What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Protection while wire wheeling

Mastiff

Mastiff

1/2 ton status
 Premium
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Posts
3,263
Reaction score
265
Location
Tucson, AZ
When I was younger I would wire wheel rusty parts (or spray paint for that matter) without much protection. When I was done I'd blow my nose and rust would come out for a day or so. Now I'm older and I don't abuse myself as much (now that I need glasses to see and my ears ring when it's quiet :rolleyes:).

Anyway, I'm wire wheeling parts and I'm wearing ear protection, goggles, gloves and a respirator. Am I crazy? I see they have these sandblasting hood things, is that a better option? Or I could go buy a blasting cabinet from harbor freight, but other peoples' I've used seem to clog all the time and also fill their shop with clouds of dust.

I know people are all over the map on safety. A friend of mine would borrow my welder and just stand there in sandals and a t-shirt, and just close his eyes before the arc. :dunno:
 
Not crazy.


I wear a respirator when I'm gonna be doing a lot of fab.


If it's a quick grind and weld. No.

But if I'm gonna be doing it for a bit, I have safety glasses, respirator, and earmuffs on.

I don't like welding fumes either.


I get pneumonia really easy.


My respirator also fits under my welding hood really well.

Rust1.jpg
 
livid4dirt said:
Heavy clothing or leather for the flying needles. Plus all the above.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought this was gonna be about the wire wheel flechettes and how I gotta wear my welding jacket to keep them from embedding themselves in my increasingly-well-padded-yet-somehow-very-sensitive midsection.

-- A
 
Cool, I guess I'll just keep going as is. Kind of a pain needing glasses with the goggles and respirator, but that's life I guess.

If I could find a way to contain the dust in my shop, that would be great. Now the whole place is covered with a layer of rusty filth. Also paint dust from painting things once in a while (like my D60 housing I was too lazy to haul outside). I was trying to think of some sort of big shower curtain type deal that I could use to encircle a spot in the shop, then maybe some active ventilation... like a temporary paint booth.
 
I wear ear plugs and even ear muffs, safety glasses and a face shield, a leather welding jacket buttoned up to the neck. Long cuff welding gloves. I want to get a leather apron cause I don't know how many wires I've pulled out of my pants that have been poked into my legs up to an 1/8 inch. Those don't feel to good either to pluck out either.
 
had one pierce my nostril .......had to pull it the rest of the way thru..:eek1:


but it was off of a wire cup on an angle grinder......not a bench grinder....
 
I'm not so smart. Eyes and ears, and emphatic yes! If there is something that can throw a chunk or blow apart, something like an unguarded grinding wheel, if there is room, I wear a face shield.

But most of the time I weld in a t-shirt (or no shirt) if the amps and/or duration isn't going to be too long. Likewise on the mill and lathe unless I just can't control the path of hot chips, then I sometimes hide behind a piece of light plywood taken from an old shelf. Beats getting hot particles stuck in folds of your clothing. Grinding sparks and the occasional wire brush flechette don't seem to bother me much compared to my legs. I've never had one go in much farther than just enough to "stick", never noticed more than a tiny dot of blood (usually none at all) when I pull them out. Mostly they just bounce off. Then again sometimes I don't know I'm really hurt until I see blood drops along my path.

Oh, and I have another piece of plywood I hide behind when using the press on anything even remotely questionable. That's one thing that scares me a bit, especially when the pressures start to get up there.
 
Hah, I've seen two or three explosions on a press. Each time the noise is like a 12 gage shot gun going off. Pressure getting up there then BOOM!!! Not my doing but each time I was in close proximity to the press when it happened to happen. Scary indeed. One sent shrapnel immbedding pieces into the walls of the shop.
 
Worked next to a shop where they repaired forklifts....

they had a huge press to replace the solid tires that are on the wheel hubs of the forklifts....
God only knows how many tons it was... If I had to guess I would say it was a 200 ton press....

It was awesome to see this huge machine jump six inches off the ground when the hubs finally popped loose from the tires...there was a nice safety cage built around the entire machine...:eek1:
 
I don't want to discourage you from wearing safety equipment, but you don't really need a respirator for this, assuming you're just grinding rusty metal. A dust mask will be fine, or if you feel more comfortable in a respirator just use the HEPA filters (purple). Save your organic vapor (black) and acid/gas (yellow) for when you need them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom