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angle grinder safety


bikecopXXX

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I recently witnessed an experienced pipe-fitter make a bad mistake.  Using an angle grinder with a cut off disc, he held a piece he was working on in one hand and the angle grinder in the other.  I've done it, but never again.  The disc grabbed, jumped into his wrist, and cut deep, severing 2 ligaments(tendons?).  it was ugly. 

Lessons learned:  

  1. Don't use an angle grinder with 1 hand. especially with a cutoff disc.  put your workpiece in a vice or other holder and use 2 hands on the angle grinder.
  2. Wear kevlar gloves.  I'm not sure it would have prevented the damage, but it would have reduced it anyway.
  3. Wear a face shield.  it could have just as easily jumped towards his face.   

 

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I already posted this, but those cut off discs are not to be used for metal removal as a sanding disc would be used. A friend held his on a slight angle and the side pressure blew it apart. The result was the loss of one eye and one shard stopped 1/8" from his brain...and he was wearing a face shield!

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This might be a good time to mention the grinder guard as well. I myself often remove the guard when using a thick grinding wheel, a cup brush or a sanding disk. 

 

Using a cut off wheel without the guard is asking for this exact type of injury. It also goes without saying to use only quality cutoff wheels whether hand held or in a chopsaw. 

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Before engaging the disc into the work, always ask yourself "if the disc comes apart am I standing in the path of the broken pieces?"

 

Do not place yourself in the same plane as the disc, stand to the side.

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This might be a good time to mention the grinder guard as well. I myself often remove the guard when using a thick grinding wheel, a cup brush or a sanding disk. 
 
Using a cut off wheel without the guard is asking for this exact type of injury. It also goes without saying to use only quality cutoff wheels whether hand held or in a chopsaw.

Which ones are the quality ones? All mine are Dewalt XPs from Lowes. Any to stay away from?
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Cut off wheels in right angle grinders scare the (bleep) out of me. I much prefer my HV band saw for general cutoff work, it's the ONLY power tool I'll turn on and let run unattended. Even a serious jam can't hurt anybody but maybe a $20.00 blade.

 

I do have some cut off blades I use in a sacrificial skill saw for cutting sheet like roofing steel. Not much can get you if a blade comes apart but I'm still really careful.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 9 months later...

Hello everyone. i have another related issue with the angle grinder lately so instead of posting a new topic i decided to post it here. when i work on grinding with the angle grinder and the bench grinder with the stones i get a skin rush on my left hand where their is no hair. two days ago i was grinding and my hand started to get a bit itchy and all red. at first i thought it was an allergy or something because it happened in the past but in a smaller degree and was gone after a shower. now its worse and its the third day today while i still feel it. but it started to go away. did anyone have anything similar in the past? could i be allergic to small shards of metal? because i don't have anything else while working so its kind of strange..   

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Angle grinders can throw sparks and material in multiple directions and for an amazing distance, 20 feet, 30 feet or more. Just cause the spark went out does not mean the metal or other material stopped. If you want to see how much garbage the angle grinder puts into the air, put a bed sheet or cotton cloth over the intake of a fan. When it turns gray you will have your answer. You were breathing that junk !!

 

Santisandreas have you tried wearing long sleeves and gloves with cuffs? Did it help?

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Angle grinders can throw sparks and material in multiple directions and for an amazing distance, 20 feet, 30 feet or more. Just cause the spark went out does not mean the metal or other material stopped.

​I've seen a number of guys learn this the hard way. They'll set up and cut with an abrasive saw, or grind and the sparks get thrown at a truck window or windshield. Later they get to deal with all those pits in the glass from the hot sparks, not to mention all the rust from grinding dust that gets  everywhere.

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I have used these things several times at work to cut tile or the backer board for tile and decided a couple years ago to get one for my shop. I was cutting metal tubing when the tubing shifted the cutoff got in a bind and threw the grinder out of my hand. It landed in my crotch and my heavy canvas pants was torn open as well as my undershorts and wrapped up around the remaining piece of the cutoff. I still have those pants about two years later to serve as a reminder to what could've happened. I also have a scar on my ankle from another bad encounter with angle grinders.

