Adam: "So this is my lathe." Me: "Oh, no."

Any time someone is talking about accidents and says "lathe," I clench my teeth.

Wow, Dude you got away lucky. I've been a machinist for thirty odd years. I've seen coworkers loose fingers, set themselves on fire, crush fingers and hands. I'll save the gory details. I my self suffered a similar injury, only not jagged clean cut through skin, muscle and tendon to bone. Get this, clearing spirals of hardened stainless steel from from the saddle, bare handed because my hook tool was 10 feet away on my bench. 18 stitches and now I can't fully straighten my middle finger. Please dear viewers; don't take shortcuts, think before doing; easier said then done, I know but anyway be careful.😉✌

A very teachable moment to the thousands/millions of subscribers and people watching. Thanks Adam for sharing.

by far the scairest tool

Savage 4 fingers

Coronavirus? Covid-19? Oh you mean the democratic flu. Got it.

This is the most important video

I remember in high school, some guy in my Manual arts (woodworking) class somehow got a tool jammed in the lathe. It flicked around, sliced the kids hand, did some tendon and muscle damage, and jammed the machine. He had surgery for the tendons and had a bunch of stitches. I’m unsure whether it was his fault or the machine malfunctioned. Looked pretty nasty, and there was a fair bit of mess around the machine.

"...I started to clean this part here while it was spinning. I KNOW! ...I know..." Far from judging you or anything negative at all, this has shown me that even the best of us make mistakes some times, and we can sometimes forget basic safety in the shop. Glad to know I'm not the only one!

It takes a big man to admit his mistake. I’m sorry for your injury but I thank you for sharing your experience and using it to educate others.

I almost cut my finger off when I was 16, not fun but it's a mistake I won't repeat

ohhh my brother had a similar injury once. He was wearing work gloves and throwing leaves into some kind of machinery... and it grabbed the tip of his gloved finger and yanked in the glove... and one of his fingers. He lost a finger tip, about half the fingernail, and it still looks a bit wonky years later.

I had my first bad shop accident about 5 months ago and almost lost my index finger. The surgery was 2.5 hours and after lots of PT I still don't have the full use of my finger. I haven't touched my table saw since I cleaned the blood off of it. Thanks Adam for making something relatable and cathartic.

"I started to clean the part while it waa spinning" U WOT M8

Complacency is one of the most dangerous things in any shop. We spend so much time around these machines we start to feel like we are too much of an expert to have this kind of thing happen to US. No matter what everyone who doesnt follow every safety rule around these machines will be reminded of why they are in place at some point. Its better to be reminded om video than in person so thank you for sharing your mistake. Takes alot of bravery to teach people a lesson from your own mistakes.

If you have an injury like this you should go to the ER. Even if you think you can handle it or you think your ok. You are the worse person to judge that; your not a professional and even if you think it's not your judgement has been clouded by pain and the sympathetic nervous system

With carpenters, it is mostly the older more experienced ones that lose a finger.

I’ve seen many shit videos of people dying from lathe accidents. Sorry, not to be insensitive but it could have been so much worse.

Adam is definitely a 10 in San Fran.

The myth "Adam could have lost his finger/hand" . . . . . . . . Is plausible

I used to have a co-worker who looked JUST like you Adam. Same hair, glasses, etc. The only difference? He's missing his ring finger. Once while we were out for lunch someone stoped him and ask if he was you. He holds up his hand and says "Yeah, wait till next season!"

I'll lay you a million dollars for that tissue

Oh noes!! Not your driving finger!!!

“Day 14” took me back damn crazy 9 months

i know im late to the party and if it hasnt been done already make a demerit badge 'and i took this rag...'

I literally feel that same flutter of adrenaline thinking about it as he's describing it.

