I chopped my finger off last Friday.

Pommie,
you should be improving fast from the accident to your Finger, Sir. Wish speedy recovery.

A quick update, I had the dressing changed earlier and the amount of repair is remarkable. My finger is already back to it's normal shape rather than the concave shape it started out, The new growth is very soft and spongy but looks like it will end up very much like Nigel's (thanks for the pictures). I must say I am very curious about the fingerprint growing back, how does your body know what it was before?

Mike.

I took off part of my left index finger a couple of years ago.

I was drilling 10mm holes in the center of small aluminium timing pullies and the drill caught at the end and span the pulley. Of course I had a tight grip of the timing pulley at the time so it went through a nice rip through the top of my finger.

Still got a scar there but apart from still being slightly sensitive (I'm left handed as well !!!) it healed well.

A friend of mine took the tip off his finger when he was around 6-7 years old and its grown back fully - he's now a graphics designer.

Pommie said:

I must say I am very curious about the fingerprint growing back, how does your body know what it was before?

Mike.

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I lot of people wish they knew the complete answer to that question. Regeneration of tissues, organs, and other parts is an area of extremely active medical research. Functioning liver tissue was grown in vitro in the early 1990s by George Michaelopoulos (now at University of Pittsburgh). Regeneration of joint cartilage is being used with human subjects in experimental trials today. My personal belief is that organ transplantation will eventually be viewed as a make-do, rather crude approach and will be largely replaced by organs and tissues produced through regeneration. Unfortunately in the USA, that research has to contend with the radical religious factions that oppose stem cell research in any form.

In lower animals, particularly amphibians like salamanders, whole limbs can be regenerated, and that effect is directed in part by the nervous system. It used to be a common lab demonstration to transplant a limb nerve to another body site and observe the growth of the new limb.

As for your finger, and without actually seeing the extent of damage, cells tend to grow from underlying or adjacent cells that are already somewhat differentiated. Thus, one could say they have been pre-programmed to be skin, etc. Local innervation almost certainly plays a role in the process. Some tissues (e.g., muscle) don't regenerate very well. Skin and peripheral nerves regenerate much better.


This link (**broken link removed**) in Wikipedia provides a pretty good perspective.

Good luck. You are probably past the most dangerous time for getting an infection, but keep it clean anyway.

John

Pommie said:

A quick update, I had the dressing changed earlier and the amount of repair is remarkable. My finger is already back to it's normal shape rather than the concave shape it started out, The new growth is very soft and spongy but looks like it will end up very much like Nigel's (thanks for the pictures). I must say I am very curious about the fingerprint growing back, how does your body know what it was before?

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Shorter answer than jpanhalt - 'DNA' - it contains the instructions for your entire structure.

I'm glad it's going well, I presume you (like me) thought you had seriously messed your hand up, it's a great relief when it comes back pretty well intact.

You'll probably find it makes you very 'finger aware' and you tend to look at peoples fingers, it's amazing how many there are with missing ones.

I never realised the lead guitarist of Black Sabbath has two fingers on his left hand missing, he pushes extensions over them to play guitar! - now THAT'S impressive.

Pommie said:

I help out at a local school 2 days a week and was working there last Friday when I had a stupid accident. I prepare materials for the manual arts department and generally sort out problems. There is a big saw bench that also has a planer/thicknesser area. I was about to put some wood through the thicknesser when I stumbled and put my hand down to steady myself. Unfortunately, my hand landed on the planer and it planed the pad of my index finger down to the bone.

The reason I'm telling you this is because I never thought I would make that mistake. No way would I get bitten by that machine. I was so careful. I'm 49 years old and don't make stupid mistakes like that.

Anyway, moral of the story, when there is a big scary machine, be scared and cautious.

Mike.

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Sorry to hear that, Mike. Ouch!

I ran one of mine through a table saw, a few years back, when I was around 40. I shouldn't have been working, I was ill at the time, but my boss was whining about his display cabinet, so I went in to finish it.

I thought my hand had been hit by a piece of wood which kicked back, until I saw the red spray going up the wall and onto the ceiling. Doctor said his bit was about 10%, and the rest was up to me....

