Matthew, how's your hand?

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Jean
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Matthew, how's your hand?

Post by Jean »

Matthew,

How is your hand feeling and have you been able to work with it? I hope it's healing well.

So, tell me about the splitter. I looked them up on the internet. I have to admit I didn't know about them. I'm going to get one before I make any more nest boxes, as my hand still hurts and is an ugly shade of yellow. Do you have a favorite brand, type? Oh yeah, and the guard is back on.

Thanks! Love, Jean
Matthew
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Post by Matthew »

Jean
My hand is healing quite nicely. Got back to work Wednesday. I take my contracts very seriously and had a lot of work that I was committed to get out . It is a pleasure to find that both my digestion and my healing ability have risen to the occasion. I look forward to having the stitches removed.

I am so thankful that you only bruised your hand when the birdhouse part kicked back on you. I don’t mean to indicate that it was not painful or a rude awakening but you must have been doing something right in that you did not lose any digits.

Thirty years ago I bought a a beautifully machined little European cabinet saw that tugged at my sense of craftsmanship. It came with a user friendly guard and several splitters for different blade widths. I apologize for not having looked at retrofitable splitters in all this time. I am not going to be much help in recommending a product . Don’t know the brand of saw you have . If it is still made, the manufacturer may have a way to fit a splitter ready made for the saw. That is where I would start. If not, don’t buy anything until you have written to the splitter manufacturer to see if they have instructions on how to fit it to the saw you have . It will probably be fruitless but their are a lot of woodworking forums on the web that you might be able to ask.

Kick back is is usually caused by improper use of the saw . A miss aligned saw. The wrong type of blade. Lack of attention. Carelessness.......... Their has been so much written about woodworking in the last few years that with a little looking around you should be able to find a good book on table saw technique that might help you avoid another problem. If you are not a self educator many community colleges have beginning woodworking classes just for women that you might look into. Over the last ten years I have helped several women find tools that fit smaller hands and techniques that don't involve "more power" so that they could create what they envision. Maybe your birdhouses could be made with just hand tools and a little finesse. A way of working that is has always been far more gratifying to me without roaring power tools.

My best to you . Hope your hand is better.

Matthew
Jean
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Post by Jean »

Matthew,

Thanks for the info. I am a self educator and have already been reading. I took a sulpture class in college and the first day of class was "Scare the :censored: out of everyone whose going to use power tools". You know, the professor told all of the horror stories he could think of. I took it to heart. I have always had respect for tools. Matter of fact, this may be the first time I've ever been hurt, even with hand tools. I've made 10+ nest boxes.

The table saw is a Delta. Turns out the guard does have a splitter. Dave had taken it off to do an angle cut. The wrong blade was on... I DO know better, this was a good reminder.

I promise I will brush up on safety rules before I cut another piece of wood. I know I was lucky that I wasn't injured more seriously. I've found some forums and will check out the safety of the guard/splitter that came with the saw.

Thanks for your help. I'm so glad you were able to get back to work. Hope you're not working all weekend to make up the lost time.

Love, Jean
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