Adam wow this hits home , almost lost mine as well. ....brushed a long chip away from the saddle with my finger & at the same moment wrapped the chuck and pulled back taking a piece of my finger with it. Thankful i still have it although left with no feeling in it at the nail end. I know all about the shame thing ....happened so quick

It's not just helicopter pilots. Basically any pilot who has enough hours that they're becoming comfortable with the checklists and procedures of flying are the ones most likely to become complacent and commit errors. I saw a show or read an article that stated that most small plane accidents happen when the pilot has passed a little beyond the novice stage. I just looked, and the FAA has a paper on General Aviation flight hours vs accidents. It has a lot of statistics jargon, but the short version is that accident rate increases until somewhere between 500-1000 hours and then begins to decrease. https://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201503.pdf I'm sure this is true of many dangerous activities and professions.

When my grandfather was building his house he cut his index and middle finger off with a radial arm saw

I lost my finger because I shut the machine down to work on it and did not realize that it was still spinning under it’s own momentum. Lesson is don’t get in a hurry and skip locking out process.

Ouch... Watching you, and how you move and behave and think, I can’t help but relate and assume you probably have some element of ADHD. I have it quite badly and it does tend to lead to these sorts of injuries; usually I hit my head but there have been other things. Just wanted to say it wasn’t stupid or your fault, sometimes when hyper-focus hits you can lose the larger context of actions.

I work as an HVAC tech in the Midwest, I’ve been burned by refrigerant, I’ve been shocked a time or two. I work on 120V and 240V residential equipment. Thankfully nothing huge on the commercial side. I’ve been to some highly specialized training multiple times, and at this facility there’s an instructor with two missing fingers. To clear the air he tells us what happened. He was working in a room high up in a building where there was a belt motor running (probably running a blower). So he didn’t want to have to go however far it was to the breakers to shut down this motor, one thing leads to another, as he’s working he kind of loses balance and puts his hand out behind him to catch himself. The belt grabs his hand and pulls it to the motor wheel and all the way around. So his hand made a rotation around the wheel between the belt and wheel. Lost his pinky and ring finger in the end.

“I know, I know. ...Well, _now_ I know” If that ain’t the fattest mood

“I know, I know. ...Well, _now_ I know” If that ain’t the fattest mood

30 year meat cutter. Superglue is my best friend. Use it. No sting, no burn, INSTANT RELEAF and stabilized cut u can easily work with..like it’s not there.

Dont feel so shamed. Last month I got my finger caught by a 4flute on the heavy table drill. Didnt made extra calculation for a new type of gloves and 4flute instead of drill. I did the same thing hundred times with drills without gloves. Fortunatelly I got lucky.

It was your wedding band that most concerned me, you could have lost a finger.

Lathes are the worst.. Safety gear only makes them hungrier

I'm not an electrician, but I did the first year in the electrician line at the vocational school where I went. I was 17 at the time. I remember one day our teacher had brought with her a generator or something that generated high voltage with no amperage. And everybody had to get zapped at least once. She explained that the most dangerous kind of electrician has never been zapped. I think the same thing goes for machine work and building things. You'll never be able to fully evaluate risks if you've never gotten hurt.

I think North Korea might be a less shitty place compared to San Francisco

Thank you so so much for talking about this! These moments of unawareness and doing stupid things can happen to the best of us...

My husband is a safety coordinator in the big factory he works at. He undergoes regular first aid, CPR, and low voltage resuscitation training, and he tells me all the awful scenarios that are used to train people. Everything from oil rig fires to people losing fingers in conveyors. I am now a pain in the arse to work with because I pester everyone about not obstructing fire extinguishers or gas bottles, keeping exits clear, and being anal about minor hazards. When you know how easily you can be maimed or killed it really freaks you out.

Oh and fire. People do not take fires very seriously because they think it will spread slowly. Within 6 seconds a fire in a closed average room can make it hot enough to cause full burns. You ever stand too close to a bonfire? Imagine that heat not having anywhere to go. People have died in nightclub fires and their bodies were found still seated with glass in hand.

Oh gosh, I just watched this in January of 2021. Hearing "Day 14 of the Coronavirus stay in order" is so foreign now.

