SAFETY FIRST FELLA'S !!!GRAFFIC PICTURES!!!

[Couper]

Hey Fella's,

I have a friend who has owned a body shop for 35 or so years and got very badly hurt using a cut-off wheel on the 4" grinder. Apparently the wheel was running at a far greater RPM than the rating. I believe 18,000 veresus the 13,000 on the disc so he tells me. The disc shattered while cutting the tubing on a set of headers while on the bench. He said he was very close in to the material. As you will see he was using a face shield but a cheap one from HF. The fractured disc cut his nose longways and you will see the piece of disc that was lodged in his sinus cavity. Pictures are not easy to look at but my aim is to make an impression on you guys as it did with me. Please be careful guys

 

[smallfoot]

Some of my best scars are from cutting wheels!

 

[kenny c]

Nasty to look at but a great reminder. Glad he is ok and that it missed his eyes. Be safe!

 

[redidbull]

Tough to look at for sure. Good point made that luckily missed his eyes. My closest call was using a table saw. Had a shield and shop apron on and a piece of carbide broke off the blase hitting me in the chest. Apron was a godsend. Huge welt on my chest. Quality blade too. Never know. Jim

 

[Old Iron]

Lucky fella

 

[Couper]

Yah guys...tough to look at but hopefully it makes us think when we pick that bugger up again. Yes very luck OI.

 

[gene49]

I was using a 3" cutoff wheel once that self destructed. When the wheel came apart, part of it hit my face. I got an instant headache, and my safety glass went flying, but no blood. When I found my safety glasses, they were split in 1/2 right at the bridge over my nose! The chunk of wheel struck the bridge of the safety glasses hard enough to break them, but didn't cause any more injury then a headache and a bruised bridge on my nose. That one caused me some time reflecting what could have been.

 

[lowbudget50]

Damn, glad he's okay. I agree some of my best hand scars are from cut off wheels! That's why 1 I don't use cheap discs Anymore and 2 wear your eye and hand protection!!

 

[bob w]

Keep your head out of the line of fire.

 

[redidbull]

I agree. Stand to the side so if it goes it goes by you. I have a pair of Kevlar lined gloved that saved me a few times. Jim

 

[jared nelson]

Also be aware of loose clothing! was using a ginder for sanding once and a gust of wind blow my t shirt into the wheel, bound up in mere seconds.

 

[Couper]

I was using a 3" cutoff wheel once that self destructed. When the wheel came apart, part of it hit my face. I got an instant headache, and my safety glass went flying, but no blood. When I found my safety glasses, they were split in 1/2 right at the bridge over my nose! The chunk of wheel struck the bridge of the safety glasses hard enough to break them, but didn't cause any more injury then a headache and a bruised bridge on my nose. That one caused me some time reflecting what could have been.

Close one pal.... hope you are doing well. All good here.

 

[smallfoot]

I gotta admit I'm not as safety oriented as I should be, but I have my own set of beliefs in most operations I perform. I don't wear gloves period! I'd rather my hide take a hit and let go than to be caught up in a glove and snatched into a machine that can do you in; ie a sawmill, table saw, drill presses and such. I use 5" cutting discs on a 4 1/2" grinder and once in a while I'll part with a piece of skin across a knuckle, my bad! I did have a cutting disc explode on me one time that took a path across the top of my wrist. If it went across the bottom instead of the top I would have had some serious blood loss. In the process of putting two stitches in it to close the gap I failed to get the nerve that I damaged down into the cut far enough. This caused a small bump along the scar which is that nerve just under the skin where it crosses a tendon. To this day all I have to do is touch that bump and it feels like a small electrical impulse travels to the tip of my index finger as a reminder. I don't get my face near or in line with any cutting process, but skin and digits are there for the torture...

 

[gene49]

When that 3" cut off wheel self destructed, my face was at about a 45 degree angle from the line of normal fire. The tool even had the guard in place. I assumed the piece that claimed my safety glasses must have caught part of the guard when it came apart the deflected it towards my face. I will never know for sure, it happened too fast and I was not recording the event so I could put it in slow motion to really see. Most of my welding shop work time was me there alone. I paid pretty close attention to where sparks went, and where stuff would normally go if things went wrong. If I went down, there would be no one there to call for help.

