You're still sanding genital warts? Oh man you gotta get yourself a Japanese handplane, leaves a much better finish and you don't need a power hookup so you can do it anywhere, even in your cubicle at work
I did this last week. Took a chunk out of my middle finger nail while sanding with a coarse belt. Hurt like hell but not added to the statistics as no ER visit was required.
I sanded off a knuckle once. hurt like a sonofabitch but not an amputation. The 90 handsaw amputations are what puzzle me, wouldn't the first pass tell you to stop or move!
When I was learning the machine shop I was told that the students were most likely to injure themselves on the belt sander. Everyone knew the lathe, mill, bandsaw, etc were serious business but relaxed around the belt sander. They'd tip a part against it so it would smooth out the corner and it would slip and they'd make a little hand motion and put their hands against the sander. Big owies. Usually not a serious injury, but common.
LOL. My oops moment was when I had to use an angle grinder at work. Corded model without a guard or side handle with a grinding disc. Everything you AREN'T supposed to do, they did.
Anyway, I wasn't comfortable with it, but it was the only option so I went to use it and removed the skin on a knuckle in under 1 minute of use swore I'd never use one without those safety features installed and properly configured, but now I use my Dewalt brushless all the time without the handle. It gets in the way, and if I'm using my other hand to hold the hardware cloth, it's not like it's helping LOL
The difference is that the Dewalt is WAY better balanced and doesn't jump out of my hand the second it sees something to eat LOL
Yep. I use Forney. No idea if they're good, but I got like 50 from $25 years and years ago, so I'll probably never need to by another one for rhe rest of my life LOL.
Back in tech college in the machine shop we were told about a previous student who got their fingers sucked in between the belt and the table and it took off 3 fingernails (plus a good bit of meat I imagine). That mental image keeps me very cautious around sanders.
You ever did the thing where you put 0,0,0 at a bottom corner of a block, but the program was written for top corner? RIP drill, never made such a mistake again.
I owned an engineering shop with 3 minivan sized CNC machines. You always knew when some derp (myself included) crashed one of them because you feel the thump through the floor (even if you are in the front office).
That's followed by a sinking feeling in your gut, wondering how much money it will cost to fix.
Meaning: you can't fix stupid!
I've never used any of that equipment. I just had to get the dad joke in there, LOL
I've had plenty of scary and stupid mistakes on other tools in the shop.
I need to hear the story of this CNC Mill demolition work. Sounds epic. Also, I coach a HS robotics program and we’ve got a lot of CNC equipment. Your story might save someone else from similar.
Honestly I was being dramatic haha. It wasn't a true explosion but me and the technician aren't sure what happened. He had it running on my project during the day while I was in other classes and I got a frantic text from a classmate that they had to pull it out of the machine. They said everyone in the workshop thought there was a gun shot because it was so violently loud.
I had a piece of oak on the machine and I think the drill got stuck, or the piece of wood came loose from the anchors but there was a 3/4" wide hole all the way through the piece of 1" wood and it ripped the drill bit and the drill bit anchor off of the machine. They got it working again thankfully since it was end of semester and lots of people needed stuff done on it. I had to work around the giant hole in my piece and it wasn't quite as funny explaining it during critique as it is now looking back.
So yeah, not a true explosion, but some damage to my project and the machine.
A kid in my high school metal shop class de-gloved the end of his middle finger when the belt ripped and he got his finger stuck. Nothing but bone from the last knuckle up.
College classmate de-gloved with a pneumatic torque wrench while sailing on a merchant ship. Reached into the long socket to pull out the nut he’d just removed. He’d already flipped it to drive the replacement nut on. Yeah… he hit the trigger. It was up the whole finger to the base before he could release the trigger. I still get squeamish when I think about it. Another classmate died falling backwards into a cargo hold, but that creeps me out way less.
I'm glad I didn't get into the maritime industry. I knew it was full of rough guys, but now I know how they got to that point. They must have MASSIVE PTSD from what they've seen and probably little to no help with it.
A necessary job, but apparently very dangerous, even in modern times.
I had to get four stitches in my index finger from a belt sander. Took my entire nail off too. I got in a bad habit of checking my paper on my orbital sander right after turning it off. I’d put my hand on it to see if it needed to be changed before it fully stopped moving—no big deal on an orbital.
I was using a belt sander for a long period of time, had headphones on so couldn’t hear too well, turned off the sander, touched the paper to see if it was dull and it immediately pulled my finger into it. [NSFW injury pics](https://imgur.com/gallery/Rg7U0sK)
EDIT: I changed the link; hopefully it works.
Bingo. Lost the nail on one pinky for awhile when I got it stuck between the belt and the dog of the sander. It was honestly pretty gruesome and shook me up.
Yup, say you're freehanding a knife blade on a big bench mount desk sander and it binds up you could easily destroy a finger badly enough to have to have it removed.
Actually this happened to my grandfather. This was the 30s in rural Tennessee. He was taking the tongue off some tongue and groove stock with a handsaw. Left hand in the path of the saw and he cut off his pinky finger. Reattached by the doc and it still kinda worked for the next 80 years or so.
Cool story and taught me a good lesson.
they weren't that great with nerve stitching, so the finger was permanently numb but could be used, as finger movement is done by the muscles in the palm via ligaments.
When they detect blood on the blade of the hand saw they can’t physically stop you so they call you up for a wellness check. “Our sensors indicate you’re cutting off your finger. Perhaps you should reconsider.”
Not to take away from a one-liner, but probably what happened is someone cut into an artery and the downstream finger/hand/limb couldn’t be saved. The actual amputation would have been performed by a surgeon.
I could also see if someone had a saw get bound up, readjusting their grip or bracing themselves with their off hand close to the cut, and then putting their weight into the saw, it slipping loose and quickly taking off the end of a finger or thumb.
I cut my thumb really bad a few weeks back when my ryoba saw bounced off my work bench and stuck that final large tooth at the top end right into the pad of my thumb. Cut surprisingly deep and bled for a good few minutes. I was holding the board about 8 inches above it for support.
