jskeen
Member
Subdermal evulsion of digitus secundus with partial involvement of both perionychium, and hyponychium
or.........
Proof that while skill and caution are linearly additive, stupidity and impatience are compounded exponentially.
Or........ Never try to outquick a cat..... or a tablesaw.
Translation.... I was trying to squeeze a couple of pens in between calls at work today, for a (hopefully) promising new sales venue. The proprietor had supplied me a piece of very old Southern Longleaf pine board, about 5/4 thick. So, I ripped 4 pieces to 7/8 x 2 inches and was getting ready to drill them, but they were just a whillionth of a skillimeter too thick to fit into my poor decrepit little scroll chuck's pin jaws. No problem, I'll just mount them between centers and turn them round. Darnit, still have that slimline blank I was reapplying the ca to on the finishing lathe (did I mention that very old SLP likes to cloud CA finishes?) And the big lathe has a half finished eagle cane blank in it from last month. Ok I'll trim it down to 7/8 square on the tablesaw. Not really the ideal size to be cutting on the TS, but heck, I've done it plenty of times before. Now where the heck did I put that 45 degree pushstick? Heck with it, I'll use this scrap to push into the blade and just hold it tight to the fence with my left hand. If I stop a little short of actually going through I can back it out and just snap off the waste, and it will fit into the chuck. First couple worked fine. Third one, "hey, you know that zero clearance throat plate has gotten pretty ragged lately, and it looks like it's cracked and sagging a little between the blade and the fence. I probably should get around to actually making that nice walnut and aluminum one I have been thinking about since I got the saw 5 years ago and get rid of this piece of hardboard. Last blank, and then I can drill for the tube, and gotta remember which...........
Ahhhhh S**t! That's going to really mess up my word per minute score for a while. Dammit... I think I'm going to have to go have somebody look at that and make sure I didn't clip the bone...... My wife is going to give me hell about this for months. Where did I put that roll of paper towels?
So, 7 or 8 hours, two vicodin and a six pack later, I'm sitting here counting up the warning signs that I ignored, safety devices I either intentionally removed or couldn't be bothered to find and use, and most importantly, how long it's going to be until I can get the rest of that pen order finished now, because I had a serious attack of the stupids. Fortunately for me the actual damage is not as bad as it looks, no stitches needed and the (incredibly young looking) Dr. at the ER said that the nail should grow back just fine, and it will be almost good as new in 4 to 6 weeks. And the blank is ok, so I can still get that pen finished before the weekend. I'll post pics when I get it done
So, the moral of this little story is, No matter how many times you have done something before, or how much you REALLY want to get this last one done before the wife calls you in for dinner, or how long it has been since something reminded you that you are not 8 feet tall and bulletproof, When that little voice in the back of your head says "Yo, *******, you really shouldn't do that" LISTEN TO IT!!!! Stop and figure out a different way to get it done, go find that widgit that you could swear was right over there the last time you used it, or just call it a day and go have a cold one, IT'S NOT WORTH PUSHING IT!!
And, if you got this far and still want to see, I got pictures, so it really did happen.
or.........
Proof that while skill and caution are linearly additive, stupidity and impatience are compounded exponentially.
Or........ Never try to outquick a cat..... or a tablesaw.
Translation.... I was trying to squeeze a couple of pens in between calls at work today, for a (hopefully) promising new sales venue. The proprietor had supplied me a piece of very old Southern Longleaf pine board, about 5/4 thick. So, I ripped 4 pieces to 7/8 x 2 inches and was getting ready to drill them, but they were just a whillionth of a skillimeter too thick to fit into my poor decrepit little scroll chuck's pin jaws. No problem, I'll just mount them between centers and turn them round. Darnit, still have that slimline blank I was reapplying the ca to on the finishing lathe (did I mention that very old SLP likes to cloud CA finishes?) And the big lathe has a half finished eagle cane blank in it from last month. Ok I'll trim it down to 7/8 square on the tablesaw. Not really the ideal size to be cutting on the TS, but heck, I've done it plenty of times before. Now where the heck did I put that 45 degree pushstick? Heck with it, I'll use this scrap to push into the blade and just hold it tight to the fence with my left hand. If I stop a little short of actually going through I can back it out and just snap off the waste, and it will fit into the chuck. First couple worked fine. Third one, "hey, you know that zero clearance throat plate has gotten pretty ragged lately, and it looks like it's cracked and sagging a little between the blade and the fence. I probably should get around to actually making that nice walnut and aluminum one I have been thinking about since I got the saw 5 years ago and get rid of this piece of hardboard. Last blank, and then I can drill for the tube, and gotta remember which...........
Ahhhhh S**t! That's going to really mess up my word per minute score for a while. Dammit... I think I'm going to have to go have somebody look at that and make sure I didn't clip the bone...... My wife is going to give me hell about this for months. Where did I put that roll of paper towels?
So, 7 or 8 hours, two vicodin and a six pack later, I'm sitting here counting up the warning signs that I ignored, safety devices I either intentionally removed or couldn't be bothered to find and use, and most importantly, how long it's going to be until I can get the rest of that pen order finished now, because I had a serious attack of the stupids. Fortunately for me the actual damage is not as bad as it looks, no stitches needed and the (incredibly young looking) Dr. at the ER said that the nail should grow back just fine, and it will be almost good as new in 4 to 6 weeks. And the blank is ok, so I can still get that pen finished before the weekend. I'll post pics when I get it done
So, the moral of this little story is, No matter how many times you have done something before, or how much you REALLY want to get this last one done before the wife calls you in for dinner, or how long it has been since something reminded you that you are not 8 feet tall and bulletproof, When that little voice in the back of your head says "Yo, *******, you really shouldn't do that" LISTEN TO IT!!!! Stop and figure out a different way to get it done, go find that widgit that you could swear was right over there the last time you used it, or just call it a day and go have a cold one, IT'S NOT WORTH PUSHING IT!!
And, if you got this far and still want to see, I got pictures, so it really did happen.