Eh, don’t worry, he’s mostly OK. He had to go to the hospital to get put back together as it were (sounds like a small skin graft and lots of stitches) but he’ll suffer no permanent damage other than a wicked cool scar.
He was cutting down fence posts in his yard. The chain caught, the saw bucked and got him an inch or two below the knee, inside of right leg.
At first he didn’t even realize he had hurt himself.
“Ah jeez, I cut my jeans.”
…
“Oh wait, I’m bleeding a bit”
…
“Let’s go inside for a minute and make sure it isn’t serious”
…
“Oh sweet merciful crap it’s gaping MOM WE NEED TO GET TO A HOSPITAL”
…luckily, his mother and grandmother happened to be visiting him at the time and could haul him to an emergency room.
Turns out the saw went all the way to (and a little bit into) the bone. Fun stuff!
Anyways, his new nickname? So far I’m liking “Bonesaw” - it sounds tough when you try to impress a lady with it, until she asks how you got the name and you have to explain you were clumsy with a power tool.
I was also interested so I did a few google searches on “Chainsaw injury” - the US government, as it turns out, tracks a lot of these as they happen quite frequently in the logging industry. Reading a few reports, I can only conclude: The only safe chainsaw is one that’s drained of gas, has the chain removed, is rusted permanently into one position and is buried at least 17 feet underground. And to tell the truth I’m not even sure about that one.
I used to fix small engines for a living and that included chainsaws, lawnmowers, and weed trimmers. Chainsaws scare the ever living hell out of me and while I don’t mind working on them I hate working with them. Granted, I do so on occasion because I’m too lazy to use a saw but I take great care.
Yes, I need to hear these stories. I have never used a chainsaw before. My dad lent me his. I have lots of dead wood in my yard from ice storms past. I’m very clumsy. I’m very likely to injure myself with this chainsaw. I need the idea of injury reinforced so that maybe I wont.
What is this bucking you mentioned. They buck on their own?
I think I got this right…
It’s similar to a table saw - the teeth get caught/bound by some part of the wood and can’t move so all the force kicks back into something that can move. Table saw - the wood bucks backwards; chainsaw - the chainsaw bucks backwards.
Trees and wood in general are not necessarily uniform density, and if the materials shift, or the angle of cut shifts because the operator moves the blade, or a passing neutrino hits ; the saw bucks.
Not good. He’s lucky there’s only minor damage. A few inches here or there on the leg and you bleed out before getting inside, or have to learn to walk again.
Chain saws are scary, I agree. It’s not only the chain that you have to worry about. One of our regular musicians is also a chainsaw artist, and spend some down time last year due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Nearly killed him. Silent and deadly.
I came very close to cutting my leg with a worm-drive circular saw recently. I started the saw with the blade already in the kerf I had cut previously, on some flooring I was cutting.
Big mistake.
The saw kicked back, and I was barely able to control it, but it scared the carp out of me.
I’ll have to remember never to do that again.
Every single chainsaw produced for the past, shoot I don’t remember how many, years is supposed to have a chain break designed to stop the chain from moving in in the event of a kickback.
I heat my house with wood, so I do a lot of chainsawing. I think it’s a good idea to regularly tell youself “This thing is going to try to get me - it’s only a question of when.” You do well to stand in such a way that even if the cut goes wrong, the saw can’t easily reach any part of your body.
I note that prior to the list, Achren’s link gives the main reason for kickbacks: a catch involving the upper part of the blade tip. This is where the chain is running away from you, so when it catches, it kicks the saw toward you. Being alert for situations in which such a catch is possible helps a lot.
It should also be noted that many chainsawing injuries come not from the saw but from the tree. Felling trees that are more than about 2.5" in diameter is inherently dangerous, and limbing and bucking a downed tree can be even more so (lots of energy can be stored in buckled branches).
One final thing I find truly astonishing is the number of times I see folks using a chainsaw without ear protection. That’s stupid almost beyond words.
I heat entirely with wood, and also used to cut pulpwood for supplemental income, so I’ve got a lot of experience with chainsaws. Chain saws don’t really hurt when they cut you, you feel a “bump” and that’s when the experienced operator says “oh shit”.
Really, it’s been years since I’ve had a cut requiring stitches. A capable operator need not fear a chain saw. As Xema mentioned, letting the upper part of the blade tip contact the wood is what causes kickback. The other reasons listed for kickback are extremely rare.
files the new/changed information regarding chainsaws away in her brain
Now in the rare event I use a chainsaw or I’m asked, I’m prepared! (With the usual disclaimer that I am not an expert or even an apprentice so actually ask someone else before doing anything. )
Xema - no ear protection?! Before going into the main shop area of our little dinky shop for the art majors, I had to have on ear and eye protection. I’d like to be able to hear the answer when I ask where my teeth are when I’m old!
[hijack]Strangely, when I tried for an Architecture degree elsewhere, the shop there only required eye protection. I even saw people cutting along, listening to their iPods. Of course, the Architecture shop was also the only place I’ve ever heard an orientation lecture that only consisted of “Be afraid of the tools, be very afraid” and “Students do stupid shit with my tools, don’t do stupid shit!” Amazingly unhelpful.[/hijack]
GameHat, I hope your friend heals up quickly.
Christopher, the beer and pizza idea sounds good - maybe if you offer enough, the guy and/or friend will also help you move the cut wood.
I had about the same thing happen, except my injury was two inches higher.
It now appears that I have two kneecaps. It took me three months to regain full mobility in my right leg, and I can no longer work as a kneecap model.
Tell him to buy, or buy for him, a set of safety chaps. Like these: http://www.gemplers.com/product/10213/Chainsaw-Safety-Chaps-90-Series
I used to visit a friend in Virginia, and when they needed wood, his dad would head back into the woods with a chainsaw and a six-pack of Old Milwaukee. :eek:
And then you and **Xema ** go and say things like, “Gosh, I haven’t nearly severed a limb in years.” :eek: I think I’ll leave the chainsawing to someone else.
; the saw bucks.