The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest cutoff wheels for die grinder

How many guys use the cutoff wheels for cutting metal? I've used them for years and had great luck with them. I bought a box of them on Amazon and was working on a project today and had one explode. Couldn't believe the way it came apart. I had a face shield on but my neck got it good, 6 stitches later at the ER and all is good. Needless to say I'm thinking the box is going to the garbage.

Wow, Don- I'm glad you're alright. I use them; not my favorite, but I have had one 'explode' before. The material inside let loose and almost knocked the tool out of my hand... It was like cutting with a triangle for a split second.

I only had goggles on at the time- good safety with your face shield. Where in the neck did it get you? That's not the best spot on the body to need stitches.

Take care man & thanks for posting; I have got to get a better face shield.

Brad

Just like a cooling fan, never stand in line with anything
spinning perpendicular to the axis of rotation. As klutzy
as those guards are, they do serve a purpose.
I've shattered many of the big 14" abrasive cut off wheels on
cut off saws. With the shield they just crumble and fall to
the bottom of the sump. With out the shield they become a
lethal weapon.

Ya got lucky Don, could have been fatal had it hit the vein.

dg

While working in a factory I was talking to one of the guys from the tooling department about 8' from where his apprentice was working with and angle grinder and cut off disk. All of a sudden the guy I was speaking with grabbed his ear. He pulled his hand away to reveal a chunk had been taken out of the bottom of his ear lobe. Being the factory is very loud I hadn't heard the disk let go.
His apprentice was cutting into a thick pice of steel bar stock and we found he had been forcing it causing the disk to twist. It flew all over luckily only hitting one of us. You really need to let the disk do the work and do not force them.

Mark

I've used many over the years and had a few explode in my younger days.
Like Denny said, keep body parts and other people out of the line of fire.
Don't push them hard and don't get them in a bind.
Also check the RPM rating on the wheel with the RPM of the grinder. A lot of stem grinders have high RPM's.
If I can't find the RPM rating on the wheel, it goes in the trash.
Edit: another tip is if they start vibrating, stop and check it. Then trash it, because it's getting ready to let loose.

Don

Wow Don. Glad you are alright, at least for the most part. Yeah, I purchase my 4 inch ones from HF. I already know the reputation of the source, so I am VERY careful, but for years haven't had a single incident. They even come in 40 and 55 grit with two different thicknesses. But I am very careful because there is no way you could call it safe to have a composite wheel spinning at that fast rpm.

I buy mine from the welding supply store. They last longer and are tougher to blow up. Always make sure that you can prevent binding and look out for what's on the other side of what you are cutting. THAT is what will bind you up and get you hurt.
Carl

For cutoff wheels I buy them from my local welding supply (Three Mules) and get the ones rated for stainless steel. Stronger, less brown resin in the air, and last considerably longer.. well worth the extra coin..

+2 on Robert's advice to get the SS ones.

And my new face shield arrived in the mail Sunday. I ordered a new, good quality one after reading this thread.

Brad

Cutoff wheels are probably the most dangerous tools I own. I make sure I buy made in USA or made in Germany. I actually prefer the made in Germany ones. I really don't like to see my guys using them at all. My workman's comp has been very high the last 6 years. Not from around the shop but from drivers getting hurt. I don't need another comp claim and of course no one likes to see human suffering.

You guys make some good points. Can you give a source/brand for the US or German wheels for cutting stainless? What thickness do you go for? I'm going to use a face mask too. Where did you get yours Brad?

Dennis

This one is high impact. Another one I saw at Lowes after I had already ordered this one. I didn't check the ratings on the Lowes one.

All of the following I learned in the past week in our prototype facility, so I might mess up the facts & I had to look the ANSI number up:

The new standard (ANSI Z87.1-2010) changed to make face protection either impact or non impact. I was told at work it should have a "+" sign on it if it is high-impact, such as Z87+, if it is high-impact & recently manufactured. ANSI Z87.1-2003 is good as long as it says it meets "high impact standards"...

Ken or somebody involved with these standards daily might know more about it. And it is recommended to wear safety glasses under the mask.

In my position, having any rated mask at all is better than none (within reason for all the attorney-like readers among us). I have some good Oakley m-frames I use daily - a whole lot of IED exposure across the pond sold me on their ability to save vision and facial tissue.

Brad

This one is my favorite https://www.fein.de/media/pdf/abrasives.pdf

Metabo is good too.

http://www.cpometabo.com/metabo-655331000-100-4-1-2-in--x-0-040-in--a60tz-type-1-slicer-cutting-wheels--100-pack-/mtbn655331000-100,default,pd.html?start=4&cgid=metabo-grinding-and-cutting-wheels

If you look at the RPM recommendations, note that the Germans want smaller wheels for high RPM.

Norton is probably as good as there is in the USA brands.

