It can happen

[Marv 948]

Take a look here 

 

I have been using the discs in the following pictures. We are so used to reading the warnings on grinding wheels etc that we sometimes don't give it much thought. Well it did happen and I did have on the protective equipment. I turned the tool on and within seconds the abrasive separated from the backer wheel. Fortunately no damage to me. I use these things often and have worn them down to nothing almost without issue. Not this time though.

[953 nut 55,909]

               Had one come apart before it even made contact with the work piece, looked like only a third of it had any adhesive. yours doesn't look like it had any!

[ebinmaine 68,514]

Good reminder Marv! Thank you!

 

[Sarge 3,463]

The entire left side of my face still has pieces of a cheap 9" grinding disk that exploded on my Dewalt industrial grinder - face shields are cheap and really should be used around these machines, those fragments can seriously hurt you. I've made some pretty nasty scars digging those chunks back out - one or two crop up every few years and gets infected, not a whole lot of fun, really.

 

Open structure cleaning disks of that type are very dangerous, they probably have the highest track record of explosions due to how they are built. I do not use them and especially won't use any from Harbor Freight - sometimes you get exactly what you pay for. Glad to hear you were wearing a face shield, those fragments really hurt and are nearly impossible to dig out of your skin. It does look like it wasn't properly bonded, lucky it broke into large pieces and didn't totally explode as most do.

 

A much higher quality and much safer disk to use are the ones from either 3M, or Camel (CGW), such as this - http://www.cgwheels.com/strip-disc

There are also non-clogging flap wheels out now that are using ceramic grit combinations that will not burn as easily, nor clog like traditional sanding types. I know how tough it is to remove mill scale and flaking rust, if it's that bad you may want to consider using either a grit blaster or needle scaler - both of which are going to require a fairly large air compressor, but very much worth the investment.

 

Not out to lecture, just show some safer options - I hate those wheels and it's not the first time I've seen someone have one explode or come apart. I wish there were more safety regulations against cheap imported knockoff goods to keep them in check, but standards elsewhere are far different than ours here and the price reflects that.

 

Sarge

[WNYPCRepair 1,922]

1 hour ago, Sarge said:

The entire left side of my face still has pieces of a cheap 9" grinding disk that exploded on my Dewalt industrial grinder - face shields are cheap and really should be used around these machines, those fragments can seriously hurt you. I've made some pretty nasty scars digging those chunks back out - one or two crop up every few years and gets infected, not a whole lot of fun, really.

 

Open structure cleaning disks of that type are very dangerous, they probably have the highest track record of explosions due to how they are built. I do not use them and especially won't use any from Harbor Freight - sometimes you get exactly what you pay for. Glad to hear you were wearing a face shield, those fragments really hurt and are nearly impossible to dig out of your skin. It does look like it wasn't properly bonded, lucky it broke into large pieces and didn't totally explode as most do.

 

A much higher quality and much safer disk to use are the ones from either 3M, or Camel (CGW), such as this - http://www.cgwheels.com/strip-disc

There are also non-clogging flap wheels out now that are using ceramic grit combinations that will not burn as easily, nor clog like traditional sanding types. I know how tough it is to remove mill scale and flaking rust, if it's that bad you may want to consider using either a grit blaster or needle scaler - both of which are going to require a fairly large air compressor, but very much worth the investment.

 

Not out to lecture, just show some safer options - I hate those wheels and it's not the first time I've seen someone have one explode or come apart. I wish there were more safety regulations against cheap imported knockoff goods to keep them in check, but standards elsewhere are far different than ours here and the price reflects that.

 

Sarge

I always wore safety glasses, but after I saw the picture below, I wear a face shield, too. I'm ugly enough, don't need a chunk out of my face. 

[Marv 948]

On 6/8/2018 at 7:36 PM, 953 nut said:

               Had one come apart before it even made contact with the work piece, looked like only a third of it had any adhesive. yours doesn't look like it had any!

That is exactly what happened with this one.

Thank you all for your comments. Can't be too careful when doing what we love. 

Marv

 

[WHNJ701 4,165]

gotta Remember those are spinning at 10 gazillion rpms, that dude got lucky it didn't hit the jugular 

[19richie66 17,523]

I had a 12” chopsaw blade totally explode on me. One piece caught my index finger and ripped it open. Felt like I smashed it with a hammer. Luckily that had a guard on it that caught most of it. I have had the cutting discs on my hand grinder come apart but have been fortunate to not have been injured(that bad) because of them. Now I’m scared I’ve jinxed  myself. 

