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Post Info TOPIC: Cutting yourself on the band saw


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Cutting yourself on the band saw


On Sunday, I accidentally (as opposed to doing it on purpose) cut my thumb rather badly on the band saw.  There's probably already a topic on this on here somewhere.  I would post a pic of it's still kind of gross (although we've all probably already seen far grosser).  I cut into the right side of my right thumb.  I had been cutting pork chops and switched to cut country style ribs, and I guess I misjudged the thickness.  I dug into the tip a bit and I guess in the action of pulling away sliced through my finger nail.  I got three stitches on the tip of my thumb.  Today my boss came through and asked if I was using the guard.  I didn't tell him that our saw doesn't have a guard.  I have worked at places that had a plastic sliding guard, but no one used to, or rarely did.  Do any of you guys used a guard on the band saw?

 

It's funny when I was an apprentice, an old meat cutter told me that if I keep doing this for a living it's not a matter of if I seriously cut myself, it's a matter of when I seriously cut myself.



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Cutting yourself on the band saw


If your saw doesn't have a guard the store could be held responsible.

15 years ago I was cutting a shortloin on a Hobart slant saw and it flipped and threw my hand into the blade. I have some pretty jagged scars on the two middle fingers of my right hand. I am lucky I didn't lose them. The saw did not have a guard covering the blade like it was supposed to. After that I refused to use a saw with missing guards and I am vary wary of slant saws. They were recalled for a reason. Going back maybe 5 years I have a topic on another knife related accident. I ll post the link if i can find it.

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Cutting yourself on the band saw


If you are talking about those hand held guards. No I never liked those. I had better control with out them. I just really slowed down when I got to the last couple inches. Remember, they are probably not paying us to push ourselves so hard that we don't slow down. My motto became "take care of yourself first at work and the company second"

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Cutting yourself on the band saw


I've seen those slant saws in the past and heard stories about how dangerous they were. Never worked on one.

Yeah my saw has a blade guard, but not one of those plastic sliding hand guards. I couldn't imagine trying to cut frozen turkey chops without holding down the breast. But when I cut myself I wasn't rushing and I didn't feel rushed, although I was working at a good pace. It wasn't even the first rib end that I cut down. There's no reason why I did that, other than I had become to comfortable or something. I got right back on the saw today though.

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RE: Cutting yourself on the band saw


Down South here they use pork-butts for country style spareribs. They slice the bone-in section really thick and stack the cuts then run them through the saw without using the guide whatsoever. Really scary. Now back in the day when we only bought whole bone in pork loins we would take the rib ends and use them for country style spare ribs which I like better than the butts. However, we never used the band-saw. We would always double team this job with one man cutting the rib bones with a short-hand saw and the other guy wound knife and tray. Worked like a charm and nobody ever got cut by the saw. You would be surprised on how many rib ends a two man team can cut into country style spareribs.

Unfortunately today people would laugh at you, but you know, those rib bones cot so easily with a hand saw and when you knife the meat those country style spareribs have that pick-me-up-and-take-me-home-look! 



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Cutting yourself on the band saw


Vanilla Thunder wrote:

I've seen those slant saws in the past and heard stories about how dangerous they were. Never worked on one.

Yeah my saw has a blade guard, but not one of those plastic sliding hand guards. I couldn't imagine trying to cut frozen turkey chops without holding down the breast. But when I cut myself I wasn't rushing and I didn't feel rushed, although I was working at a good pace. It wasn't even the first rib end that I cut down. There's no reason why I did that, other than I had become to comfortable or something. I got right back on the saw today though.


 I had one store owner insist that I use that hand held guard after I had been cutting for years with out it. I did not like that and like you said, had no control over rounder primals.  Sometimes I had to cut frozen marrow bone and they would just flip out of there and almost hurt someone.   That is where I would get really annoyed, when people who don't cut meat for a living try to tell people who do cut meat for a living how to do their jobs.   



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RE: Cutting yourself on the band saw


Coalcracker wrote:

Down South here they use pork-butts for country style spareribs. They slice the bone-in section really thick and stack the cuts then run them through the saw without using the guide whatsoever. Really scary. Now back in the day when we only bought whole bone in pork loins we would take the rib ends and use them for country style spare ribs which I like better than the butts. However, we never used the band-saw. We would always double team this job with one man cutting the rib bones with a short-hand saw and the other guy wound knife and tray. Worked like a charm and nobody ever got cut by the saw. You would be surprised on how many rib ends a two man team can cut into country style spareribs.

