tuesday i set down to cut an INCH of metal. and bam the 4 an 1/2 inch cut off wheel exploded.. if you know anything about my work and being safe.i always wear a welding jacket,welding gloves and a full face mask. tuesday ,i had everything else on except for the facemask.i opt for the glasses..now,i'm pretty vain... so when i'm holding my face full of blood and pieces of a cut off wheel..i was really freaking out..it didn't hurt as bad as getting my hands tattooed..so i wasn't that worried,but,have a hole in my face ..... was really tripping me out.. a hole all the way through into my mouth..and a 3 inch cut under my lip is not that cool... 4 stitches in my mouth and 13 on my face.........sounds cool.but,it's not. buckle up kids.and wear those masks.. learn from uncle skratchy
damn that suxs, those things are dangerous i've had several explode on me. I always leave the gaurd on my grinder. hope all heals well
Damn dude, That sucks. Remember when I was "Helping-out" on my truck and you yelled at me to put on some safety glasses! Where did you go, Holy Cross or Saint Joe's.
I always use glasses, but seeing that makes you think twice about full on coverage. Thanks for the words of advice and good luck on you recovery.
that's messed up. what caused it to explode? I have this thing about not being "in line" with any spinning object if at all possible. like when you are cutting and you are looking at the wheel and all you see is the edge. my thinking is if something flys off it is going straight out . would that have made a difference in this case or am I just fooling myself. always wear glasses..never a face shield. mebbe I'll head over to OSH tomorrow and get one
it seems like 1 out of 100 do explode.i have had them come apart soon as you turn on the grinder.it have gotten damaged in the drawer or on the shelf..who knows.. i was not look directly at the blade.i actually had it a little above me.. STUPID!
I always find my self using the cut off. And every time I think what if this wheel come off and goes in to my chest. It scares me but not bad enough to do any thing. Now I think I'm going to take a couple more precautions, like my leather welding jacket, full face mask and gloves. I hade a chopp saw blade explode on me once I had to change my pants after that one. Hope it heals up ok. -Chris
DAMN SKRATCH! glad you're ok, could have been a lot worse. Not to make light of the situation, but chicks dig scars...I learned tonight that's true BTW, did you take the guard off your cut off?
Yes, the guard. People have a habit of removing them. On the plus side you have a second mouth. Glad you are not dead or worse.
Thanks for the "Safety Check"...I usually get one after a visit to the junk yard, but am long over due for one dealing with the "SHOP".... Hope for a quick recovery.
tattoo's are so much better than scar's....that looks painful hope your ok dude.....grow the goat in thick........rooster
I can sympathize, I had a 4" biscuit wheel explode and carve a 1/4" groove into my shin. It took a long time to dig out the fragments. Flatman
thats a nasty cut, hope it heals up without any nerve damage, i took the gard off my grinder when i got my finger stuck between the gard and the cut off wheel and it cut the nerves to 1/2 the end of my finger, i have never had a disk explode but have watched them explode on others, usely it happens right after they drop it and pick it back up and turn it on without looking, if i drop my grinder i always check the wheel to make sure it hasent broken, if it cracked i take it off, safety is somthing you have to look after yourself, know what the dangers are, i worked in a place that had a row of punch presses, the largest one being 100 ton and guys would stick the arms in the open dies right up to there sholders with the machine running to change the parts they were stamping, i may as well stuck my thumb up my ass as to try and tell them that wasn`t safe.
Think about it...setting a wheel that deep into unforgiving material is asking for trouble. Would you try to freehand (as in no guide fence) something through a table saw? Just a little binding from moving off axis and its gonna grab hard or blow. Don't get me wrong I'm glad it wasn't worse (could have severed major vessels in your neck, bro!) but lets all think things through. This is a great hobby but frought with danger if we get too comfy.
Great post, I hope everyone reads this. BE CAREFUL PEOPLE! At least you got a cool scar out of it. And, glad to know your ok.
Wow, Skratch, I didn't think you could get any uglier... As my wife is fond of saying: Chicks dig scars!
i needed to cut just little bit of a door jam. and it seems to be healing fine..i can take out the stitches monday...
Thanks for posting this Skratch, this made me realize how much I have let safety slip myself since I have been working in someone else's garage and not my own...................it will be a full face shield for me from now on......I wish you a speedy recovery, Littleman
You may want to reconsider cutting the 1" stuff with a cut off wheel. I always thought they were for the thinner stuff. I use the full face shield but never use the disk shield so, I guess I'll be putting them back on now! Like was said before, guess you're lucky it hit were it did and not 2" higher or lower. It could have cut your throat or hit your eyes. Dat gives me da willys!!
Full face shields are a good thing, but they have there dangers as well. A friend of mine was grinding beams on the job when he felt something hit his eye. BTW he WAS WEARING a full face shield. He wasn't in any serious pain or anything, but he said it felt like he had dirt or something in his eye. No matter what he did he couldn't seem to rinse it out. The boss tells him to get back to work - my buddy says "Fu-# that, I'm going to the hospital" They looked him over and told him he LITERALLY SPLIT his eyeball in HALF. It looked fine but apparently the impact "fractured" it. He was blind for a fairly long time and eventually he got SOME vision back - not all. Never ever really did find out what happened. All's we could determine was that a "chip" must have bounced off the INSIDE of his full face shield. Ever since that happened to him when I wear a full face shield I STILL wear a pair of safety glasses underneath. And while I may look ridiculous - I feel pretty safe. Skratch - thanks for sharing - who knows how many can benefit from your posting this. Hope you heal quickly.
WELL IF YA STOP BUYING THE 20 PACK AT THE 99cent STORE, THEY WOULD'NT EXPLODE SO OFTEN !!!! Seriously though, Glad yer O.K. and it wase'nt more life threat'nin
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