[TheForge] Wire Wheel Safety

Thu Aug 15 17:05:01 2002

Hope you learned something here.  Buffers/wire wheels are some of the =
most openly dangerous tools in the shop and can wreak disaster on your =
state of health.  In 1997 I was spending some time in my girlfriend's =
father's maching shop.  Kostin, now my girlfriend's husband, was =
operating a 20" lathe.  The chuck caught his apron.  Lucky for him the =
spindle was running at high speed.  It ripped the apron so perfectly =
across his chest, you'd almost swear it had been cust with a scissor.  =
The result was Kostin standing before the spinning lathe, frozen like a =
statue in fear.  I had to turn the lathe off.  He was absolutely =
terrified.  The remains of his apron resembled a halter top and I =
remember laughing as I thought to myself that it was a shame he didn't =
have bigger knobs to fill out that sexy little getup he was wearing.

He never made that mistake again.  It took about a week before we could =
convince him to use that machine, and I don't think he ever really got =
over it.  Now he's a software developer.  How surprising.

in 98 I busted my right finger WIDE open in a wire wheel.  A 270 degree =
rip to the bone that required about 20 stitches to close.  I thought I'd =
removed the finger altogether and I bled all over the place with a =
broken artery.  Four years later I still get pain in the scar tissue, =
but it's not so bad.  Nevertheless, I could have lost another finger =
(I'm already missing bits of two) and I can tell you that you do not =
want to experience either an amputation of mutilation of your parts.  =
Something happens to you that I cannot put to words.  You don't want to =
know about it, either.

If your hair is long, tie it up or cut it off.  Jewelry off, watches =
off, no necklaces (I don't give a damn if they're unside your shirt), =
NOTHING that could in any remotely unlikely manner get caught in the =
moving wheel or spindle.  The machine will eat you. They are dangerous =
enough when all reasonable precautions are taken.  They get =
exponentially more dangerous as you forget things.

-----Original Message-----
From: Woolley [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 8:20 PM
To: Forge list
Subject: [TheForge] Wire Wheel Safety

Greetings,

  Seems like I got away clean again and even got a good cotton rag out
of the deal.  While using a wire wheel on a 4.5" angle grinder(Metabo
BTW, good grinders) to clean off the slag on some stick welds, I
happened to get the wheel wrapped(rather tightly I might add) into my
shirtail.  You know, the long one hanging out of my pants.   I probably
realized this at about the same time the tail end of the grinder flew
out of my hand and smacked hard into my clear shield.  Not to be
didactic in any way but just as a friendly reminder, for those of you
not wearing an apron, tuck your shirtail in and always wear a clear
shield when you use your grinders.  I'm fairly safety conscious most of
the time but have blown it more than once with a grinder(usually with a
wire wheel attached).  Came away totally unscathed, no welt on my belly,
no bloody nose or trip to Wills Eye Hospital.  Taken care of once again.

Regards,
Bill Woolley
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