I have an embarrassing knife making story.... I had a hunk of steel from an old machete and a Craftsman 4x36 belt sander, and I was ready to make myself a knife. The blade was taking shape and I was quite proud of what I had managed to grind up, all that was left to do was grind the flats to make it nice and shiny.
I put on a 120 grit belt, and with the grinder in the vertical position I braced my hand against the work rest and pushed the knife in to the belt as hard as I could with my finger tips.
Anybody familiar with these Craftsman sanders knows that the tolerances aren’t exactly tight, and there was almost a 1/4” gap between the rest and the belt.
Almost immediately, the blade was sucked down into the gap, my fingers coming along for the ride. My index finger got the worst of it, the nail as well as the nail bed getting completely ground down to something resembling chewed steak.
Since that day, I have learned a little forethought and planning can save a lot of pain.