One for the angle grinder users…

Safety equipment is worth wearing (although it was less effective for my mate who got kick back on a grinder and only realised how seriously he was injured when the right eyepiece on his goggles filled with blood).

He no longer needs to wear the baseball cap as the glasses now have a built in visor.

Those discs rotate at 15,000 rpm. I only ever bought one cheap one, never again.

That’s why goggles are secondary protection and you should be visored over your safety glasses when grinding.

One of the few things I’m religious about.

I hate angle grinders.

And because of the speed it need to be goggles / visor. Glasses aren’t rated for impacts of those speeds.

THanks :-/

Probably been a bit complacent with mine. I am religious about holding it so my face isn’t in line with the disc, though.

I hate angle grinders.

Add circular saws and chainsaws to that for me too.

That’s why goggles are secondary protection and you should be visored over your safety glasses when grinding.

One of the few things I’m religious about.

Any recommendations for a visor?

Have to confess just been using mine with normal distance vision glasses on, possibly time to invest in something sturdier….

I have a bolle something or other. What ever work orders. safety is a core culture so applies at home too…..their safety equipment that is 🙂

That makes me feel sick…!

Hate anything near my eyes.

Many years ago I was working alone on a job in north Essex. Got a lump of plasterboard in my eye and had to drive to the hospital. Was f-in agony and bloody dangerous!

You only ever get a spark off a grinder in your eye once .. ooww owww ooowww
Then I nearly prematurely ended my modelling career with a 10″ cutter , using it like a bench saw , very deep into a slot when it snaggged- and the disc promptly sheared off and shot across the yard at a rate of knots, fortunatly away from me
In hospital ward the guy across from me put a 12″ petrol grinder into his bicep cutting down a concrete fence panel, it bit on some rebar and jumped back at him. He was very lucky it was on a slight diagonal and not full depth , and there were people around who knew enough to stop major blood loss. He was waiting for op #3 iirc to sort out the damage

Bloody hell. I love an angle grinder me. You do get complacent though.

On a related note, I was using a Festool Domino machine the other week, and using it at different depths. Went to cut a domino into the side of a cupboard carcass that was built up, supporting it on the other side.

You guessed it, forgot to set it back to the shallower depth. My right ring finger didn’t thank me. Luckily only superficial.

Any recommendations for a visor?

Honeywell Bionic Polycarbonate , best one I’ve used . Gives good protection to the neck too

I am religious about holding it so my face isn’t in line with the disc, though.

This.

Yikes. I’ll admit to being a bit blase about using mine but I’ll not be touching it until I get some proper safety specs now!

Hmm, as with bike helmets, if he hadn’t been wearing the goggles that piece of blade would have given his eye more space and not hit him.
I never wear Goggles and despite losing an eye, I have never had any injuries😉

Out of interest OP, did the grinder have the guard fitted?

no idea sorry – I nicked the images off Twitter.

seems a good place to ask about safety gear.

I have tried several types of goggle and dust mask progressive getting more expensive. I always steam up and can barely see. yesterday I was cutting a cast iron soil pipe. in the end I just used a visor no googles as I couldn’t see anything and thought it was a lesser risk than losing fingers. can’t be the only one that has this issue.

have even tried swimming Google’s when in the loft. even those steamed up.

That’s why they teach you to wear a face shield on an abrasive wheel course.

Honeywell Bionic Polycarbonate , best one I’ve used . Gives good protection to the neck too

Ta, ordered one!

Always check the expiry date stamped on the centre ring of each and every disc before fitting it. The epoxy adhesive used to bond the discs has a shelf life.

Following my abrasive wheels course a few years ago, I ended up binning a lot of discs that were past their expiry date.

Bolle ‘yellow’ goggles here over the top of my normal glasses.

Die grinders are especially bad for exploding/flinging crap out at supersonic speed.

Also saw this one on Instagram I think (Jay Bates reposted it).

It does have the hint of a set up, but effective nonetheless if we’re all trying to be safer..!

