DIY death

[Newshound]

And so cheap now! The very thought of making one! The first 115 mm I bought cost two weeks wages.

[daddyfreddy]

I use them but I take every precaution with them. I consider myself a very competent DIY'er but I've had a few incidents where the blade has kicked back. Luckily, I always handle the grinder such that I'm not in the line of fire.

I'm certainly not one for government creating measures to clampdown on DIY'ers but I think it's crazy that people can hire these things from hire shops without any real knowledge of how dangerous they can be.

[ARWadsworth]

The moral, I guess, is *never* use an angle grinder without a

Personally I thought the moral was "do not build your own angle grider using a lawnmower motor"

Adam

[robkgraham]

In some ways I support what you say particularly as using one killed my father, but I do still use them and just treat them with the respect any power tool must be given.

My father, in his late 70's was using one to cut a plate of steel and didn't spot that when the groove he was cutting went through there was an intense spray of sparks - this set fire to wood shavings which in turn set fire to a plastic container ( we think) of white spirit. He regretably didn't survive the resulting explosion.

So far I've managed to survive what could be defined as a Darwin award type incident but at 79 he was possibly not that switched on to a little bit of lateral thinking. It happened long enough ago that I can rationalise totally about it now, but I do keep all inflammible liquids well away from the work shop and the house.

By the way I found the other day that the garden leaf sucker is a great way for clearing up shavings !!

Rob

[ARWadsworth]

I will keep a look out in the paper to see what the inquest decides on the cause of the accident.

The thought of connecting a blade to a lawnmower motor beggars belief.

Adam

[Mark]

I was under the impression that that's how most lawnmowers worked :)

[:::Jerry::::]

grider using

....unless you know what you are doing, have done all the speed calculations and incorporate all the required safety measures.

A lawn mower engine is just a source of revolutions, just as an electric motor is.

[:::Jerry::::]

belief.

Presumably so does connecting one to an electric motor?

The problem is the RPM, not the source or the revolutions....

[ARWadsworth]

I do suspect that my spell check changed disk to blade :)

Adam

[:::Jerry::::]

Oops, bloody typo's...

Should read; The problem is the RPM, not the source OF the revolutions....

[Badger]

Depends on the type of disc, the sintered diamond blades we use for glass at work loose chunks when certain fools abuse them!

[Badger]

Theres no fool like an old fool...

[Bob Eager]

Indeed...especially when the disc you are rotating is a five foot diameter table, strengthened with steel tube, with blades made out of cut out pieces of washing machine casing....

(assuming someone else also saw Mechannibals tonight...). They considered it (with attached gas cylinder and flamethrower) so dangerous they operated it behind a safety fence.

[david lang]

On the subject of angle grinders, any thoughts on cutting a dead straight line accurately?

Witha circular saw, router, jigsaw you can use a straight edge to make sure the cut is spot on

Can you do this with an angle grinder?

And why are they called 'angle grinders'?

Dave

[Chip]

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 22:10:40 GMT,it is alleged that "david lang" spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

As I understand it (I could be wrong) it is simply because the disk is at a 90 degree angle to the motor shaft, as opposed to the normal layout of say, an electric drill.

This arrangement allows you to get the disk into smaller places than would be possible with a conventional arrangement, and also changes the torque from a twisting of the tool's body, to a 'bucking', which probably makes it easier to predict in which direction the tool will fly when it catches .

[Andrew Gabriel]

The giroscopic effect of two rotational axis at right angles (disc and motor armature) probably results in a far more stable tool too.

[Dave Liquorice]

Didn't know anything about that programme, well trailed obviously, will have to keep an eye open for it.

Did see Scrapheap Challange, oo that was some chopper to cleanly split a sleeper across the grain.

[Chris Bacon]

They can *buy* one for about 20 quid.

[Chris Bacon]

'cos they're used to grind angles, being used extensively in welding.

[Chris Bacon]

That *is* how it would be with a drill, think of a sanding disc.

It should not "catch". If it does, you've done something wrong.