Shop safety tips

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richard j

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Members here including Joe Talmadge and myself have agreed that there needs to be a sticky posted for shop safety. These include safety tips for buffers, grinders and other high speed equipment commonly used in knifemaker’s shops. I have asked several makers to join this group to submit safety tips, that will be reviewed before being posted in the sticky.

If you see something that is not covered, please submit it to me. Appropriate safety tips submitted will be copied and pasted into the thread, with the member’s name appearing at the top of their safety tip. Anyone having issues with any safety tip can post in another thread that will be linked to from this sticky. Anyone submitting information to me, please make sure to include your forum name in the subject line, along with your safety tip. I hope this thread will help keep someone from getting injured or killed.
Since a buffer seems to be considered the most dangerous equipment found in a knifemaking shop, here are a list of things to do or not to do with a buffer. I will be adding tips for other powered shop tools when I get a list made up.

1. Make sure you read and understand any instructions that come with a buffer before even using it.

2. Never wear long sleeve shirts around a buffer or anything that can get caught.

3. Always wear the proper safety equipment such as safety glasses and a leather or similar apron. If you wear an apron, make sure it can’t get caught by the buffer.

4. Make sure you have your buffer firmly attached or bolted down to your work bench and properly grounded. Don’t attach it to a stool or anything that could easily be tipped over.

5. Never go edge first into a buffing wheel, or any soft wheel that the edge can cut into. The blade will catch and get thrown back at you with explosive force. Stay alert and pay attention to where your work is at all times.

6. Use only wheels that have been manufactured and tested for use on a buffer. Never ever try to make your own buffing gear or buffs, as this is an accident waiting to happen. It can and will get you or someone else injured or killed.

7. If someone is watching or helping out in your shop, make sure they have the proper eye protection and safety gear too.

Safety Suggestion input from Members here include;

Esav;
“Never wear necklaces, bracelets or rings, and tie back long hair”.

Old Physics;
“Wearing gloves while buffing or grinding; If it were not for Kevlar gloves, I would have a lot of flat spots on my knuckles and finger tips, along with burn marks from the buffing wheel. When I used to run labs and work in labs, I made darn sure no flammables were anywhere near equipment like welders, buffers, and grinders. All it takes is one spark, or one hot cinder and you've got trouble. In fact, the flammables were in closed metal cabinets." (use extreme caution when wearing gloves. a shaft end can catch a glove as well as a belt where it goes around a contact roller as well as belts and pulleys).

A C Richards;
"No safety instruction will replace common sense when using power equipment.
The biggest thing is; Pay attention and HAVE NO DISTRACTIONS. This can be the greatest cause of accidents on the buffer. Lose concentration for just an instant and it can be all over”.

Bufford;
“Do not buff when you are in a hurry, and pay attention to where your work is on the wheel at all times. Do not force the buffer, as this leads to loss of control, and do not buff or use any power equipment if you are in a bad mood or tired. Buffing is dirty, use a dust collection system, and a respirator if possible. Your lungs will thank you for it. Empty your dust collection system frequently, buffing dust is extremely flammable”.
A NOTE ON HOME MADE CARDBOARD WHEELS. i have seen the results myself and the person who owned the knife had me resharpen it. for the danger associated with using them its not worth the time or the risk involved.

mgysgthath
when using the buffer, keep the knife/object below the arbor level, so if it does catch it flies down away from you, rather than up into your chest/face

this one is from shotgunner
No cigarette lighters in pockets when making sparks or welding.
 
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Angle Grinders - Are they safe?.....Read This!

These are excerpts from a thread on amgle grinders use. The whole thread is here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1012795-Angle-grinder-troubles

Here are some parts of the thread;
Safety Note:
While a lot of folks use these grinders to cut with a thin blade as shown in the photos, this is not the safest and best thing to do with an angle grinder. The name says it all...the machine is an ANGLE GRINDER, made to grind at an angle on the steel surface. Cutting at 90 degrees can ruin a lot of things...like hands and legs and anything in the path of the grinder when it jams and jumps. A thin blade can also explode when used this way, and severely damage any object in its path. It could be a window pane, or it could be your face.
Removing the guard is equally dumb.....it is there for a very good reason.
Just a warning that I doubt anyone will listen to, but this is a serious thing to consider......and your nose hairs won't save you

As a pipe fitter working mostly in the oil refinery business I have many years experience with grinders. We are heavily safety regulated and have an excellent safety record. They do make thin disk designed to cut, the .045 in particular and the 1/16 wheels also work well to cut. We often cut stainless and other high alloy plate and pipe with the .045 disks. I have worn out many 4 1/2 grinders. I think I have about 6 of them now and a box full of parts from worn out ones. Armatures burn up, usually from bad brushes and overloading, gears chip and break, bearing go out, switches fail. They are considered a semi-consumable in the industry. I run mostly Dewalts. Metobo makes some of the best though. Cheap grinders are not worth it, you will burn up more than one good one cost. I have seen new style Dewalts for under $70. Same thing applies to disks.

