Forewarned!! Pics a little gruesome...

[REDD]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

I and the men that work for me use grinders daily.
One quick horror story.
We had all gotten new metal wheels when they first came out around 2013.
That same day the metal wheel didn't disintegrate like a fibre wheel when it got pinched and that man was fatigued from holding a grinder most of the day.
When that grinder came loose from his hands?
we were inside a huge ass boiler on top of 40' of scaffold.
It took one nut,75 stitches belly to chest and 33 across his face.
Granted we use 6-7000 rpm grinders.
At the time we did not have them?
Now we have grinders that have brakes for the motor and what we call deadman switches.
More of a pistol grip style and more comfortable for all day use. But if your fingers not on the trigger it's not spinning within 3-seconds.
Safety wise
Don't buy a grinder that runs without your finger on the trigger.
The metal cutting wheels keep you from changing wheels as you go but the cost of a metal wheel and how long it doesnt last?
Still cheaper to buy the fibre wheels and change them. My opinion?
But I do govt work so any little fracture crack in any grinder/saw blade doesn't pass the ping test daily it is gone. I have other jobs to wear them out on? Like a bus or something.
Safety first
If a grinder pinches then that momentum is going to in the direction of where the blade is turning.
If your eating sparks then your safe.

What kind of metal wheels are talking about...2013? I've been using cut off wheels for more than 12 years. There are quite a few different manufactures of them, Walter seems to last the longest for me. The cheap off shore ones don't last worth $#!t. Friend of ours has had them explode quite a few times...forcing them to do things they weren't supposed to do.


Glad to see you're on the mend Bob, take care.

[johnboy]

Thank-you Brewerbob for a timely lesson on personal safety.
I've been using grinders/cut-off wheels for somewhere around forty years. Maybe more
Whilst on one of our rare visits to 'civilisation' last Monday I went and bought myself a full-face helmet. The first one I've ever owned.
Your thread gave me the incentive I needed. Thanks for that; and I hope you heal quickly.
johnboy.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

If your eating sparks then your safe.

Lol that scares the gf more than the noise.

Originally Posted by REDD

What kind of metal wheels are talking about...2013?

Glad to see you're on the mend Bob, take care.

The cutting blades are made of metal is what he's saying. I'm glad I wasn't using one of these.






Thx.

Originally Posted by johnboy

I've been using grinders/cut-off wheels for somewhere around forty years.

Your thread gave me the incentive I needed.

Excellent.

Healing nicely except for one damn eyelash!! I've got one that points straight down most times. It's the sometimes that's annoying. The sometimes, it's pointing inward. An eyelash "stuck" in your eye all day ... it has to be some kind of Chinese torture or something.

For the hardcore that haven't been persuaded to update their PPE, I should post the medical bills. An injury can hurt. This one didn't. The paperwork is a different kind of pain in the a$$. I've got some damn E.R. doctor that is charging 70 minutes of "Observation", "Supervision of care plan" and "periodic reassessments".

1) I was an E.R. to E.R. transfer. Pictures arrived long before I did. I sat in the first E.R. for 3 hours waiting for a transport that I tried to decline.

2) He introduced himself, ordered a CT scan, and I never saw the son of a bltch again.

3) For that 70 minutes, I was parked in front of the nurses desk providing comic relief for their evening.

I damn sure not paying him $500 for that.

The transport took 3 hrs to show and cost $1163. Uber would have been cheaper. The guy that brought me to the E.R. was still there. Could have made the trip ourselves in 45 minutes.

Both E.R.s left me sitting without even bothering to give me any gauze to wipe the tearing and weeping blood from my cheek. They didn't even gauze the eye. itself. The first E.R. shipped me off with Ashley's paperwork; a female E.R. patient that was having a much worse night than I was. Transport had to turn back for my paperwork. Seems the E.R. staff was having trouble finding Ashley's chart. I'm pretty sure that's a HIPPA violation and last I checked patients were allowed to refuse treatment which should cover transport.

[abwetzel63]

Hopefully you challenged the charges. Hospitals, and especially ERs are noted for padding expenses in order to cover all the people who don't pay.

And then there's the dreaded anesthesiologist or other specialist who bills you 6 months after.

Hope you healed up A-Okay.

Worse injury I ever did to myself was using a very long knife to split frozen hamburger patties. I know, stupid, right? Shoved that knife right through my left pinky. So hied myself off to the ER, they freaked as I was bleeding pretty well. ER doc cleaned the wound on the inside of the finger, checked for nerve and tendon damage, and sewed it up and pronounced me done. I held up my hand, shot blood all over him and asked, "What about the other side?" Dillweed... Fortunately the knife was dullish so it was a penetrating trauma and not a slicing/cutting trauma, unlike the time I stuck a big Xacto blade into my leg 1/4" from Mr. Femoral Artery..

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by abwetzel63

Hopefully you challenged the charges. Hospitals, and especially ERs are noted for padding expenses in order to cover all the people who don't pay.

I called the hospital and complained. Johns Hopkins is supposed to be world famous and care. Surprise, shock, disbelief.. they are in it for the money like everyone else regardless of the awards.

I called the insurance company. Their advice was "pay the bill and we'll get back to you". Billing shows up on the insurance website and the hospital website. The insurance site won't even take a credit card. My HSA is thru a credit card. I don't have a routing and account number!! Their advice on that was "call the hospital." They don't control that. The just pass the money thru. Then why is it I have insurance at all?!!?!

Thx Obama Care. My insurance is soooo much better and cheaper than it was in the '90s and '00s. : insert Rated R smilies here for the hate I have for everything medical related:

And then there's the dreaded anesthesiologist or other specialist who bills you 6 months after.

Luckily none of those in my case. The doc did locals of lidocaine (sp). The only thing "late" was the transport bill which was a couple of weeks after the rest. I've got them all now.

Hope you healed up A-Okay.

Doc was talking plastic surgery in a year. Um, I highly doubt I'm keeping the 1 yr follow up since I'm getting charged for it. Speaking of, get this:

First follow-up was a month and should have covered removing the stitches. All but one were already out on their own. She said to leave the last one in. The second follow-up was supposed to decide if more plastic surgery was needed. She deferred for another year.

The first follow-up was a higher charge to the insurance company. The second follow-up was less but I was charged more. What the hell??? All she did was take pictures both times.

Fortunately the knife was dullish so it was a penetrating trauma and not a slicing/cutting trauma, unlike the time I stuck a big Xacto blade into my leg 1/4" from Mr. Femoral Artery..

Clean cuts are easier to stitch.

[ComfortEagle]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

So, if you are continuing on, you've been warned...

Bob, I am obviously late to this thread but after reading and looking I am compelled to share...

A few year ago I was attempting to remove a part from a car. The fasteners on the part were not cooperating so I broke out an angle grinder. Below is a pic of the results.

The only thing that saved me from a much worse outcome was a pair of glasses; not safety glasses, just an ordinary pair of prescription glasses. The angle grinder kicked back and hit my glasses.

The impact pushed a lens out of the glasses frame and embedded the lens in my face. As I came out from under the car I was sure that my face was completely chewed up... Stupid...

Funny thing is while I was under the car I didn't feel right; I knew I wasn't being safe... I should have listened...

[david.dgeorge07]

Ouch!!! You are very lucky!