Yikes! I'm glad my mum doesn't use any big machinery, she's always careful but she somehow managed to get 2 scars from a chisel. And she only did that one day a week for a year. Whole bunch of other injuries, but at least she hasn't lost any body parts. Somehow her carpenter and forester boyfriend has much less injuries than my hobbyist mother.

I have never worked with a lathe, I have never been around one, but I have seen some brutal videos that are burned into my mind serious and fatal injuries getting caught in a lathe...so lathes terrify me

Moms are the best! Can’t be replaced!!

Jesus Adam. How are you gonna drive now?

he explained his injury on my birthday. sometimes even adam savage gets too "savage" and is clumsy or not paying attention. happens and when you can get out of such things unscathed its good , if you have minor injuries its also not so bad. You learn from your mistakes more then from getting it all right

I worked in a prototype machine shop as an apprentice for a couple of years and I can attest to this - the guys with the most experience occasionally made a mistake born of familiarity and got hurt pretty spectacularly.

I got my finger degloved and ripped off in a similar fashion this video reminds me about it and the shame i felt from it lol

Never clean a running machine as much as it makes it easier lots of things like this can go wrong

Majority of car accidents happen close to home due to comfortablity.

I felt progressively more nauseous as the video progressed.

Whoa... thanks so much for sharing.

There is a technique to clean the shafts while its running with a rag, you need to create a sort of triangle, with the corners being both your hands loosely holding the rag (as to let go of it if it catches) and the shaft you are cleaning. All of this done on the lowest RPM, and slowest drive. Thanks for spreading knowledge about machinery and the respect it is due!

Please please please stop writing your titles in the 3rd person.

Tell us about the mini gun behind you @ 11:21.

A nifty fact about adrenalin is that it temporarily reduces bleeding, or even prevents it in some cases

Im late as hell but I feel you adam, when I was bit by my german shepherd for the first time and my hand was in his mouth, I got this adrenaline kick like time just stopped, and I thought, this dog could kill me, but he let go and only gave me a small puncture wound

Day 14 of the shelter in place... happy new year, don't forget to shelter in place...

Watching this in December 2020, and it’s funny to hear someone speak of the lockdown in terms of “weeks”.

Hey Adam, I know this video is ages old now so you'll probably never see this. But I wanted to say that I recently injured my own finger with a knife (without betraying too many of the nasty details, I also almost lost part of my finger). I wanted you to know that it was very comforting to know I wasn't alone, and that these things happen to everybody, and that quote, "it's when you're overly confident in something that you let your guard down," really helped me to not feel too terrible about my silly injury. Cheers, here's to a less bloody 2021!

You can't change without shame.

Theirs a reason one of the substitute shop teachers in my area has lost a finger and a half, everyone who works with things that can injure you will mess up at least once and sometimes it's nothing super major other times it's disastrous

Yet less than a month after this, Lord Elpus releases a video about tweaking his table saw in which he wears a hat with dangly strings.

That is PTSD. Bro I hope these "moments" have gotten better for you over the months. Short term PTSD exists as well. I am relieved for your health. My god this was hard to watch and listen to.

Great reminders for all of us. I’m glad you’re ok and glad you shared this valuable lesson and reminder with the maker community

Shit man - watching this nearly made me cry - glad you got off so lightly. I have a tractor at home and every time I even look at the PTO spinning I think it could rip my arm off, I've never been injured by it but they showed us some photos on a training course that would freeze your blood. Fear creates a LOT of respect. Look after yourself - stay safe - stay scared.

I've alwasy been surprised you don't have a SawStop table saw....

