Having a wire brush wheel on the end of a grinder is a great way to remove rust quickly ....i've used them my self loads of times. But BE CAREFUL when using them!! ....I've recently read an accident report, where a contractor was using a wire wheel on the end of a grinder to remove rust from pipe work (construction industry) He was wearing suitable protective clothing, but due to the cold weather, he was also wearing a scarf/neck muff. The wire wheel caught his scarf, which twisted around the wheel causing strangulation. He lost conciousness and unfortunatly died. Most of us have/do use wire wheels, and they are good at what they do.....I'm not in any way suggesting they should not be used .........but if using a wire wheel on a grinder, take some precautions, please dont wear loose clothing. Always wear a good pair of overalls, heavy duty gloves .....and remember the 'wires' do fly out every now and then ....so good eye protection should be worn. ....and be warned, they do jump/kick back if you hit the edge of a panel!! stay safe every one
They get to a point when they start to break down and wire bits flies out the whole time. They stick right in if they hit you straight on and you don't always notice they're there until you brush against something and it twists them sideways I had one stuck in my forearm once and it must have gone into a vein because when I pulled it out I got a huge bruise straight away Great for removing rust!
wearing scarfs, jewelery or having untied long hair while operating power tools and machines is a very basic no-no of work safety. I don't mean to go all "american style" with ridiculous safety regulations, but even here in barbarian land every worker has to read that book and take a test. I find those wire wheels very uncomfortable to work with, they vibrate too much, your hands go numb, but are efficient if you have room to work with it.
yep dangly stuff should be kept clear,and you will end up with bits stuck in you and ya boots,[ask me how i know?] to keep vibration down with power tools i wear a pair of thin rubbery gloves with some padded leather over them ..
I was using a 9" grinder with a wire brush attached to clean something, I can't tell you what but I got the bloody thing caught in the tummy bit of my overalls as it snatched and lurched at me. Before it stopped it managed to wind in about 12" of cloth which in turn folded me up like a tortilla. Needless to say everybody fell about laughing as I fell over with a grinder firmly attached to my nuts. Thankfully no damage done other than to the overalls and my self respect
Yeah I got a wire strand stuck in my nose, not nice. But any dangly bits and power tools should be common knowledge, or at least common sense.
A knot brush in a grinder is a fine, but quite dangerous thing. No danglies, gloves and goggles advised.
There was a superb thread over on the prototype bay last year I think it was, where every one was showing pics etc of power tool related injuries from grinders to flap wheels and even clothing caught up in drills, not nice. if anyone could post the link, it might help someone one day to save a piggy or an eye ball or even your hearing. I think Zed had a pic or two on there as well, just can`t remember what it was titled. i know I featured on thereas well. Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Stay safe peeps.
We had one on here as well, but after @Kruger posted pics of chopping his top lip off with a grinder, posting pics of scratched fingers seemed a bit tame.
I believe several prototype bay members lost their dentures. In one case, someone had their pension book torn right out of their hands. Worth taking care...
.....I think I would have laughed at you too lol!! That was pretty much what happened to this guy .....but around his neck poor sod I'm not a fan of over the top health and safety ....just a bit of common sense, we've all had a few near misses (some worse than others) ....and heres a few of our own TLB'ers in action http://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/another-resto-injury.18332/ http://thelatebay.com/index.php?thr...e-dont-look-if-youre-squeamish-warning.19703/ http://thelatebay.com/index.php?thr...estoration-injury-updated-with-new-pics.7645/
If I could tell you what I was wire brushing you'd have a fit but I can't. My job at the time was an RN clearance diver (ordnance disposal) to give you some idea
I know a guy that was using said knotted brush in a grinder to paint strip his engine bay, in his bay... long day and he was doing it after work, and he had a slight over sight with the accelerator cable which got caught in the wire wheel, and also wrapped round his thumb.... needless to say that resulted in a trip to hospital to get his thumb stitched back on!!
yes I'm a safety coach at work and had the bulletin to share out about this incident. freak accident but they happen so like say becarefull.
This isn't angle grinder related, but a friend told me about when he was working in oz, one of his workmates was kneeling on a roof using a nail gun to fix panels down and started to get up to get down off the roof to get out of the midday sun. As he got up from the kneeling position, he pushed on one leg with the hand with nail gun and accidentally nailed his thigh muscle to his femur just above the knee. He couldn't move and no one found him till the end of the day, by which time he was badly sunburnt. He was ok in the end though
Something else I always see is people using an angle grinder with out hearing protection and especially if using a wire wheel they are loud a freandly of mine got his glove caught in a wire wheel. And it kept going till it took some skin and flesh of very lucky good post Diddymen
