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Surgeon slices fingers on tablesaw

Anatole Burkin, editor

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Dr. Steve Sparks, a vascular surgeon at UCSD Medical Center, suffered a possible career-ending accident on the tablesaw.

The dramatization of his accident, as seen in this video, makes me wonder -- was he really mitering lumber freehand on his tablesaw without a miter gauge or was that something the producers of the show mocked up, not knowing better?

Needless to say, the technique shown is wrong. Additionally, the wearing of loose-fitting gloves is yet another bad practice.

Let's hope ke knows better now.

The video follows the trail of blood as he is rushed to the hospital by a friend, and the preocess to repair four injured digits. There's one particular description of the procedure that drives home the difficult process -- "like sewing two ends of a thumbtack with thread as thin as a human hair."

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Comments (12)

Jurgen01 writes: I am very sorry for this man's misfortune and wish him all the best in his recovery, but free-hand mitering while wearing loose-fitting gloves. What the h--- was he thinking?!
We all have to remember, physics always bats last. Posted: 5:48 pm on September 11th

Whymz writes: WOW... Things you only think about looking up after it happens. My accident was so fast I had to go back to the table and recreate (in my mind) what happened. I had been using a table saw for over a year safely and wisely.
Anyhoo, I'm thankful to say that I only suffered from a broken finger and 3 stitches in the tip. I have small hands too. I had old slick gloves cutting laminate flooring. Slick met slick. I hit the blade so hard with my finger when the blade caught the glove it pushed the blade into the fence a 1/4 away.

I had no idea that gloves were dangerous. I thought I was being careful. This information needs to be more out there. Posted: 9:04 pm on August 12th

fwelte writes: My girlfriend just learned the hard way about how dangerous a table saw can be. She was building book shelves yesterday (4th of July) when the wood she was cutting kicked back...but she was pulling this small piece across. Not only did she miss the fireworks but her left hand was almost severed. She spent 8 hours today in surgery having the nerves reattached. Please be careful!!! Posted: 7:29 pm on July 5th

SawDust527 writes: Forget the gloves! Slivers don't hurt that bad after all!
Posted: 9:59 pm on July 2nd

viking099 writes: Here's an article on the whole story, if you don't want to sit through the video, or can't see it for some reason:
http://www.stanford.edu/~rrogers/bodorsparks.html Posted: 3:00 pm on July 1st

Tolpin writes: Yet another good reason to learn to use a good, old fashioned 8 point crosscut hand saw! Its nearly as fast--faster for making just a few cuts, in fact--and its actually quite fun. Really. The trick is to learn what makes for a good handsaw, to learn how to use it as intended (like having a saw horse at the correct height, not the height they have evolved to for use with circular saws) and how to keep it sharp and tuned. Once you do this, you will NEVER bother to crosscut a board on a table saw; and you will almost never bother to use a miter box when making just a few cuts. For me a few now means a couple of dozen before I start thinking about machinery. Posted: 11:27 pm on June 28th

BronkoB writes: This is an obvious statement but very easily forgotten. You have to be THINKING about what you are doing ALL OF THE TIME!
THINK! THINK! THINK! Most of us have been there with Dr. Sparks but fortunately for most of us the first minor accident was a valuable teacher. Benjamin Franklin said that "experience keeps a dear school but fools will learn no other." My best wishes to Dr. Sparks from a colleague who has been there. The first thing I did after my accident was to buy a better tool. In his case it might be the latest table saw with the automatic stop. Posted: 1:05 pm on June 28th

Tyblack writes: My Wife is an ENT surgen who grew up in a cabinet shop. Her dad never let her touch a table saw and we continue that tradiotion. She got to do all the other creative stuff, like carving and what not, which is why she is really good at facial reconstrucion. She has seen many accidnets growing up, "Angie can you dig in the saw dust bucket to find the fingers? Oh and honey, wash them off and put them in an baggie with some ice". The other story that she tells is about this really tall man who got kicked backed into his crotch, now is missing one of his buddies. There is nothing quite like having your wife who has never touched a table saw tell you that you could do i better if you did it this way. I am always soo close to saying "can you show me". This could lead to disaster as showen above.

Until we finish residency, get a saw stop, and get her fingers insured she is never going near the table saw infeed or the radial arm saw. The only tool that she is intersted in is a lathe and the band saw. Boy is she a wiz on the band saw, like watching Maloof but alot safer.

BTW I told her about this entry and she goes "Stupid Idiot, who the hell does that?" Posted: 11:16 pm on June 27th

robscaffe writes: "Additionally, the wearing of loose-fitting gloves is yet another bad practice."

Ironic considering the recent(irresponsible) article on this site by “Asa Christiana, contributor “touting the virtues of wearing gloves while operating machinery.

http://finewoodworking.taunton.com/item/3471/the-gloved-woodworker


Posted: 7:37 pm on June 27th

RMillard writes: I may never use my table saw again!
Rob Millard Posted: 1:38 pm on June 27th

busterboy2238 writes: gotta listen to that little voice in your head. Posted: 1:28 pm on June 27th

mvflaim writes: As painful as it is to watch these type of videos, it's vitally important that we realize the apparent danger we face while working with wood. Good video! Posted: 12:19 pm on June 27th

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