Morris Minor Owners Club

easier and safer to let spme one else do it

I think I'll take my moggy to the garage for work!

My uncle told me of a story when he was logging on box hill dorking another guy got a kick back and straight through his leg loosing it for this reason I always kept well back when I used to work with them chainsaws no no no

but with the right leg gear now the chainsaw blade is clogged with the leg gear

Angle grinders must be treated with total respect! Don't use one when wearing a woolly jumper - mine snagged the jumper once and screwed its way up to my chin! Funny, in a way...I just looked down at it and calmy switched it off - the disc had stopped already, and I was quick enough to avoid a motor burn-out.
Also, thoroughly test the metal you are planning to cut. Scrape it clean around the area of the intended cut, and tap around vigorously with something like the long pointy bit on a heavy flat file. I was cutting out from a Minor boot floor, and was just stopping short of the edge, to avoid the grinder jumping as it tries to if you cut right to the edge and through. Trouble was, the last inch or so was wafer-thin rust under paint, and it snapped apart just as I was about to stop. The grinder jumped and sliced my middle finger to the bone! No permanent damage, but it was extremely boring waiting in the queue at the hospital on a sunny day.

I use ear protection when grinding. Awful noise, and I find I can concentrate and work better without it rattling my eardrums to bits.

I now try to use the grinder as little as possible these days, to reduce the chances of something very grim happening. I have gone back to the methods of my youth, when I didn't know what an angle grinder was - a hammer and good-quality sharp chisel will do the job in many cases. I'll tidy up with the grinder when there's more room in which to work. Or I'll cut just far enough into chassis section metal to allow me to finish with the hammer and chisel. The main danger is when cutting through....the deeper you go, the more risk there is of 'snag and jump'.
If cutting deeply into thick steel, I go down cutting a 'V', so the disc always has a little free space each side.
I also have an old cushion to lay the grinder on when switching off - I reckon it saves the bearings if you don't put it down still spinning on to a concrete floor. If it's on the floor and I'm plugging it in, I always secure it with the soul of my boot and enough weight - never trust an angle grinder switch!!!!

If you are just starting out with a grinder - no bravado, no people around you, no alcohol.....in fact, a long list of 'no's, which you should be able to work out yourself.

Dont buy trendy safety specs cos the grinder will find a way past. Wear the old fashioned completely enclosed type (a bit like ski goggles) and give A&E the night off. The ear plug tip is a great idea. A chepo face mask keeps you from wheezing your nights away - try blowing your nose after an hour with the grinder and see how much goo youre breathing in.

But I find with a face mask and goggles after about 10 seconds I cant see a thing as I've steamed up!

Sidney'61 wrote:But I find with a face mask and goggles after about 10 seconds I cant see a thing as I've steamed up!

Stop breathing then

never wear specs. always wear goggles

One time when I was a teenager I was helping my oldest brother working on an engine. I was given the task of cleaning the carbon off of a set of pistons. He had a wire wheel mounted on a 1/4 HP motor fastened on a wall, so I decided to use that. Of course in them days, being young and stupid, I never gave any thought to eye protection. When I was finished w/the pistons I noticed 20 or 30 pieces of wire from the wheel stuck into the wall. I then realized that if one of them wires had decided to evade the wall and attack one of my eyes I would have been in serious trouble, not to mention pain. That sure smartened me up. When needed, I’ve been using eye protection ever since.

Protect your eyes, “ONLY ONE PAIR TO A CUSTOMER”

Years later I worked in a large hospital in the maintenance department. I was told about an electrician that had worked there, one day he was sharpening his knife on a small bench grinder in the electrical shop. The blade of the knife snapped and the broken piece hit him in the chest, penetrated between the ribs and entered his heart. This was in the basement of the hospital. By the time they got him to the emergency ward he was dead.
Just goes to show ya, you just never know.