Let me also state that you will get much more material cut per $ with a good portaband and good blades than with a grinder. Hardened material of course changes this heavily to the grinders favor. I get most of my disk grinder supplies (and portaband blades) in the form of big oil rebates. Most of the time we are expected to supply our own grinders. but, are handed disks and blades by the box and not expected to return them. We don't.

Here are some basic safety rules.

1. Make sure the disk is designed for your grinder. Pay attention that the max speed of the grinder does not exceed that of the disk. If the disk vibrates DO NOT USE IT

2. Make sure the disk is properly mounted and secured with the proper backing plate and nut.

3. Keep the guard on and positioned between you and the disk.

4. Wear safety glasses AND a face shield (or better yet, a welding helmet with a clear lense). Eye injuries are the #1 injury with grinders! Brush off your face shield and your hair (cap) with your eyes closed. The crap clings to everything.

5. Wear a particle respirator, the disk material is bad for your lungs as well as much of the material you grind.

6. Wear good heavy clothes with no loose material. Hoody strings and the like love to tangle up in grinders. Wire wheels will snag on almost anything. Canvas shirts of the Carhart variety are the way to go. Fuzzy material gathers sparks and grit and lights on fire much easier. NEVER EVER WEAR NYLON while cutting welding or grinding.

7. Use the edge of the disk. Using the face wears down the disk into the reinforcement and when that is worn through pieces of the disk can come off much easier. If you use the face pay attention the the wear and discard when the reinforcement shows. If the edge thins turn it to something and grind until the edge is no longer thinned into the reinforcement.

7a. NEVER use the face of an .045 or 1/16 disk!

8. Avoid dropping, pinching or binding the disk. These can cause cracks and catastrophic failure. They can also cause kick back and result in lose of control.

9. Keep a firm grip on the grinder, especially while cutting, that side handle is your friend. USE it.

10. When cutting with a thin disk don't force it or use much pressure. Light pressure will aid control the disk will last much longer and do more cutting. STRAIGHT LINES ONLY

11. Watch where you are going to shoot your sparks. They will start fires and injure other people.

12. Wear leather gloves while grinding. NOT welding gloves, they are to clumsy and impede your grip. While I am infamous for not wearing gloves and have stated to safety guys that the skin on my hands is in effect heavily tanned hide, a pair of leather gloves will slow down and minimize the injury if the disks contacts you. Gloves do prevent minor injuries. In the case of major boo boos they just keep most of the pieces in one place.

A 4 1/2 grinder is a great tool used properly. It is no more dangerous than the other tools we use. Every power tool you use has the ability to maim you if you get careless. I have spent 40 years in heavy industry, oil drilling rigs, refineries, commercial fishing and bridge construction and even some knife making. I still have all my parts and most of them still work fairly well. Knock on wood.

PS. A lot of that was due to fast reaction time when I was younger, as you get older and see what can happen you should make much better decisions.

I have a friend that lost ALL of his front teeth when a disc blew up in his face back when he work at Les Sw tires. The Docs said he was extremely lucky the main fragments hit him in the teeth, a couple inches in any direction and they would have zipped right through his head!!!

Sam, my pdf reader must be old or different than yours- because the page numbers are coming up on mine about 2 pages off from yours. Weird!

And FWIW- the max rpm on that little DeWalt is 12,000 rpm. But I do 100% agree with the notion to MAKE SURE your max disc/wheel rpm rating does not exceed your grinder's max rpm!

Angle grinders are great tools... but they can literally rip your guts out, slice your face up, and take off fingers.... if you don't understand AND respect how they work. Be careful!!!

Well, there are somethings going on with grinders that many never think about. The rpms are high and that means the speed of the outside of the disk is high. At 12000rpm the outside edge of a 4 1/2 disk is going over 160mph. The centrifugal force is tremendous and if the disk fails the pieces are going to be leaving at near the speed of an archery arrow. Not good to be anywhere in the area.
Also these high rpms cause a gyro effect that causes the grinder to resist changes in the disks plane especially with a heavier disk. Try a 1/4" thick 9" disk and you will surely notice this effect. Also if the disk is suddenly seized by binding or pinching the amount of momentum that is suddenly transferred to the grinder is high. When you "angle" grind. as apposed to using just the edge straight on, the edge will eventually become very thin and sharp. If that edge contacts you it will slice through you like a finely serrated knife blade going at that 160+ MPH. Not only that the edge has now worn through the reinforcement and if even little pieces start coming off they are going near as fast as BBs. You can prevent this by watching the edge and when it thins turn the edge onto a piece of scrap and wear that thin edge off until it is healthy again.

