On Thursday, June 02, 2011 04:56:14 PM Dave did opine: > Kickback on a tablesaw can be very bad. For example, my accident. > > Mistake: I decided to rip a piece of wood that would not lay flat on > the saw. I was just about through the length of the wood when the wood > rocked on the table, the blade grabbed a part of the board which was > roughly 1/2" x 1 1/2 " x 10 inches in length and flung it at my face at > high speeds. I never saw it coming. I was wearing Ansi approved > safety goggles similar to these > http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Colored-Safety-Goggles/dp/B000G > 3G1OK. > > > The shock of the stick being driven into my head immediately blinded me > in both eyes. It was pitch black. I wasn't sure what had happened but > I had enough sense to sit down. I was seriously dazed. The saw was > still running, but I managed to turn it off as I sat on the floor. > > I could tell that I was bleeding, but I couldn't see anything and my no > one was home but me. So I just sat there for what seemed like a very > long time. > My vision began to return in my right eye so I went into the house and > headed for a mirror expecting the worse. I was pretty sure that I had > lost my left eye. It hurt like crazy and there was zero vision. > > Much to my surprise my eyeball was still intact but I had a cut over my > eye that was making the mess. Afterward, with one eye, I surveyed the > damage: Lens in goggles was dented and creased directly in the center > of the left eye. Lens was driven out of the soft plastic > goggle body. So the wood hit me directly in the center of the left > eye lens and drove the plastic lens out of the soft frame and into my > left eye cavity. > > Just about that time my wife arrived home. She drove me to two > Emergency rooms, as the first one could not handle an eye injury so they > directed me to a different hospital. > > After Xrays, several different doctors, and a late night visit from an > Ophthalmologist who did not want to be called in (it was a Sunday > night). I finally got released with some stitches, pills, and a left > eye patch. > > They were initially concerned that the impact had broken my eye socket > inside my head and I could have internal bleeding. Fortunately the thin > bone socket behind my left eyeball was not damaged. Just a bad case of > bruising and shock to the Optic nerve. > > They were a little concerned that the nerve could become detached so I > had some followup visits. No detachment. :-) > > Days later the sight in my left eye began to return. It was months > before my sight fully recovered in my left eye. > > I later found the stick that did the damage. It bounced quite a ways > off the goggle lens and landed behind some other equipment. It it hit > me pointy end first (it was tapered as I was trying to trim the board > straight) and hit so hard that the wood at the end of the stick was > visibly bent over much like it was hit hard by a hammer. > > If I had not been wearing the goggles I think it is very possible that I > would have been killed by the stick being driven into my eye socket. > There was ample force. If not, the eye would have been likely lost. > > Anyway, Ansi approved safety glasses and a face shield is not a bad idea > when using a table saw.
You were, like me, phenomenally lucky. > I am now in the market for a riving knife for > my Delta Unisaw. :-) Call Les at that link I posted earlier, he can make you one. -- Cheers, Gene "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) <http://tinyurl.com/ddg5bz> <http://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html> No, I don't have a drinking problem. I drink, I get drunk, I fall down. No problem! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Simplify data backup and recovery for your virtual environment with vRanger. Installation's a snap, and flexible recovery options mean your data is safe, secure and there when you need it. Discover what all the cheering's about. Get your free trial download today. http://p.sf.net/sfu/quest-dev2dev2 _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