I can see more and more that I should fit in well here. Been to hospital and had a lump of steel picked out of my eye with a hypodermic whilst awake.
I have also accumulated 24 permanent scars on my hands from over-zealous spanner, grinder, and MIG use, and a couple of burn scars on my torso from welding. I have also set my own crotch on fire whilst grinding without an apron...
And I'm 23, so I've got a few years of tom-foolery to go... I'm probably going to lose a finger at this rate!

Mask, goggles and a flame proof suit? Doesn't take that much longer to put these things on and they may save your life!

Forget goggles... get a face shield. something like this:

http://www.virginia.edu/art/studio/safe ... shield.jpg

I found goggles always fogged up, but the face shield almost never does, and I wear it over a dust mask and ear protection. You need ear protection with a head band which can swivel down so that it goes around behind your neck rather than over the top.

The danger with a face shield (if you keep it clean) is that you can see so well that you forget you are wearing it and then you panic when you see a shower of sparks heading for your face!

Seriously, it's a revolution I wish I had discovered years ago.

Sidney'61 wrote:But I find with a face mask and goggles after about 10 seconds I cant see a thing as I've steamed up!

its your bodies way of saying its time for another coffee.

I have a lovely condition where the bit of my brain that regulates body temperature thinks I am a few degrees hotter than I actually am.
On a cold day I can be comfortable close to hyperthermia - I've been known to get chilblains rash on my arms and torso...
On the flip side, on a hot day I look like I've been rained on. I bet you my goggles steam upm quicker than yours... and the trick is:

washing up liquid solution (ie watered down washing up liquid).
sp8ill some over your lenses and drain off - allow to dry for a minute or 2 (so it doesn't run into your eyes!) and then just wear.
Should last an hour or more without problems.

An old trick that divers use to prevent fogging of goggles is to spit into them and wipe the saliva around the glass - works a treat!

What a good thread, just had to add my 5 cents worth. So I was grinding a gearbox crossmember I had just welded for my old Pop street rod and as I could'nt be bothered to lift it onto the bench at the back of the garage, I got to work on it with it sat on the garage floor. Yep the wheel caught and ripped the grinder from my grasp which rotated upward extremely quickly smack into the old wedding tackle. I was totally immobile for a good half hour, rolling around on the floor, it hurt so much I could'nt even swear. Fortunately I am very glad to say no lasting damage. And did I mention the time when I lowered a jack which was holding up a VW microbus at the time onto my hand, and when I wacked my nail so hard I had to go to the hospital to get it lanced cos the pressure was way extreme. It's all a good larf tho isnt it.

Hi all

ive used angle grinders since i was 16, now 38.............last september 2011, using one 9.5 grinder and the bloody thing kicked back and cut my throat,
just missed my trachea by 1mm and nicked my external jugular, it kicked back so quickly the blade sliced my neck about 4 times before i let go..........went 4cm deep ...........had helicopter on stand by

its all good now.............but could of been a whole lot worse

Thanks for advise guys I was just about to buy a grinder and wondered 'I guess I should get gloves and some goggles' now i know!

"One time when I was a teenager I was helping my oldest brother working on an engine. I was given the task of cleaning the carbon off of a set of pistons. He had a wire wheel mounted on a 1/4 HP motor fastened on a wall, so I decided to use that. Of course in them days, being young and stupid, I never gave any thought to eye protection. When I was finished w/the pistons I noticed 20 or 30 pieces of wire from the wheel stuck into the wall. I then realized that if one of them wires had decided to evade the wall and attack one of my eyes I would have been in serious trouble, not to mention pain. That sure smartened me up. When needed, I’ve been using eye protection ever since.

Protect your eyes, “ONLY ONE PAIR TO A CUSTOMER”

Years later I worked in a large hospital in the maintenance department. I was told about an electrician that had worked there, one day he was sharpening his knife on a small bench grinder in the electrical shop. The blade of the knife snapped and the broken piece hit him in the chest, penetrated between the ribs and entered his heart. This was in the basement of the hospital. By the time they got him to the emergency ward he was dead.
Just goes to show ya, you just never know.[/quote]

sounds like one of my mother in laws storys