Thread: Wire Wheel
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Old 10-07-2015, 08:15 AM
Flatheadsmith Flatheadsmith is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: al
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Default Wire Wheel

Several years ago I was using 6" or 7" flat wire wheel on a Black&Decker Wildcat to clean some welds, the guard shield was removed. Usually I use a full face shield, heavy long sleeve shirt, and jeans, and that day was no different. Later that evening, while taking a shower, my wash rag sort of hung up on the middle of my thigh. I felt around and something very pointed was barely just sticking out from my skin, and all the sudden I was aware that my leg did hurt a little, but I had been ignoring it. I got out of the shower and found a pair of needle nose pliers and grabbed the object and pulled it out. It was a full length, about 1-1/2" long, slightly spiraled wire from the wire wheel.

After that not only did I make sure to wear a full face shield, I also wore safety glasses and a leather apron, whenever using a wire wheel. I have determined that the wire wheel is one of the most dangerous common tools used in metal work. Many time the metal guard/shield on these grinders is removed which is necessary for some operations, but then we never put it afterwords even when it not in the way and that is a mistake. An option might be to take another guard/shield and cut it down smaller, or better yet use your fab skills to make a custom one, because one can seldom use the full diameter of the disk, and something is better than nothing at all. Another option is to have a several grinders, and have one set aside without the shield for those special occasions.
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Last edited by Flatheadsmith; 10-08-2015 at 09:49 AM. Reason: grammer
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