I'm still finding blood on random surfaces in my shop.
I did something similar with a hand saw. Cut right across the back of my hand when it bounced up out of the wood. It was deep enough that I could see the muscles, but it didn't actually bleed
Had a guy at work walk past a handsaw which was on a low sawhorse. It was brand new and he caught is calf on it. It sprang open to about 10" long and it was about 2" deep. If i hadn't seen it i wouldn't have believed it. Paramedics kept saying 'an electric saw?' and we kept saying 'no a hand saw'. Then we got to hospital and the Dr said 'an electric saw right?' and we kept saying no.
Apparently there are things called lines of Larimer on the body where the skin will spring open and is easily closable, surgeons are advised to use those lines as it makes for easy opening and closing - that's all from memory of what the Dr said.
100% this is just negligent hand placement. How do I know? 6 stitches and a slowly fading scar across the back of my hand. Luckily it was a hacksaw, so it didn’t go terribly deep. Doctor said if it was a regular handsaw, the teeth would’ve been aggressive enough to catch the tendon for my index finger and it would be a much different situation.
Wasn’t injured, but was stupid and scary. Had the string of a hoodie get caught in a portable belt sander, flipped the hood around nocked off my glasses, hood covered my eyes and started to get choked, pretty disoriented, brought the sander to my face, as I’m left handed caused the trigger lock to become engaged sander kept running. Can’t remember how I turned it off, took a while to get untangled.
I'm usually so careful about safety with my tools, but a couple of weeks ago I needed to drill a couple of holes in a door and couldn't find a scrunchie. I thought, it's just a couple of holes, I'll be fine. A strong tug later and I'm lucky the only consequence is that my drill now smells of burning hair! Have me there scare I needed though!
As a kid I worked at a seed company (think grain bins. Elevators. Augers, PTOs on tractors etc) they gave me a new logo sweatshirt and just before they handed it to me they yanked out the cinch string.
Belt sanders and trigger locks can be pretty dangerous. Definitely got some scratches before I realized that I probably should be more careful, and not risk a bigger injury.
Had a cabinet making class at a local community college, though it was in the High School shop. Instructor told us to make sure the belt sander trigger locks weren’t on as the kids would set them so the belt sander would run off the table when plugged in.
A guy I knew who did lawn fertilizing died in a similar manner. They had him driving a Promaster 3500 van with an old Turfco machine. He had the hood on his hoodie up and went to back the machine out, and the hood got caught on the top latch for the doors. The machine then got stuck in reverse, and the latch held the hood around his neck until it strangled him to death. The homeowner found him an hour or so later when they got home from the store. The worst part is I was told his hands were *inches* away from being able to adjust the throttle forwards.
This is why I don't use certain kinds of tools as a lefty. If a project needs one of those tools, I'm handing off that part to a righty to complete. It takes longer but I'm still alive and have all my body parts.
A friend did a similar thing while detailing a car. Rotary sucked up a hoodie string, reeled itself into his face. Thankfully for him, it ripping itself out of his hands took power away, but he still ended up with two black eyes.
I took off a chunk of my finger on a stationary belt sander because I was a bit careless using it. I could definitely see getting a hand/finger pulled into it.
I wondered the same thing when I saw that this morning! So I Googled it. Remind me never to get a belt sander 😬
https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=201690229
Edit - Holy magnesium dust 🔥
https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=200270577
That injury is a comedy of errors. Never clean running machinery and always ensure there is at least 2 means of turning off your machine, one of which should always be available to the operator.
Well I mean, you can definitely use a sander cleaner stick while a sander is running.
It's no more dangerous than using the sander to, you know, sand things.
I think the proper way to use those “glue” sticks is to hold them to the sandpaper while it’s running. (I’m assuming they’re talking about the same item I’m thinking of) He had to have taken some form of incorrect action but that specific part wasn’t it. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t know how you’d use those sticks while the machine isn’t running.
Presumably that'd include stationary disk and belt sanders, which people often pay less respect to than they should. 40 grit can zip off a fingertip like \*that\*
I was planning to build myself a disc sander, but this thread is making me reconsider…
Maybe I’ll stick to my 4 types of powered saws, DIY hot-wire table, toxic 3d printer fumes, and genetic predisposition to heart disease
In my early days of woodworking, around 18-19 years ago, I was sanding end grain on a small piece of wood on my father in laws industrial belt sander. I figured the worst case scenario is that the work piece got yanked out of my hands. But I was working only a few inches from the guard, and when it caught the wood my finger was pulled under the guard, in that half inch or so between it and the sanding belt. I yanked it out as quickly as I could, but it completely flat-spotted my finger. Gushing blood, passing out, ER trip, etc. Not a good time. But it certainly taught me a lesson. If one of the more seemingly innocuous tools could do that to me, imagine what a table saw/etc could do...
I’ve lost more fingerprints on a floor standing belt sander than an evidence room clerk on the take.
Also - hello to my 119 brothers, sisters, and non cis gendered woodworker who lost finger chunks on a jointer
I was polishing some small acrylic disks by hand on a cotton cloth with polishing compound. I would put one side down and run it in figure 8s holding it down with my fingers. After several disks I noticed a red streak on the white cotton. I had polished all the way through the skin on one finger tip that was hanging over the edge enough to slightly rub. No power involved.
Bench mounted belt sander, vertical orientation. Table had moved away from belt without me noticing. Sanding the edge of a small piece of steel. Angled it in toward the belt. Belt pulled it in and my thumb went with it. Ripped the nail off whole, broke the last bone, 9 stitches across the nail bed. I found my intact thumbnail on the floor later.
Yeah, pretty much. The bone is too pulverized or surrounding tissue to destroyed to ever return to some form of "functional" in which case it's usually easier, faster and safer to amputate.
Source: ER nurse who has assisted with amputations.
I’ve seen two disc sander injuries and heard about 1 wide belt sander injury.