Stay positive! (I think you must have, as you seem to be healing well.)

I still have the finger (and yes, it was 'that' middle finger - karma?,) but with reduced sensitivity, and a weird nail, which is difficult to trim.

At that time, I found out that two men I knew, who used table saws every day at work, had similar, and worse injuries. The more one uses something, the more chance to get bit by it.

In my mind, a planer is a much worse threat than a saw, though.

Pommie said:

A quick update, I had the dressing changed earlier and the amount of repair is remarkable. My finger is already back to it's normal shape rather than the concave shape it started out, The new growth is very soft and spongy but looks like it will end up very much like Nigel's (thanks for the pictures). I must say I am very curious about the fingerprint growing back, how does your body know what it was before?

Mike.

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Nice to know Pommie. For a month or two , the recovered area would be very tender and sensitive even to touch. Perhaps Docs would have already advised you protein rich food as needed at this time of re-building the finger.

Bad Ass two finger Guitar Players

Nigel Goodwin said:

Shorter answer than jpanhalt - 'DNA' - it contains the instructions for your entire structure.

I'm glad it's going well, I presume you (like me) thought you had seriously messed your hand up, it's a great relief when it comes back pretty well intact.

You'll probably find it makes you very 'finger aware' and you tend to look at peoples fingers, it's amazing how many there are with missing ones.

I never realised the lead guitarist of Black Sabbath has two fingers on his left hand missing, he pushes extensions over them to play guitar! - now THAT'S impressive.

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Nigal, good to hear yours is OK! I could tell some personal gory details of an experience I had at 24yrs old in a Lumber Mill. But that won't be today. However, I met a guy who was one of the best guitar player's I ever met. He Jammed at a Church one day with me and my bass player, Drummer. It seemed he could play any style Ect.

But he had those push on extensions for his fingers too. He said he worked as a guitar teacher and was also working in a guitar shop building custom guitars when one day he did the same thing as pommie he lost the two middle fingers one knuckle down.

You could tell it bothered him (Damn) that guy could play. I've heard good guitarist But this guy did some of the best lead guitar solo's I have listen to in a long time. A real bad ass.

3v0 said:

Kickback is a common source of injury with tablesaws. The lesson here is to put the waste side of the stock on the outside of the blade. Not between the fence and the blade. Or to push the waste clear of the blade with a push stick.

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It's also crucial that:
- the blade guard remains on the saw
- stand offside of the cut line/scrap piece
- only protrude just enough blade to adequately slice the work piece
- do not operate power tools when distracted
- make sure the table saw has an anti-kickback blade and riving knife features

HiTech said:

It's also crucial that:
- the blade guard remains on the saw
- stand offside of the cut line/scrap piece
- only protrude just enough blade to adequately slice the work piece
- do not operate power tools when distracted
- make sure the table saw has an anti-kickback blade and riving knife features

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good advice. yeah i'm glad i'm thankful i dont have to work with dangerous tools. and when i do i make sure i am wearing my safety goggles and be careful and patient with my work. a few times i had to use a scroll saw to cut some PC board.

I would like a SAW STOP tablesaw.

A hot dog proxy for a finger gets only a nick when pushed into a turning saw blade**broken link removed**

I am a big fan of blade guards but: Many of the blade guards that come with TS's are bad news. They come off and land in the junk pile where they belong. The good ones are mounted on an arm above the table.

3v0 said:

I would like a SAW STOP tablesaw.

I am a big fan of blade guards but: Many of the blade guards that come with TS's are bad news. They come off and land in the junk pile where they belong. The good ones are mounted on an arm above the table.

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Oh come on now... the great Woz can't simply go out and plop down the green for a Saw Stop?

The overhead guards are the best, but a vast majority of hobbyists don't have the room for that octopus, nor the daily run time on the saw to justify it!

LOL....

The one that came with my sears contractor saw was a POS intended to protect the makers from lawsuits. It was not suitable for reasonable woodworking.

The guard was attached to the table behind the blade through the kerf (cut) made by the blade. With this setup you can not make a cut that does not go all the way through the work. When I recieved my injury I was cutting a datto which required me to remove the guard.

