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Angle grinder accident.
Yesterday I had an accident with the angle grinder.
I was using it to cut a piece of bedframe. I made several mistakes.
1. The cut-off wheel had been shedding chunks off of the edge, making it rough instead of relatively smooth. I knew this and kept using it.
2. I was not wearing gloves of any sort.
3. I was holding the piece of metal in my left hand and the grinder in my right hand instead of clamping the metal in a vice and holding the grinder with both hands.
Long story short, the cut-off wheel caught in the metal and grabbed it. It threw the piece of metal a few feet away, and pulled my hand into the cutting wheel. Lacking gloves, flesh met the grinding wheel and the results were not pretty.
As bad as this looks, it could have been a lot worse. I may have a scar from this. But I have all my fingers still, and didn't need to go to the hospital.
I threw away the defective cut-off wheel. Even if I had been inclined to reuse it, after I shut off the grinder I dropped it on the ground, so the wheel took an impact. Using it again would be suicidal, as it's likely to have fractures in it and would fly apart at the grinder's speed of 11500 RPM.
I'll be more careful in the future. I knew better than to be this cavalier with a power tool. But familiarity breeds complacency, and complacency leads to getting your hand mangled.
By the way, it was a Dewalt brand wheel. Dewalt is supposed to be a good brand, so maybe the wheel I used was from a bad batch. But I can't blame the wheel. This is entirely my fault.
I was using it to cut a piece of bedframe. I made several mistakes.
1. The cut-off wheel had been shedding chunks off of the edge, making it rough instead of relatively smooth. I knew this and kept using it.
2. I was not wearing gloves of any sort.
3. I was holding the piece of metal in my left hand and the grinder in my right hand instead of clamping the metal in a vice and holding the grinder with both hands.
Long story short, the cut-off wheel caught in the metal and grabbed it. It threw the piece of metal a few feet away, and pulled my hand into the cutting wheel. Lacking gloves, flesh met the grinding wheel and the results were not pretty.
As bad as this looks, it could have been a lot worse. I may have a scar from this. But I have all my fingers still, and didn't need to go to the hospital.
I threw away the defective cut-off wheel. Even if I had been inclined to reuse it, after I shut off the grinder I dropped it on the ground, so the wheel took an impact. Using it again would be suicidal, as it's likely to have fractures in it and would fly apart at the grinder's speed of 11500 RPM.
I'll be more careful in the future. I knew better than to be this cavalier with a power tool. But familiarity breeds complacency, and complacency leads to getting your hand mangled.
By the way, it was a Dewalt brand wheel. Dewalt is supposed to be a good brand, so maybe the wheel I used was from a bad batch. But I can't blame the wheel. This is entirely my fault.
owwwww
some stitches.
Essentially it's road rash.
Stitches are generally used to hold a deep wound closed. If they stitched this closed, I'd just wind up with a deformed hand.
I'm using triple antibiotic gel and the largest bandages that I could find. It seems to be doing OK. Once it's healed over I'll start with some anti-scar gel.