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mftha

While this post may be a bit off point, Please indulge me as I strongly reinforce the necessity for using safety devices while routering. I was not very active on this forum for several months because I did not use a push stick when I should have. I also made another unthinking mistake that had I been using a push stick would have had been much less consequential. I was attempting to make a template with a groove wider than any of the straight bits in my collection. I made the first cut, then turned it around and started the second cut. As it was I realized the second cut was a climb cut. The piece shot away and my left forefinger made contact with the spinning router bit. It cut away the top layer of skin and bled profusely. Had I been using a push stick it might have been destroyed but my finger would have not been injured. After over a month of daily rinsing with hydrogen peroxide and bandaging with neomycin and bandaging so as to immobilize the end joint, my finger returned to almost normal, but now it is stiffer and I have less range of mobility in the end joint. The joint itself was not damaged, thanfully. The finger injury may have led to overuse of my right arm (I am confined to a wheelchair) to compensate for my left arm, and now in spite of some very effective physical therapy, I may need one or even two shoulder replacements; I now compensate for the right shoulder by over-using the left arm. (Actually there was already some deterioration of my right shoulder at the time, but my few seconds of not thinking has long lasting consequences.)

karateed

Hi Mftha,

Not off topic at all....first and foremost is safety and that's exactly what push sticks are about. Thank you very much for sharing you story as it may help some realize the importance of a few moments of making this tool for safety.

I'm really sorry to hear you had to and are suffering from your accident. I hope down the road you have as full a recovery as possible.

Again, thank you for sharing, it just might be someone else will not suffer the same fate because of your courage to come forward with your story.

Ed......:-)

mftha

Thanks very much Ed,

Sharing our experiences and learning from them is what this forum is all about!

I have largely recovered used of my left forefinger, but the whole episode may have simply accelerated the inevitable. My shoulders were wearing out because I work in an environment that is almost wheelchair-hostile, with supervisors who keep things just this side of justification of discrimination lawsuits.

In the meantime I look at what I can do and try to figure out ways to do more easily those things that are difficult for me.