I am not suggesting that anyone should work without a guard. (cover my butt) Its been years since I shopped for wood working equipment so perhaps the original equipment TS guards have gotten better.

3v0 said:

... sears .... the guard was attached to the table behind the blade through the kerf (cut) made by the blade. With this setup you can not make a cut that does not go all the way through the work. When I recieved my injury I was cutting a datto which required me to

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SEARS! Now, I remember why I bought a DeWalt!!
My former boss bought one of those goofy Sears RAS (from years back) that had a digital readout on the arm. He bragged about the technician setting it up using laser collimators and such. Claimed it was accurate within .001" ..... yeah, right a radial arm saw cut accuracy to .001" especially when the arm's column is held in place with a two-piece sleeve instead of one solid tall casting. OooooK! There are some machine lathes out there that have difficulties with .001" let alone a Sears saw!!!
My response to him was a quality tape measure never goes out of calibration and never needs batteries!!

HiTech said:

It's also crucial that:
- the blade guard remains on the saw
- stand offside of the cut line/scrap piece
- only protrude just enough blade to adequately slice the work piece
- do not operate power tools when distracted
- make sure the table saw has an anti-kickback blade and riving knife features

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- make sure the area around the saw bench is clear.

It was clutter around the bench that caused my accident. My bad.

Mike.

HiTech said:

SEARS! Now, I remember why I bought a DeWalt!!

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It was the last Crapsman tool I ever purchased The table had a warp from front to back because they did not allow the castings to age long enough prior to machining them. They sent out a crew who installed a less warped table. When I pointed this out they said what did I expect from a consumer product! I should have returned it but I was just getting started and opted to live with it. That was a mistake. The original fence is long gone. I replaced it with an Incra-Jig TS fence. It is a bit unhandy for quick and dirty work but it give accurate repeatable cuts.

Also there's a limit to the number of times your cells can divide before the mutate which is why you age and also why you scar after injury.

Yeah, the woodworking forums are chocked full of Crapsman whining. That is until a year ago or so since Sears seemed to sit up and take note of the bashing and slumped sales. Their new line of hybrid tablesaws are pretty decent and even comes with a Beisemeyer. I believe the trunions are not mounted to the table as well, but to a subframe/cabinet. Their best floor drillpress is worthy of some applause. In some respects Sears has improved, but I still don't have to look hard to notice some junk on their shelves! I think many of their large powertools are made by OWT... One World Tool in China. Then again, most of today's Delta line is also OWT.

It is good to hear that Sears is doing better. It would take a lot to get me to trust them again.

It was not my only bad Sears experience.

Some of the China stuff is not bad especially for the price. I have a table top drill press from harbor freight that I purchased for about $30 on sale. It works fairly good even at the highest speed (little carbide bits). When I was shopping for it the guy on the floor showed me two nearly identical models made by two different factories. The other was junk and he said so. I like that

Sorry for the pseudo-non sequitor, but it seems relevent enough to the discussion at hand to ask here:

I recently bought a small table saw, but being the cheapy that it is (and probably to avoid legalities), there's not much you can do by way of replacing or modifying the inserts. It just comes with the standard and dado inserts, but both have large gaps on both sides of the blade. That's fair in some respects to allow for blade angle adjustments, I guess.

My problem: I have some small (about 4") abs plastic boxes I want to cut to use the pieces in a project, but the sides of the boxes are just a little over 1/16" thick. I'm just predicting the issue of the small pieces falling through the insert gaps (a hassle to clean up later), or getting flung around the shop by the blade if they fall into it.

Can I make a zero-tolerance insert out of a piece of plywood? I think I've seen video/pictures of guys who have done that. Only on my saw, like I said, it's not as if there's a recess to drop in a diy insert.

What's the safest way to do that? I don't need a lot of workspace on the table, so can I clamp a piece of plywood to the top, and just raise the blade through it, or is that too much folly to attempt? I'm just wondering how I could secure the plywood to the table so it doesn't kick when cut, or slide when I'm working on the boxes.