At work the boss was cutting mortar out from between bricks where we were making a window bigger and had to remove brick. As he was cutting it out he hit something in the mortar that threw the grinder out of his hands right over his shoulder and as it came back down it landed on the collar bone of another guy that worked with us. It cut him up some before tying up in his tshirt. His could've been much worse the diamond blade had a half inch chuck torn out of it and was really jagged and sharp there as well as being bent out of shape.

I learned a couple things after those incidents, don't be in the way, don't be behind, know what you're cutting, pay attention every second you have the blade in motion.

 

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One of the older more experienced blacksmiths on the site related to me the difference between a small 4-1/2 inch grinder and the 7 or 9 inch grinder. The 4-1/2 inch grinders are ok for small things but the bigger 7 and 9 inch grinders EAT steel or any other material very quickly and on a continuous basis. He was using a 9 inch grinder and something happened. It walked up his pants leg, hit his shirt and tore the shirt right off his body before it slowed down. He is now a firm believer in heavy aprons.

Before you pick up a grinder and turn it on, STOP and think what could happen it the grinder got loose or the blade were to self destruct. Are you in the same plain of the blade, then move to the side. Are you protected so flying pieces of the blade do minimal damage to your body?  Is the area where the sparks being thrown safe and out of danger? You have on loose clothing, then change. You have torn and tattered jeans, than change. And the list goes on. Saying just this one time, or just this one section is all it takes to be the poster child for not doing that again.

Yes, I have the scars on my hand to remind me each and every time I pick up a grinder or wire wheel to reconsider what I am doing and how to TRY to do it safely. Grinders require two hands on the tool, so clamping the material to allow you to use both hands on the grinder always first on the list.

Edited by Glenn
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By the time I get my apron, gloves, goggles, face shield, face mask and hearing protection on seldom do I have energy enough to pickup the grinder and go to work, that is most likely a good thing.  I've had wire from wire brushes on these grinders go through my gloves real pain to get the wire out of hand, had one piece stick into the face shield and one fall down into a semi buttoned shirt.  Poured water out of the slag bucket down the front of my shirt on that one.  I own three try to not use any. 

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This is some good responds. Thanks. I am very aware of the dangers explained in the last few posts and i am very cautious when using a grinder. I am generally a cautious person as i consider anything i do twice before i do it especially when it has to do with extremely dangerous equipment such as the angle grinder. Once it got stuck somewhere while cutting and just slided out of my hands but thankfully it went towards the opposite direction rather than towards me. Since then i have been very cautious with it and go quite slow when cutting so it doesn't happen again. Added to that i generally stay out of the way of the sparks and handle the grinder with my attention to the maximum.  But in regard of your question Glenn, no i wasn't wearing a long sleeve shirt when it happened and the sparks went onto my hand so it felt like i had small fragments not seen by the eye, attached to my skin so it got all red and a bit itchy. But my question was if i might have some sort of allergy to it, or to any of the substances in the stone wheel. Or is it a common thing if one is grinding while the fragments come in contact with the skin? Does it happen to you as well if you are wearing short while grinding. One thing is for certain though. from now on i will be wearing a cotton shirt and when grinding i will roll the sleeves down as well as wear a leather apron so the shirt does not catch fire.  

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Think!

The moment I am in a hurry I do something stupid.

And today I tried to drill a hole on the drill-press freehanded. After telling myself to get a vice, and promptly forgetting.

And it was a blade. Fortunately a very short one. And at 280 rpm only. But that was fast enough.

Wounds are not very deep. Most of the bleeding has stopped.

The biggest wound is just below the place where I got stitches last year from the grinder.

I feel stupid, I know I was stupid.

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Think!

The moment I am in a hurry I do something stupid.

And today I tried to drill a hole on the drill-press freehanded. After telling myself to get a vice, and promptly forgetting.

And it was a blade. Fortunately a very short one. And at 280 rpm only. But that was fast enough.

Wounds are not very deep. Most of the bleeding has stopped.

The biggest wound is just below the place where I got stitches last year from the grinder.

I feel stupid, I know I was stupid.

​You are very fortunate to survive. In there any way that you could take this incident so seriously that you never do it again? I forgot just doesn't seem to cover this level of danger in my mind. Perhaps you should bolt a vise to your drill press table

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