was grinding some pipe at work the other day, grinding out a tack weld between a 12" and an 8" pipe, and the whole assembly was in a jig on the ground. leaving me only one way to hold the grinder, and one angle to watch from

grinder bit in a lil to hard, kicked back, and smashed me in the face while it was still spinning.

luckily the wheel had a real blunt edge to it. and it also hit me in the safety glasses first before it hit my cheek and nose

only some brush burns

im also pleased to say the grinder didnt want another piece of me, it learned the first time around whos tougher, when i went to start grinding again the grinder burnt out instead of risking another tussle

Cliffs: if i wasnt wearing safety glasses i would be blind in one eye right now

you're one lucky guy...joe

Thats a real lucky call.

I stopped using grinders that don't have an automatic shutoff. I have had them kick too many times (luckily never hit my face, just the hands once) and then go nuts on the ground. I'm all about the Milwaukee's and Bosch's now.

yea, this one isnt one with a locking switch, so as soon as u let go it shuts off

if i had let go as it kicked, it might have slowed down more before it hit me, but it would have hit me WAY WAY harder in the process too

one of the VERY few times i got my face in line with the grinder like this, and of course its the first time in YEARS a grinders kicked back hard AT me

then of course today while im using a 9" grinder the boss comes over, straight faced as could be and goes "be careful that it doesnt kick out on ya"

hmmm ....had almost forgotten about that possibility... lol

Scary stuff, was working on my race car the other day.... In my birkenstocks (I know, Iknow, heard it all before), didn't do any cutting or welding, just scaling the car and doing some set-up stuff with geometry. The night before apparently I had left grinder with a cutting disc on it plugged in on the bench. While I was pulling all the cords out to plug 'em into the scales, I guess one got tied up with the grinder, when the grinder hit the floor it turned itself on jumped once broke half the disc off and landed on the top of my foot. Ripped off a good chunk off the foot, wrecked a Birk, and a sock.


Moral of the story, don't fall out of row boats


bonuts

Started using a full face shield for just that reason.

Have a friend that was grinding under the floorboard on a big truck here at the shop,the blade caught between two peices of bracing and came back and got him right across the top of his nose and along the tear duct,right to the bone.About a 1 1/2 inches long,wanted me to put it together and put a bandage on it.Took 13 stiches to fix it but still has good vision,bad deal

Glad to hear you're alright ! Nothing like using dangerous tools on a daily basis .
I cut concrete on occasion and the walk behind saws are relatively safe compared to the hand-held stuff. The hand helds are down right scary in certain situations . I had a boss of mine stand directly in line with a 24" cut-off saw I was using ( yep - 2' round blade ! ) ... I asked him to move and he said he'd be "fine" .... well - long story short , the blade got pinched by the shifting chunk I was 'reducing' and it JUMPED out of the slot and RIGHT at him ! I stopped it short by about 2 inches of his big belly , with my arms fully out-stretched . ALL the color drained out of his face and he went to go smoke a cig as his life replayed before his eyes ... lol .
He never stood in front of me while cutting again.
Heal quick -
Mike

Just yesterday I walked into the shop to see one of our "Body techs" (I use that term loosely when I see him doing something like this) using one of those grinders to remove a welded on trailer hitch on a bumper reinforcement, all without a single piece of safety equipment!

I watch these guys do it all the time! I gave up a long time ago even saying anything. It is a waste of time, I have handed them particle masks, gloves, goggles, ear protection, and the next time, there they are without it.

Young, old timers, it doesn't seem to matter, they just don't get it.

Glad to hear you got through that close call without serious injury.


Brian

My dad cut three tendons in the back of his hand with one of those. Your lucky it was not worse. Got to respect the grinders.

Hi,watch yourself when using a 4 inch grinder also. the other day i was using one,with a wire brush,it kicked back on me,wound up my t shirt,and grazed my stomach. could have been worse though. im lucky.

I have a "V" shaped scar on my left forearm that's 3" on a side from a run in with high speed air grinder 20 years ago. The guy next to me threw it up on a wooden bench with the hose attached and his foot caught the hose. The edge of the disc caught on the wood and it hopped up in the air, when it came down something hit the trigger which had a safety lock but for some reason it took off across the bench right at me. I put my arm up to shield my "important" pieces and it sliced right through my arm just nicking a tendon and leaving one layer of tissue on the bone. I never actually felt it because it cut the nerves and the inside of the V is numb to this day but it hurt like Hell a few days after the surgery and I couldn't straighten my arm for 6 months. The V itself aches when it's really cold but I regained about 90% of the strength on my left hand.

WOW!

That was a winning lottery ticket!

I have been using a routers speed control on my grinders & when using the wire wheels & other implements of destruction.

I have nerve damage in my arms & hands so my hands don't grip like they used to. Next piece I need to get is going to be a foot pedal dead man switch.

I like the speed control because I can regulate it better.
I mean ...I don't drive wide open any more... its nice to have control{sometimes}

Also even thou its s big PITA I have been using ear & heavy particle masks .

I always use gloves {good heavy ones but tight fitting} & eye protection {sometimes a scuba goggles }& a fan or 2 to push pull the crap away from me.



Keep safe

I'm pulling for ya were all in this together!





R

__________________
"SlowRide66"

"Illegitimis non carborundum"
Don't let the bastards grind you down!

Face shield, glasses are not enough when doing that type of work.

Vince

__________________
Here's to you DoC, you will always be here.
My project 34
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/34-...ght=34+progress

Glad you're ok! Something to be said about safety equipment, no matter how harmless the task seems to be. For instance, years ago I was putting a chrome molding back onto the bottom of a car door. No need for safety glasses, right? Hang on. I was pushing upwards and it slipped and hit me in the face and across the eye. Got a small metal sliver on the surface from that. (Doc froze my eye and took it out with a needle.)

But back to grinders. You were saying about awkward positions. Reminded me of working with an air angle grinder with a fresh disk. Was holding the tool with both hands and grinding around a wheel opening. I twisted the tool to the left and the disk nipped my forearm. Took out a square looking little chunk. Healed ok though.

All this to say, don't stand behind a horse.