I have some sight loss as a result of a sports injury. So I’m always pretty careful. But being a spectacles wearer I do admit that when sawing and drilling I tend to rely on those. I always use a visor with the angle grinder..!

*heads off to Screwfix to look at over specs safety goggles*

#whatwouldnormabramsay

i just got a vairable speed bosch

very nice turned down slow! not for cutting stuff obvs

As a glasses wearer, tend to wear one of these for discs/chainsaw/circular saw, the sweatband is all knackered so I’ve been using googles recently so this is a good reminder to get a replacement 🙂

https://www.screwfix.com/p/jsp-evo3-evo3-comfort-machinery-helmet-with-ear-defenders-visor/50707

Fyi if your not doing mega grinding a battery powered one might be a better/safer option.

I have an 18v Bosch blue I use for quick jobs or for working in tight spaces or places I don’t want cables pulling down on me after borrowing my dad’s for a job.

It stalls rather than kicking back or shattering disks when you get it wrong.

My 800w mains Makita just shreads disks if you get it wrong.

^ Makita now has a new option for their mains grinders, called SJS, supposed to be vibration damping mechanism and anti-binding/kickback clutch. I have not tried it and obviously costs a bit extra.

I made the mistake of not wearing protective eyewear when using an angle grinder. It was a quick job so just got the grinder out to cut a piece of angle iron. I caught a piece of metal in my eye. It just watered a bit to begin with but within a few days was agony so a trip to A&E.
They put a dye in my eye to highlight the track it had taken and then dragged it back along the same track with a magnet, ouch! Needless to say the eyewear is always worn now and often an automatic welding mask.

those thin cutting discs are lethal, especially the ones you get in thailand. You need to keep them dead straight and have to start slowly- no bashing into metal with them. I wouldnt let my mate use one.
I always try to use a full face mask with a grinder, after once I was wearing goggles, but a tiny shard of metal got round them and into my eyeball.
In the hospital they used a microscope to see the metal and dig it out with a needle

Just ordered a visor. My heavy circular saw, angle grinder and (as yet unused) dremel all give me the heebie-jeebies. Hearing loss I could sort of cope with but sight loss would be catastrophic. A woodworker I know had an expensive blade disintegrate on a grinder, he nearly lost his thumb, so it’s not just the cheap ones that go.

Fyi if your not doing mega grinding a battery powered one might be a better/safer option.

I have an 18v Bosch blue I use for quick jobs or for working in tight spaces or places I don’t want cables pulling down on me after borrowing my dad’s for a job.

It stalls rather than kicking back or shattering disks when you get it wrong.

Yep this is the one I’ve got, you have to feed it gently to the material else it just stalls. Still cuts a 16mm D lock in seconds though!

Bolle have a quick guide to safety eyewear including the markings (via EN166) that tells you what they are designed for. Eg basic ‘safety specs’ will not be rated for high energy impacts, so useless for grinder usage etc etc. Handy to understand when you buy specs and goggles.

https://www.bolle-safety.com/page/quality-and-certification

A woodworker I know had an expensive blade disintegrate on a grinder,

an arbotech blade by any chance. Holey cow they’re bad when they go. Working indoors theres more than one chance to get hit by them too as they bounce off the walls a few times until they hit something soft. Baffles me that they are even for sale.

Bolle have a quick guide to safety eyewear including the markings (via EN166) that tells you what they are designed for.

Good link, just ordered some of these:

https://www.bolle-safety.com/reference/baxpsi

At least the proper two stroke ones have a safety clutch!

Electric ones can be lethal. Although I’ve used them hundreds of times and still have all my limbs, face and eyeballs intact.

I use a visor an glasses. Used to think I was being unusually careful – but very glad others are too.

Wow, that’s unbelievable! I only wear glasses for circular saw and dremel, rarely use my angle grinder

Maybe I need a visor…

I might be a little complacent but I use a grinder most days with 1mm cutting discs and rarely have anything more than a snag, I think in twenty years only one or two have let go, and even then they have shred into tiny pieces.
I always use a full face screen.