Angle Grinder safety

[MattF]

but cos I've got arms like pipe cleaners so struggle with owt heavy.

 

[Keith 66]

A lad i know (mechanic) was in A&E two days ago, using a 4 1/2" grinder & disc broke & got him in the lower leg. Down to the bone & quite a few stitches. Will quiz him as to why & how next time i see him!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

When you watch videos from the US you would think it must be illegal to use grinders with a guard.

And weld with no skin coverings....on the socially acceptable 'in view' bits, before we get various Googled pics....

 

[JohnH]

Dont get me wrong here, I dont take the guard off, as I find I dont need to, but where would one find actual figures , showing angle grinder injuries, and cause.

 

[bricol]

Dont get me wrong here, I dont take the guard off, as I find I dont need to, but where would one find actual figures , showing angle grinder injuries, and cause.

I'm not too bothered about figures - I've had a few old Clark thin discs spread them selves to the corners of the garage, and one that really detonated - hurt my fingers as it escaped the guard. If the guard hadn't of been there to take some of the energy out and deflect the flying bits mostly away from my fingers wrapped around the grinder body, I'm not sure I would still be able to type this with as many fingers as I am doing . . . So the guard stays on mine 99% of the time.

There's the odd instance where I want to get in with a nearly worn out disc, that the guard stops, so it comes off for one tickle and then back on.

 

[Migmac]

I’ve had a 100mm grinding disc give up whilst I was using it. Guard was on but I didn’t have my old welding helmet on, not enough room under the vehicle. Bits didn’t hit me luckily. Minimum now is goggles. The disc was a silverline one, the test got chucked

 

[500e]

Had a die grinder disk shatter that was scary 1 bit flew 2/3 Mtrs took out a fluorescent tube and penetrated the fitting there was a dent in the choke inside, another bit broke a window about 3+ Mtrs away the shrapnel was every where, don't know how it missed me
The only thingI run without guard is a rubber backed sanding disc ant that has drawn blood on a couple of occasions

 

[slim_boy_fat]

There's the odd instance where I want to get in with a nearly worn out disc, that the guard stops, so it comes off for one tickle and then back on.

When mine get that small, I bin them and fit new.

So the guard stays on mine 99% of the time.

It's the 1% which'll get you .

 

[bricol]

When mine get that small, I bin them and fit new.



It's the 1% which'll get you .

I keep the small discs to get in the little spots where a new disc would be hitting surrounding metalwork.

Doesn't happen often, and I take extra care to keep fingers away etc.

 

[Memmeddu]

Spot the total muppet?

(eta. the pic is obviously staged, looking at it again, solvent, sparks hitting the bottles etc)

View attachment 355697

This is a good video to watch.
Anyways I don't use grinders without a guard on them .
But at work I have to do .
It's something I hate because if you need to remove it ,means that you are not using the right tool for the job.
Cutting wheels ,I've broken several times, but only one burst on me , fortunately the grinder was equipped with a guard.
I've been never terrorised by grinders , just scared,but after let's say 10 years using them I do just respect them .
But I respect even a drill .
A tool that really scares me is the chainsaw ,I do use them ,I love to use them , but I'm terrified by them
And that's not a good thing .
Tools must just be respected.
Not enough knowledge or too much confidence are both the perfect recipe for a disaster

 

[roofman]

Anybody that uses an Angle grinder without a guard is a total Muppet. End of..

Hi my new name is muppet...how are you today

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

anyone else cringe when they see sliting discs and no guard?

I took the guard off my mini grinder (tiny 75mm disc)...it took me all of 10 seconds to cut my finger open with it...I'll never do it again!

It's dangerous because you forget the guard is off...if you grab the body behind the blade it's finger sushi time!

Interesting to see how tough the discs are though....but then again I doubt my cheapo eBay discs are as tough as his genuine dewalt ones!

...So far my worst injury has come from a finger file (so thats where the name comes from...who knew!)....close second was the pillar drill before I bought a proper drill vice...I'm not counting the time I knocked myself out with the 3tom jack handle

 

[Morrisman]

Hi my new name is muppet...how are you today

I used to run one grinder without a guard, and a thick old, well radiused, grinding wheel...... so I could get in and grind out ugly welds in inaccessible places.

 

[Johnnybravo]

Hi my new name is muppet...how are you today

Let’s see who is laughing when you have bits of angle grinder disc imbedded in your torso. Oh, I forgot, it will never happen to you….

 

[Johnnybravo]

But at work I have to do .

NO YOU DO NOT…..
Look up article 2087 of the Italian civil code.
Get it in writing from your boss that you have to use equipment with the factory fitted guards removed to carry out his work. If he doesn’t want to supply such a letter, ask for a risk and method statement for general workshop duties stating you are expected to remove the guard from the angle grinders when doing his work as it’s the only way it can be done .Because, God forbid anything happens and you have a life altering injury,your boss will simply turn around and say he never told you to take the guard off and he was unaware you had…

The Italian ministry of Labour and Health will no doubt be willing to give him such exemption

 

[zeppelin builder]

I have to admit I am rather scared of angle grinders.
Having watched this video perhaps being scared of them isn't so necessary. Obviously treat them with massive respect but probably riding a bike is more dangerous.
Amazing how much abuse those thin disks will take!

he must have a pet rat chewing them circles out

 

[KemppiFrog]

Bit of a muppet here too.. Out of the four grinders I use, I actually don't know where the guard is for the DeWalt 115. But use it mostly for flap discs. Very careful to keep any disc out of line with my face. Not scared of grinders, but aware of the risks, like any tool.
Thing to remember is the the centrifugal loads go up as a square of the RPM, so 8,000 to 12,000 is MUCH more than 50%. It is over 2X.

Silverline was mentioned. The couple of times I used tools by them, the quality was so poor, I don't even consider them.

On a boat resto vid, I saw the hero using a tipped wood blade in an angle grinder, that did make me wonder... Had the odd touch with abrasive discs, no prob. But a tipped wood blade is a bit scarey.

 

[cardiffrob]

I prefer my own mini 4.5 grinders, with speed controls on them. The "works" ones are not controlled and have had their guards removed upon purchase. Only ever used them under duress. The 12 inch ones, used for cutting wings off of Airliners, DO have their guards on.

Another good reason to leave.

 

[Hitch]

24 years of using 5" & 9" day in, day out and I don't think I've had to take a guard off once that I recall.
Obviously using the wrong tool for the job if you do.

I had a 5" catch the edge of a hole with the wrong side of a flap disc. Threw the whole grinder back out and straight into my face within a millisecond.
Had a cut where it hit my goggles that hard, a slight black eye. Top gum and top lip took a good smack too, they had a slight tingle/numbness for weeks.
It stalled itself with sweatshirt wrapped up between disc and guard.
Had I not had goggles on or fitted with a guard I imagine it would have been a lot worse.


On a side note, gloves, they also help a fair bit with HAVS. Not just protection from a few sparks.

 

[Other Daniel]

Over forty years of using grinders, I have never felt the need to remove
the guard.
If you can't get the grinder in there, with it's guard on, it's time to look
for a different tool, or a different approach to the task.