chainsaws

[philpjuk100]

I know,I know,but please take extra care when using chainsaws,just because you have used one for years and still have all your fingers does not mean it will remain so! (typed with one hand!) got away with all my fingers but looks like i have tendon surgery booked for tomorrow.it only needs a seconds distraction,just think about this next time you fire yours up!

 

[Feltwell]

Ouch! Hope you recover quickly. They really are the most lethal of all power tools. Mind you, I've got no feeling in the end of one thumb due to an "argument" with a bench saw.......and a joiner friend is minus half of one finger due to a circular saw. They can all be dangerous!

 

[worms]

Sorry to hear about this, hope you recover quickly and completely.

And thanks for the timely advice/reminder, "there but for the grace of God..."!

 

[robgil]

Chainsaws are really dangerous , wouldnt ever do one my self.
Had the little finger on my right hand almost taken off on a lathe de burring 2'' pipe, three days in hopsital having it sewn back up, cut the tendon and all the flesh in a spiral shape like a helter skelter right down to the bone.
Took months and months to recover , still cant feel anything in it though.
Good luck with the op , hopsitals are pretty good at this kind of thing so i am sure you will be in safe hands , just dont eat the food.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh no. That's awful Phil - get well soon. Thank goodness you still have all your fingers!

Thanks for the warning - Chris typically uses it for several hours every weekend as we harvest all our own wood and are re landscaping an acre stretch of hedgerow. He wears all the protection of course but it is a terrifying beast nonetheless. As you say, it's just a momentary lapse and anything can happen.

 

[Moo]

I can't even bear looking at someone using a chainsaw, let alone wielding one myself.
My husband and son are forbidden to go near one!


ps Move to Norwich - the food at the N&N is excellent.

 

[philpjuk100]

Thanks for the good wishes,I feel an idiot,I have all the gear but it was only a couple of "twigs" and it did not seem worth putting it on.I just hope my experience makes those with chainsaws think before firing them up.I have learned from this and consider myself lucky to still have all my fingers.So far the nhs have been great,x rays washed out and bandaged up within an hour of the event.THINK! phil.

 

[LadyArowana]

Best wishes for it all going well tomorrow, they have amazing microsurgery techiniques now, imaging etc is much better so they can be very precise about mending the bits.

 

[Flyfisher]

Ouch! Sorry to read this Phil, though glad that it wasn't far worse. Good luck with the surgery. As Milady says, it's amazing what they can do these days.

I cut down a fairly large conifer last week - the first time the chainsaw had been fired up this year. I have a healthy fear of the things, indeed all machinery, and constantly try to think about things that could go wrong and would I be in harm's way if it did. If so, I change my plan of attack.

But, of course, it's the things you don't think of that can bite you. The scariest thing that's happened to me was when a tip from one of the teeth on my circular sawbench came off and hit my forehead, just above my left eye. Quite a bit of blood but no real harm - at least once my heart had calmed down. Really scared me!

 

[d49xc]

I gather that most chainsaw accidents occur when cutting up small branches on the ground/when snedding them off the main trunk on a windblown tree
The hazards are branches whipping back when under tension and part cut, a morass of branches leading to kick back from the saw when the end of the bar contacts a branch in that upper end danger quadrant: or of the operator tripping on the tangle of branches while carrying the saw, or of trying to saw an insecurly fixed log which then whips back at you when you apply saw to top edge.

I have to confess that likewise I don't get out the full safety gear when using my small saw - just the kevlar gloves & safety hat/visor and steel toecap shoes. When it use my big 2ft+ long and more powerful saw I get out the full gear: special trousers etc, and have my mobile with me as I'm always working on my own.

I agree- you must concentrate on each cut, check you are securely positioned on both feet & well balanced. Apply the chain safety brake when carrying/walking with a running saw.

slight aside.... but really big circular saws as in serious workshops have a lethal trick up their sleeves.....When finishing a cut, rarely the loose section is caught/picked up by one of the saw teeth on the blade. It will then be projected/shot back in the direction from which it was been pushed like a missile. I've seen one do it and its like a blur as this thing shoots across the workshop.

