Anyone else have this happen

[firedemon]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Pour some lacquer thinner on it and a piece of duct tape and get back to work ! Besides chick's dig scars !

Always wear eye protection !

I work in a metal shop we have that powdered borax and electric tape works great

[57taskforce]

I have to admit I'm guilty of forgetting my face shield from time to time but I always wear my safety glasses. Stuff like this thread makes you think about things more carefully. Hope that gash gets better soon(and the semi severed finger)

[ck5566]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

I have to admit I'm guilty of forgetting my face shield from time to time but I always wear my safety glasses. Stuff like this thread makes you think about things more carefully. Hope that gash gets better soon(and the semi severed finger)

Originally Posted by everettelane

OUCH!!! I know that hurt, Hope it heals quick.

My tip of the fingers bone never healed back properly. Instead of having three (3) separate joints in my middle finger I now have Four (4).

[ChuckLee]

man, just want to say......thank you for sharing this. i always wear eye protection and gloves while on the cut off wheel.............thats NOT enough. I will wear shield from here out.

[jsera]

I don't trust those wheels. spend 20 bucks on a metal diamond wheel and you'll feel a lot safer and you save on replacements!

[Shinysideup]

I refuse to use those thin cutoff wheels,too scary. Remember if any wheel is dropped throw it away! I bought a plasma cutter instead.

I had to go to the eye surgeon because of grinding for one second without my safety glasses and got 3 lil metal shards in my eye. All worked out, but Doc was ticked about my ignorance, never again.

[72_swb]

I will add this. Had a impact socket shatter from harbor freight. No injuries luckly. But damn what a sound it made. Mostly junk there at HF

[dfwright]

I've never had any issue with the thin cutoff wheels from name-brands like DeWalt. The cheap ones are worthless, even if not from harbor freight. They get out of round, and ragged on the edges, and hack up the material, even when they don't fly apart.

[Overdriven]

Safety squints definitely aren't enough with grinders and especially death wheels. At home there's a face shield and gloves in the drawer on top of the grinder, same thing on the work van.

Funny story. Was using grinder with cutoff wheel on a 3/8" thick bolt inside of a restaurant hood (think sheetmetal box) when the wheel let go. Had faceshield on and gloves on. Pieces of the damn wheel bounced around in the hood to hit on the side of the head. Got a scratch and little puncture wound from it but all minor. Can't protect against everything but without the faceshield my eyes and face would've been blasted too.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by dfwright

I've never had any issue with the thin cutoff wheels from name-brands like DeWalt. The cheap ones are worthless, even if not from harbor freight. They get out of round, and ragged on the edges, and hack up the material, even when they don't fly apart.

Those are what I buy. They have like a fiberglass webbing in them. I've had them break and chip before, but because of the mesh, never had one explode, and most of my issues have come from trying to do more than the disc was meant to.

I've had plenty of the smaller dremmel discs explode, I'm guessing they're made similar to the larger HF wheels everyone is having issues with. I did get hit next to the eye with a dremmel disc one time, it went between my safety glasses and face. Freaked me out. Wear my face shield most of the time now.

[El Dorado Jim]

Originally Posted by firedemon

I use angle grinders every day in my job caught myself a few times . a few things I have learned unplug the machine when you change those wheels , cut with the rotation of the machine , use two hands , and throw away those cheap ones with the on off switch spend the extra money and get the paddle switch do not use those on off type unless you hate those fingers . if something happens you cant shut it off fast enough .

I agree, only use the grinders with the paddle switches!!!!! I know from experience!!! and only cut in the direction of the rotation,same goes for wire wheeling,the wheels will grab and break if trying to go the wrong way....I only use harbor freight wheels,both cutoff and grinding wheels and haven't had any problems,just have to use a good wheel, not damaged at all....

[binford]

I've used those disk to cut a ton of steel for many years.

The root cause is plunge cutting!

So either don't plunge cut or if you do be sure to hold the grinder square to the cut. If it goes wonky toss the disk and get a new one.

[davepl]

Hmmm... I may have just learned something. I always wear goggles but only wear a face shield for grinding (where there are sparks and stuff), not for cutting. I've never had a cutoff wheel fail but it's clearly a bad day when they do. I'll start wearing the shield!

[ranger danger]

Its only a flesh wound!!

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by davepl

Hmmm... I may have just learned something. I always wear goggles but only wear a face shield for grinding (where there are sparks and stuff), not for cutting. I've never had a cutoff wheel fail but it's clearly a bad day when they do. I'll start wearing the shield!

A friend of mine had a cutting disk explode and penetrate his safety glasses. He was rushed to the ER and all the fragments were removed, he's fine now.

[72_swb]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

A friend of mine had a cutting disk explode and penetrate his safety glasses. He was rushed to the ER and all the fragments were removed, he's fine now.

Was they harbor freight safety glasses. Lol

[dmjlambert]

This is a good thread. Perhaps you more experienced folks could elaborate for us about cutting in direction of the rotation, plunge cutting, square to the cut, chipping away, etc. Pictures showing the correct ways would be especially nice.

[CastIron]

Just curious, but how many of you are using cut off wheels with a die grinder with no shield?
I use an older version of this:

It's a lot nicer to use than most. It's quiet, powerful, and doesn't get freezing cold after a couple of minutes.
I also use higher quality discs, and have never had one explode.

[James the III]

This is the reason an angle grinder be it a 4-5-6-8" or one for the 3" wheels have a guard.. that covers 1/2 of the wheel..
use it.. better 3" grinders have see through shields.. even my el cheapo C/p had this..

[Jrainman]

I use these 3'' cut off wheels every single day of my life cutting stainless pipe up to 52 inch in diameter somtimes , I can go through a box of a 100 wheels in a week , the machine you use must not have a rpm value higher them the cutting wheel rpm value ,that is the most common way the cut off wheel wil explode. wear safty glasess and safty shield over glasses , and a good set of gloves (PSE) personal safty equipment is a must .

Think of it as putting 100 MPH rated tires on a Nascar that going to drive 200 MPH in a race. what do you think will happen to that tire

[master 1969 c10]

That's all I have ever use is Harbor Freight grinding wheel I've had a few of them blow apart seems to me they do it when they're about half worn out . U must put safety first.

[72_swb]

Ill admit I have never had one come apart. even the cheap ones. But there several factors that affect the integrity of these little wheels.

Age and how they are stored. Are they just thrown in the tool box randomly.
Dropped at all. throw away!!!!!!!
Are they stored next to any Hydrocarbon fuels or any other chemicals. This will break down the wheel.