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Grinder Safety Advice Needed

wazzabie

wazzabie

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I read that the cut off wheel for a 4.5in grinder should only be on hand tight. This is because if tighten the grinder wheel may crack.

What are some other safety tips with grinders? If the grinder gets caught which way will it move?

I wear leather gloves, a full face shield. I'm thinking now about wearing my thick oil cloth jacket from Fillson. I also think I should wear leather caps.
 
meh, I wear my oakleys and flip flops. no shield or handle on the grinder.

still have all my eyes and digits!
 
my concern is taking it to the groin or eye if a wire comes off or a wheel breaks.

eye-injury.gif
 
My oakleys are ballistic rated...good there. I've taken a couple of cutting discs to the face...stings a little but improved my looks.
 
I usually wear my Ray Ban glasses. There kinda the old school kind so they offer a lot of cover.

The biggest safety tip I can never stop stressing is never set the grinder wheel down. Grinders usually have two notches on the back side for a reason. If set wheel down they some how some way get kicked on and it'll flip around and hit you even if you're in another room behind ballistic glass!

Other than that, I prefer not to use the side handle. I had a close call will my thumb once, but was wearing a welding glove. Thankfully it only cut through the glove and not even nicked the skin.
 
wazzabie said:
I wear leather gloves, a full face shield. I'm thinking now about wearing my thick oil cloth jacket from Fillson. I also think I should wear leather caps.
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gloves and face protection seems like plenty to me. that's pretty much the places that could do permanent damage. if you've got a leather apron it wouldn't hurt, but so long as you aren't getting stupid about the way you use it, I'd think you'd be fine.
 
Any time I use a wire wheel weather it be on a 90deg air grinder or 4.5 power grinder I use face shield, leather gloves, eay plugs or full ear covers but also my leather welding jacket for sure. Having a wire stick in your skin does not feel very good. Eye's are #1 to protect though.
 
I would suggest you tighten the wheel, I've never had one crack and I cinch it down snug.

And protect your eyes with proper eye protection, as well as ear plugs, and wear long gloves and hold the piece down and use two hands on the grinder, don't hold the piece in one hand and grind with the other, or you end up with something that looks like this and leaves a permanent scar on your wrist, hurts pretty bad for several weeks too...

ouch.jpg
 
Grinder safety advise

One piece of advise I haven't heard yet is respiratory PPE.

A dust mask is recommended when using an abrasive blade. :deal:
 
sounds stupid, but the sparks need to come toward you. Then when the wheel catches or kicks, the grinder will pull away from your body. watch the underside of your arms for the sparks, cuz that sucks. Dont burn your pants...:haha:

3m glasses are cheap at home depot, are are gloves
 
if you truly want to be as safe as possible, wear goggles, not safety glasses, but goggles with full sides, than the big clear full face shield.. you'll never get anything in your eye...

watch for loose clothing.... and in that line of thinking, make sure your gloves aren't "overly big awkward catch a grinder/wirewheel" type of things, gotta be able to work in em.. this is where mechanics gloves really work well as opposed to a garden or welding glove..
 
ryoken said:
if you truly want to be as safe as possible, wear goggles, not safety glasses, but goggles with full sides, than the big clear full face shield.. you'll never get anything in your eye...

watch for loose clothing.... and in that line of thinking, make sure your gloves aren't "overly big awkward catch a grinder/wirewheel" type of things, gotta be able to work in em.. this is where mechanics gloves really work well as opposed to a garden or welding glove..
Click to expand...

I currently use welding gloves. I'm thinking about using my prescription glasses, safety glasses with full sides that fit over my prescription glasses and then my welding helmet.

I've been using a Filson oil Skin jacket as this is tough however I read recently that this could be flammable.

I just want to be really safe after seeing some photos on Google about mishaps.
 
If a grinder is going to get caught which way will it move on me? Seams like a lot of these injury's people take it in the face, mount and neck.


Upkvj.jpg
 
That depends on your position.

If you are grinding and the blade just blows up it will send the shrapnel where the sparks are going.
If the wheel gets caught the grinder will do the equal & opposite deal and go away from the sparks.

The direction will change if you switch from right hand to left hand.

Imaging you are cutting the edge of a plate and it sits on the table in front of you.

I'm cutting the right side holding the grinder with the wheel away from me. It spins clockwise so the sparks are going forward.

Now I cut the left side holding it the same way, wheel away from me. But now the sparks are going behind me.

You have to always be aware of the direction of your sparks.
That being said, don't grind around flammable material.

I caught my jeans on fire once.


Another tip I have heard is when you are cutting metal. Don't just dig into the edge with the cutoff wheel and cut thru the material.
Try to scribe the line first and make the cut in a few smooth passes. This will prevent binding the blade and extend the life of it too.
 
pblaze725 said:
Another tip I have heard is when you are cutting metal. Don't just dig into the edge with the cutoff wheel and cut thru the material.
Try to scribe the line first and make the cut in a few smooth passes. This will prevent binding the blade and extend the life of it too.
Click to expand...

^^^ this.
This is more important than what to wear.
 
I wear wrap around safety glasses. As said 3m makes them and you can get a really nice pair from lowes for $18 or the cheaper ones for $9. Its important to keep your glasses close to your face. Like Ryoken said goggles are best and face shields are even better.

PS: I get those damn wires from the grinder twist wire wheels stuck in my all the time theyre not that bad :whistle:
 
I've had way too many metal filings bounce off my cheek and into my eyes with glasses.

Goggles only now....
 
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