danger

so i'm back on track ( sort of ), going to my woodworking lab to finish my tool box ( with only 4 more classes left ). ben, my instructor for the woodturning class, was there as the lab tech (subbing for adrian). he helped me glue up my box (finally), and passed on some freaky info.

last sun, i noticed one of the other classmates, a man in his 40sish(?) -- most of my classmates fall into this category, but there are 4 women in the class not including myself -- had a blood-stained bandage on one of his fingers. i thought maybe he hurt himself turning his bowl. a mini-lathe is not as dangerous compared to the other woodworking machinery. there's not an exposed blade, although one of the hand-outs we received on bowl-turning, was all about crazy exploding bowl accidents that happened to experienced, professional bowl turners, and the benefits of wearing eye protection. i wondered what had happened. i did not want to think about the band saw that we use to cut down our green wood into cylinders before turning. that is probably the most dangerous thing in this class. this is the machine they use to cut bones.

well, i found out tonight that he did cut himself on the band saw. freaky! as if i weren't nervous enough about losing fingers every time i use the thing, although lately, i really have been wanting to get one for home use (a mini - one). the blade cut to the bone, and the guy had to go to the hospital for stitches. he came back several hours later to finish up the class. crazy! he could have lost a finger. maybe i'm just "sensitive", but if i almost nearly cut off a finger, i would not be coming back to class, not to mention it probably hurt. i would hate to lose a finger - i use them for so many things...knitting, drawing, typing 80 wpm, playing the piano...