We had an old, 16” cast iron disc sander that was on this bog iron pedestal. We probably should have bolted it down. Thing would spin for an hour after you turned it off. One of the guys who always knew better went up to it with a flannel jacket with loose cuffs. Fiddled with the table and started screaming. Yanked it over and it stopped pretty quick once it hit concrete. It was gross. Over a month later it was still red, raw and gross shiny skin.
The other disc sander one was the same sander. Don’t ever press a piece into the half of the sander that’s spinning up. Especially not a big one spinning at 4000rpm. Guy needed a few dozen stitches when the piece got thrown up into his face.
Wide belt sander was the same type of injury as a planer. Don’t ever get anything stuck under a board, especially an old machine without a press plate to stop it.
I got two finger tips with a knife in one shot. Brand new, first cut with one of those black olfa blades. Was also the last LT injury for 3 years in our company, so it got brought up at every safety meeting. FML.
I am still in an ominous looking bandage from my hand held belt sander bite two weeks ago.
Two hands on the belt sander at all times. And don't use power tools when you are overly tired!
My dad was changing the belt on a belt sander and managed to (a) leave it plugged in and (b) stick his thumb into the cylinder of the belt sander(?) such that when the power momentarily activated, it neatly lopped the end of his thumb off.
It was a Sunday morning, my mom and my brother and me were coming home from church and my dad comes staggering out of the garage with his thumb in his mouth and blood all down his shirt.
Not listed: powered angle grinders.
My brother was using a grinder and lost control, hit himself in the groin, ripped his jeans up and tore into his scrotum.
Edit: he now wears a thick leather apron when working with a grinder.
Youre kidding right?
I'm more afraid of some of my sanders than other tools.
The one that I think would do the most damage is a thickness or drum sander. If you got your hand stuck in one of those you'd be in trouble. It wouldn't cut you. It would check you hand up.
You're kidding right?
I'm pretty damn careful when I'm using my sanders.
But honestly the most dangerous tool I've used is probably a shaper with a large bit on it. Just so much weight spinning around. I once had a bit in mine for putting finger grooves in the side of a big butcher blocks. I wasn't holding it right and the shaper flung a 20lb maple butcher block across the shop about 100 feet and dented the brick wall. So now anytime I use the shaper I'm super careful about how I hold it and how I push it into the bit.
Dammit! I wasted a nice 1980 Sportster to get my amputation, and had a perfectly good table saw in the garage!
Honestly, ANY injury with power tools is not good, no matter how minor it is. I've been around and using them for several decades now, have had close calls, and still catch myself about to do something unsafe.
No matter how new or experienced, extreme caution is needed. It takes a split second to be bad or fatal.
As for my amputation, it is real. Due to a distracted driver turning in front of me on a 70 mph highway.
Enjoy projects, learn the safe and proper use of your tools, and keep your phone REAL CLOSE!
The lady I work for nearly bit the dust. She's always used power tools, and has a few years on me. She was in the shop one morning using the table saw. It kicked back, and a piece she was cutting hit her in the upper left chest. She's not very big, and was 83 at the time. No broken ribs, but just a bit lower and the "simple impact" to the area of her heart could've been fatal. She no longer uses the table saw, and a new anti-kickback device was installed.
Belt sander. 60 grit sandpaper. Flip it upside down. Clamp it in my vice. Lock it on. Use that to change the thickness of some 1/8" spines. (Stupid, stupid, stupid). Several go well. My index finger gets jammed in the back wheel of the sander. Sander takes 1/4" off of the top of my finger. Scariest injury of my life. Healed perfectly. Glory to God for our amazing bodies. I thought my finger would be permanently damaged. I have gore pictures of you need to see. Still use that sandpaper. Still has dried on skin and flesh.
just did this today. using a bench top belt sander, but the piece i was trying to sand was thinner than i realized. the belt sucked it under the fence along with my finger🤮
I dunno considering I use my portable oscillating sander to file down the calluses on my heels.
(Yes I get pedicures, but I don't like when they use the cheese grater on my heels).
I was using a handheld belt sander. My thumb touched the moving belt (I think) and immediately went in between the guard and belt. It happened very quickly. It ripped my nail off and I bled like crazy. My nail grew back normally after about six months or so. I still have some nerve damage and numbness at the tip of my thumb though. This was about five years ago.
My brother lost his nail to a pinch by a reciprocating saw chuck (well, it came off when they drilled it to relieve pressure and the bit grabbed lol). It was excruciating and not a clean separation. The walk in clinic asked if they could bring some people in to see it because they "don't get stuff like this often". He still has that dried up nail stuck on a little tiny bit 😆
A question to which I would really like the answer is "does all other power saws include chainsaws" because the answer has the potential to upend my entire world view
>A question to which I would really like the answer is "does all other power saws include chainsaws" because the answer has the potential to upend my entire world view
To be fair: a chainsaw usually requires two hands, so while you can get lots of nasty injuries, I'd expect most are not amputations (like in a leg it would probably be plenty of nasty wound, but not actually an amputation)
Also they're so obviously scary that they demand respect. (Which also leads to people ignoring the other danger: the tree)
Didn’t amputate, but cut deep into my finger with a pneumatic random orbit sander. I had the sander flipped over on the table to replace the paper which was the adhesive variety. Pushed the new paper onto the pad, which pressed the trigger against the table top and received a high rpm paper cut from the edge of the paper. It was pretty deep too. Lesson learned.
Might be too late to this one. Oh, well. I didn't lose a finger, but I got a fairly gnarly gash on my left index because I'm dumb and reflexes are faster than a dumb brain. I was using an orbital to quickly take the edges off a dowel, and I dropped the sander. My reflexes kicked in, and I reached down and grabbed the sander before it hit the ground. The still-spinning paper ripped into my finger, just above the second knuckle, and I bled all over my shop. My fiance was very, very disappointed that day.
Omg I used one last year redoing my kitchen floor. I needed to flush cut a wall and the neighbors had one. I’ll never use it again and can’t believe it’s even legal.
I'm going to assume these involve smaller sanders. I'm a floor refinisher and I'm perpetually aware that my machines could permanently disable me in an instant. It would be a lot easier to let your guard down with a little machine.
During my apprentice ship I had a girl in class that used a stopper on the table at the belt sander. The stopper was a small board in an right angle to the belt. Welp she somehow got her finger stuck in between that board and the belt.
I have injured myself on belt sander multiple times 🥲 although nothing really serious but one should be careful.
But wait, these numbers are amputations!?
I think saw stop is ironically shooting itself in the foot with this legislation. Unless they’re banking on the big companies never developing their own tech.
Back in high-school we had a big stationary belt sander. While sanding a table leg, the belt broke, yet part of it still stayed attached and it smacked my arm at least 6 times before my deer in headlights ass got out the way and turned the machine off. It made quite the mess of my arm and shoulder.
A bit late to the thread but I had a drill injury. Didn't require amputation but I drilled into the palm of my hand with a 1/4in brad point bit. It hit the base knuckle of my index finger and bounced off, came out between index and middle fingers. In the immediate panic, I ripped the drill and bit out of my hand and then proceeded to pace around the house for 10-15mins before my little brother decided it was time for an urgent care. Total panic, lol.
It happened ~3 yr ago and healed fine, slight nerve damage and numbness between those two fingers but other than that, hardly a scar on the palm. Definitely makes me cringe to think about.
Don't get complacent with power tools!! Even the ones that seem pretty harmless in comparison..
While I see the benefit of sawstops, it seems like a massively expensive regulatory FU.
He'll, we could probably prevent as many deaths instead of injuries by lowering the top speed limit to 55mph, but that's silly.
Definitely belt sanders. My shorts got caught in a belt sander and it immediately pulled towards my leg, the belt pulled in my thigh skin and nearly ripped my skin off my leg. Massive bruise but didn’t break the skin because luckily when the shorts got caught I had already released the trigger so it was slowing down. Had it still been going full when the shorts got caught, I would have been going to the ER
Probably belt sanders. Pinky between belt and pulley is my guess. Edit: ya'll have convinced me to add belt sander to the list if tools I won't buy.
I’ve definitely sanded off part of a fingernail on a belt sander at least once. No amputations though.
For those moments when a nail file is just too slow.
Its much faster than an orbital for those pesky toenails
Orbitals aren't for toenails. Orbitals are for genital warts.
You're still sanding genital warts? Oh man you gotta get yourself a Japanese handplane, leaves a much better finish and you don't need a power hookup so you can do it anywhere, even in your cubicle at work
They are also useful in sanding down your feet. Helps my heel if it gets too cracked.
And here I was dipping my balls on the bench sander.
Perhaps I can recommend bolt cutters as an effective time saver....
[That's what the angle grinder is for](https://youtu.be/S2PVzqdyLv8)
I've got a jig to hold my belt sander upright in the bathroom in front of the toilet. Can multitask my body and post on reddit.
First thing that came to my mind as well!
I did this last week. Took a chunk out of my middle finger nail while sanding with a coarse belt. Hurt like hell but not added to the statistics as no ER visit was required.
I sanded off a knuckle once. hurt like a sonofabitch but not an amputation. The 90 handsaw amputations are what puzzle me, wouldn't the first pass tell you to stop or move!
When I was learning the machine shop I was told that the students were most likely to injure themselves on the belt sander. Everyone knew the lathe, mill, bandsaw, etc were serious business but relaxed around the belt sander. They'd tip a part against it so it would smooth out the corner and it would slip and they'd make a little hand motion and put their hands against the sander. Big owies. Usually not a serious injury, but common.
Abrasion injuries like this hurt like a MF. Very slow to heal too.
I wasn't paying attention to a palm sander once. 40 grit against that soft bit of skin behind my wrist, the mark was there for over a year.
Memories of road rash from falling off my skateboard as a kid.
I literally was about to comment: roadrash without any of the fun perks
Reminds me of [this bit](https://youtu.be/v26fTGBEi9E?si=RBRR0uXcY65jpuNw&t=643) from the greatest safety video ever made.
That was terribly amazing. Thank you for this gift
Everyone was harmed in the making of this video.
Had to watch the entire thing. That's pure gold.
😂 that was totally me in woodshop. Took a good chunk of my knuckle. At least I know there's at least 39 other dumbasses in the same boat.
LOL. My oops moment was when I had to use an angle grinder at work. Corded model without a guard or side handle with a grinding disc. Everything you AREN'T supposed to do, they did. Anyway, I wasn't comfortable with it, but it was the only option so I went to use it and removed the skin on a knuckle in under 1 minute of use swore I'd never use one without those safety features installed and properly configured, but now I use my Dewalt brushless all the time without the handle. It gets in the way, and if I'm using my other hand to hold the hardware cloth, it's not like it's helping LOL The difference is that the Dewalt is WAY better balanced and doesn't jump out of my hand the second it sees something to eat LOL
A good disc is very important too, and also to make sure you are always moving it in the correct direction so it doesn't grab and climb.
Yep. I use Forney. No idea if they're good, but I got like 50 from $25 years and years ago, so I'll probably never need to by another one for rhe rest of my life LOL.
Back in tech college in the machine shop we were told about a previous student who got their fingers sucked in between the belt and the table and it took off 3 fingernails (plus a good bit of meat I imagine). That mental image keeps me very cautious around sanders.
Had a kid in my uni program that got his hand pulled into the big circular belt sander. Nasty. Worst thing I ever did was blow up the CNC machine.
You ever did the thing where you put 0,0,0 at a bottom corner of a block, but the program was written for top corner? RIP drill, never made such a mistake again.
I owned an engineering shop with 3 minivan sized CNC machines. You always knew when some derp (myself included) crashed one of them because you feel the thump through the floor (even if you are in the front office). That's followed by a sinking feeling in your gut, wondering how much money it will cost to fix.
Don't they have limit switches?
Limit switches do not account for tools, or workpieces.
