Comments on: The Inspiration for Safety Week – Brent’s Injury

By: thewoodwhisperer

thewoodwhisperer — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:02:02 +0000

Hey Keith. The pictures technically don’t belong to me. I emailed Brent to see if I can put him in touch with you. Hopefully he has some higher res photos that you can publish. I’ll let you know if/when he returns my email.

By: Keith Agar

Keith Agar — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:23:55 +0000

Hi Folks
A sickening story but I hope all has healed well Brent
I publish a Mag called Tools and Equipment in Australia and we are doing an article on Tool safety and I was wondering if I could use these pictures to shock tradies into being safety conscious?
If so could we please have them in high res?
Love your site and we will publish the address so our Aussie boys can look you up
Cheers
Keith

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 06 May 2008 19:42:21 +0000

Glad your feeling better man.

And i consider you pretty lucky compared to a few friends of mine,
one of them cut off a finger on a table saw in high school shop class, got i re-attached…
but then got a job at a grocery store in the meat department, and he now is missing 3 fingers of his rifgt hand.

Maybe ill share more stories later….
….but anyway, glad you are better.

By: Brent

Brent — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:32:26 +0000

Thank you everyone for your kind words. I am now fine and I am back to woodworking. Since the accident I have stocked up on the necessary safety equipment. The first time back to the jointer was scary. As soon as I turned it on the first couple of times my whole body would tense up and my heart rate accelerated. I am now more comfortable when using it, but not to the point where I am carless. I have learned a great deal from my experience and consider myself very lucky. This happened in the blink of an eye. If my story and pictures convinces at least one person to use safety equipment then my job is done.

By: Vic

Vic — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:09:51 +0000

OUCH!!! Brent, that is some top-notch gore! Thanks for sharing……I think:D…Glad you didn’t lose any digits!!

By: nancy

nancy — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:17:05 +0000

a very good friend of mine… woodworker for over 30 years… just cut off 3 fingers (first knuckle) on his table saw..
he also said… ” i was tired… and thought this was and easy schmeasy cut… i have done it a million times… do not need that silly push stick..” the wood slipped out from under him and off went the 3 finger tips.. painfull… but a lesson to all of his woodworking buddies..
thanks for the warning… a safety reminder is always a good thing..
nancy

By: Mattias in Durham, NC

Mattias in Durham, NC — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:35:57 +0000

Brent – thanks for sharing. I can’t imagine what would have gone through your head when that happened. It does drive home the point that it can happen to “anybody” (i.e. me). I’d like to do woodworking for decades to come, and I have a feeling I wouldn’t be very excited to go out to the workshop after I had that kind of injury. How did this affect you?

By: Les

Les — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:44:52 +0000

Wow nothing like someone’s else’s misfortune to drive home the need for safety. I rarely use push blocks on the jointer but that will be changing. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully this will prevent others from the same fate.

Would a featherboard been another safety devise that should have been used? Not seen it used when jointing a board flat.

Hope you have a full recovery and are back woodworking soon.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:42:09 +0000

I must say – this COULD have ended much worse.

Brent – glad to see you get full use of your hand, looks like they did a really good job.

Thank you for sharing, it’s easy to forget how devastating these machines can be sometimes.

Have a quick and positive recovery :o)

By: Claude Stewart

Claude Stewart — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:42:07 +0000

Wow Those pictures were rather sickening. I guess I’ll keep on using using my push blocks. Brent I hope your hand and arm heal well. Claude