I would say I'm sorry for putting up that photo, but I'm not.
The reality of what we do in our shops is that it can be a dangerous place to be if we are not paying attention even though it is a hobby that we love to do.
When it happend I figured on seeing the end of my finger left on the tablesaw, but it was only minor and left some large drops of blood on the tablesaw. It happend so quick that I didn't have time to say anything much less any colorful metaphores referencing excrement or heritage from the maternal side of the canine family. Once I verifed that it wasn't bad, I grabed some paper towels and wraped up the end of my finger and then taped it on tight using electrical tape to stop the bleeding. I then used more paper towels to wipe off the blood from the table saw top as well as the drops on the floor so it wouldn't get tracked around or have my Miniature Schnauzer sniffing at it and then getting some ideas for when he gets hungry and there is no kibble in his bowl. I then finished cutting up the rest of the blanks, since the saw blade and fence were already set up, did a quick clean up of the saw dust and rolled the table saw back to it's home on the single car side of the garage so my wife could park the car when she got home from work. It all took about 3-5 minutes to do from the time of the injury. I then went inside and cleaned up the finger now that the bleeding had subsided. Then, like a good wood worker, I grabbed my camera and took some photos of my latest project that I made on the tablesaw, which was my finger, so that I had them for me as a reminder as well as posting them on the "Wood Magazine Online Forum" where I hang out as a reminder for others.
So if the graphic photo of my injury helps someone else stay focused and not do what I did, then it was worth it.
Here is a photo of the same finger today. It healed up nicely without any scarring. But I will always remember the carbide manicure every time I fire up the tablesaw.
