Accident, but Glad to hear it was minimal and that you were willing to share it. Don't let that keep you from having fun with your building.

Rehd