That said, you can't cover all of the possibilities. The work has to get done.

 

[redidbull]

1 thing always do now when working alone in the shop is making sure I have my phone with me. Just in case. Jim

 

[Couper]

Also be aware of loose clothing! was using a ginder for sanding once and a gust of wind blow my t shirt into the wheel, bound up in mere seconds.

I had some very loose sweat pants get caught up in he wheel on a grinder that did not have a trigger but an on off switch. Almost go the 3 piece set! I threw that grinder in the garbage. No more on / off switches for me!

 

[redidbull]

I had some very loose sweat pants get caught up in he wheel on a grinder that did not have a trigger but an on off switch. Almost go the 3 piece set! I threw that grinder in the garbage. No more on / off switches for me!

I'm not a fan of those cheap grinders either. One I have is set up with a sanding disc, and 1with a wirebrush. No cutoffs for sure. Jim

 

[Neto]

I used to have access to a stationary electric hack saw, but after my father-in-law passed away my brother-in-law has been selling off all of his stuff. I realize that you cannot always get the part in the right position for cutting with one of those, but it sure was nice to be able to cut stuff square, or at the angle you want.

Back in the 80's people cut sheet metal with a air hammer chisel, that type of blade that just took a narrow curled strip out where you were cutting. And you could turn it this way and that, to get nice curves. Those whirring blades give me pause every time I use one. It's a good reminder, though, to always use good quality tools for this type of work.

This was wood working, but down in Brazil the mission center had a big old surfacer. I was planning a board once that had a splinter along one side, and all of a sudden the blades caught the splinter and threw about a foot or a bit longer piece back at me. I generally didn't wear jeans down there, because that was in the jungle, where the humidity is really high, so you soon get drenched with sweat in that heat. Anyway, it caught me right below the waist level, to one side. My jeans took most of the damage, but if I had been wearing uniform type work pants, I'd'a been nailed but good.

 

[Couper]

I used to have access to a stationary electric hack saw, but after my father-in-law passed away my brother-in-law has been selling off all of his stuff. I realize that you cannot always get the part in the right position for cutting with one of those, but it sure was nice to be able to cut stuff square, or at the angle you want.

Back in the 80's people cut sheet metal with a air hammer chisel, that type of blade that just took a narrow curled strip out where you were cutting. And you could turn it this way and that, to get nice curves. Those whirring blades give me pause every time I use one. It's a good reminder, though, to always use good quality tools for this type of work.

This was wood working, but down in Brazil the mission center had a big old surfacer. I was planning a board once that had a splinter along one side, and all of a sudden the blades caught the splinter and threw about a foot or a bit longer piece back at me. I generally didn't wear jeans down there, because that was in the jungle, where the humidity is really high, so you soon get drenched with sweat in that heat. Anyway, it caught me right below the waist level, to one side. My jeans took most of the damage, but if I had been wearing uniform type work pants, I'd'a been nailed but good.

I have a nice Dewalt Metal Chop Saw with a Carbide blade that I use for tubing. It's a real workhorse and makes nice cuts and angles. I also have one of those sheet metal shears but it looks like a drill versus the air hammer type. It works well too. If I have to cut a strip of 1/8 up to 1/2 or so I use the death wheel, I sometimes use it on sheet metal with a guide. I'm gona think hard the next time I have to use the wheel to think thru a safer way to do it. I was cutting the welds on some angle the was welded back to back. I was tired and was going to quit but decided to cut the last piece.....big mistake. Grinder in my right hand, left hand out ahead of where I was cutting by a foot or so and the disc got caught in the groove, ran right up that groove and cut halfway into my thumb, The thumb immediately went closed when I cut thru the tendon. Oh balls..... They couldn't connect it at the ER and I had to go back for surgery a few days later.