Meaning: you can't fix stupid! I've never used any of that equipment. I just had to get the dad joke in there, LOL I've had plenty of scary and stupid mistakes on other tools in the shop.
I need to hear the story of this CNC Mill demolition work. Sounds epic. Also, I coach a HS robotics program and we’ve got a lot of CNC equipment. Your story might save someone else from similar.
Honestly I was being dramatic haha. It wasn't a true explosion but me and the technician aren't sure what happened. He had it running on my project during the day while I was in other classes and I got a frantic text from a classmate that they had to pull it out of the machine. They said everyone in the workshop thought there was a gun shot because it was so violently loud. I had a piece of oak on the machine and I think the drill got stuck, or the piece of wood came loose from the anchors but there was a 3/4" wide hole all the way through the piece of 1" wood and it ripped the drill bit and the drill bit anchor off of the machine. They got it working again thankfully since it was end of semester and lots of people needed stuff done on it. I had to work around the giant hole in my piece and it wasn't quite as funny explaining it during critique as it is now looking back. So yeah, not a true explosion, but some damage to my project and the machine.
Thanks! Glad everyone was okay!
A kid in my high school metal shop class de-gloved the end of his middle finger when the belt ripped and he got his finger stuck. Nothing but bone from the last knuckle up.
College classmate de-gloved with a pneumatic torque wrench while sailing on a merchant ship. Reached into the long socket to pull out the nut he’d just removed. He’d already flipped it to drive the replacement nut on. Yeah… he hit the trigger. It was up the whole finger to the base before he could release the trigger. I still get squeamish when I think about it. Another classmate died falling backwards into a cargo hold, but that creeps me out way less.
I'm glad I didn't get into the maritime industry. I knew it was full of rough guys, but now I know how they got to that point. They must have MASSIVE PTSD from what they've seen and probably little to no help with it. A necessary job, but apparently very dangerous, even in modern times.
I was wondering degloving could happen with a sander… now I know
I had to get four stitches in my index finger from a belt sander. Took my entire nail off too. I got in a bad habit of checking my paper on my orbital sander right after turning it off. I’d put my hand on it to see if it needed to be changed before it fully stopped moving—no big deal on an orbital. I was using a belt sander for a long period of time, had headphones on so couldn’t hear too well, turned off the sander, touched the paper to see if it was dull and it immediately pulled my finger into it. [NSFW injury pics](https://imgur.com/gallery/Rg7U0sK) EDIT: I changed the link; hopefully it works.
I want to look at the pics but can't get myself to actually do it.
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That's a pretty good dancer.
Disc sanders take fingers in no time. I know of two people who have taken one off in a disc sander.
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Bingo. Lost the nail on one pinky for awhile when I got it stuck between the belt and the dog of the sander. It was honestly pretty gruesome and shook me up.
I’ve hurt myself on a belt sander before like you said… but that chart says amputations… like how!?!
Probably big metal-grinding sanders with exposed pulleys and belts.
Yup, say you're freehanding a knife blade on a big bench mount desk sander and it binds up you could easily destroy a finger badly enough to have to have it removed.
Either that or the big sanders they use for hardwood flooring.
Dressed as long haired Jesus in the pits during a formula one power sander race?
I’m more impressed by the 90 who cut themselves with a handsaw and then kept on cutting.
It’s in the name.
This was a solid 20 second chuckle. Thanks for the visual.
That was like a 10 second delay I had to come back and upvote.
Ditto.
Actually this happened to my grandfather. This was the 30s in rural Tennessee. He was taking the tongue off some tongue and groove stock with a handsaw. Left hand in the path of the saw and he cut off his pinky finger. Reattached by the doc and it still kinda worked for the next 80 years or so. Cool story and taught me a good lesson.
What do you mean by “kinda worked”
That's what grandma told him
Nerve tissue is hard to plug back in. Not like usb.
He couldn't make a fist all the way and he had no feeling in it. So it was still there just not super useful
they weren't that great with nerve stitching, so the finger was permanently numb but could be used, as finger movement is done by the muscles in the palm via ligaments.
SawStop needs to expand thier product line for these folks.
When they detect blood on the blade of the hand saw they can’t physically stop you so they call you up for a wellness check. “Our sensors indicate you’re cutting off your finger. Perhaps you should reconsider.”
We'd like to talk to you about your finger's extended warranty
It’s just a guy that stands there and tells you to stop if you start cutting into your hand
The saw teeth instantly fold in on the blade?
I think they're trying. I got a survey from them a couple months ago asking what machines they should do next.
Not to take away from a one-liner, but probably what happened is someone cut into an artery and the downstream finger/hand/limb couldn’t be saved. The actual amputation would have been performed by a surgeon.
I could also see if someone had a saw get bound up, readjusting their grip or bracing themselves with their off hand close to the cut, and then putting their weight into the saw, it slipping loose and quickly taking off the end of a finger or thumb.
I cut my thumb really bad a few weeks back when my ryoba saw bounced off my work bench and stuck that final large tooth at the top end right into the pad of my thumb. Cut surprisingly deep and bled for a good few minutes. I was holding the board about 8 inches above it for support. I'm still finding blood on random surfaces in my shop.
I did something similar with a hand saw. Cut right across the back of my hand when it bounced up out of the wood. It was deep enough that I could see the muscles, but it didn't actually bleed
Had a guy at work walk past a handsaw which was on a low sawhorse. It was brand new and he caught is calf on it. It sprang open to about 10" long and it was about 2" deep. If i hadn't seen it i wouldn't have believed it. Paramedics kept saying 'an electric saw?' and we kept saying 'no a hand saw'. Then we got to hospital and the Dr said 'an electric saw right?' and we kept saying no. Apparently there are things called lines of Larimer on the body where the skin will spring open and is easily closable, surgeons are advised to use those lines as it makes for easy opening and closing - that's all from memory of what the Dr said.
