WORST mishap...

[Ron Nossaman]

Bill Ballard's going to win this one, but I had a near miss.

Back when I was doing a lot of player work, I was cutting a new set of
pneumatic fingers on my table saw. Table saws tend to worry me anyway, and
I try to take all the precautions I can around them and remain as awake as
possible. Anyway, I had the fence set up with a spacer to keep the small
(5/16 x 1/8 x 5/8") pieces I was working with slightly away from the fence
where I could see them and keep some distance between the fence and the
blade so I'd have some working room. I was wearing ear and eye protection
and pushing parts through the blade with an ice pick to keep my fingers
well back out of danger. I stand on the far side of the fence doing stuff
like this - out of line with the blade, and position the hand with the ice
pick over the fence so a slip will drive my hand into the top of the fence
instead of the blade, which is kept as low as possible. So far so good.
Justifiably paranoid shop technique, and everything under control.

I never saw what exactly it was that made that last piece turn and dive
into the saw teeth, but I became aware of a very rapid sequence of events.
I felt my hand smack the top of the fence as the part I was trimming
disappeared with an amazing WHANG sound. I stood up, shut off the saw, and
looked at the hand with the ice pick. The pick was about two inches shorter
than it had been just seconds ago! All my fingers were still there, but I
think I might have crushed the ice pick handle some in terror reflex. A
half dozen teeth were missing altogether from my saw blade. "Well, it's
2:30" I thought, "That's enough for today", and I shut the lights off and
went into the house. The next day, after I had quit shaking, I found three
holes in the ceiling and far shop wall where their flight from the saw
ended. I have no idea where the others went, but I was really thrilled that
they hadn't hit me.

I have been convinced through most of my allegedly adult life that anyone
working with tools long enough will eventually be seriously hurt. The idea
is to try to maximize your survival odds so that your number doesn't come
up on the great disaster wheel until long after your diet has already
killed you, which strikes me as another pretty good excuse for a bowl of
ice cream. A good dose of adrenalin from a near miss is an excellent
attention getter too.

Be careful out there.

Ron N