Unfortunately today people would laugh at you, but you know, those rib bones cot so easily with a hand saw and when you knife the meat those country style spareribs have that pick-me-up-and-take-me-home-look! 


 I used to cut those bone in ribends  on the saw frozen for country style rib specials.  Dangerous stuff, but I had a little trick that made it easier.  I definitely wouldn't try it with that plastic guard Vanilla Thunder is talking about.  



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Cutting yourself on the band saw


I think I used a plastic guard a few times. We used to get sent in these really ****ty rib ends. It was like a vacuum packed bag of door stops. I would use the guard if I was cutting them sometimes because they would sometimes shift on you unexpectedly. That may have been what happened here, but they were good looking rib ends and it's not like I haven't had meat shift on me.

I had a friend ask me today what happened to the pork that I was cutting. I really don't know. My apprentice asked me what I was cutting before I left for the hospital. I really didn't think about it. I guess they got put out and sold. In retrospect I probably should've thrown out the ones that may have gotten my blood on them. But that was the last thing on my mind.

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RE: Cutting yourself on the band saw


My only band saw injury happened cutting pork loins on a Hobart saw but not a slant saw. I took off the first digit of the middle finger on my right hand. As far as plastic blade guards, I've never even seen one but I left the trade in 1996. I was on night work at the time and this happened around 3 AM.  The grocery night crew chief took me to the hospital and I'll never forget that he got chewed out by the store manager the next day who told him that he should have made me wait for an ambulance.  Nice...
Vanilla Thunder wrote:

On Sunday, I accidentally (as opposed to doing it on purpose) cut my thumb rather badly on the band saw.  There's probably already a topic on this on here somewhere.  I would post a pic of it's still kind of gross (although we've all probably already seen far grosser).  I cut into the right side of my right thumb.  I had been cutting pork chops and switched to cut country style ribs, and I guess I misjudged the thickness.  I dug into the tip a bit and I guess in the action of pulling away sliced through my finger nail.  I got three stitches on the tip of my thumb.  Today my boss came through and asked if I was using the guard.  I didn't tell him that our saw doesn't have a guard.  I have worked at places that had a plastic sliding guard, but no one used to, or rarely did.  Do any of you guys used a guard on the band saw?

 

It's funny when I was an apprentice, an old meat cutter told me that if I keep doing this for a living it's not a matter of if I seriously cut myself, it's a matter of when I seriously cut myself.


 



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Cutting yourself on the band saw


here is a crazy thing i went for a job interview a while back and the interviewer said i had to wear a glove on bandsaw right away i thought thats weird then i did a employment experience thing i had to do for a cookery course so i picked a place that had a butcher and a resturant and the butcher put his glove on when he used saw which was once in 2 days to cut a chop it was left on saw too for that purpose. was nearly gonna say but i was there as requirement for a 5k free course i learned no cooking but i can wash ur glass lol

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Cutting yourself on the band saw


most ppl use hand saws here too

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RE: Cutting yourself on the band saw


  Jimhenry, sorry but I have to laugh at that idiot store manager. Yea, it would be ok for you to either go into shock or bleed to death.

Let me tell you another funny story. I was working for our chicken man who was on vacation and back then we cut all of our parts by hand. A Sharp point on a breast bone stuck me under the fingernail of my long finger. I didn't pay any attention to it and kept on cutting. A few days later my finger swelled up like a balloon and my department manager said to take a walk down the street to the State Hospital in downtown Scranton. Let the doc look at that and get back here as soon as you can. I said ok. So I go to the emergency room and they were jammed. The doc said what's wrong and I showed in my finger and he stopped in his tracks. Only crap, what happened? I told him he said sit down and I will be right with you.

He sat me on a chair and I turned the chair around so I could rest my arm on the back of it. He said I am doctoring for 18 years and never did I see a finger this big. LOL>  He took a small narrow scalpel and poked it under my nail. The puss came out like a projectile and hit him square in the chest. When I saw that I passed out, hit my head on the cement wall and when I woke up I was in the 2nd floor ward. LOL>

Who was standing over me when I cam to, my meat department manager Phi.l He looked at me and just shook his head. He said Garry has been cutting chickens for 20 years and never got hurt. You do it for a few days and you not only get an infection but now you have a concussion. LOL> No more chicken cutting for you my boy. LOL>



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Cutting yourself on the band saw


Coalcracker wrote:

  Jimhenry, sorry but I have to laugh at that idiot store manager. Yea, it would be ok for you to either go into shock or bleed to death.

