Angle-Grinder alert - Nearly lost a leg

Why would a fireman who has "used power tools for decades" use such a saw attachment with the switch locked on?

I wonder whether "locked at full speed" is journalistic hyperbole or whether it's what the fireman really did say and mean. Even if the angle grinder had a spring-loaded switch which turned off as soon as the grinder kicked out of his hands, it would take a long time to stop because I doubt whether that sort of tool has an emergency brake. That is one reason why the saw blade and angle grinder are not compatible - no emergency brake like you'd get on (for example) a chain saw.

The switch on my Black & Decker angle grinder locks on. You have to press it in a different way to turn it off. The wheel also always wants to turn at full speed as it lacks any form of speed control.

Firemen genuinely have a much lower sense of self preservation then the general public. Would you rush into a burning building when everyone else is rushing to get out

I've often wondered why angle grinders don't at least have a no-volt cut out. I am always careful to check that mine is turned off before plugging it in, but it would be easy to make a mistake.

Why would an experienced DIY'er even buy such an attachement at all?

on 27/07/2021, Andrew supposed :

I suppose because they're on the shelves, there are safer types of carving discs, this guy is normally pretty careful and promotes safety in his videos

It sounds like those horrendous power tool kits in the 1970s that had a weedy mains drill and a variety of attachments to turn it into a circular saw, angle grinder, polisher, food mixer, baby rocker and petrol pump.

Owain

I remember those. My dad had a well-shielded attachment for a circular saw blade: I think the housing was locked and needed a release button to open it, so in theory if it fell out of your hand, the shield would have locked by the time it fell onto your leg. In theory. Then he had another attachment which converted it into an orbital sander, with the sandpaper held on a plate that was linked to the housing by rubber mountings which allowed the plate to move side-to-side in all directions, with an eccentric weight driven by the drill which vibrated the plate.

That sander worked a *lot* better than modern orbital mouse sanders which suffer badly because they rely on Velcro to attach the sandpaper to the vibrating plate (and the Velcro loses its adhesion very quickly) rather than using rollers which tighten it and fasten it securely. Mouse sanders also suffer because the mass of the sander is so small (to make the appliance light-weight) that the body of the sander moves as much as the sandpaper - the old action and reaction problem.

Even earlier than that. I remember doing an essay at primary school about them (really!)

That would place it at very late 1950s.

Contrary to what the storey implies, I suspect this was not some cobbled together lashup, but a designed for the purpose angle grinder chain based carving disc designed for rough shaping and very fast removal of material.

They do have a habit of grabbing and need using very carefully, and only for some types of "cut".

In reality they are a poor choice since there are some much better carving and shaping / planing discs about that behave much better and produce a much better finish.

The user however should take some of the blame for not wearing appropriate PPE for handing chainsaws (ballistic nylon leggings, and protected footwear especially).

Its a bit like those drill circular saw attachments, they were pretty lethal if the one wing nut cam a bit loose, I can assure you. Brian

He was interviewed on "Greatest Hits Radio - Sussex" and said "I was using it to cut up some tree branches in the garden "

What a berk. Surely the implement that should come to hand immediately is an axe, or better still a simple bandsaw ?

They don't rush in. They assess the situation first.

Same here on my lovely Makita

The same thing happened to my arm. I felt uneasy about it. I should have known better.