Face shield

[Alawishes]

I have to admit I don’t always wear proper eye protection when milling or turning because I wear glasses but ALWAYS a face mask when grinding. Yesterday I had to grind away a bit of concrete in a basement project and (although I might have caused it) my 7” concrete side grinder disk blew up at 8000 rpm. It broke the clear plastic of the face shield and permanently deformed the hard plastic frame enough to put a 1.5”x.5” laceration into my forehead above one eye. Lots of blood, like any head wound, and I’m now sporting 5 blue stitches (my favourite colour). No muscle damage so I can still frown . To this point I had always looked at a face shield as a means to keep grit or small particles out of my eyes but had not considered flying chunks of this mass. I can’t think of what mistake I might have made but I do know this: I’m a very lucky guy. Let the flaming begin.
Cheers, al.

 

[matthewsx]

PPE, this is why you wear it....

John

 

[GeneT45]

Yee-ikes! Glad you're (mostly) OK.

GsT

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Damn!

 

[Aaron_W]

PPE is mostly a hassle but when it does its job you do appreciate it.

I imagine you would have needed a lot more than 5 stitches without the faceshield.

 

[GrifterGuru]

Reminds me of when I had a wire wheel in my grinder to remove paint from an old bicycle frame before a welding repair. Decided to wear the goggles I had literally purchased only an hour earlier (when you could get such things locally around here!) over my glasses.

Was outside minding my own business using the grinder in a safe space to be, when some stupid kid decided to kick the grinder lead, which in turn jerked the grinder and caused it to kick, catch, spin 180 on its axis and up into the goggles. Was filming at the time and it caught it all.

Walked away with a fair graze on my cheek bone and upper cheek area. Kid was not so fortunate! Dragged to parents, police involved for assult (ABH) and kid ended yup with a record for assult just because they "thought it was a bit of fun" to kick a bit of wire they had no business going out of their way to kick. Parents paid me out a sum to compensate me, not that I wanted it at the time. It was an unusual move here in the UK, though I did state that only time will tell if permenant damage was done and accepting what the offered me was not an agreement not to sue, but a payment towards pain & suffering and creams to ensure no scarring (easier to buy out of pocket than go and get it from a quack).

A&E staff commented on how lucky I was given the tool that was involved. They cleaned and treated the area, gave me some cream to ward of infection during the healing process and sent me on my way.

 

[benmychree]

No pain killers ????

 

[GrifterGuru]

No pain killers ????

Single malt Whisky took care of what little pain there was.

 

[C-Bag]

I have to admit I don’t always wear proper eye protection when milling or turning because I wear glasses but ALWAYS a face mask when grinding. Yesterday I had to grind away a bit of concrete in a basement project and (although I might have caused it) my 7” concrete side grinder disk blew up at 8000 rpm. It broke the clear plastic of the face shield and permanently deformed the hard plastic frame enough to put a 1.5”x.5” laceration into my forehead above one eye. Lots of blood, like any head wound, and I’m now sporting 5 blue stitches (my favourite colour). No muscle damage so I can still frown . To this point I had always looked at a face shield as a means to keep grit or small particles out of my eyes but had not considered flying chunks of this mass. I can’t think of what mistake I might have made but I do know this: I’m a very lucky guy. Let the flaming begin.
Cheers, al.

No flame here. Glad you are ok. Was it one of those metal diamond disks made for grinding cement or a aluminum oxide?

I’m glad my 7th grade metal shop teacher taught us if you’re not scared when using a power tool you shouldn’t be using it. Angle grinders are especially dangerous because of the high rpm’s and the torque. Along with that the possibility of the disk exploding. I’ve seen too many of them with the guard removed. I have cut mine down a little for clearance but not eliminated it and the side handle is always there for better control and always use it for heavy grinding or cutting. I also inspect my disk before every use and if the unit is dropped toss the disk. I’ve never had one come apart but the possibility it alway foremost in my mind. Face shields are a lot stronger than you think.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

I have to admit I don’t always wear proper eye protection when milling or turning because I wear glasses but ALWAYS a face mask when grinding. Yesterday I had to grind away a bit of concrete in a basement project and (although I might have caused it) my 7” concrete side grinder disk blew up at 8000 rpm. It broke the clear plastic of the face shield and permanently deformed the hard plastic frame enough to put a 1.5”x.5” laceration into my forehead above one eye. Lots of blood, like any head wound, and I’m now sporting 5 blue stitches (my favourite colour). No muscle damage so I can still frown . To this point I had always looked at a face shield as a means to keep grit or small particles out of my eyes but had not considered flying chunks of this mass. I can’t think of what mistake I might have made but I do know this: I’m a very lucky guy. Let the flaming begin.
Cheers, al.

All we can do is our best, I wear my welding helmet in grinding mode when using hard grinding and cutting disk and I have a face shield for the bench grinder, would I have fared any better? likely not. I am glad you were not injured worse.