Getting Injured So You Don’t Have To
Is woodworking safe?
In an environment where table saws, high powered drills and angle grinders are only a few of the tools that are always present, there is an inherent danger and possibility for injury. Factor in something such as woodworking for a full-time career and you increase your chances of injury substantially. Working so constantly with the tools used in the projects captured in the Blacktail Studio videos has provided a unique opportunity to witness a lot of different ways that they can potentially backfire and cause harm. Whether you do the odd DIY project or you work with power tools on a daily basis, you may never experience the full range of damage that these high powered machines can cause…we’re here to show you.
We could talk about the dangers of power tool use within woodworking, provide examples of instances where things have gone awry, or situations where the calls have been far too close, but if experience serves as an indicator for anything: it’s much more effective for you to actually see what could happen. In the name of safety, to create awareness around this subject, and plain curiosity we decided to do just that.
No one was hurt in the making of these injuries
To replicate and capture real-life injuries in order to showcase their potential damage, the appropriate material needed to be purchased. It’s quite difficult to purchase something that can tell you exactly how painful an injury is, but there is a magic material that mimics human flesh and muscle and can accurately depict how it would react. For the purposes of this video an array of ballistic gel body parts were purchased.
Ballistic gelatin: Or ballistic gel for short, is a gelatin-based product that was created to simulate animal and human muscle tissue for FBI testing purposes.
Research process: an expert in slow motion video
As fun as it would be to simply feed ballistic gel hands through extremely powerful machines all day, the purpose of this video was to highlight the dangers of woodworking to establish an understanding of how to avoid certain injuries. To do this a popular slow-motion videographer named Chris Vanderschaff was brought in. Chris specializes in high speed filming for impressively high quality projects and possesses not only the unique skills necessary to pull off a project of this nature, but also the specialized equipment. He has worked with Audi, MTV and Ferrari and has an incredible Youtube and Instagram page where you can check out all of his content. By shooting each injury at roughly 40,000 frames per second, which is a bit of an increase from the typical 30 fps that most Blacktail Studio videos are filmed at, it allowed us to view and inspect each injury in detail.
To shoot this level of slow motion requires specialized high-end cameras, lights and a processing computer. The camera used to create these shots is a Phantom TMX 3610 and can film up to almost 1 million frames per second.
Real-life injuries
With the amount of real injuries that take place in this industry, it felt appropriate to speak to individuals who have experienced some of the accidents that we set out to capture. In interviewing them, our intent was to discover how the injury took place, what the implications could have been and ultimately how it could have been avoided.
The jointer with special guest Jonathan Katz Moses
In simple terms a jointer is used to make portions of wood that aren’t flat, flat. This tool is responsible for roughly 11,000 injuries every year and one year during the holidays popular tool maker and online woodworker Jonathan Katz Moses was one of those injuries. While distracted and feeding a small piece of wood through the jointer, Jonathan’s thumb entered the cutting wheel and was thrown back with such force he thought he had lost it. Lucky enough to still have his thumb today, Jonathan only lost a portion of his thumb bone and a good amount of blood.
Jonathan’s lesson:
After this injury he revamped his policy within his shop, placing focus on three main components: is this the safest way to accomplish this task? Is this cut safe? and “am I mentally present?”. If the answer to any of these questions is ever no, the task is immediately reevaluated as he states it is never worth the risk of injury to rush. Learn more about Jonathan’s work by visiting his YouTube channel.
Jointer tests
Unfortunately for the ballistics hand it was not as lucky as Jonathan and suffered a much worse fate. In both tests, the hand lost almost an entire thumb and its bone in a matter of milliseconds. This highlighted the true danger that comes with working with such a tool and how a split-second mistake can cost anyone an entire finger, if not more. Watch the slow motion clip.
CNC/ Router injury with special guest Chris Salmone
CNC machines and routers are used to shape and trim wood and other materials using a process that spins bits and belts at speeds of 10-20,000 RPMs. Chris is a high-end custom furniture builder with a successful YouTube page, his woodworking moniker is Foureyes Furniture and you can check out his website here. Chris, while working with a CNC machine to flatten a slab of wood, paused the machine to fix a jam. Unbeknownst to him the pause action only paused the machine's movement; not the spinning bit, so when he tried to clear away debris the bit took his thumbnail along with a portion of his thumb.
