it exploded

[Alfred]

I was cutting steal for a swap meet bike trailer and my cutoff saw wheel exploded only minor cuts and make shore your vice is tight

[weldrwomn]

that will get your attention real quick...lol

[nosleepno]

That has happened to me before.
I think it happens when your saw, or the metal you are sawing, gets slightly angled.
So, like you said, make sure your vise is tight.

[DSW]

Any of you who use a gas powered demo saw with a steel abrasive blade, they also explode if they have gotten wet in the past. Most of the ones I have seen grenade, were ones that had gotten wet in the past then dried out. I have no idea why but we throw any away that come in contact with water.

[smithboy]

TxRedneck a former mod here was hurt pretty badly by an exploding grinding wheel...He ended up with a nice set of stitches and a vacation to go with it. Ever since his run-in I have been very cautious around those things. I had a HF 9" grinder bind up on my once. Luckily, the wheel shards went away from me, but it kicked like a horse right into my over-sized gut.

[denrep]

Originally Posted by DSW

Any of you who use a gas powered demo saw with a steel abrasive blade, they also explode...

I experienced a blade explosion with a gas saw.
I revved it up to start the cut, as I touched the blade to the work, it exploded. I missed the shrapnel and hung on, because the vibration from the now unbalanced blade, was as bad as the blade break.

Needless to say it happened fast. I don't know exactly how, but the saw's arm actually broke. I may still have the saw; if I do, I'll post pictures.

It's a miracle I wasn't hurt. I became extremely shy of the saws; can hardly remember using one since.

It's a good habit to try not to be in direct line with any spinning objects; especially at start-up.

[DSW]

I know the max RPM for gas saw abrasive blades is different from chop saw abrasive blades. I can not remember which is faster the demo saw or the chop saw. I do know you will immediately see the blade flex and wobble if you put the wrong one in the saw. I am sure detonation is not far behind.

[daddy]

Especially when I first fire up any abrasive wheel that I haven't just used, I make sure I am not in line with the path of destruction. I have never had one break... yet.

I have managed to get a 4" wire wheel intmately involved with my sweatshirt though. It stopped my milwaukee grinder immediately and felt like someone had punched me. No big injury, but I developed a bit more respect for that particular tool.

[gnm109]

Last year I was cutting some 2" X 1/8" wall mild steel tubing with my 14" home brewed, belt-driven cutoff saw. About half way through, a piece of the disc came off and jammed the cut. I quickly turned the power off and all was well. The broken piece was nicely contained by my floating homemade guard that covers about 60% of the blade.

I always wear safety glasses and stand to one side. Those safety guards really work. The blade was a proper Norton metal cutter with some wear on it. I guess it developed a nick during the cut. I always look at the blade before starting a cut. You can never tell what will happen.

[DesertRider33]

My experience has been the destruction starts with just a little nick first, then can happen suddenly at any time after. Harbor Freight blades nick easily.