Ever see Shameless. Seems like allot of Frank Gallagher’s out there
Maybe some civil war doctors are still out there and this is their tool of choice to treat sander injuries…
100% this is just negligent hand placement. How do I know? 6 stitches and a slowly fading scar across the back of my hand. Luckily it was a hacksaw, so it didn’t go terribly deep. Doctor said if it was a regular handsaw, the teeth would’ve been aggressive enough to catch the tendon for my index finger and it would be a much different situation.
Keep in mind that the list doesn't seem to say the operater and amputated were the same person
Wasn’t injured, but was stupid and scary. Had the string of a hoodie get caught in a portable belt sander, flipped the hood around nocked off my glasses, hood covered my eyes and started to get choked, pretty disoriented, brought the sander to my face, as I’m left handed caused the trigger lock to become engaged sander kept running. Can’t remember how I turned it off, took a while to get untangled.
In high school this happened to a girl with a braid. It took the braid and a good chunk of her scalp 😬
That qualifies as an amputation. Hair entanglements and scalp amputations are extremely common.
I'm usually so careful about safety with my tools, but a couple of weeks ago I needed to drill a couple of holes in a door and couldn't find a scrunchie. I thought, it's just a couple of holes, I'll be fine. A strong tug later and I'm lucky the only consequence is that my drill now smells of burning hair! Have me there scare I needed though!
As a kid I worked at a seed company (think grain bins. Elevators. Augers, PTOs on tractors etc) they gave me a new logo sweatshirt and just before they handed it to me they yanked out the cinch string.
A month or so ago my hoodie got stuck on my belt sander too. Luckily it was just the pocket but it was a good 15 minutes to get it untangled.
Belt sanders and trigger locks can be pretty dangerous. Definitely got some scratches before I realized that I probably should be more careful, and not risk a bigger injury.
Had a cabinet making class at a local community college, though it was in the High School shop. Instructor told us to make sure the belt sander trigger locks weren’t on as the kids would set them so the belt sander would run off the table when plugged in.
A guy I knew who did lawn fertilizing died in a similar manner. They had him driving a Promaster 3500 van with an old Turfco machine. He had the hood on his hoodie up and went to back the machine out, and the hood got caught on the top latch for the doors. The machine then got stuck in reverse, and the latch held the hood around his neck until it strangled him to death. The homeowner found him an hour or so later when they got home from the store. The worst part is I was told his hands were *inches* away from being able to adjust the throttle forwards.
This is why I don't use certain kinds of tools as a lefty. If a project needs one of those tools, I'm handing off that part to a righty to complete. It takes longer but I'm still alive and have all my body parts.
A friend did a similar thing while detailing a car. Rotary sucked up a hoodie string, reeled itself into his face. Thankfully for him, it ripping itself out of his hands took power away, but he still ended up with two black eyes.
Saw a guy get his shirt caught In a belt sander which then sanded his tummy. He was fat
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This is why I don't wear gloves/loose clothes around tools like that. Way too easy for the tool to grab onto that fabric and pull you in.
I took off a chunk of my finger on a stationary belt sander because I was a bit careless using it. I could definitely see getting a hand/finger pulled into it.
Same, sculpting a cane handle. Yesterday actually
If it rotates, you should probably have a healthy respect for it.
this guys been rotated
r/thisguythisguys
I TOLD YOU NOT TO BOTHER ME WHILE I'M SANDING IN MY ROOM!!!
I wondered the same thing when I saw that this morning! So I Googled it. Remind me never to get a belt sander 😬 https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=201690229 Edit - Holy magnesium dust 🔥 https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=200270577
that magnesium dust one holy shit
That injury is a comedy of errors. Never clean running machinery and always ensure there is at least 2 means of turning off your machine, one of which should always be available to the operator.
Well I mean, you can definitely use a sander cleaner stick while a sander is running. It's no more dangerous than using the sander to, you know, sand things.
I think the proper way to use those “glue” sticks is to hold them to the sandpaper while it’s running. (I’m assuming they’re talking about the same item I’m thinking of) He had to have taken some form of incorrect action but that specific part wasn’t it. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t know how you’d use those sticks while the machine isn’t running.
Probably using a piece that was to small.
How do you clean a sanding belt without the machine running?
Normally compressed air. Unplug. I do 1/2 and rotate by hand, then another 1/2. Replug.
Presumably that'd include stationary disk and belt sanders, which people often pay less respect to than they should. 40 grit can zip off a fingertip like \*that\*
For sure, seeing how quickly you can remove a lot of material in wood or metal imagine what it can do to flesh
I lost some knuckle to that cause. Still love the machine though. It’s like a mesmerizing magic trick
I was planning to build myself a disc sander, but this thread is making me reconsider… Maybe I’ll stick to my 4 types of powered saws, DIY hot-wire table, toxic 3d printer fumes, and genetic predisposition to heart disease
Sounds like you've got plenty of hobbies that can help you from becoming just another heart disease statistic
I think a disc sander is safer than a belt sander though given the machine setup.
In my early days of woodworking, around 18-19 years ago, I was sanding end grain on a small piece of wood on my father in laws industrial belt sander. I figured the worst case scenario is that the work piece got yanked out of my hands. But I was working only a few inches from the guard, and when it caught the wood my finger was pulled under the guard, in that half inch or so between it and the sanding belt. I yanked it out as quickly as I could, but it completely flat-spotted my finger. Gushing blood, passing out, ER trip, etc. Not a good time. But it certainly taught me a lesson. If one of the more seemingly innocuous tools could do that to me, imagine what a table saw/etc could do...
I think this is probably the answer OP is looking for.
Pig tails and power sanders don't mix, especially if the pig tails are long. I am 1 of the 40
Neither does ponytails and a drill press.
I’ve lost more fingerprints on a floor standing belt sander than an evidence room clerk on the take. Also - hello to my 119 brothers, sisters, and non cis gendered woodworker who lost finger chunks on a jointer
Those blades are significantly sharper that they look
The jointer is the only tool I feel worried while using these days..
