I chopped my finger off last Friday.

Hank,
You have several options. The first is to make a entire new insert if you can. I do this with my sears TS. You may have to route and carve the underside of the edge to get it to sit flat.

The second is as you suggested. Firmly clamp a square of plywood that covers the entire top and raise the blade through it. A while back I picked up a 1 foot sq TS at a rummage sale. The insert was missing. My top is a sheet of 1/8 mdf with plastic laminate on both sides. Works like a champ. If the plywood is too thick the fence may have problems.

Hank - Check Rockler.com aor similar woodworking outlets. They offer ZERO clearance inserts ofplastic and all you do is crank the blade up through the table surface and it creates it's own precise slot. Like 3V0 said- plywood isn't a good choice-- it's not smooth either. The insert should be very smooth to slippery. I wax mine using Johnson's furniture past wax-- same for the saw's table surface. Apply WD-40 everywhere on top--- use 000 or 0000 steel wool to work it in. It will displace moisture and leave a protective film. Then use the paste wax and be generous with it. Reapply wax every so often as needed.

I cut plastics with a near zero insert but more importantly, I use a fine tooth plywood blade mounted in reverse! It sails through plastic and the 100+ teeth don't give it a chance to cut chunks--- more like a hot knife through butter! I don't like plastic shavings mixed in with my wood saw, so I use a cheapy little bench-top saw. Using a band saw for plastic is good but the pieces can lodge in the drive wheel tires-- that's not good.

3V0 --
I have a benchtop DP from HF also. 1/3hp motor and it's for electronic project boxes only. Works very well...no quill runout either. The HF salesperson was kind enough to let me look through 3 boxes to test runout before I purchased it. The wood forums have many posts on HF powertools being "gems in the rough". Many guys have made mods and improvements to them to bring them up to standards. Their 4-speed bandsaw is one of them. Add cool blocks, a good aftermarket fence, a link-belt, and a precise alignment of parts, and the machine is capable of cuts like that of a Delta Saw. The HF mortiser is an exact clone of the Delta unit. I got mine on clearance for a rediculously low $20.00
Their best contractor tablesaw is a 90% clone of the Craftsman tablesaw model from a few years ago. Amazingly the cast wings are actually flat and true!!!

I will watch to see if/when the HF mortiser goes on sale, I have a delta setup that attaches to the drill press but it is ties up the press. I have HF's best variable speed wood lathe form a few years back. The little adjuster levers were made out of cheap pot metal and stripped, a wrench works in their place. Other then that I have been pleased with it. I do not turn bowls just a few spindles now and then.

When I moved I lost my nice woodworking shop. Maybe in the next year or two I can get another building and set it up again. Too many things to do and not enough time or energy.

It is interesting to find another body into woodworking. Is anyone here into metal casting. I did some bronze casting some 20 years ago. I would like back into it again. But as I said above.

A good friend of mine has a small foundry in his basement. He has cast small canons for Commodore Oliver Hazard Parry's war ship, the Flagship Niagara that changed the outcome of the battle of the Great Lakes. He's building an exact scale replica, complete with working servo operated propellers. The hull is made from a piece of actual planking he obtained from the old ship. He's sliced it into tiny boards the size of coffee stirring sticks! It's been a project of over 10 years for him-- I think he glues one plank to it every other month!! When he's finished, he's hoping for it to be THE BEST reproduction, working scale model of that ship. He even has sailed as a crew member aboard the rebuilt ship and has pencil sketches of when it berthed in Misery Bay immediately after the great battle. The sketches provide details missing in most pictures of it. He's a unique fella... even has an Allison 12cyl. aircraft engine in his basement. I told him it's worth a small fortune to guys who want them for tractor pulls.

Hi Pommie,

How's the finger going, should be growing back pretty well by now?.

@ 3v0 and HiTech - thanks for the tips and advice! I find the backwards blade idea interesting. I have a 200 teeth plastic blade, but I might try flipping it to see what happens.

@ Pommie - I hope your fingers are doing alright, too! Can you play "chopsticks" yet?

Nigel Goodwin said:

Hi Pommie,

How's the finger going, should be growing back pretty well by now?.

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Well, I'm absolutely amazed and think my injury must have been less severe than yours. It's now 5 weeks and it's pretty much back to it's original shape. It is very sensative at the moment but I'm sure that will pass. I now understand the toughening up comment earlier.

Anyway, this is it's current state.

Mike.

Pommie said:

Well, I'm absolutely amazed and think my injury must have been less severe than yours. It's now 5 weeks and it's pretty much back to it's original shape. It is very sensative at the moment but I'm sure that will pass. I now understand the toughening up comment earlier.

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Mine was three fingers and the thumb, and a bit 'deeper' than that, it went over the front edge of the finger tip as well and clipped the nails - but basically very similar.

