Cutting Wheel Safety & WARNING...! (A Bit Graphic!)

Well I played by the rules and I still got bit...!

Had to cut some stuff off the frame and I couldn't get the sawsall in the tight spot but I could get the Diagonal Grinder in there if I removed the safety shield...!

I've always been a bit leary running the grinder with a "Cut-off" wheel so I donned the protective gear... Goggles over safety glasses, respirator mask, face shield, Hat, and gloves!

Normally I don't wear the gloves because I can't gage the pressure on the disk.

Well the first cut went OK... but on the second cut the wheel caught and "Exploded" shooting disc everywhere and including into my wrist...!

My hand flew back about 2 feet before I knew what happened.

It felt as though my arm was smashed by a sledge hammer and there was blood trickling out from underneath the glove... so I slowly pulled off the glove off and saw a "Deep Cut" that was running right over the tendons and veins...!



I looked at my glove and it really saved me from an emergency room visit...! So I was able to clean it out and tape it together without any more damage to my wrist.



I was really amazed that I couldn't find more than these small pieces from the cutting wheel...!



Right now... my wrist is throbbing to beat the band... but I felt that it was imperitive that I warn others so that nobody else gets seriously injured...!

Wear your gloves as well as all the other safety equipment...!

 

You should have went to the E room anyway man.
Sorry to hear about the mishap and glad to hear it wasn't any worse than it was. Keep a close eye on that buggar and avoid complications, puleeze.

 

You NEED to get that checked by a doctor and very soon This is from direct expierience!"The disc cortorises as it cuts flesh" This is a direct quote from the Head Doctor of the local ER while working on my grinder oops! I have a scar 3inches long up the back of my left hand from a simular incident .Plus a slight nick in a tendon can cause it to seperate later much like a nicked rope or cable.I'm not trying to be a wise ass just pass along info from an ER point of view.They don't stitch this type wound either as its usualy a wide slit and they want it to heal from the inside out

 

just a second small note look in any wood sheetrock etc for pieces of that wheel.We found a missing piece of the one that bit me 10 feet from where i was working in the basemant stuck about 1 inch deep into the exposed rafter of the house floor!

 

Yep, it's a big inconvenience but I'd schlep on over to the ER and get it checked out by the pros.

 

There is no such thing as being too safe. Glad it wasnt worse. Leason learned.

 

You are very lucky. Millimeters from needing major surgery and months of rehab.

That bone it hit is making it throb more. You might want to make sure none of the disc is imbedded in it.

 

Jesus dude - I HATE the hospital too, but I'd hate to lose the ability to work on my car and pleasure myself later in life! Good luck - glad it wasn't worse!

 

My cousin is a professional welder and fabricator -- mostly heavy equipment, mining stuff, etc.. He's been welding and doing fab work for 20+ years.

About 2 years ago he was grinding a piece of metal on their big bench grinder -- had a helmet on and the damn thing exploded a wheel (and no . . . it wasn't worn down to a dangerous size). The wheel went right through his face shield and took out his right eye. He is lucky he didn't lose both eyes.

I have a new level of respect for grinding wheels of all types - especially ones that you're standing directly in front of. I'm setting up a work shop for my hotrod metal work -- you can bet your ass I'm going to have some good protective gear!

Have it checked out -- glad you didn't get hurt bad on this.

 

I had a cut off wheel explode and grab today wrenching the grinder out of my hand. It promptly fell catching on my jeans and ran up my leg grabbing the pocket on my jacket and finally jammed up after ripping through the jacket.Just missed cutting my stomach open, if it had grabbed slightly left it would have missed the pocket and had me. Fuck 2 of us in one day, anyone else?

 

There was a thread on here a month or so on this subject so a big "TOLD YOU SO" is in order. Seriously man, we all take chances at times, glad it wasn't any worse. Hate to see how sore you'll be in the morning.

 

I just had a 4 inch one explode on me yesterday, while on in the car cutting on the tunnel. It exploded and caught me in the leg, not pretty but not as bad as your's.



CBB

 

its not the cut you need to worry about, its the infection

 

These things are no joke. A friend of mine had one come loose, hit the floor and it still had enough energy to fly 20 feet through the air and cut a hole in his metal ceiling. No telling what it could have done if he was in its way.

 

My old shop teacher told us to put the wheel on and hold the grinder down and away from you and turn it on for a full 30 seconds before turning the grinder off and rechecking to make sure the disc is secure. This seemed like an insane waste of time until I saw one of those puppies go airborne. Yikes.

 

i was putting on a new cut off wheel on my angle grinder when i guess i hit the switch and it pulled my finger down inbetween the gard and the wheel cutting 1/2 the nerves off to the end of my finger, that was 3 years ago and its still feels like pins and needles when i touch it. i see lots of guys use there chop saw to cut something then grind the bur off on the side of the wheel, or use there cut off wheel to grind the bur off what they just cut, i have never had a wheel explode on me but i have seen it happen to others because they didnt read the rpm rating or just wernt being careful.