“Day 13 of the COVID-19 stay at home order” oh my sweet summer child

You sick AF

Yeah Adam is pretty fast and loose in the shop I could definitely see something like this happening

my mom cut the tips of her fingers off cleaning a Plainer so I kinda have a second hand experience of that adrenaline he talks about it, shit sucks

Always. Always seek medical help. I got lucky. Just a tiny scar. I Always call mum.

oobligatory, pls whenever you work with machines, remove all dangly things from your body, that goes for pulling away hair in a manner it cannot be grabbed as well as actually taking off jewelry and necklaces, and not just tugging them under a shirt. as for limb loss, my cousin's grandpa (other side of family from mine) was missing his middle finger and parts of the index and ring finger on one hand. he was an electrician and i always assumed it was a work-related accident. come to find out that his family used to have a rotary iron at home. if you've never seen these, they are two massive wooden rollers with fabric running inside that will take in clothes, and with added heat flatten them. they're smaller now, but these were the 1940s. my grandma has an older one (early 1990) and i've used it a few times as an adult, but as children, we weren't allowed in the same room when it was turned on. bc of exactly the same thing that nearly cost adam his finger and that cost my cousin's grandpa his: fabric on rollers is incredibly grabby and once it has hold, you have a split second to react. my cousin' s grandpa was a child and stuck his hand in there to help and his fingers got crushed. he was lucky his parents hit the emergency break as fast as they did or he would have lost his hand. my grandma was always like, be careful, this is dangerous, no, i will show you again how to do it, and i thought she was being ridiculous, but that story really opened my eyes. when you look at it, it doesn't seem dangerous, it's fabric on rolls, what's the worst that could happen? well, you could lose a limb for a second's inattention.

Im just glad hes okay a Lathe or machinest injury is never something to scoff at.

The moment I saw the lathe I thought it was gonna be a chuck key injury.

I just had something similar happen yesterday. I have to say its nice to know others have the same feeling of self shame and embarrassment. But its a great learning experience for not doing it again.

I was going to comment as a pilot when you mentioned the helicopter pilot statement, and there are two things I learned getting my pilots license (fixed wing, not heli) that 1) pilots have two buckets to draw from, experience and luck and when the poo hits the fan you hope that the experience bucket fills up before the luck bucket runs out. Beyond that there is something called the killingzone where pilots that have about 100-200 hours tend to crash the most as they become comfortable with the aircraft.

I got a very similar injury cleaning the chain on my motorbike with a rag. Luckily I’ve always had the sense to keep the engine off and I was just spinning the rear wheel with my hand. Even so, I still managed to get my thumb sucked into the rear sprocket. Feel pretty lucky to still have the use of all ten of my fingers.

I got my arm caught in an industrial slitting machine while cleaning the moving cylinders with a kerosene soaked rag. A process I was taught to do when I hired on and took the job. It did a de-gloving of my upper left arm. I did not get it caught while cleaning it, I got caught when I stop and turned to the right to allowing my gloved left hand to come in contact with the spinning rollers. My point in sharing all this is I too was ashamed and angry with myself for a long time. By the grace and mercy I kept my arm! I am an amateur artist and maker who is inspired by people like you! I too treasure my hands! May God continue to keep you safe!

Oh oof glad your finger is still attached i have a family member that almost lost 3 fingers and had to have surgery to attach them and one finger is not on straight he did this with a table saw

just had a large drill press mishap couple days ago. 1/2” drill bit drilling holes into a pvc cap and it caught and pinned my finger somehow and then drill bit chewed under and ripped off my thumb nail really fast. i know the feeling of.... immediately grab said digit, and don’t look for a min. i decided to do the pain dance out the back door and around parking lot.

Adam wouldn't have been able to flip the bird with his left hand anymore.

*Adam, showing bandaged finger* *Me, looking at that wedding band on the very next finger* 0_0

I'm sure there is a more poetic way to put this. But, I have always believed that, 'failures concealed, undermine successes shared'.

Many years ago (over two decades ago, in fact), in high school metal shop, I was working at a milling station which was positioned perpendicular to a lathe (which looks very similar to yours; though maybe 'the next size down'), which my buddy was working at. Someone walked up to show me something and we started talking about the piece (I don't even remember what it was). My buddy, at the lathe station, turned around to face us (his back to the still running lathe) to join the conversation. There was a loud, brief POP sound (like someone getting that perfect crack with a dry towel; though much louder). One minute he'd been wearing a loose-ish flannel shirt, then next minute he was bare-chested with what looked like a sunburn.

