4 ms·
Happy to answer any question. I have a small workshop with a table saw, drop saw and a few other things. When cleaning the saw, our cleaner had inadvertently dr
by Daub 2y ago
Happy to answer any question. I have a small workshop with a table saw, drop saw and a few other things. When cleaning the saw, our cleaner had inadvertently dropped a metal bolt into the saw well. Added to this, I had not cleaned the extraction housing for too long. When I used the saw, the bolt fractured, shot out and hit my head and my eye. The eye became infected to the point where it was clear nothing was going to save it.
Before the operation, I was desperate to have the eye removed. Partly because I did not want the infection to spread and partly because of the pain. The doctor was experienced and did a good job. She was one of the few local doctors who can perform that operation. Others would have removed the eye but not been able to install the frame, on which the fake eye sits. This would have left me with a nasty looking empty socket.
Waking up from the anesthetic my wife was there to greet me. A touching memory. Healing was not troublesome. Walked around with a black eye for a few days. I was told that the vision of my remaining eye would improve but I can't say that I have noticed such a thing. I am now a lot more clumsy than before, and have to take care on the stairs of our house.
Weirdest thing was the hallucinations. The nerves of my missing eye obviously still wanted desperately to be receiving information, in lack of which they just made stuff up. At night I would see worm-like things snaking around each other. A bit scarry, but also very compelling. These have faded but my ability to envisage things at night is now supercharged. In the right circumstances, visual ideas come thick and fast.
- noman-land 2y agoWow, what a crazy fluke. Sounds really harrowing and scary. Thanks for your response. In retrospect do you think there's anything you could have done to prevent it? Different eye protection, Different process, some sort of mental checklist? Do you still have the workshop and if so, have you changed your process in any way? I'm really quite scared of table saws but they are obviously a very useful tool. I would like to get one eventually, but this is a vector of danger I would have never considered.
- Daub 2y agoThe workshop is too integral to who I am, and I still use it. My wife was supportive of this, though she had her reservations. I still use the saw, but now am much more carfull. Table saws can be dangerous if used poorly. There are plenty of vids out there showing the most common mistakes, all of which I was aware of. What I was unaware of was how completely packed the dust well had become. I also had a pair of safety goggles, which I still do not wear. I find them far to intrusive. Instead when I am cutting I make sure that my glasses are on properly, and i am not looking over them. All that being said, a table saw, a drop saw and a pillar drill are the heart and soul of a workshop. The real danger is how easily wounds can get infected, especially in Asia. I am now more likely to seek immediate medical help when I am cut. Also, I now have multiple bottles of iodine in the house, just in case.