I spent about three weeks with my wife tying my shoes, cutting my food up small - it's really a shock when you can't use one hand. To all those who have never done something like this, try using toilet paper in the wrong hand - it's more of a problem than you would ever imagine!.

Like I said way back in this thread, it's amazing how well they grow back, and I knew you're come to understand my previous comments about how sensitive they are

Anyway, this is it's current state.

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Looking good, and you can even see the fingerprints growing back!

It looks like the new skin may be starting to crack and split, this does tend to happen, I would suggest you rub cream in regularly to keep it moistured and soft.

Nice Pommie, Recovery appears so fine and in another fortnight it would be rady for MOST daily works,
All the best Sir

Nigel Goodwin said:

It looks like the new skin may be starting to crack and split, this does tend to happen, I would suggest you rub cream in regularly to keep it moistured and soft.

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I must confess to having thoughts of other ways to add moisture to my finger.

On a more serious note, thanks for the advise, your advise so far has been spot on.

Mike.

mvs sarma said:

Nice Pommie, Recovery appears so fine and in another fortnight it would be rady for MOST daily works,
All the best Sir

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I think it was you that suggested a high protein diet to aid recovery. Well, I thought that "if high protein is required for regrowth" then if I just ate normaly then my wound would use the high protein fat around my waist.

Long story short, it didn't work. Anyone considering the chop finger off diet should reconsider.

Mike.

Pommie said:

I must confess to having thoughts of other ways to add moisture to my finger.

On a more serious note, thanks for the advise, your advise so far has been spot on.

Mike.

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@Pommie,
generally hospitals used sodium based drip on accident and post surgery cases. the same liqid is good for proper build up of damaged part of the finger or other part of body.
In fact my family doctor used to daily wash the newly developing part of the damage with such liquid and apply a moistened cotton pad with the same solution and wrap it up. This went for few weeks for my wife who got injured on fore head due to a fall in a chain robbery. She was also recommended to use more dry fruits which help in faster curing of damaged area.

Pommie said:

On a more serious note, thanks for the advise, your advise so far has been spot on.

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Been there, done that!

On a related note, did you find the medical staff were completely unimpressed by the injury?, you were probably like me, and thought you had permanently and seriously damaged your hand. The doctors and nurses were totally unconcerned, I thought at the time it was because it wasn't their hand! but I realised later they knew full well how well it would heal.

Nigel Goodwin said:

On a related note, did you find the medical staff were completely unimpressed by the injury?, you were probably like me, and thought you had permanently and seriously damaged your hand. The doctors and nurses were totally unconcerned, I thought at the time it was because it wasn't their hand! but I realised later they knew full well how well it would heal.

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Yes, they were very blasé about the whole thing and with hindsight I can understand why.

Mike

Pommie said:

Yes, they were very blasé about the whole thing and with hindsight I can understand why.

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But at the time you thought "the uncaring bas*ards"

I know I did.

Why can't they just tell you that the fingers will grow back, and be almost as good as new?, the doctor did tell me that I would never get full feeling back in them again - but that was more negative than positive. I was imagining a handful of barely useable stumps!

Ow

Hi Pommie, hi Nigel,

I just sliced off part of my finger two days ago with a v-slicer (use to slice veggies, similar to a plane). It was very encouraging to read your stories. I went online trying to gain some knowledge about recovery from such a stupid mistake and found this forum, with your experiences, very reassuring. Pommie, how are you doing now?

Kris

Hi Kris,

The finger tip has grown back and looks completely normal except for being smooth. It is still sensitive and I even notice the difference when typing but I think this will also diminish with time. I was expecting to have a permanent concaved end to my finger and so I am very pleased with the outcome.

Mike.

Wonderful!

Well, I couldn't even look at it. However, while he surgeon was sewing me up, my husband passed out, so I imagine it was not good. Hopefully when the dressing is changed I will also get some good news. I'm so lucky to have had someone there to take care of me.

My goodness is typing with your left hand a pain!

Hi Mike,

sorry for the accident you had.

Nevertheless it will take some time to get back a "normal" finger again, depending on the speed your wounds heal.

I got cut in my index finger adjusting the compression ratio of a model aircraft Diesel engine and the wooden propeller ripped the finger off except for the bones before it stopped.

I was so shocked that the wound didn't even bleed. After one month the flesh returned and after two years the finger looked like new again, except for a big scar.

Now, 40 years later the scar is very hard to see.

Hans

Pommie said:

Hi Kris,

The finger tip has grown back and looks completely normal except for being smooth. It is still sensitive and I even notice the difference when typing but I think this will also diminish with time. I was expecting to have a permanent concaved end to my finger and so I am very pleased with the outcome.

Click to expand...

Likewise - it's amazing how they grow back - the sensitivity wears off in time, but you never seem to get 100% feeling back in the tips (which is what the doctor said at the time).

Like I've said before, I just wish they had explained how well they heal, I was expected permanently deformed fingers - and it wasn't until they grew back I realised this wasn't the case.