Official Luthiers Forum!

I had a very close call in the shop yesterday!!
I was pattern routing a mold for a new shape of guitar on the pin router with a 1/2" flush trim bearing bit and the machine grabbed the workpiece and threw it pulling my hands with it.I was afraid to look-but fortunately it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been-I only needed 3 stitches in my index finger of my left hand.I think my finger smashed against the wood or a sharp edge of the table,not the router bit,which would have been devastating.
The climb cut is what grabbed it.
The only reason I am posting this is just to give a warning to everyone to be ever so vigilant when working with power(and hand) tools.I have been constantly working with power tools for 35 years and this is the first time that anything like this has happened.
Brad (I can still count to ten) Goodman

Glad to hear you´re ok !! . Someone upstairs must have been watching. Man things like those are scaaaary. I split my fingertip in 2 on the wagner a while back ! . so I know the feeling.

Lars.

Glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

As a cabinetmaker for the last 18 years, I've had several near misses and a couple minor accidents. And I've seen some really gruesome things happen to other people.

It always amazes me how quickly a power tool or machine can turn and bite the operator.

Glad you're still in one piece, Brad. Thanks for the post. Good to keep us all vigilant.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I too am so glad you are OK! Phew! That's a nasty potential.

Years ago I was cutting some wood with my radial arm saw and a scrap piece came loose. I grabbed for it and it caught the blade and was sucked in. Somehow I didn't get hold of the wood. I could see my fingers against the blade. That was the last time I grabbed for a piece of loose wood. From then on I had pushers and things to be near the blades and scrap wood while using my power tools. A healthy respect is certainly a good thing to keep in mind.

On another front, my brother-in-law hit a nail with a hammer and had a piece break off and enter his eye. He lost the use of that eye. Another thing to keep in mind, regardless of what we are doing, keep the eyes protected.

Brad, you are indeed blessed! I am glad you still have all of your parts. I'm just beginning in this, and I've used a router all of about 5 times in total. They are wonderful machines for "getting the job done", but watching that bit spin around , I hope I never need to be reminded that if I'm not careful it can "do a job" on me as well. Glad you are o.k., and thanks for bringing this kind of thing up. Lots of guys wouldn't admit the mistake, but it might make the difference in mine or someone else's life the next time we pull the trigger or hit the switch on whatever tool we pick up.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Seconded !!

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"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...

I'm glad you'll be ok, Brad. Thanks for the safety reminder.

Thank goodness you're all right, Brad! Whew!

I really appreciate you posting this. It seems like it's been a long time since we've heard much about any accidents here. I hope that means there haven't been any, but I fear it means people are, understandably, embarrassed to go public with it. I think we'd help each other avoid accidents if we have the courage to come out and tell these stories. To the extent that we're able to analyze what happened and how it might have been avoided, and discuss those things as well, I think that would really help a lot. If someone has an accident (or near miss) and they're not sure exactly what caused it to happen and what they could do differently to avoid it happening again, others with more experience may be able to shed light on a safer way to do the operation that was being done. Also, if someone is preparing to do an operation with a power tool/machine and they're uncertain as to the safest way to do it, this would be a good place to get input from others before doing it. We might feel stupid for asking a question that we think reveals some ignorance, but we'll feel a whole lot stupider if we don't ask and then get hurt. I really want to encourage these kinds of posts and discussions.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Glad your alright Brad,Power tools have to be well respected for sure.It's the rpms that make them so dangerous, no time to react when something goes wrong.I always try to think ahead when useing them to avoid a problem, but sometimes that isn't enough either as they are so dangerous to use.

I too am lucky, I have been woodworking for 10 years and never had an accident til yesterday when resawing a peice of maple for the butt wedge i was using my hand to push the wood thru the saw blade grabbed it threw the wood out but ny middle finger fell into the blade , long story short 3/4 deep cut behind my finger nail , it could have been much worse

I'm glad to hear you came out of the incident with no real damage...

