3 Most Dangerous Accidents Using Angle Grinders

bladsmth said:
I may have the wrong idea here, but how many of you "CUT" bars of steel with an angle grinder, and how many "BEVEL" blades with one?

I have used one from time to time to knock off the excess steel on the bevel of a sword of machete blade. For that I use the thick one sided grinding wheels. I can not imaging using a thin blade to cut bar stock or preform blades safely.

I do have a big chop saw with a 12" cut-off blade made for cutting bar stock....but haven't used it in years, because a band saw is much easier to use.
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I do both; usually cutting the length I need from 48" bar stock at an angle that varies depending on how I want the blade tip to be. From there I switch from a cutting to a thicker grinding disc and get close to the profile lines I have drawn on with a sharpie marker. I don't use the regular grinding discs for beveling though. For that I use a coarse sanding disc, usually an 80 or 120 grit, which are fine enough that I have time and room to correct any problems as I finish each side. As for keeping the bevels flat and crisp, I've had nearly a decade of practice on soft stainless wallhangers, long before I discovered that there were such things as hardenable steels - or even that I "had it all wrong." I've repented from my "poser" ways since that time, though. :D I did try using a metal cutting bandsaw once, but after several trial runs, I found that it just wasn't for me. To each their own I suppose.
 
I use a 4" cutoff wheel to rough profile the blanks, and use a course sanding disc to rough in bevels on larger blades. On smaller ones, the 1x30 I have is good enough for those. As long as you make a series of straight cuts, the cutoff disc is fine. If you try to make a curved line, well, you have a problem.
 
I guess what seems obvious to me might not be to others. I could not imagine any abrasive cutter used without securing the piece solidly. That just seems like asking to maim or kill yourself.
 
Willie71 said:
I guess what seems obvious to me might not be to others. I could not imagine any abrasive cutter used without securing the piece solidly. That just seems like asking to maim or kill yourself.
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It goes into the same lineof thinking as the "do not drink" warnings on laquer thinner unfortunately... What may seem obvious to us may not be to a total noob. They are the reason for articles like the danger of an angle grinder. Common sense is all it really takes.

Ok, this is a funny analogy though maybe a little off color, mods please excuse me:
There is a lady who goes to her doctor and discovers she is pregnant. She is furious and obviously shocked. She stated that she had been using prophylactic jelly and was upset that it didn't work. She exclaims that it was advertised to be 99.9% effective and surely she wasn't in that 0.1%!! The doctor asks if she is sure that she has been using it right, and if there have been any issues. She states matter of factly "well it tasted weird the first couple of times but putting it on some toast seems to help..."

Unfortunately we have to deal with the reprecussions of the choices made by the 0.1%
 
two other dangerous things about angle grinders: wire wheels sucking in hair or clothing, and the sanding discs, if they are the wrong size and larger than the backing pad they will cut flesh very easily. I severed a tendon that way, not fun.
 
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