Last August I had a really big day and sold a good chunk of my inventory. In the summer I sell at a weekly market, so I scrambled a bit to get more product made for the next week. I was rushing.

It proved to be a pretty costly mistake, because I ended up with three pretty damaged fingers. One was fully severed through bone to right along the cuticle line.

It honestly really fucked me up more than I'd like to admit. I do this for a living but I just couldn't go back into the shop without just panicking. I thought my career was over and I felt like such a failure for making such a mistake. I am really such a safety oriented person. People make fun of me because I'm such a "by the book" guy. I also felt like I was a failure as a man because I'm letting a "little injury" get to me so much.

I'm back in the shop and honestly I can't give you a great answer as to how I got there. My wife was super supportive. I even went so far as to buy a Sawstop as an extra measure of security. It does give me a bit of added protection, but let me emphasize it is not a replacement for safety!!!

I wish you the best in your recovery and am happy to talk if you needed someone who's had a similar experience. I took a while to work through my issues. I know I'm not a failure as a man or a woodworker because I made a stupid mistake, but damn it took a while to get there. It's natural to be nervous, and it's natural to beat yourself up, but let me just tell you, you're not the first nor the last. The only failure is not learning from your mistake. The fear will only go fade with time.