I too, as a 25 year veteran of wood working, have my scars of luck...some were very close to permanent damage (knock on wood)...

the real issue, IMHO, is what caused this? I am guessing that you were trying to take off too much material at one time and also didn't have things properly clamped....I very recently had to make about 60 parts for a buffet style bench of about 50 LF...yep, made a template and used a flush cut bit to make all the parts exactly the same...I used my skilsaw and jigsaw to cut very close to the line and then screwed the template to the blank, then clamped it to saw horses, then used the router...I very quickly found that the blanks I had cut to within 1/16" of the line were far easier to pattern than those I was about 1/8" away...

Brad, glad to hear the injury was minor. These threads are great reminders to work safely. It's easy to get carried away by the momentum of the process. These reminders keep us on our toes. Here's hoping we don't see any more, anytime soon.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Overhead pin routers are considered one of the most problematic machines for injuries. Never ,never climb cut or back up
unless you have more strength than the horse power, (are you stronger than a horse? ). Second, and most critical, never grasp the item with your fingers or thumb on the same surface as that being cut. There is no way you are going to release the item in time before you are drawn into the cutter when it grabs. Make a jig to hold the item, then you hold the jig.

One of my employees didn't follow these rules and lost all four of his right hand fingers in a millisecond. Lost his occupation. Lost his ability to do the sports he loved, all because he didn't want to waste the time to make a jig. Sad. And I lost a very good person.

Stop and THINK first. First rule of safety.

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Dean

Thanks for the reminder, and we're all so glad you weren't badly hurt. It's so easy to forget all the dangers
in the workshop. A reminder is always welcome.

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

Maybe we could get a 'workshop saftey' forum, with tips, and do nots. I wacked my fingernail on my hand plane a year ago, just testing blade sharpness (holing plane in one hand. I know we had a post a while back, but its always something to contemplate. I lost the table saw 6 months ago. One moment of emptyheadedness (reached over the blade) and I said: Strike 3 your out.
I have had ichy eye for 2 days also, I was not wearing my saftey goggles. Not sure what did it, just hand sawing some stuff.

My power tools are minimum Drill press (which can fling) and the 'widowmaker' a sears jointer that does some nice work, but its aptly named) and hand drill.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Why were you climb cutting when making a mold?

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Fist of all ,I would like to thank everybody for all the concern and help .
Having thought about what happened for a few days I came to the conclusion that :
I shoudn't have been climb cutting -this caused the bit to grab and throw the workpiece.
I was also in a little bit of a "hurry" to finish



Good question ,Howard-I shouldn't have been!



Dean, You are also right,the climb cut was the problem.

Mike,
Good point about the 1/8" versus the 1/16"-It was a lot to take off in one pass.
There isreally no way to clamp the workpiece, since you are moving the workpiece around the router bit.


Todd, Yes, If by sharing my experience I can help someone else not hurt themselves,Then it's a good day!

I was a machinist for about 22 years! One time I wiped some chips off a work piece to see better as I was fly cutting. Fly cutter caught the end of my finger and took out about a 1/4 of the index finger.
Even though it healed well, the nerve still gives me a tinge now and then just to let me know, to think constantly towards the cautious when working with power tools!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

As Todd Rose stated we need to post some reasons to be MORE careful !

I've had many close calls in the shop !!
Slivers(under fingernails)-cuts so deep I need stitches!
Wood flying from the table saw!!
Super gluing my fingers together !!!
BUT one that I will always remember !!!

In the late 70's (whew)when C.A. glue was new on the market ,I was
using it to hold frets in an old Gibson Braz. f.b.
Well I applied the glue to the slot and easily set the fret with a lite
tap!
But one time a fret would not take a set-so i removed it-cleaned the slot-then applies C.A. and tapped the fret in while i was looking from 3" away and at F.B level-well the C.A. just squirted out the end of the slot ;right on to my glasses !!!!!
If i did not have them on -It would have been in my eyes!!!
One reason to wear protective eyewear !!

Mike

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Mike Collins