: Embarrassing
: I wasn’t going to mention this on the board because it is too embarrassing to
: admit to you guys and gals but this is a reminder to be cautious around
: your power tools. A week and a half ago I was cutting 3/16" walnut
: strips to a half inch width on my table saw and I was being careful by
: pushing the 18 inch long strips through with a safety stick. The walnut
: started to curl against itself after the cut started and wouldn’t spread
: onto the nail I had in the table insert to keep the strip spread so it
: wouldn’t close against the saw blade. I couldn’t spread the strip with my
: left hand so I used my stronger right hand to do it. My left hand drifted
: back into the saw blade taking off ½" of my thumb. What should I have
: done!

Hey John

Sorry to hear of the incident, but it sounds like you've come through it with a good attitude and a healing thumb. Glad to hear that you are O.K. and Back to work on other stuff now. I've seen two folk lose fingers, a student and a cabinet man and both were much more serious and never worked wood again to my knowledge. It IS something that can happen to anyone. We can either get in a hurry and avoid safety issues or get bored with doing a particular step and get lazy in our safety procedures. Been there and done that, and have been pretty fortunate over the years. I've HAD my share of little incidents, but have not suffered any physical wounds, only pride.
To answer your question of WHAT? In the case you stated, I would have done the one thing I have learned over the years. When something sticks and I'm in a bind..... as is the wood, I hit the power switch and shut it off. You may scar up a piece of wood from the blade slowing down, but I find that when it binds in that fashion, it's usually already scared or burned from the blade working on one area for a length of time. I normally don't use any feather boards ( and I'm not recommending this to anyone ) so when something pinches the blade, I just lift it up off the blade, turn it over and try again from the other side. Generally though, once a piece has bound, it's ruined because the back of the blade has cut extra material out, so I figure that piece is wasted and don't worry about it.

My feather board was set for the height of ¾" thick boards and
: I should have lowered it to 3/16" and it would have covered the saw
: blade but since I was only cutting a few boards it didn’t seem necessary
: and I couldn’t have guessed this walnut grain would close the cut part of
: the walnut so tightly on itself.

Another thing is: Don't second guess yourself. Even if you HAD put the feather board down to 3/16" and covered the blade, you still should never let your pinkies get anywhere around behind or beside the blade.

All I can say is I have worked around
: power tools everyday for over 45 years and never had a serious mishap so
: it can happen to anybody. The good news is I think I will be back on the
: stripper in another week and have been cutting the deco pieces on the
: miter saw.

: John

Thanks for taking the time ( and embarrassment ) to give a report on the incident as it is very much a wake-up call for all of us.
And again, it's good to hear your possitive attitude and that you are back on the job. Am always interested in seeing your work and hearing your ideas.

Keep up the good work and keep us posted....

Rehd