Router test
To mimic a realistic router injury, the fingers of a ballistic gel hand were brushed against a spinning router. Though the damage was not fatal, enough finger tip material was removed that we can deem this injury to be extremely painful. Watch the test here.
Lesson:
With high powered tools such as these it's imperative not to take chances. If you can’t see a moving part, it doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Chris was lucky to have his thumbnail and nerves make a full recovery, but highly recommends avoiding the moving parts of a CNC machine.
The world’s most terrifying piece of equipment
Sure, there are plenty of tools that can reap irreparable damage, but none quite like the power of a good old fashioned chainsaw. Causing roughly 36,000 injuries in the US every year, these machines are not to be abused. To test the effects of a chainsaw on a human leg, a ballistics leg was cut into, immediately showcasing the deafening power of the tool. With very little effort the saw cut straight through the gel and into the bone. See that test here.
Lesson/saw test #2:
Placing engine-stopping chainsaw chaps onto the leg almost immediately stopped the chain from spinning. Even though the saw still cut into the leg, it stopped right away. And I suspect the only reason the saw was able to cut the leg was the improper attachment of the chaps in the first place. Proper use of PPE such as chaps, eye protection, a helmet and ear protection could save your life.
PPE for your furniture
In the quest to build furniture, the risk of injury is constantly present, but what about the risk of damaging said furniture once it is built? The Blacktail Studio N3 Nano coating has been tried and tested, and it holds up against some of the most damaging substances. Application of this protective finish can preserve your furniture and expands its lifespan greatly. Learn more about the latest N3 protective products or purchase the Nano N3 finish here.
Nail guns with tradesperson Cam Adams
Cam Adams is a former roommate and works in construction, so he is no stranger to nail gun injuries. Nail guns are huge time and labor savers on the job site, but as Cam describes; they are really easy to misuse. Having seen hands and even thighs, punctured with nails, he warns of the intense dangers of these quick and unforgiving tools. The results of the nail gun on the ballistic hand probably won’t surprise you. Watch the test here.
Angle grinders with John Malecki
The name angle grinder should be an indication of this tool’s ability to do some serious damage. As a free hand tool it can be very easy to nick yourself or even experience kickback while using these. John Malecki is an early YouTube woodworker who, while using a Kutzal disc on laminated plywood, lost control of the angle grinder, resulting in its cutting straight into the ball of his hand beneath his pinky.
Lesson/ angle grinder test:
Dropping an angle grinder with a fairly aggressive chainsaw bit onto a ballistic hand actually tore through most of a finger and destroyed the bone. Watch that here. John’s advice for anyone using an angle grinder is to stick to strong comfortable work positions, adjusting the work to your position if need be. This helps to maintain control of these volatile tools.
To check out John’s YouTube channel click here.
Bandsaw accidents
If you’ve ever worked in a butcher shop you’ve seen band saws used to process meat, but they also account for about 3500 injuries in the US per year. To test what a bandsaw might do during a typical use, a ballistic hand was quickly run past it and the result was frightening. With very little effort the saw completely removed the thumb, reminding users that it’s crucial to wait for the blade to completely stop before grabbing your wood. See the test here.
Table saw injuries with Jimmy Diresta
If you’ve ever built a deck, trimmed a piece of wood for a shelf, or done any type of woodwork, you’ve definitely used a table saw. However dangerous they seem, you might be surprised to learn that they cause over 30,000 injuries in the US every year. Jimmy Diresta is a talented woodworker with a popular YouTube channel and a Netflix series . In 2010, when adjusting a table saw mid-use, a piece of wood rocketed into one of his arms while his other hand slipped straight onto the moving blade.
Table saw test
Dropping the ballistic hand onto the moving blade, without much force, absolutely demolished it, effectively removing three fingers.
Lesson:
This injury left Jimmy with a very limited range of motion in his hand and since then he’s been an advocate for using appropriate safety tactics. For example: using push sticks to feed materials through table saws can save a lifetime of pain and a finger or two.
Results of the study
The takeaway here is that injuries happen often, happen quickly and can be life altering. Let these examples be a lesson to take safety seriously when woodworking. In fact, you might want to share this with any of your DIY woodworking friends.
Bonus content
To watch the entire video, including interviews with injured professional woodworkers, the slow motion ballistics tests and to see an incredibly freaky injury montage click the link right here. You can see extra, slow-motion footage from this shoot on Blacktail Studio Uncut and over on Chris V’s YouTube channel here.