I use Jackson Safety face protection.

http://www.zoro.com/jackson-safety-...m_LbM-scCFY81aQod3S4Nrg&gclsrc=aw.ds


I buy from Zoro because they are wholly owned by WW Grainger, have the exact same stuff as Grainger and several times a year they have a coupon code that is as much as 30% off on the entire order. I recently bought a Huck 556 Huck bolt puller that is normally $4,000. Zoro's every day price was 3,000 and with $30% off it made it $1,800 with free shipping on top of it. 7 years ago my workman's comp experience modifier was .81. An accident that put a driver on life support for 17 days ran it up to 1.60. It is down to 1.21 for 2016 and anything I can spend on safety is money well spent. Our driver wasn't at fault, but the other guy only had minimum insurance. My base rate on workman's comp is over $40,000 a year, so the experience modifier makes a lot of difference. And again. I just don't want human suffering because I was too tight to buy the very best safety equipment available.

The Jackson mask is good. So is this Uvex model: http://www.honeywellsafety.com/Products/Eye_and_Face_Protection/Uvex_Bionic.aspx?site=/americas

If you have a disgusting habit of chewing tobacco, like myself, wearing the face shied may take some getting used to. I learned that last night whilst grinding some stainless. Along with keeping things out, the mask keeps things like spit in as well.

Brad

We saw a fella have a cut off disc blow apart on him. It hit his neck as well but cut quite deeply and he was rushed to the emergency room as he was bleeding profusely. Very scary. I have since also used the glasses, face shield method in addition to a hoody zipped up around my neck. I love cut off discs but be smart with them!
As with any tool: you get what you pay for! Don't cheap out. The cheap ones don't last, leave copious amounts of dust and debris everywhere and tend to break easier!
I quite like the Walter Zip-cuts for grinders. They cut like a hot
knife through butter.

Just had a friend blow up one wheel. Cut his lip drifted 4 teeth. he now uses his face shield..go figure. Chipping, toss it. Binding, toss it. Please use a regulator to match the rating of the die grinder. Use the shield that came with the die grinder if you can. Be careful. Cut off disk is cheap. Use another one. Are we getting the message out here? Please be careful. I kinda like talking to the folks on here.

I prefer Sait or 3M cutoff wheels, need to watch RPM on all wheels

Cutoff wheels can be scary, but a 20 x 6 wheel exploding is terrifying

Right Steve-- I had a garage fire last month & tried to talk up getting & checking your fire extinguishers in another thread. I don't want attention on the misfortune part, but I definitely want attention to the prevention & preparedness part. It's not the easiest to bring up the "bad" things that go on, but at least Don brought his accident up. Made me aware.

Don- how are you by the way?

Brad

Don,
Hope you are okay... 6 stitches are no joke...



I agree, safety first
Fire extinguishers , and water

safety glasses and shields

and good shoes

( been in too many machine shops)

Don, thanks for sharing. There are some pretty important parts in that neck. When we share these incidents, it reminds us all of why we need to be safe. So even if I do something stupid, gonna have to fess up. I try to have a face mask at every station, even the big cutoff saw, the grinder, the welding table, cuz in the heat of battle I'm not going to walk across the shop to find one. To Denny's point, if you're in the axis of rotation, even a fragment could sneak under the mask so I try to never get in it. I was using a small impact wrench the the other day with a universal extension and the nut was already handy so with just a bump free wheeled and threw the socket 90 degrees...could have taken out some teeth . Thanks again, Don and Brad, will make me think twice next time I pick one up.

not to make light of this post but

And another thing not to do

lawnmower blade install with air tools

when we got back from the hospital I get out of car and head to garage to finish job

wife says " should I leave car running?"

Yeah, those "Earthquake" impact wrenches could be used to start
a blown fuel dragster and they do a great job on a mower blade.

dg

And don't pick up the mower to trim the hedges!

If you work with power tools long enough. You will have reason to doubt the safety of any thing. We used to call this stuff PPE(personal protective equipment) The AF can make an acronym out of anything. Shoes(not sneakers), Safety glasses(not sunnies), Face shield(not a kerchief), Gloves...can you get this one wrong? Of course you can. I have skinned knuckles from bad wrench skills. Don't ask. I like pulling wrenches. I like the time I spend fixing stuff. I have done some incredibly stupid things in the pursuit of fun(desert racing was not the most dangerous thing I have done) I have been very lucky, I get after friends and family a lot about safe ways to do stuff. I like the reminders, and the stories. I have a lot to learn. How heavy is that engine? Pinch a finger and take a guess. How sharp is that new refaced flywheel? Just did that. Sharp indeed. How much Voltage does it take to burn a hole in the palm of your hand? 12 will do very nice thank you. If you live, you can learn.

Good advice Steve and all the others who added to this very important subject. It's time to replace that cheap HF face shield! Steve

Advice once given to me by a friend who is an attorney:

"Always purchase well known American name brand tools and components..."

"...not only are they safer, but you have an established US company to sue if something fails and injures you."

He said that with a chuckle when he was visiting my barn and saw a broken cut-off wheel on the work bench.

When I was a teenager, there was a go-kart track that used an air impact to start all the go-karts. They had removed the rope pulls from the engines and welded a 3/4 hex nut to the top of the shaft. They cut off the socket on the impact so it didn't seat all the way down on the nut.

Uncle Brad made a good point about Fire Extinguishers, only as good as the contents. I was trained by the Air Force(civilian side) we had check lists for a lot of stuff. Part of my job was to look at the extinguishers every month. Still, it pays to look around every so often. If I had some one working for me, I would use the check lists. But with just me...well I need to take care of me as well. Reminders and discussions are the best way to keep us all safe to enjoy what we do.