[Sarge 3,463]

21 hours ago, WNYPCRepair said:

I always wore safety glasses, but after I saw the picture below, I wear a face shield, too. I'm ugly enough, don't need a chunk out of my face. 

 

 

Yup, just about exactly like that, but a much bigger grinder and smaller fragments.

Yes, it does hurt - after a few minutes anyway....

 

Most of the disk I was using flew away from me, thankfully. What really did the damage was the smaller pieces - those were moving fast enough they buried themselves deep inside the tissue. Doc said trying to dig all the individual chunks out would result in too many infections that could go out of control and a lot of scars - so it was better to leave them alone. Had two work up to the surface last year and got them out, seems like I'll get at least one more this year. X-rays are pretty interesting, most are shaped like confetti. That picture has made a lot of laps around the 'net, that guy was lucky to be alive with that one being a cutting disk that blew into such large pieces. If you notice, something went really wrong with how that wheel was installed - the metal crush washer should never have left the spindle nut to allow it to eject the larger part of the wheel. Don't know the exact details, but something is definitely amiss there.

 

Many of us violate the #1 rule with grinding machines - close inspection of the wheel before using, every single time. The other big one is not using the wheel guard on the tool - they can save your life and I won't run a tool without a guard. If the tool won't fit into an area with the guard, it shouldn't be there anyway and a different approach or tool is needed - that's why I have band files and die grinders w/carbides. 

 

For the cost - look into those stripping disks I linked above - they work excellent and for the money last a long time. The biggest trick to using them is not getting in a hurry - move around and let the tool do the work. If you put a lot of pressure on that type of wheel, it will fail.

 

Sarge

[WNYPCRepair 1,922]

1 hour ago, Sarge said:

The other big one is not using the wheel guard on the tool - they can save your life and I won't run a tool without a guard. If the tool won't fit into an area with the guard, it shouldn't be there anyway and a different approach or tool is needed - that's why I have band files and die grinders w/carbides. 

Yeah, I used to do that too, never again

 

[953 nut 55,909]

Same cautions apply with wire cup brushes used on grinders or angle grinders, they spit little wires everywhere.

[ebinmaine 68,514]

Just want you folks to know that I've been thinking about picking up a face shield for quite some time. Always use safety glasses and ear protection anyways. Today we bought a face shield.

[WHNJ701 4,165]

2 hours ago, 953 nut said:

Same cautions apply with wire cup brushes used on grinders or angle grinders, they spit little wires everywhere.

those little wires hurt!! I had a few jab me.  I do use the better ones by Milwaukee they hold up for awhile and abuse

[WNYPCRepair 1,922]

3 hours ago, jabelman said:

those little wires hurt!! I had a few jab me.  I do use the better ones by Milwaukee they hold up for awhile and abuse

I stopped using them because they kept tossing wires at me. 


While we are on the topic of safety glasses, since most of us seem to be getting older....

Amazon carries safety glasses that are also readers. If anyone needs a link I can link the ones I bought, they are relatively inexpensive and work great. I bought one pair that just had a reader part like bifocals, and they gave me a headache

 

[953 nut 55,909]

9 minutes ago, WNYPCRepair said:

safety glasses that are also readers. If anyone needs a link I can link the ones I bought, they are relatively inexpensive and work great. I bought one pair that just had a reader part like bifocals,

I have about a dozen pairs of the bifocal safety glasses the I got on Ebay. Have them in several places in both shops, in the truck and extras in a drawer. They were only a few bucks each and the face shield fits right over them. They are every bit as good as the bifocals I use in the house.

[WNYPCRepair 1,922]

26 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

I have about a dozen pairs of the bifocal safety glasses the I got on Ebay. Have them in several places in both shops, in the truck and extras in a drawer. They were only a few bucks each and the face shield fits right over them. They are every bit as good as the bifocals I use in the house.

The ones I got were all magnified, the entire lens. There really isn't a time that I don't need the readers if I need safety glasses. I can't see much of anything closer than 3 feet without them, and if it is farther than that, I probably don't need safety glasses. I do have a few plain pairs just in case