Ever been bitten by your belt grinder? ouch!

Great feed back ...thank you.

Any other hazards with the belt grinder:confused: ?

For example:
Belt splitting and getting whacked with the loose flap?
Loose flap wrapping up around the work piece or your hands? Fingers/workpiece getting pinched in between the work rest and belt?
Dust inhalation?
 
Other suggestions???

If not using it, take off that !@#$ tool rest!!! There is nothing quite like getting a piece of metal or knifemaker between it and the belt!

When grinding a blade, only "pull" from the plunge to the tip! Not only is this a more even grind, but if you have ever put the point of the knife into the side a contact wheel moving at a high rate of speed, well, it will go anywhere! If lucky, anywhere will be somewhere other than the knifemaker!

Worn belts are the enemy! Not only do they create more heat, we also tend to press harder on a worn belt...causing skipping or grabbing and an uneven grind along with many other problems.

C Wilkins
 
Rob-

I don't wear gloves simply because I don't feel anything with them on.

The worst grinder bite for me was on the top of my index finger's first knuckle. I was running a blade under the contact wheel and lost track of where the top of my finger was...a 50 grit belt says, "You are here X" faster than you'd believe. Ground off flesh on bendy parts take forever to heal.

In high school wood shop one of the guys was sanding some pine on the big 6X48. He was an idiot and ran it into the grinder to dust....but for whatever reason pushed too hard and it sucked his fingertips down between the rest and the belt (the sander was set up vertically). His fingers did not win that fight.

Saw another guy poke his finger in by the contact wheel while the grinder was running and the belt grabbed his finger...it went around the contact wheel and the idler wheel before he got it out...lots of black and blue.

I think we all get bit at least once!
Nick
 
Why is it always the new, sharp belt that the back of your finger finds? Healing as I type.
Lynn
 
No gloves here. Get rid of the rests, they are the most dangerous damn thing I ever saw on a grinder. Ground my thumbs three times before I learned.... :D
 
Hmm. I do wear gloves when profiling and when rough grinding. I take em off when grinding after HT. I do however tape the fingers snug against my own to minimize the likelihood of getting loose stuff caught in moving parts. When using the rest I place it as close to the face of the belt as I can so that nothing can get sucked in there. So far, knocking wood, I haven't had any injuries. I'm much more concerned about dust than getting cut. The only time I've had a belt come apart it just fell to the floor without slapping anyone.
 
Gloves are the devil. I'm always grinding the tips of my fingers flat. I don't cut my fingernails on my index finger and thumb so I have a bit of a warning before I start to lose soft parts.

I've been hit by exploding belts a coupe of times. Loud pop and a slap upside the face wakes you up real quick! :eek:

Grizzly owners need to wear a hat! Those hot sparks coming down on the top of your head will melt your hair.
 
I'm a no-glover. I've been bitten three times. Two of them I was rotating the blade blank from one end to the other, but did not back up to do so. I stayed in the position I was grinding in, and when doing the rotation, the point touched the belt, driving the butt end into my stomach. Happened another time, same way. I think I've learned to stand back a little now. The third time I was using a micron belt (9 I think), which is like a 72" long razor blade, and put a nice slice (not as in golf Tracy, I have no time for that game!) in my index finger. I really try to be careful around anything that rotates, but things keep catching me off guard. I have a KMG, but my problems were because of me only, and could have been avoided, and could have been done on any machine.
 
I have an old Wilton that has bitten me a few times, but only once grabbed a blade and threw it. THAT gets your eyes open! Another time, I had a belt break and slapped me about a gazillion times on my belly before I could get away from it. That only bruised my belly and pride. I am a lefty and grind the first bevel, the one on the right side of the blade, wearing a glove to give better purchase on the tang. When I switch hands working on the other side or when I am trading ends often, the glove comes off. Grinding with a glove on my left hand keeps my left hand pretty well out of harm's way.
 
Funny that someone should mention a belt breaking. It happened yesterday as a matter of fact. I was using an el cheapo belt and remembered why I went back to the good stuff. I'm 63 and pretty banged up, but it only took my hat off before I got away. I agree with removing the rest. Jammed more than one blade in there and turned it to scrap.
 
Rob No NO no gloves if it's hot,, use a push stick if you have to.

gloves will hurt you faster than no gloves they will give you a false feeling of safety I had some welding gloves on using my Bansaw back a while ago and the gloves never slowed it down at all that one left a mark.. :eek:
 
This thread's three years old! Hopefully Rob has learned to grind by now! LOL
 
Ha Ha! Good catch Mike! I guess MinnisotaSlim was going through some old posts. Caught me to, as I didn't pay any attention to the dates (never do).
 
Holy Smokes! The "way back" machine has gone haywire (hee hee).

Glad to see that folks really use the search function. There is so much info posted around here....it would be ashame for it to dissapear into cyber's never-never land.

We'll, after 3 years...I still can't grind knives woirth a darn. :(

take care,
Rob
 
One of the worst cuts I ever got and one of the worst scars on my body came from my belt grinder. I was putting on a new belt at the time. It slipped off at full speed and cut the palm of my right hand and flapped it so a big thick chunk of flesh was hanging off my hand. Needless to say I was out of commission for a few weeks time and required stiches.

It was an expensive mistake. I won't repeat it I assure you.

So, yes my belt grinder has bitten me.
 
I get bit everytime I turn it on sometimes it's aliitle sometimes I have to get some paper towls and Duct tape:) ut it's all worth it.
Love your machine someday I'll have one:)
Peace
Bob
 
gloves no gloves personell option i dont on some things like i dont use gloves to forge or weld i bilted my owen belt sander and it comes off the machin some times so i belted a cage around it it did hart skent a finger a kenkel and head when it walked up me so you live and die by your owen actions good luck
 
Well, the side of one of my fingertips is still kinda angled looking, due to a mistake while tapering a tang. Yeeeeouch!

Then, there was the time I decided to smooth off and round the spine of a little knife with a brand new Scotchbrite belt. Note to self: always ensure that the tip is DOWN when using a Scotchbrite belt! That belt grabbed that little blade outta my hands so fast, I didn't even have time to blink! Threw the blade between my legs(a little too close for comfort), and the blade ended up somewhere in the shop. Took a good while to find that blade.
 
Has anybody ever used these gloves?

053300017322.jpg


I use them every time I grind, period. I like my hands.....fingers attached....


Sounds like most of the complaints have to do with not being able to "feel the work"....

These gloves are thinner than regular work gloves and are quite fitted. The palm side has a thin rubber/latex/something on it and the backside is a breathable mesh.

I keep a bucket nearby when I grind and dunk every 2 or 3 passes. I end up dunking my fingers too sometimes....because I can definitely feel the heat through the blade (unlike regular leather gloves).

If I slip, though, the glove gets tore up, not me. After a dozen or so slip-ups...I just buy new ones. They're only $4 at Lowes.
http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=87791-169-529


I have tried grinding with big leather/canvas work gloves....and yes, that sucks. No control at all.

I have found that if I use these gloves, I get the control I need, can still feel the heat, and have no "nervousness....aka twitch" when I grind. I'm still careful, but a heckuvalot more confident when they're on.

My 0.02
 
Daniel,

Yup I took your suggestion a while ago and love those gloves. Don't use them all the time, but always when hoggin before heat treat.

One nice thing is they hold water! :) If the blade gets hot enough to heat thru the rubber it's time to take action. I dunk blade and fingers right into the water (while dancing the "Oh baby it's gonna burn") Then the gloves are damp and life is good.

Steve
 
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