>Ouch< well, almost...

Years ago I was using a 4.5" grinding disk in the angle grinder a bit too aggressively when it shattered completely. The fragments mostly hit me in the chest and I was wearing several layers but it was one hell of a thud. If it had been my face it would have been a very sorry story. Do I wear face PPE now - yes. I even bought full face shields!

Had a 4 1/2" cut off wheel explode taking a small corner of a finger with it. Through a leather glove. Pics provided upon request. The interesting thing is it happened in a closed garage and no pieces have ever been found, must have went to powder.

I am very wary of angle grinders these days. A couple of years back, I was using one with a sanding disc attached. The person for whom I was doing the job told that I was holding it all wrongly and showed me how to do it "properly". The thing promptly snagged and kicked back into my face: "properly" is not the same, it seems, if you are left-handed like me..........

James.

I'm not left handed, but I am pretty cack-handed. And this for me is the most important thing.

It's beyond all that by-rote run-of-the-mill H&S standard speak.

1) If you've not thought about it, don't do it.

2) If you've thought about it and you're not happy about it (that includes situations where use of mandatory safety kit is it's-self the problem), don't do it.

3) If you're confident that it's O.K. to do the thing you thought about; don't worry about it, because the worry will distract you and cause you to have an accident.

4) If you're experienced with welding, upside-down on the end of a rope, nude, inside of a half filled petrol tank, and you're still alive, you must be pretty smart; because there is nothing else keeping you alive.

Of the grinding disk of the finger?

Heard a nasty tale about a little toe yesterday. Someone thought they needed a stitch in their toe and went to work before going to hospital. Not enough blood getting through, so amputation.

Neil