No matter how safe you are....

[Stytooner]

The thread may be a little gunshy right now. Just like me.

I am 6' 5" tall. This may not have even hit some of you guys.

I looked around the shop and found maybe 10 little shards that were shaped much like a caveman cutting tool. One of those could easily have sliced right on in somewhere. Kind glad I got hit by a big piece.


This machine has many accessories. It does have a cast iron blade cover. It was not installed. I would not have been able to use a covered wheel. At least not a full cover like it has. The grinder itself has a half cover. I could have used that type. As mentioned, never had a problem for 6 or 7 years. The last stone that was installed before this one came in the same shipment and didn't have any issues. I looked over this stone carefully as well before installing. The only thing to do is to stand aside on startup. A bit further aside than what I did of course.

I also suspect had I had the cover in place, I may have seen more of an explosion of smaller shrapnel rather than mainly 4 big chunks and a few smaller ones. Just speculation and I don't think I ever want to find out.

[Black wallnut]

Yeah, you were lucky. Could have been much worse. BTW, if this is supposed to be a sticky thread, why is it near the bottom of the page?

Ed

Ed it is a sticky however if you are viewing the recent post list on the home page it does not show sticky threads as such, only new ones. Nor does it show new announcements. So every few days it is worth checking the forum page.

[Ed62]

I just figured that out when I saw there was another post. Actually, I was looking at the "new posts" page. Thanks for the reply.

Ed

[Stytooner]

time to donate the Foley Belsaw to someone on OWWM who will admire it and not turn it on. just how old were those wheels and tool?

I missed that question, Loring. I've only had these wheels about 4 to 5 weeks actually. No telling when they were made, but they looked pristine. The machine itself is likely pretty old. This is typical American made stuff though. Built like a tank. This still runs true, so no bearing or resonance issues at all.
Plain and simply just an odd occurrence, but one that COULD happen to any stone at anytime.

[Uncle Cracker]

Plain and simply just an odd occurrence, but one that COULD happen to any stone at anytime.

Very true, particularly since you have no idea how a stone has been handled before it gets to you. I have a little brass hammer that I tap my stones with (lightly, all over) to find out if they might be cracked. A good one will give a uniform, highly pitched "ting ting ting", while a cracked one will usually give a duller or varying sound as you go over it.

[phi1l]

You would think that the more you do this stuff, the better you would get, & the less necessary it would be to protect yourself.

But the law of averages indicates just the opposite. Each time you turn on a switch ( or pick up a scary sharp edge, there is a finite (if small) probability that you will be injured. With each turn of the switch, those probabilities add up. So the more you use these tools the more important safe practices are.

[Black wallnut]

btt

needs to be first sticky......dang min. post length requirement.

[Stytooner]

Thanks, Guys.
While the hit was in the best possible location on my body, there was lasting effects. LOML and I bowl one night a week. My left arm is my balancing arm. I could no longer extend it straight out to the side. It is better now, but there still seems to be some spider webs in there when I move it a certain way. I should have had it scanned. It is a long term effect on what was a simple injury. Age may have something to do with it. When I was younger, I played football and had many such injuries. I always played through those. This was a play through injury, but lets me know that it happened. Still practice safe start up. Gives me pause each time. Lets be careful out there.

[atgcpaul]

I don't own a grinder, but that bit of common sense never occurred to me!! Thank you for the PSA and speedy recovery to you.

I don't know how I missed this thread. Anyway, too bad you're still feeling this more than a year later. I was thinking of buying a grinder so I can sharpen lathe chisels and have only started reading stories of people's stones exploding. I'll definitely be thinking about your story when I do turn it on for the first time.

[Stytooner]

Please do not take this as a stab against grinders. I could not do what I do without them. Grinders need their own set of safety rules. Without them, someone could get hurt. Very hurt. It isn't just the eye protection that is needed. Most I think, typically protect for that.

It is to expect the unexpected.

That is where safety lies.
If one is unaware of what can possibly happen, there is no way to avoid the unexpected. Wheels can and do fail. Lets not become a statistic.

[cabinetman]

Please do not take this as a stab against grinders. I could not do what I do without them. Grinders need their own set of safety rules. Without them, someone could get hurt. Very hurt. It isn't just the eye protection that is needed. Most I think, typically protect for that.

It is to expect the unexpected.

That is where safety lies.
If one is unaware of what can possibly happen, there is no way to avoid the unexpected. Wheels can and do fail. Lets not become a statistic.

Besides grinder wheels, there are other surprises that may be unexpected, such as band saw blades breaking, handheld belt sander belts coming apart, ROS discs coming apart, drill bits breaking, drive bits slipping out from being seated, jig saw blades breaking, etc.

Since the moment is unexpected, our reaction could make it worse. So, to "expect the unexpected" is good advice.

.

[lebomike]

What Uncle Craker said earlier is called a Ring Test. In industry that is something that MUST be done whenever you put a new grind wheel on grinder. It is something OSHA checks to make sure you have done that. They ask for a copy of your Ring Test procedure.
Always good to be SAFE, remember do a RING TEST.
Glad you were not hurt more than you are.
Mike

[eezlock]

no matter how safe you are

Lee, good to hear that you were not seriously hurt by flying schrapnel from
that wheel when it exploded.

Another thing that is just about equally as dangerous, as a grinding wheel and
it scares me, is the knotted wire wheels and cup brushes that we all use in
metal clean up and rust removal.Those things, especially cheap ones are subject
to fly all to heck at any second when turned on...whew! I am really cautious
and use my face shield and safety glasses at the same time...double protection
but it really pays off in the long run. eezlock

[jking]

Lee, good to hear that you were not seriously hurt by flying schrapnel from
that wheel when it exploded.

Another thing that is just about equally as dangerous, as a grinding wheel and
it scares me, is the knotted wire wheels and cup brushes that we all use in
metal clean up and rust removal.Those things, especially cheap ones are subject
to fly all to heck at any second when turned on...whew! I am really cautious
and use my face shield and safety glasses at the same time...double protection
but it really pays off in the long run. eezlock

One of my high school shop teachers told us about an incident where someone was using a wire wheel on a bench grinder to clean up a piece of metal & one of the wires came loose. The user wasn't wearing eye protection & the wire went right into the guy's eye. Made me want to wear eye protection all the time.

[Stytooner]

Rightfully so. Eye protection at the very least is a must for any tools.
My Granddad was missing fingers and an eye. Tapping two hammers together, one shattered. Myth Unbusted.