945,000 people, almost a million people, have been warned and reminded now because Adam was willing to talk about it.

Hey, I did the same finger about 6 years ago. In the middle of “it” I remember thinking “this was a really poor decision “. Disconnect the power before trying to extract the plug out of a hole saw! I was not so lucky - severed the tendons, but I will collaborate the fact that the adrenaline masks all pain.

Thank you for sharing this

I see a bunch of other people sharing their similar workshop injury stories, so I guess I could share mine as well. This actually happened relatively close to the upload date of this video. I was working in a machine shop, I had just cut a piece of material for a project, and was then going to deburr said material using the belt-sander near the saw. The belt sander itself had a little table attached directly to the machine perpendicular to the belt. I had rested the piece on the table and pushed the burred edge into the belt at a 45 or so degree angle (which I know now, not to do), with my right hand on top of the back-end of the material, to prevent it from moving up. Had the material been thicker, I never would have run into this problem, but the material was only like 3/8" thick or so, I can't remember exactly. As soon as the material came into contact with the sander, the sander grabbed the material and yanked it in-between the belt and the table. Somehow my hand went with the piece and so my right hand's index and middle fingers were sandwiched in between the belt and this piece of material. Thankfully, this belt sander was pretty old and not that powerful, so the pressure actually stopped the belt-sander's motors entirely and I was able to shut it off before calling for help. But not before some damage had been done. My co-workers had to grab a crowbar to bend the material away so I could get my hand free. The injury itself thankfully wasn't too bad. My fingers were pretty squashed, but there were no broken or exposed bones. It skimmed off around 1mm or so of skin and took a while to heal, but all I have to show of it now is a scar on my index finger. A lot of what Adam said here I could relate to, like the scariest part being checking the injury to see how bad it was and the random spikes of adrenaline the rest of the day/week. Or how most injuries happen when you become too comfortable with the machinery. I was scared of getting close to that belt-sander for the next month.

As soon as Adam said "I was cleaning this part while it was spinning" I cringed very hard, but I can understand how that could happen

"I'm never not cognisant that the table saw could harm me significantly at any given second." Sooooo.... I was cutting wood on the table saw, as i had often before. For 30 minutes, an hour, 1 and a half... I got into a grind of putting wood on, cutting, putting it away, putting the next piece on. And then I suddenly was missing half my left thumb. Well I wasn't missing it exactly it still hung on a tiny bit of skin... So yeah, I absolutely understand. The moments when you are doing something you have done a hundred times before are the most dangerous, not when you do something rarely, then you are as you put it very cognisant. As no one had ever heard of Covid years ago and because I was bleeding like a butchered pig I had to call an ambulance. Gladly that doesn't cost much where I live.

"I know, ... I know ... ... NOW I know"

I'm glad you came out as well as you could in that situation! Although, in an alternate reality, you could have made some awesome "inspector gadget" attachments!

Someone didn’t lock out tag out haha

What you describe is what the safety industry refers to as complacency. It is the single largest cause of injuries in the workplace. Everyone thinks lock-out tag-out is an inconvenience until an accident occurs and then they realize why it is necessary.

Lost the top half of my right thumb from a model airplane prop. Lol

I almost lost my middle finger this year too! Cleaning my printing press. Hand specialist said I was lucky to keep the finger but might not get the nail back.

Thank God you got away with this.

Adam, will you please fix the squeak of your stool, everytime you move I'm convinced it's my dog yelping from the other room 😂 I've had to rewind your last few videos to check if the noise was from the video or the dog, I somehow manage to forget your stool squeaks every single video.

this reminded me of an incident where a worker got pulled into a lathe and the worst happened.

My father is a pilot and he’s told me many times how most flight accidents are from experienced pilots that think they’ve got it instead of doing the necessary checks.

did he not stick his lip into a running vacuum motor before?