When hobbies collide

stevo

Senior Member
My two loves... drumming #1, woodworking #2.
One night after work a few weeks ago now, instead of practicing my paradiddles, I went to the garage to work on a jewelry box. As I'm ripping a small piece of wood on the table saw... long story short, I almost lost two fingers. I have pins sticking out the ends of them. So now I am chomping at the bits to play my drums, and I can't functionally hold my drum stick.
Since I am right handed, and it's my right hand that's injured, you can bet mt left hand and my feet have been getting a good workout.
I tell this story not for sympathy, only to relay a story from one drummer to many. So, for all of you who put your hands/fingers and feet in potentially dangerous situations... please be careful.
 
Glad to hear they weren't lost completely. I work on the railroad and have seen some nasty accidents where people lose fingers (and more).

I hope through hard work and physical therapy you may be able to continue playing. Best wishes...
 
Hope your recover is a good - take your time coming back and do the physio they prescribe - you'll be better for it.
I've worked in the millwork industry for years and I've seen a lot of missing fingers and digits. It's amazing how easy and how fast an accident can happen.
I'm always working w/power tools (money pit of a house) and I've always got those images in my mind.
 
Good luck and hope your back to 100% soon...I worked in a printing plant for 10years and it was very common for guys (and gals) to lose digits...worse thing I saw was a guy got the top of his hand caught in a folder (folds the magazine) and all skin and tendons muclses ect. ripped from top of hand starting at his wrist to where it was all hanging at the tips of his fingers..all you could see was bloody bone and this glob of guk hanging from his boney finger tips...he fainted as soon as he saw it...they re-built everything lots of scaring and has very limited movement.....sorry if I grossed anyone out but you really cant be too careful around machinery.
 
i used to play guitar too and went through my index finger with a stanley knife. cut through both nerves and tendon. had surgery and its all working now, but not the full movement. needless to say i cant play guitar now, still drums are no bother thank god :) only takes a moment of daftness or lack of concentration.
 
Thanks for all the comments.
I'll know more once the pins come out.
 
I suppose the guy with the arrow in his face (as seen in that x-ray) makes most other accidents seem normal.
 
Necessity can be the mother of invention. I have a friend who broke his finger. As a freelance pro, if he doesn't play he doesn't eat. So he played a number of gigs one handed (it helps that he's better one handed than a lot of folks are with two). Then he started playing with the stick between his 1st and 2nd fingers, kind of like how people hold a cigarette. Sometimes with the thumb up and sometimes with the palm facing down. He got quite good at this and the other night I saw him doing it again, even though his finger is healed.
 
Woodworking is one of my hobbies, too. I always use a push stick. That and goggles after seeing a 3/8" piece I was cutting shoot across the garage quicker than the blink of an eye. And it helps to cut pieces down to size with a jigsaw so the they are more manageable on the table saw. For cross cuts, I built a sled which keeps the fingers out of the way.

Good to hear you are on the mend.
 
To Playitlikethis... Yeah. I was using a push stick. Problem was, I have a new hold down clamp, it has two little "arms" that hang over the fence, to hold the wood down, and against the fence. Well, the back "arm" was too low to let the stock pass underneath it. And even though there was actuall plenty of room between the hold down arm, and the blade... yep. right into the blade. (shoulda turned it off... dugh) Luckily, I put them in the back of the blade. I think if it were the front of the blade, they'd be gone for sure.

Thanks
 
Gives me the heebee geebees just reading it! You know there was someone who sued a table saw manufacturer on the bogus claim that they should have had a saw stop type safety device installed. Even though he was 1) not using the fence, 2) not using the miter gauge, 3) free hand pushing the piece at an angle, 4) cutting tile on a wood saw, 5) leaning over the workpiece and 6) never read the instructions. All woodworking 101 things. I can't believe the jury sided with him. He lost a couple of fingers I believe.

You might want to try a couple of feather boards. One to keep the piece down on the table and the other to keep the piece against the fence.

Now you've got me wanting to complete my garage workshop.
 
Man, I feel your pain - literally!

I have huge interest in woodworking (I worked a sa carpenter for several years) and a couple of years ago I had a nasty encounter with my router table. The tips of my right thumb and forefinger were cut up pretty bad but I was lucky enough to make a full recovery. (Still missed several well-paying gigs, though!)

Hope you're back on your feet (or hands!) soon.
 
Back
Top