Most dangerous tool ever. Once saw a firearms cartridge powered industrial rated nail gun being used. They can fire fixing brackets into concrete/steel. I think by now they've been banned and you would only find them in the military. The only time I was being shown one being actually used was to fix 1" plywood to some steel girders,except the setting was initially a bit high on the tool (it's variable)....so it fired the securing bolt (like a mega pop rivet) through the wood AND through the steel girder....at that point I thought I would stand a few more yards further away.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Ouch Phil - did you cry? :wink:

Hope it goes well tomorrow - as an insider, I'd agree with Rob, avoid the food and keep moving so the superbugs have less of a chance to settle!

I fear using the chainsaw, but try very hard not to let that affect how I wield it. You have to be confident and secure with machinery (and animals), otherwise timidity is also dangerous. A tricky balance for the novice. I'm off to eBay to get some chainsaw troos... the only thing I don't have.

 

[philpjuk100]

Hi FW,no I did not cry,there has been very little pain associated with the injury but my eyes were a little moist when I saw the hospital parking charges! the doc I saw said the worst chainsaw injuries he saw were from a chap who had his saw airborne after it "bit" so he ran and caught it!ouch! have to miss breakfast tomorrow so I will need a good supper! phil.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I always have the tip guard fixed to my chainsaw - inexensive but makes kick back much less likely.

The bit that is most nerve-wracking I find is the last inch or two of felling a tree; you're concerned about getting the blade out before it is potentilly crushed/snagged at the same time as trying to get back a bit in case the tree doesn't drop where you plan/expect it to.

 

[lou]

I have just sent this thread to my husband who is desperate to get one. He's been talking about getting one for a while now and I've been so nervous about it, even though I can see how useful it would be. A friend of ours lost two fingers with an electric saw, admittedly not a chain saw. He found one wedged in the grill of the radio....eeuugghh. I do hope everything goes well for you and a full recovery is achieved!

 

[Flyfisher]

slight aside.... but really big circular saws as in serious workshops have a lethal trick up their sleeves.....When finishing a cut, rarely the loose section is caught/picked up by one of the saw teeth on the blade. It will then be projected/shot back in the direction from which it was been pushed like a missile. I've seen one do it and its like a blur as this thing shoots across the workshop.

My circular sawbench is not really a 'serious workshop' tool but, nevertheless, it also plays this trick on occasion. It never seems to launch anything with great speed but it can be disconcerting.

 

[robgil]

slight aside.... but really big circular saws as in serious workshops have a lethal trick up their sleeves.....When finishing a cut, rarely the loose section is caught/picked up by one of the saw teeth on the blade. It will then be projected/shot back in the direction from which it was been pushed like a missile. I've seen one do it and its like a blur as this thing shoots across the workshop.

I spent some time working at fabricating metal, building custom exhaust systems for anything from cars to boats. We had a circular saw that could go through 10'' pipe, huge big thing with a handle and foot peddle to pull the saw blade down onto the pipe, you really had to put your back into it. Sparks would shoot right out across the factory floor. Sometimes a pipe would catch just as the blade cut through and end up spinning and dancing around the workshop making a bullet sound 'ping' every time it hit the floor or ceiling.
Not much in the way of H+S in those days.

 

[TomW]

"Sigh", so many moments from 25 years as a sheet metal worker. We used to send apprentices behind the guillotine to catch the cut sheet so it didn't scratch as it fell. Ah, happy days :lol:

 

[philpjuk100]

Hi F-W, I do not have a tip guard and did not know about them but will now get one.I do not think my accident was caused by tip contact but will now be extra careful (thats if the wife does not put my saws on freecycle!) up early,no breakfast,have a thirty mile trip to the derby hospital where they have a "hand" unit,getting the hang of this one finger keyboard typing! phil.

 

[robgil]

HA HA! fINGER TYPING IS THE WAY FORWARD, damn! Finger typing is the way forward, I cannot type any other way.I started typing this at 06.45. If i had to go back and correct my mistake i would be here most of the day!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

HA HA! fINGER TYPING IS THE WAY FORWARD, damn! Finger typing is the way forward, I cannot type any other way.I started typing this at 06.45. If i had to go back and correct my mistake i would be here most of the day!

Ah - I already assumed you'd had a chainsaw accident Rob that removed all of your fingers, and you painstakingly typed out your messages with bloodied and bandaged stumps. Now I know you are fully able and just too lazy and lacksadaisical to correct your mistakes, I'll be less forgiving in future! :wink: