Careful with those grinders, guys...

[FoxholeAtheist]

I've got a hobby interest in welding, but my day job is in drafting coordination for TransCanada Pipelines. We just had our weekly meeting and it was brought up that Canada has had two grinder fatalities in the past week. (Neither in my company, fwiw)

One was a 35 year old working near Red Deer. Grinding disk blew apart and killed him. I don't have any further information on that one.

Second was a 60-something year old grinding on a wrought iron gate in BC. He had removed the guard on his grinder, was using a larger disk than the 5" grinder was built for, and was using a disk rated at 6,110rpm on a 10,000rpm grinder. The disk fragmented, blew apart, and a piece severed one of the larger arteries in his thigh. He died from blood loss.

[Road Warrior]

When your time comes to go, there's not much you can do about it.
However, it sounds like the 60 something guy went out prematurely due to his own ignorance using a setup like that. It's a wonder he made it as long as he did.

[Nicad]

Thanks for posting this, I just bought an 11,000 RPM Makita 5" grinder yesterday. Now I am thinking it is more dangerous than the slower model.

[FoxholeAtheist]

Well, it does produce more energy, but as long as you leave the guard on and use disks designed for it, you should be okay...

Oh yeah.. WEAR PPE!!

[Dualie]

I bought a black and Decker 5" grinder on sale a couple of years ago for something like $25 I never looked at the RPM rating.

First time I used it I put a parting wheel on it and was cutting some tacks with it when the wheel came apart.

I took it right out to the driveway and smashed it with a sledge and threw it in the trash.

An 11,000 Rpm grinder around my shop is more dangerous than anything else.

[farmersamm]

Like looking at a cutoff wheel in a die grinder. If you bind it, the edge looks like a snaggle tooth. The guards on the little high speed cutoff tools cover around half of the wheel dia. for good reason

[Boostinjdm]

Originally Posted by farmersamm

Like looking at a cutoff wheel in a die grinder. If you bind it, the edge looks like a snaggle tooth. The guards on the little high speed cutoff tools cover around half of the wheel dia. for good reason

What guard?

[eyspy]

Reminds me of my own accident from a few years back.

I had a 4" grinder and the special Arbor cutting disk was designed to fit a 4 1/2" grinder. The blade was deadly with teethe like a chain saw, so rather than so the silly thing and grind with the guard removed, I went down and bought the cheapest 4 1/2" grinder out there.

I had all the safety gear in place, everything was done up nice and tight. Tested the machine and no probs. The piece I had to grind was overhead and as soon as I touched the grinder to the object in question the shaft of the grinder sheared the retaining pin and the whole head (including the deadly blade), and shaft of the grinder spun off my grinder and fell straight onto my forearm, slicing deep into my flesh and bone.

I required 18 stitches and a lot of pain and time off work. The machine was faulty and the manufactures didn't give a toss about me !! I was tempted to take them to court and sue them, but in the end decided all the stress was not worth it.

MOTTO: Buy quality tools and steer clear from the chinese crap !

[Nitesky]

Originally Posted by eyspy

MOTTO: Buy quality tools and steer clear from the chinese crap !

AMEN

[specter]

I can tell you from all the scars on my hands that grinders are dangerous. My hands have ground down to the bone in several places and yes the guards were in place and the grinding wheels were the one's rated for that machine. Each time the grinder had kicked back off the piece I working on and ground up against my hand (yep no gloves).

I certainly wear gloves now. Even gloves do not offer serious protection! But the gloves offer enough protection so that when the grinder kicks back off the piece you can react fast enough before it grinds through the gloves and not your hands.

[wesdavidson]

In 86 a co-worker was moonlighting, was using a 9" grinder, it kicked back, tangled in his coveralls and cut into his chest. He pulled it out, jammed his glove into the cut, got down out of the machine he was working on, and drove to the hospital, midnight. The nurse looked at him and made him wait for a couple hours. Finally she said "we can see your hand now" "Lady, it aint my hand" was all he got out. Next day he wakes up, 4 sawn off ribs, a cut and collapsed lung, multiple pints of blood and gash in the heart muscle.

Skinny tough guy, would've killed most folks.

True story.

[specter]

I guess I am lucky all I did was cut open my hand to the bone. Certainly nothing as bad as that guy had.

[wesdavidson]

He was probably self medicated to start with, it was the 80's!

[gordon stephenson]

Can't stress enough, DON'T do anything silly with angle grinders of any size,far too much speed and energy involved,A while ago a friend of mine wanted to cut a new doorway into a brick wall,9" grinder not quite big enough so he took off the guard and fitted a 12"disc, didn't keep it straight in the groove and the disc shattered,ripped thro' his gloves cutting into the back of 4 fingers,numerous small cuts to his face and the most serious injury to his right leg. large piece of disc just missed his shin bone but sliced into the muscle about 6" long and 11/2" deep.He came hopping to my house to take him to the hospital(massive cut but very little blood) The guards are there for a reason,so if you are evertempted to remove one, think about it for a long time, THEN DON'T DO IT !!!

[Nitesky]

Think of the "flywheel effect". There is a possibility of the disc breaking up from the speed alone when you fit a 12" disc on a grinder that was designed to bring a 9" disc up to speed.

[sn0border88]

I dont care if the guard is on or not, the biggest problem with grinders is that people get careless. Using the wrong rpm wheel, using to big of a wheel, putting pressure on a disk that isnt meant to handle pressure, letting wheels get in position to kickback or bind, not wearing eye protection, leather gloves, ect. This is what injures people, guards IMO are there to direct sparks. You need to know your tool, what your working on and what might go wrong with what your doing.

[aametalmaster]

I myself have been to the hosp 3 times for grinder accidents back in my younger stupid days. Lots of stiches and skin removel to clean the bad gouges in the flesh. So be carefull. The last one i ground thru my thumb knuckle while holding the part and i was in too big of hurry to clamp the piece. The ER Doc said what do you want me to do with that you took the skin off and can see the bone as he cut parts of my thumb away with scissors. It took a year for new skin to grow over the bone...Bob

[jeephistorian]

I took the end of my thumb off (not all of it! Just the skin and nail!) with a 19th century hand operated grinder. Considering I was in costume in front of the public was added fun. After a healthy dosing of alcohol and bandages, I was back at the forge.

I've read plenty of stories from the 18th and 19th centuries of large industrial grinders coming apart in use propelling themselves and their operators through roofs and walls. Scary stuff.

Paul

[AndyA]

I knew a guy cutting plastic with a 3 inch cut off wheel on an air grinder. The disk loaded up with plastic, got unbalanced, and came apart. One piece caught him in the neck. Bled like crazy but didn't get any main artery. Got very close to being a dead man.

[maarty]

I appreciate all the posts. I have to say, one of the most dangerous things about grinding disks - and you see almost everyone doing it - is not wearing respiratory protection. Grinding disks are made of powdered quartz that is held together by a glue and reinforced by fiberglass mat. It's mostly the glass mat that scares me; like asbestosis and mesothelioma, the effects of exposures may not present themselves for 20 years or more. At the least we are talking silicosis, and at the worst, cancer. We balk at paying five bucks for a mask, yet think nothing of spending the same for a pack of smokes.

[joethemechanic]

I was using a wire cup wheel to clean a tank so I could read what was stamped on the tag. I was wearing a reflective safety vest and it got caught. Damn thing wire wheeled my gut, my side and ended up tangled in my armpit. Then it smoked. I had to yank the cord.

Now I only buy grinders with paddle switches.