This is relatively mild as far as injury goes but also embarrassing as to the shear stupidity that came into play. Thus my confession.

The picture is the result of shaving off the tip of my finger with the Festool Domino 500. Simply explained, this is what happens when you put you fingers on the backside of your 3/4 workpiece with the bit set to 1-1/4. Oddly, no pain even when I felt the bit chomping at my finger. Just bled and will take a long time to heal. The only pain has come from banging the actual wound into something. Even then, minor. I got off really lucky!!!!

The root issue here was my feeling good in the shop. Moving through the steps without giving proper thought before I click the tool on. Call it careless. The reminder is that no matter how much I prep to be safe (fire extinguisher, huge med kit, ear and eye protection) your brain is the biggest safety tool. I left mine outside the shop door.

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https://preview.redd.it/83sluvetjz5b1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=575a6fc2f96be301a2935199af35fa08d65ed096

Before I get to my dilemma.

One of the safety rules in my shop is that you never, ever surprise me. My son yelled out to me once as I was using the table saw and endured a wrath of fury like no other. My old shop was set up where someone could enter the room and be silently present and still startle me because I would catch them out of my peripheral vision. Coupled with ear protection and extreme focus. It was easy to be startled. Even if I wasn't using a tool the jitters it gave me would affect my concentration long after. So it was more than, never approach me when a tool is running.

In my new shop there is a door. Yet at the same time, there are times they need my attention so I set this up. First, its damn fun. Call it disco woodworking. It is non intrusive, it never startles me. It's remote. In fact, my family can get my attention to a text is they are not home.

It is wired to a Amazon Echo smart plug and they tell Alexa to "turn on shop". I got them off Amazon and they have several light settings. The family knows even with that turned on it may take me a minute to respond due to concentration. Its never startled me and saves the family from my wrath.

https://preview.redd.it/70hi2pf1lz5b1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b31c87acc0d3d965d3accc38316e42bafb140d4c

My dilemma,

(I am not necessarily sharing this for suggestions, just maybe sharing as you might find it relatable)

This injury has escalated my concerns with my table saw. They were already gaining momentum. The issue is my saw is a 1964 Delta Unisaw and it was my Grandfathers. Out of his two children and the 6 grand children, and to my knowledge all the great grand children, I am the only one who has followed his passion for this. Coupled with the fact that by the time I could appreciate him he was already gone as well as some family issues that robbed me of time with him when he was alive.

I know what the path is, it needs to be replaced. It likely will. I need to accept that I am honoring him and keeping him close through our joint love of the craft. Damn though, this is really hard. The second issue, am I doing right by selling this unsafe tool to someone else?

One of my solutions (and I swear this just came to mind as I write this), is to convert it is into a work table. It is also my router table (bench dog cast iron extension). So if I were to cover the cast iron top to preserve it I could use it as a dedicated router (shaper table) /worktop...Yep..I think that is the plan. (Sawstop is likely the best replacement).

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Thanks for reading, this was beneficial to get off my chest.