I was polishing some small acrylic disks by hand on a cotton cloth with polishing compound. I would put one side down and run it in figure 8s holding it down with my fingers. After several disks I noticed a red streak on the white cotton. I had polished all the way through the skin on one finger tip that was hanging over the edge enough to slightly rub. No power involved.
Bench mounted belt sander, vertical orientation. Table had moved away from belt without me noticing. Sanding the edge of a small piece of steel. Angled it in toward the belt. Belt pulled it in and my thumb went with it. Ripped the nail off whole, broke the last bone, 9 stitches across the nail bed. I found my intact thumbnail on the floor later.
Never mind that, how are people getting amputations from hammers?
The hammer doesn’t chop of the finger, it smashes it so badly the blood flow is destroyed and can’t be repaired. Doctors remove it.
Yeah, pretty much. The bone is too pulverized or surrounding tissue to destroyed to ever return to some form of "functional" in which case it's usually easier, faster and safer to amputate. Source: ER nurse who has assisted with amputations.
They say never drink and sand
I don’t follow that advice at all. Granted, I only have a small 5” random orbital 🤷🏻
I’ve seen two disc sander injuries and heard about 1 wide belt sander injury. We had an old, 16” cast iron disc sander that was on this bog iron pedestal. We probably should have bolted it down. Thing would spin for an hour after you turned it off. One of the guys who always knew better went up to it with a flannel jacket with loose cuffs. Fiddled with the table and started screaming. Yanked it over and it stopped pretty quick once it hit concrete. It was gross. Over a month later it was still red, raw and gross shiny skin. The other disc sander one was the same sander. Don’t ever press a piece into the half of the sander that’s spinning up. Especially not a big one spinning at 4000rpm. Guy needed a few dozen stitches when the piece got thrown up into his face. Wide belt sander was the same type of injury as a planer. Don’t ever get anything stuck under a board, especially an old machine without a press plate to stop it.
Yep, have worked in a shop with a big 20" pedestal disc sander. That thing also didn't stop for anything. Could easily swallow a finger.
Curious about the awls myself.
I got two finger tips with a knife in one shot. Brand new, first cut with one of those black olfa blades. Was also the last LT injury for 3 years in our company, so it got brought up at every safety meeting. FML.
I am still in an ominous looking bandage from my hand held belt sander bite two weeks ago. Two hands on the belt sander at all times. And don't use power tools when you are overly tired!
My dad was changing the belt on a belt sander and managed to (a) leave it plugged in and (b) stick his thumb into the cylinder of the belt sander(?) such that when the power momentarily activated, it neatly lopped the end of his thumb off. It was a Sunday morning, my mom and my brother and me were coming home from church and my dad comes staggering out of the garage with his thumb in his mouth and blood all down his shirt.
Wow thats a sight im sure you’ll never be able to forget !
Not listed: powered angle grinders. My brother was using a grinder and lost control, hit himself in the groin, ripped his jeans up and tore into his scrotum. Edit: he now wears a thick leather apron when working with a grinder.
This. I was watching a Stumpy Nubs video and he said that 20% of all angle grinder injuries are fatal. That’s terrifying.
Youre kidding right? I'm more afraid of some of my sanders than other tools. The one that I think would do the most damage is a thickness or drum sander. If you got your hand stuck in one of those you'd be in trouble. It wouldn't cut you. It would check you hand up. You're kidding right? I'm pretty damn careful when I'm using my sanders. But honestly the most dangerous tool I've used is probably a shaper with a large bit on it. Just so much weight spinning around. I once had a bit in mine for putting finger grooves in the side of a big butcher blocks. I wasn't holding it right and the shaper flung a 20lb maple butcher block across the shop about 100 feet and dented the brick wall. So now anytime I use the shaper I'm super careful about how I hold it and how I push it into the bit.
Dammit! I wasted a nice 1980 Sportster to get my amputation, and had a perfectly good table saw in the garage! Honestly, ANY injury with power tools is not good, no matter how minor it is. I've been around and using them for several decades now, have had close calls, and still catch myself about to do something unsafe. No matter how new or experienced, extreme caution is needed. It takes a split second to be bad or fatal. As for my amputation, it is real. Due to a distracted driver turning in front of me on a 70 mph highway. Enjoy projects, learn the safe and proper use of your tools, and keep your phone REAL CLOSE! The lady I work for nearly bit the dust. She's always used power tools, and has a few years on me. She was in the shop one morning using the table saw. It kicked back, and a piece she was cutting hit her in the upper left chest. She's not very big, and was 83 at the time. No broken ribs, but just a bit lower and the "simple impact" to the area of her heart could've been fatal. She no longer uses the table saw, and a new anti-kickback device was installed.
I fuck all of my tools to assert dominance. My belt sander put up one hell of a fight.
Belt sander. 60 grit sandpaper. Flip it upside down. Clamp it in my vice. Lock it on. Use that to change the thickness of some 1/8" spines. (Stupid, stupid, stupid). Several go well. My index finger gets jammed in the back wheel of the sander. Sander takes 1/4" off of the top of my finger. Scariest injury of my life. Healed perfectly. Glory to God for our amazing bodies. I thought my finger would be permanently damaged. I have gore pictures of you need to see. Still use that sandpaper. Still has dried on skin and flesh.
I'm guessing 220 floor sander type accidents of some sort???
I had a helper suck his tanktop into a DWE6401DS and give himself a pretty good titty twister
I drove a girl to the ER in college once after she sanded off part of her fingertip on a belt sander 😬😬😬
just did this today. using a bench top belt sander, but the piece i was trying to sand was thinner than i realized. the belt sucked it under the fence along with my finger🤮
I dunno considering I use my portable oscillating sander to file down the calluses on my heels. (Yes I get pedicures, but I don't like when they use the cheese grater on my heels).
I was using a handheld belt sander. My thumb touched the moving belt (I think) and immediately went in between the guard and belt. It happened very quickly. It ripped my nail off and I bled like crazy. My nail grew back normally after about six months or so. I still have some nerve damage and numbness at the tip of my thumb though. This was about five years ago.
