Recently, I sold out of balancing wine holders on my Etsy site. 
These are great gifts and, since it’s almost Christmas/holiday time, I wanted to quickly restock them. That involves a lot of woodworking. Now normally, my husband helps me with most of the power tools (table saw, router, drill press, sanding belt). But we’ve been wood working for over a year now and I felt pretty confident I could create these on my own. I was thinking, I am woman hear me roar. Or hear the table saw roar. Anyway, my husband was drowning at work so if I wanted them made it was up to me.
I got to work choosing all the patterns and finding the right materials. So far so good. I set myself up on the saw and got all the proper safety equipment- protective goggles, protective ear muffs, and safety guides for the saw. I cut my materials down to the sizes I wanted- probably about 30+ cuts. It was going great and I was so proud of myself! I got everything clamped and glued together (another feat that normally takes two people). Super proud. I had forgotten how much fun it was to watch a block of wood transform in my hands into something great. You read the title of this blog, though, so you know what’s coming next…
I tried to make some more before the kids got home from school. I picked out the wood and got ready to cut it down to size. And that’s when it happened.
The rather large piece of wood caught on the saw and was thrown full speed back into my face! It hit my chin and my first thought was “No! I was doing so well!” I slammed on the stop button and crawled away. My second thought was “Oh my god this hurts. Is that blood?” I reached up to my chin and blood poured into my hands. I won’t go into all the gory details, but in the end I was ok. I didn’t need stitches (head wounds do bleed like crazy). I still have all my fingers. Our prized VW bus behind me was shielded from the kickback by my face. My jaw is fine, albeit bigger than when Violet turned into a blueberry in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (and turning just as blue). My pride, on the other hand, received a huge blow.
I did everything right and took all the proper safety precautions. I felt like a failure at being independent. Worse, I was shaken up and still had to finish the pieces with routing and more table saw cuts. I gave myself the night to sleep on it (and take tons of ibuprofen) and hoped things would look better in the morning.
Today, I got the table saw back out. I was scared of it, but I needed to finish this by myself. Accidents happen. Bad luck happens. Sometimes, no matter how much we prepare and plan, things go wrong and we take a hit. I could still be proud of myself for getting back out there. I was determined not to let fear or a wounded pride stop me from creating something beautiful. Did I manage to do the rest with no more mistakes? Of course not. But I’m a work in progress… just like my art.
Thanks,
Marla Bender