For an idea of how much force is going on in these things and what can happen. One evening while getting undresses I felt something drag as I removed my jeans. I found a metal sliver in my thigh and when I tried to pull it out it didn't come. Got a better grip and pulled several inches of wire from a wire wheel from my leg. The end had worn to a very sharp point and when it came out of the wheel it has flew through the air straight enough to go through my jeans and nearly bury itself in my leg. KEEP THE GUARD ON and DON'T US WORN EQUIPMENT. That wire could have hit higher and more centered in my "special area"

I much prefer the grinders with the paddle switch. I want my thumb helping control the grinder, not holding a switch. The new paddles have a little toggle in them. Leave it alone don't take it off. You will get used to it and your finger will trip it automatically when you want to turn on the grinder. Before this was added it was easy to lay the grinder down on the switch and have it come on, bump it or set something on it and have it come on. We used to stick the cord between the paddle and the grinder as a safety when setting them down. Once in Alaska in the winter working on pipe I was wearing a sweater on top of everything and got a wire wheel to close. It grabbed the sweater and jerked out of my hand as it balled up in the sweater. I panicked and grabbed it and as it has the old style switch, guess what, I turned it back on and balled it up tighter and harder against me. Had enough clothes on to prevent injury, but, it was a lesson learned.

I have know a guy who ended up with a 9" grinder in his face and he was not a pretty boy anymore (no face shield and working under the grinder), a guy who had a chunk come off a 4 1/2 that went into his thigh and he near bled to death (no guard and damaged disk). I an numerous co-workers have had crap removed from our eyes. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE STEEL STUCK IN YOUR EYE, go to the Dr right away, it will begin to form a rust ring that will have to be removed if not taken out in less than 24 hours. Take it from me it is no fun setting up with the Dr to hold your eye open and still while her takes his little bur and grinds it off the surface of your eye, no mater now much he deadens your eye and the thrill of watching the world jiggle as he does it is something you do not want to experience. I promise! When I work now I am a foreman or general foreman and one of my duties is a daily safety meeting. We get bulletins world wide from the industry. The vast majority of grinder incidents are wrong disk, no guard and improper eye/face protection. You wouldn't believe some of the ways people get hurt. What is amazing is how many serious injuries occur from simple things. More people get hurt walking than grinding. I know we walk more than grind, but most of it is pure lack of attention.

OK, little humor. We are having a monthly safety meeting and the safety guy is going on about hand injuries and how many occur. One of the guys says well of course we hurt out hands, we work with them constantly. Guess what would get hurt if we were porn stars.

The kick back zone thing.

Part of that is how you approach the work with the wheel. Wire wheels are really bad about kicking especially when it an edge wrong. One way the edge of the wheel will pull you in and the other away. You will have the most problems with this when you attack the edge of the work. Also remember you can turn the grinder over. If I go to cut something like a piece of 12" stainless pipe or plate that is say 3/8" thick I will mark out my line(s) and then with the bottom part of the disk spinning toward me (wearing good clothes and eye protection and my head well above the cut) I will carefully groove the line(s) then follow the groove(s) keeping the depth fairly uniform and going deeper with every pass. Dropping through or starting on an edge and having a lot of disk through the cut is not a good practice. If I have say 1" of disk below the bottom of the material I am cutting I will have a length (cord of the circle) of 3" or more inches of the disk buried through the material. This causes face wear, binding if not perfectly aligned etc etc. If I only have the disk 3/8" deep in the 3/8" material I have a length of less than 1" in the material. My disk will last longer and cut more with less trouble. I also use a very light pressure and let the disk cut on its own. I have cut and fit 24" stainless pipe in this manner and you can be very precise(maybe a dozen or more 5" disks per pipe). After the pipes are beveled to a knife edge and gapped to about 5/32 you really want the gap very uniform all the way around so that the welder can easily bridge the gap and have a uniform root weld on the inside of the pipe. In some ways it is better than free handing the cut with a plasma. Less clean up and less worry about a shake causing a boo boo on a piece of VERY expensive pipe. Best way is a clamp on Tri tool beveler that is air powered and as it goes around it clicks its cutter down a notch every revolution. Kind of a portable lathe or Okie beveler that straps on the pipe and holds a plasma torch and you crank a handle to make it move. They are expensive and they probably won't bring one in for a couple cuts. Plus, the beveler only fits one pipe size and the Okie may fit 3 pipe sizes.

I am not going to do the groove thing if only cutting less than an inch into a piece from the edge, but, i would still angle down from the top instead of going straight in from the edge. Longer cuts I will always grove down as much as possible.

I guess I have only two things to say:
1. A portaband works so much better and faster for cutting out blades. And angle iron. And steel rod stock. And PVC pipe. And........well, you understand. I burnt through two 1/16" discs and got two inches into the angle. My portaband cut 8 cuts through 5/16" 4"x4" angle like a hot knife in butter. And the blade is still good.

2. If you take the guard off an angle grinder, you WILL eventually get cut/burnt. It will happen. I promise. And it will hurt, and you will bleed. Hopefully it will be minor, but it could be life changing.

Working with steel and machine tools is safe until you forget how dangerous it really is.
 
A word of caution on using things like hand held grinders

Using tools to do jobs they aren't really designed for, or in ways they aren't safe to use, can cause serious injury. Securing any blade or piece of steel securely when drilling a hole or grinding with a hand held grinder will help prevent a common type of serious hand injury.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1026413-Please-be-vigilant!
 
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