Tool Talk

[Greenpeace]

Gee, would've been good to be a fly on the wall in that household that night.

Oh it gets better. About 2 weeks later he was working on his old Valiant up the side of his house. His wife was standing inside the open passenger door next to the house.
He leant in through the driver's window to start it, and it was already in reverse. The car fired up and shot backwards, she got her arm pinned between the door and the house.
Broke both her radius and ulna.
She was actually a very lovely lady, so I don't think he was intentionally trying to do her in.

 

[Peter C]

Blimey, this bloke must have had a death wish, matrimonially speaking.

 

[seasink]

Presumably he also removed the guard from the grinder to fit the worn but still oversized disc.

 

[DoubleChevron]

Presumably he also removed the guard from the grinder to fit the worn but still oversized disc.

I don't understand people that remove the guard from grinders. I've to many wheels disintegrate on me to even dream of removing that guard!

 

[shibuichi]

One of my old training buddies showed up after his hospital ED clinical session saying he spent the afternoon trying to convince a dude he couldn't get a couple stitches and go straight back to work because his intestines were visible through the internal fascia. Dude had been cutting some kind of sheet material with an angle grinder, the grinder grabbed a reinforcing wire and slashed it through all the abominal fat and muscle layers, within millimetres of disembowelling the dude.

 

[Greenpeace]

I had a patient who was a diesel fitter. He was working at home shortening the tray on his Landcruiser with a 9" angle grinder.
It kicked back on him, cut his nose in half dead center and partially split his lower jaw.
He was a big lad too, 6'2 and around 110 kg, no guard on the grinder.

I know my son's employer has banned 9" angle grinders. Not sure how widespread that policy is in workplaces?

 

[Beano]

Lovely stories Now I feel like making myself a Medieval battle shield to hold between me and the work !

 

[Greenpeace]

Presumably he also removed the guard from the grinder to fit the worn but still oversized disc.

Yes no guard, IIRC the worn out 9" inch discs were still about 5" in diameter.
The center bore was also bigger, he was just lining them up by eye, then tightening the flanges.
What could possibly go wrong......oh wait.

 

[COL]

Yes no guard, IIRC the worn out 9" inch discs were still about 5" in diameter.
The center bore was also bigger, he was just lining them up by eye, then tightening the flanges.
What could possibly go wrong......oh wait.

I have seen used 9" grinding wheels and cutting discs used in 5" grinders, the centre holes are the same size.

 

[shibuichi]

Uncle Sam’s Rule is applicable to all rotating tools: never have your body parts inline with the tool’s rotation.
Sam was a great teacher. He just had to hold up the hand that was missing a finger tip to convince us kids to stay clear of the table saw blade (his appy pulled the panel too fast.) Even the best quality blade can throw a tip and you do not want your skull to intercept.

 

[Greenpeace]

I have seen used 9" grinding wheels and cutting discs used in 5" grinders, the centre holes are the same size.

This was a 4" grinder, and about 35 years ago.
There used to be two different popular bore sizes back then on 4" grinders, (16mm and 22mm IIRC) he had the smaller one.
Don't know about these days, I haven't owned a grinder that small for at least 25 years.

 

[shibuichi]

Cars, guns and power tools are all lethal weapons. If handled with respect then no one gets hurt.

 

[COL]

This was a 4" grinder, and about 35 years ago.
There used to be two different popular bore sizes back then on 4" grinders, (16mm and 22mm IIRC) he had the smaller one.
Don't know about these days, I haven't owned a grinder that small for at least 25 years.

I still have a 4" grinder, had it for about 36 years. I think it has the smaller shaft, there are adapter rings to fill the gap for the larger size wheels.

 

[Peter C]

Lovely stories Now I feel like making myself a Medieval battle shield to hold between me and the work !

With chain mail overalls.

 

[Greenpeace]

Uncle Sam’s Rule is applicable to all rotating tools: never have your body parts inline with the tool’s rotation.
Sam was a great teacher. He just had to hold up the hand that was missing a finger tip to convince us kids to stay clear of the table saw blade (his appy pulled the panel too fast.) Even the best quality blade can throw a tip and you do not want your skull to intercept.

I remember watching a documentary on making katanas in Japan.
It went through the forging process then the sword was sent to a sword sharpener for final finishing.
The old guy doing it had sharpened swords for a living for his entire life, and looked about 90 in the shade.
He did 12 steps of sharpening and used different grades of stone from all over Japan, and the final two steps were done with pastes that looked similar to fine valve grinding paste.
Everything applied by hand, sitting cross legged in a kimono.
Now all this sounds rather fascinating, but the thing I recall the most was that he was missing a couple of fingers off each hand.
Whoopsie daisy.

 

[Andrew Watkins]

I remember watching a documentary on making katanas in Japan.
It went through the forging process then the sword was sent to a sword sharpener for final finishing.
The old guy doing it had sharpened swords for a living for his entire life, and looked about 90 in the shade.
He did 12 steps of sharpening and used different grades of stone from all over Japan, and the final two steps were done with pastes that looked similar to fine valve grinding paste.
Everything applied by hand, sitting cross legged in a kimono.
Now all this sounds rather fascinating, but the thing I recall the most was that he was missing a couple of fingers off each hand.
Whoopsie daisy.

If you‘ve ever used a Japanese kitchen knife you‘ll know why, they are awesome, but you don‘t want to make a mistake

They are, however, so sharp that it is harder to make a mistake

Still doing my maths in base 10, but watch this space

Andrew

 

[Fordman]

Get the tissue out - this will make your eyes water. Old mate (yes, he really was my old schoolmate) now experienced carpenter and roofer. This is about 15 years ago. His work uniform was footy shorts and thongs. Using an angle grinder (I think he said it was an 8"), it had guard on it, but he put it on the ground before it stopped rotating. It spun around on the ground and severed his Achilles tendon, ooouuch. He spent 6 months in a wheelchair. Didn't stop him wearing thongs on the job, easier to climb on the roof timbers he reckoned.

 

[Greenpeace]

If you‘ve ever used a Japanese kitchen knife you‘ll know why, they are awesome, but you don‘t want to make a mistake

I have a couple of Japanese made, live katanas.
I do a fair amount of tameshigiri with them.
They are quite sharp.

 

[Greenpeace]

Get the tissue out - this will make your eyes water. Old mate (yes, he really was my old schoolmate) now experienced carpenter and roofer. This is about 15 years ago. His work uniform was footy shorts and thongs. Using an angle grinder (I think he said it was an 8"), it had guard on it, but he put it on the ground before it stopped rotating. It spun around on the ground and severed his Achilles tendon, ooouuch. He spent 6 months in a wheelchair. Didn't stop him wearing thongs on the job, easier to climb on the roof timbers he reckoned.

My engineer mate goes off his chops if any of his workers put an angle grinder down, disc first.
They have to put them down on their backs.
I'm never in hurry at home, so I just wait until it stops spinning.

 

[Greenpeace]

I've been having some trouble with my fixed amp CIG welder for a couple of years now.
The thing is 35 years old, and sometimes it will lay down a nice weld, and other times it is as frustrating as f#ck.
I just put it down to old age (the welder, not me).
Well I was packing it up this morning and the earth clamp fell off the lead.
The copper was all blackened, corroded and crumbling, and I had to shorten the lead by about 3 inches before I hit nice bright copper again.
Hopefully my welding will be more consistent going forward.
Sometimes it's the simplest of things.