Safety Tip: No Gloves on the Table Saw
Never, and I mean NEVER, wear gloves when using a table saw. Not knowing any better, I did and paid the price. I was lucky: all four fingers were cut, the index finger was cut to the bone and broken, but my glove stayed on my hand.
At the moment it happened, I somehow managed to hit the stop switch, pull my hand back, tear off the glove, and ran to the house for a towel to wrap my hand. No one was home at the time so I had to drive myself to Urgent Care. The doctor said that he didn't want to mess with a hand as mangled as mine and referred me to the Emergency Room and the local hospital.
When I got to the hospital, the on-call doctor didn't want to mess with my hand either. Thank God my "hand doctor" was "upstairs in the operating room" at the time. The ER doctor followed his instructions and I went to see my hand surgeon the next day. Upon further inspection, he decided to let Nature take its own course. He cleaned it, wrapped it up, and told me to come back in 6 weeks.
I still don't have complete nerve function in all fingers, especially the index finger, but I still have all four fingers and a thumb and I am so grateful to my doctor and my family. One thing to note: I NEVER felt an ounce of pain during the whole process. But I did learn a valuable lesson: NEVER wear gloves when working with a table saw.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For further information on Table Saw Safety as well as further details on why you shouldn't wear gloves while operating your table saw, please click
HERE
.
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