Careful with those grinders, guys...

[bert the welder]

So you got hit in the face by a few pieces of grinder. Did they do any damage? I've been hit. It hurts. But I don't really care. The ginder pieces can only go so fast, 10000 rpm x 4.5 inches/2 radius. But really, so what if it hurts? A little pain never hurt anybody, right? I know many people that have been hit by grinder wheels disintegrating (including myself) but I know nobody that was permanently injured or disfigured.

Cue the banjos..............

[Donald Branscom]

Photo of a young woman that was grinding on a Bronco bumper.

Emphasis on WAS.

[snake hips]

I'm glad I came upon this thread. I've learned a lot. I'll check my disks and keep the guard on. I always use DeWalt disks.

[dugndeep]

Are those stitches or just bruises?

[bert the welder]

Are those stitches or just bruises?

Them's lots of stiches! Damn! She won't be doing that again. If the vibration of the tool makes your teeth vibrate, you too close!
Wonder if she had at least glassed on?

[gow589]

I use my grinder all the time and I always try to think of what it feels like when I hurt myself. I have narrowly averted danger a dozen times I should not have. Sat under a Jeepster cutting a dolly and the darn thing flew out landed in my lap. Lucky I was wearing an apron. It would up the entire apron which saved my belly.

On one project even goggles did not save my eyes. I was making a cam with the grinder taking off a sliver at a time. The metal was so small it was actually floating in air and some how got in the side of my eye even through the goggles. I never did find it. My eye festered for a week.

[Bob the Welder]

By gow589;

On one project even goggles did not save my eyes. I was making a cam with the grinder taking off a sliver at a time. The metal was so small it was actually floating in air and some how got in the side of my eye even through the goggles. I never did find it. My eye festered for a week.

As a word of caution: your eyes are the fastest healing part of your body. This means that if you get a piece of steel or grinding particle in your eye it can cause irritation for a period of time, even as short as overnight, before starting to feel better. One of the main reasons it's starting to feel better is probably not because it came out, but rather that your eye has started to heal over the foreign body lodged in it.

This can be an extremely serious situation. If left untreated and the offending particle is steel it will lead to the formation of rust rings which can be lead to impaired vision, possibly even blindness.

This is not something to be taken lightly or to be put off to see if it feels better in a few days! If you suspect that you have a foreign body in your eye seek medical attention! The eyes you have are irreplaceable.

Having sight in only one eye leads to severely impaired depth perception and the fact that you have used up 50% of your vision resources, which in turns makes your remaining eye all that much more precious.

Please, do not take chances with your eyes! If nothing else remember that the Braille edition of Playboy just ain't the same!

Bob.

[bert the welder]

By gow589;



As a word of caution: your eyes are the fastest healing part of your body. This means that if you get a piece of steel or grinding particle in your eye it can cause irritation for a period of time, even as short as overnight, before starting to feel better. One of the main reasons it's starting to feel better is probably not because it came out, but rather that your eye has started to heal over the foreign body lodged in it.

Bob.

Thanks Bob, good info to know. I am guilty of not wearing my safety glasses when I should.
I wish manufacturers would come up with a lens that doesn't get scratched up so easily. As admittedly lame as it is, this is the reason I tend to not wear mine all the time. Though, now that I think of it, if I kept them on all the time in the shop, they'd probably get way less scratched. I should make an effort to find a pair that actually fit well enough to be not noticeable and then maybe I'd keep them on. I'll report on my findings as to less scratches if kept on, but I think it's a given that it will be less. Fogging under the hood is another problem too. Also, cleaning them when they get dusty is another scratch causer.

[oxygen454]

Being a safety officer in the past, I came across many problems with safety glasses. True they get less scratched when worn but cleaning them with proper lens cleaner and a clean rag also helps. Rinse them off before cleaning if you can to remove the metal debris.

I had one guy get metal in his eye from his safety glasses haha. I guess the metal collected when the glasses were sitting on the table.

Another common problem is everyone has different face profiles. Cheek bones are different causing some people to get metal from up under the lens.

After testing many different pairs of safety glasses on coworkers, Uvex "Geneses" was by far the best. They offer full wrap around protection of the eyes and have a really good quality anti-fog lens. Down side is, the lens scratches really easily because of the anti-fog soft coating. They very comfortable to wear. I usually my other pairs of safety glasses off because they become irritating.

They have a life time replacement on there frames. They have a demo of a truck running over the frames and standing up to the abuse. You can also curl the frames around your fingers and they spring right back. A pair with lenses goes for $18 and replacement lenses are $8 here. There is many shades including torch 5 shade.



More info can be found HERE
.

[bert the welder]

Thanks Oxygen. Those look very good. Looks like a comfy nose piece and I'm a big fan of the adjustable arms. I'll have to see if I can find them locally. If not, I could go for 10 pairs at the cheaper price on that site and split them with my friend.
Maybe you could post this again over in my thread regarding safety glasses in the Safety forum.
Thanks!

[oxygen454]

Hi Bert. Im glad I could help. I will defiantly post this in the safety glass thread.

[Lava]

One thing nobody has said any thing about yet is the SIDE HANDLE. Leave the handle on. I've seen guy's take them off and throw them away. I've even had dummies borrow my grinder and return it with out the side handle. Hey! where is the handle? I don't know, what handle? That's as dumb as trying to ride a bicycle with no handlebars and just holding the goose neck.
For you novices out there. Realize which way the wheel is spinning before you use it so it won't kick back on you from your ignorance on how to use it correctly.
I wish I had a dollar for every stupid thing I've seen done. (Yes, I did a few of those stupid things myself).

[Stage Hand]

By far the tool I give the most respect to is the grinder with a wire wheel. I always wear eye protection in the metal shop (the students I teach are required to be wearing them, even during lectures). With a grinder, just the prescription safety glasses (my "birth control" glasses, as my wife says). A grinder with a wire wheel? Safety specs and a face shield. I hate this tool at times!!

[blumoon]

Alot of good points being made here. I had a fairly good size chunk of rusty metal fly into my right eye about a blond hair width from my retina. Not my doing but the other guy that was working with me, We were grinding rust off of a old water tank { all guards in place} so i could weld lifting eyes on, I think it was a 10,000 gal tank. I usually keep my back to who ever is working with me, but I was done grinding, I let my grinder stop, layed it on the ground,{ we were in iowa in july dern hott there} and i took off my safty glasses to wipe the sweat off of them, he was done also, as i turned around he let the grinder wheel bump against the tank and blew all the dust right at me, wham right in the eye. One trip to the eye doctor and a little numbing stuff, he used a thing that looked like a hay hook, Ok maybe it was smaller but it looked hugh up close.....and pulled it out. The sliver was big enough to see with my good eye...goes to show you never now....


P.S. Im 51 yrs old and have been wearing glasses since i was 18 months old. firm believer in eye protection