safety...

[aaxiss]

just when you start getting over confident is usually when you get bit.

Ok like most of you long time stick welders I don't use a chipping hammer a lot for the slag. I use a 4-1/2" angle grinder withe a heavy knotted wire wheel to remove the slag after a pass although once I'm dialed in and in the grove the slag just curls up right behind me as I go. Anyway I have to HF Grinders and a makita, all 3 pretty much lock themselves in the on position without much effort and withe gloves on it pretty much happens almost automatically.

Long story short I had the grinder with the heavy knotted wire wheel get away from me and landed in my lap while only wearing my cut-off sweat pants ( shorts) . Tore up my left thigh pretty bad and ow it's infected. I had just removed the leather apron that I usually ave covering my mid section to my feet that I have grommets in to bungee to my wheelchair. It was getting hot and I just had a few welds to clean up so I took it off thinking " I'm just gonna grind a few welds What's the worst that could happen?"


Well I was about 2 inches from the worst ( if you get my drift ). but it's still pretty bad the wheel dug out a 1-1/2" deep channel of meat before my shorts bound up the motor and stalled it. I've now got bits of my leg stuck to the ceiling of the shop. And a bad infection to boot. so dumb of me.

Safety,Safety,Safety,Safety,Safety,Safety, I screwed up , don't be an idiot like me Keep your protective gear on till your completely done.

posted in wrong forum by mistake please move it to appropriate one... I blame the medication, heavy muscle relaxers to keep my leg from twitching from the pain which I dont feel but my leg seems to.

[geezer]

I do pretty much the same, however I have quite buying that type, I only buy grinders that have a tail handle and trigger on or near the handle, problem is I still have about 1/2 dozen or so of the little Makita types, the thumb lock switch on them has caused a few runaways on me and as soon as they wearout they are gone. I ran an old B&D 8 inch grinder from back in my highschool days, working in my dad's bodyshop heavy powerful, clumsey but it never gave me any trouble, when you fired it up you could feel the torque wanting to spin you around, so you held on tight and gave it some respect.

Bottomline: wirewheels are great but dangerous, wear gloves, face shield and hold on tight.

[DaveO]

Don, I hope you get better soon. I cringed when I read your post! Have you seen a doc?

Talking to the group now: do you guys work in pairs? I do chores by myself frequently and make it a point to tell somebody what I'm doing. If I'm up a ladder or under the car or welding or doing something unusual I tell that person when and where and how long it should take, so if they don't hear from me after a while they come looking. My neighbor is an engineer and a DIYer and we have a similar understanding: he'll call and say something like I'm going to do X Y and Z with my electrical panel, and I'll call you in about 30 minutes. And 30 minutes later he'll call and say That project's done- but if I didn't hear from him I'd know to check up on him. What's the line from that old tv show: Let's be careful out there!

[aaxiss]

I do all my heavy work at my parents house when they are home, although I do have a little shop set up on my balcony ...8" drill press, table grinder ect, plenty of people here to help if something happened but it's usually just tinkering type of stuff I do here.

Yea I went to the ER when it happened and have been on antibiotics for 2 days now. it's getting better the green goop is gone today and it's starting to scab over ( Good sign) and the red halo around the wound is pretty much gone indicating that the infection is abating. gonna be a nasty divit scar though as there was nothing left to sew together. Just a big slot where the grinder removed all the heat LOL

[welderdude]

I refuse to use any grinder with the locking side switch. They scare the hell out of me for that reason. I use a Dewalt 4.5 inch grinder with the paddle trigger. It also has a little safety to prevent you from laying it on something and turning it on. Those heavy duty wire wheels can surprise you if you aren't paying attention. I have had the grinder ripped out of my hand with a wire wheel.

[aaxiss]

well Harbor Fright had a sale on them a few weeks ago 9.99 each and I bought 4 of them, I have since opened up one and removed the ability for it to lock in the on position and moved the wire wheel to that one. BTW the infection in my leg is gone and it's healing up nicely. I also will be strapping on my leather apron over my legs regardless of how hot it is. I shudder thinking what that would have done had it been 2" to the right of where it landed if ya know what I mean?

[geezer]

Glad to hear you are not infected and are feeling better, scary stuff when something like that drops in your lap, could have been instant sex change for you. LOL

[aaxiss]

yea, I don't like to think about it ....... *shudders*