Workin' with a dull blade, Huntsman?
One of two things are true. 1) there are were lots of nerve endings there, or....2) I'm a puzzy....
I did something similar when I was working in a cabinet shop in my youth, but it only cut across the pad of my thumb at an angle. Killed the nerves on one side of the tip of my thumb, and the feeling took a good twenty years to come back.
I'm religiously careful about the table saw blade since then, but there's other ways for it to get you.
When I upgraded my home shop to a professional grade cabinet saw, I wasn't aware of how the higher speed of that blade could pull small pieces back and launch 'em. I was working on a decorative piece that was about the size of a pack of cigs and had pushed it (with my push stick) past the blade. It was just behind and no longer in contact with the blade, but the piece was light enough that the air movement sucked it back into the blade and it launched with enough force that when it hit me in the pocket of the shoulder it made a 3-corner tear about an inch both directions and a good 1/4 inch deep. Brought me to my knees, it did. Had a bruise by the next day that spread all the way down to the inside of my elbow.
I wear a face guard now when cutting small pieces like that.
Take care you don't get infected, Don!