 

You should see what happens when a 14" chop saw blade is put into a gas powered body cut off saw.

One of my guys did that and it blew up at 5500 rpm, the guard was on, so he was OK. It blew a hole in the side and the floor of a 57 caddy.

 

Glad you got out of it with only the injuries shown. Did you happen to check the RPM limits of the wheel and compare them to the grinder?
The other thing is, we have a safety slogan drilled thru us at work. "Take Two" Take extra time to put yourself in a safe place or have an escape route out of danger when doing anything that poses a risk.
I know that sometime "we" take he risk when it's hard to get to or it'll only take a second.

 

So Mark....did you finish the job like most of us on here with the exact same tool, just changing the disc..... I am guilty of that, you can teach a dog not to walk out a yard by giving it a shock, but humans thats a diffrent story... Glad to see you OKay

see ya
Chris

 

I have my own business where I do alot of home remodeling. I have probably a few thousands hours in the last 25 years using metal and masonry cutting and grinding discs on all sizes of right angle grinders. I've never had an injury due to a flying or disintegrating disc or blade until a week ago Friday. I was grinding old tile mastic off of a cement floor with a 4 1/2" diamond blade when the entire grinder hit a piece of unseen metal imbedded in the mortar and kicked back so fast to the left, it went through my left boot and into the inside of my left foot, right at the ball of the foot. The blade sliced through the sole and instep of my boot like it was paper. The blade hit the side of the bone in the ball of my foot, and severed a small tendon leading to my big toe. 6 stitches on the inside, and 6 on the outside to sew it up at the ER, after they spent an hour picking small pieces of metal and mortar out of it.

Go to the ER and have it cleaned out right, and take the antibiotics. A little misery now will save tons of possible suffering in the future.

 

Just curious, what brand was the cut off wheel?

 

Got out of the Hospital about an hour ago and all is ok...! Apparently the "Glove" saved my bacon...!

Fifteen minutes after getting out of the hospital I got pulled over by the State Patrol for doing 59 in a 45... he asked what was happening and I showed him my wrist and told him I just wanted to get home and rest. He said he'd see what he could do... so about 15 minutes later he came back with a written warning and a citation for not wearing a seatbelt (even though I was wearing one! its only a $10 fine and no legal ramifications!)! VERY COOL...!!!!!

I have the DeWalt 4 1/2" with Ace hardware wheels rated for that grinder... Never Again will I trust those wheels for anything other than trimming a bolt in a Very gaurded posture!!!

This really could have been Catestraffic...!!!!!!!

 

Two words , Staph infection . Just to be safe.........

 

Had one explode and hit me in the stomach. Knocked the wind out of me and hurt like hell. I grabbed my stomach and waited a minute before looking, expecting to be cut open. Nothing but a brite red line on my stomach. Hurt like hell, and 3 years later I still have a red line "scar" om my stomach. Didn't even mark my shirt, yet left a scar. Weird.

 

I nicked my left hand yesterday with a 6 inch cut-off wheel in an electric grinder while cutting the old, rusty exhaust offa my Rocky Goodtime van [TM]...glad I had leather gloves on or it could have been worse..

 

What's so cool about that?

Don't be an accident waiting to happen.

Apparently you didn't read this thread;

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99104&highlight=seatbelt

Damn, some people will never learn.

 

I have had a cut off wheel explode on me. I still don't know where all the pieces went. All I was able to find was the piece that cracked my face shield in half. It didn't go any further then that. But I was happy I had the shield on. Before that happened I normaly would just wear safty glasses. I was lucky there.

 

Can't wait for the new hit book by Mark McCabe: "Home Surgery for Fun and Profit"!

Glad you're alright bro...

 

Now that your safe and we are sharing horror stories sons boss was grinding with a7 1/2 inch grinder with a guard.The hard wheel caught an edge and kicked back catching his pant leg and winding his pants up into the wheel yanking the grinder out of his grip .Tore the front of his pants /underpants all to hell slit both inner thighs and split his nut sack in half!I'm told when he dropped his pants to see what happened his nuts were hanging in the wind 3 inches below the cut sack he got put back together just fine and he says everything still works but it took more than a year

 

First I was going to give you a reaming out for being an idiot on this thread... then I realizeed that I was the Idiot and failed to mention to the world that I was wearing a seat belt...!

I've always worn seatbelts since 1972 when I started racing...!

The State Patrolman saw that my belt was on... however there was a reason to stop me but he felt bad for me and gave me a $10 "Seatbelt" ticket in lieu of a very detrimental speeding ticket!!!!

This was a Made up charge that I'll be happy to accept...!