Let me tell you another funny story. I was working for our chicken man who was on vacation and back then we cut all of our parts by hand. A Sharp point on a breast bone stuck me under the fingernail of my long finger. I didn't pay any attention to it and kept on cutting. A few days later my finger swelled up like a balloon and my department manager said to take a walk down the street to the State Hospital in downtown Scranton. Let the doc look at that and get back here as soon as you can. I said ok. So I go to the emergency room and they were jammed. The doc said what's wrong and I showed in my finger and he stopped in his tracks. Only crap, what happened? I told him he said sit down and I will be right with you.

He sat me on a chair and I turned the chair around so I could rest my arm on the back of it. He said I am doctoring for 18 years and never did I see a finger this big. LOL>  He took a small narrow scalpel and poked it under my nail. The puss came out like a projectile and hit him square in the chest. When I saw that I passed out, hit my head on the cement wall and when I woke up I was in the 2nd floor ward. LOL>

Who was standing over me when I cam to, my meat department manager Phi.l He looked at me and just shook his head. He said Garry has been cutting chickens for 20 years and never got hurt. You do it for a few days and you not only get an infection but now you have a concussion. LOL> No more chicken cutting for you my boy. LOL>

  Phil, our next book is going to be about meat cutters and their bizarre expriences.  I want jim Henry in on this one. He has got some stories!!  "Tales from the Butcher Block"



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Cutting yourself on the band saw


Never cut marrow bones like that. I always locked the moving tray and did them by hand. takes a while to do a box but you have more control over the bone if it rolls on you. Guys around have so saw skills anymore, I had to show someone how to turn a short loin as you cut it s there wouldn't be a wedge piece at the end...


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RE: Cutting yourself on the band saw


Fred, any time Jim is ready. LOL>



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RE: Cutting yourself on the band saw


Locking the moving tray is smart and safe for example when cutting pork neckbones. I work for the fed and this is the only place I have worked where the plastic push plate as they call it is being used. I was pleasantly shocked to see people use it. They do not lock the moving tray. Nobody does but me. They are unfamiliar with the concept. Two days ago we had a bigwig come down ( nice man) to make sure we use the push plate. Someone lost another finger and someone else had a close call recently. Most guys I know lost their thumb or index finger the same way, splitting pigs feet. My first marker manager cut off his thumb out it in a bag of ice drove to the hospital and theynseqwd it back in. It works good but has constant pain in the thumb.My ring finger tip was cut with a knife and is numb and hurts 24/7 since 1990. I used a slant saw Scarry as Hell the meat jumps into the blade to reduce meat cutter fatigue.

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Allen Scott


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RE: Cutting yourself on the band saw


When I get to the end I always use one or more chops or whatever I am cutting as a push stick like a wood worker would use.

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RE: Cutting yourself on the band saw


- wrote:
Coalcracker wrote:

  Jimhenry, sorry but I have to laugh at that idiot store manager. Yea, it would be ok for you to either go into shock or bleed to death.

Let me tell you another funny story. I was working for our chicken man who was on vacation and back then we cut all of our parts by hand. A Sharp point on a breast bone stuck me under the fingernail of my long finger. I didn't pay any attention to it and kept on cutting. A few days later my finger swelled up like a balloon and my department manager said to take a walk down the street to the State Hospital in downtown Scranton. Let the doc look at that and get back here as soon as you can. I said ok. So I go to the emergency room and they were jammed. The doc said what's wrong and I showed in my finger and he stopped in his tracks. Only crap, what happened? I told him he said sit down and I will be right with you.

He sat me on a chair and I turned the chair around so I could rest my arm on the back of it. He said I am doctoring for 18 years and never did I see a finger this big. LOL>  He took a small narrow scalpel and poked it under my nail. The puss came out like a projectile and hit him square in the chest. When I saw that I passed out, hit my head on the cement wall and when I woke up I was in the 2nd floor ward. LOL>

Who was standing over me when I cam to, my meat department manager Phi.l He looked at me and just shook his head. He said Garry has been cutting chickens for 20 years and never got hurt. You do it for a few days and you not only get an infection but now you have a concussion. LOL> No more chicken cutting for you my boy. LOL>

  Phil, our next book is going to be about meat cutters and their bizarre expriences.  I want jim Henry in on this one. He has got some stories!!  "Tales from the Butcher Block"


 You know, I'm game, even tried to start one myself but I'm just more of a technical writer not a story teller.



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