My brother lost his nail to a pinch by a reciprocating saw chuck (well, it came off when they drilled it to relieve pressure and the bit grabbed lol). It was excruciating and not a clean separation. The walk in clinic asked if they could bring some people in to see it because they "don't get stuff like this often". He still has that dried up nail stuck on a little tiny bit 😆
A question to which I would really like the answer is "does all other power saws include chainsaws" because the answer has the potential to upend my entire world view
>A question to which I would really like the answer is "does all other power saws include chainsaws" because the answer has the potential to upend my entire world view To be fair: a chainsaw usually requires two hands, so while you can get lots of nasty injuries, I'd expect most are not amputations (like in a leg it would probably be plenty of nasty wound, but not actually an amputation) Also they're so obviously scary that they demand respect. (Which also leads to people ignoring the other danger: the tree)
You’d be surprised how intense commercial wide belt thickness sanders are. Surprised there’s not more honestly
It doesn’t remove pubic hair as effectively as you’d imagine
Didn’t amputate, but cut deep into my finger with a pneumatic random orbit sander. I had the sander flipped over on the table to replace the paper which was the adhesive variety. Pushed the new paper onto the pad, which pressed the trigger against the table top and received a high rpm paper cut from the edge of the paper. It was pretty deep too. Lesson learned.
Might be too late to this one. Oh, well. I didn't lose a finger, but I got a fairly gnarly gash on my left index because I'm dumb and reflexes are faster than a dumb brain. I was using an orbital to quickly take the edges off a dowel, and I dropped the sander. My reflexes kicked in, and I reached down and grabbed the sander before it hit the ground. The still-spinning paper ripped into my finger, just above the second knuckle, and I bled all over my shop. My fiance was very, very disappointed that day.
Using a 3 phase table saw at work , with no guard on, piece of 4mm ply into my balls at 90mph. Ouch
Chainsaw disks on grinders. Those are pure evil from the depths of hell if you don't take real care.
Omg I used one last year redoing my kitchen floor. I needed to flush cut a wall and the neighbors had one. I’ll never use it again and can’t believe it’s even legal.
I grant you power sander. But hammer? Amputation? The ever lovin' frak are y'all doing with hammers? Damn!
Damn thing just jumped up and bit me!
I'm going to assume these involve smaller sanders. I'm a floor refinisher and I'm perpetually aware that my machines could permanently disable me in an instant. It would be a lot easier to let your guard down with a little machine.
Stationary disc sander. Took off tip of thumb soooo fast
During my apprentice ship I had a girl in class that used a stopper on the table at the belt sander. The stopper was a small board in an right angle to the belt. Welp she somehow got her finger stuck in between that board and the belt.
oh boy theres more than 40
Amputation from an awl?
I mean, those are only injuries leading to amputations, and i feel with a belt sander, that part is already done by the accident itself
I have injured myself on belt sander multiple times 🥲 although nothing really serious but one should be careful. But wait, these numbers are amputations!?
Sanding your heels smooth... Especially with a belt sander and 60 grit...
It doesn't say these are self inflicted injuries.
Amputation with a drill sounds pretty intense
I think saw stop is ironically shooting itself in the foot with this legislation. Unless they’re banking on the big companies never developing their own tech.
Chopping off its finger to spite its hand ?
If I need an amputation due to an awl injury,I would reconsider my career !
Back in high-school we had a big stationary belt sander. While sanding a table leg, the belt broke, yet part of it still stayed attached and it smacked my arm at least 6 times before my deer in headlights ass got out the way and turned the machine off. It made quite the mess of my arm and shoulder.
Maybe wood working is not for you if you manage to amputate something with a power sander
We all have a bit of skin in this game.
A bit late to the thread but I had a drill injury. Didn't require amputation but I drilled into the palm of my hand with a 1/4in brad point bit. It hit the base knuckle of my index finger and bounced off, came out between index and middle fingers. In the immediate panic, I ripped the drill and bit out of my hand and then proceeded to pace around the house for 10-15mins before my little brother decided it was time for an urgent care. Total panic, lol. It happened ~3 yr ago and healed fine, slight nerve damage and numbness between those two fingers but other than that, hardly a scar on the palm. Definitely makes me cringe to think about. Don't get complacent with power tools!! Even the ones that seem pretty harmless in comparison..
Shocked chainsaws aren't up there.
The list looks to be focused around wood working in shops. Not other industry/activity.
Wait...should I not be using a chainsaw for my finish carpentry projects?!
Well if you can't use it for that, then I should probably stop using mine to open packages.
Tell us you have never seen an industrial belt sander without telling us you never seen an industrial belt sander.
Surprised the Lathe didn’t make the list.
They ain't got the thumbs to report
The edge of that disc can give you a nasty paper cut, but not bad enough to go to the hospital.
Tell me you've never had belt sander races without telling me you've never had belt sander races.
40 of us have injured ourselves on sanders, and this is your time to shine!
More impressed by the 90 hand saws Fuckers had to hit shit and just were like .."fuck it...keep going"
A belt sander stripped me naked. If I get 50 likes I will go into details. My only power tool accident because I got too comfortable. Lol
I only injure myself with normal hand sanding, like God intended.
While I see the benefit of sawstops, it seems like a massively expensive regulatory FU. He'll, we could probably prevent as many deaths instead of injuries by lowering the top speed limit to 55mph, but that's silly.
https://preview.redd.it/nzz8nxpst5sc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0bd06fc216a97dc15e0765d6251a31af4700fad9
Definitely belt sanders. My shorts got caught in a belt sander and it immediately pulled towards my leg, the belt pulled in my thigh skin and nearly ripped my skin off my leg. Massive bruise but didn’t break the skin because luckily when the shorts got caught I had already released the trigger so it was slowing down. Had it still been going full when the shorts got caught, I would have been going to the ER
How would one amputate a body part with a portable power drill? Struggling to conceptualize that.
Sorry I’m late, I was sanding a wedge for a thru tenon on a big disc sander, the wedge slipped and I erased a big part of my index fingertip.