wire wheel danger

[willofiam]

Here is a tip I thought I would share even though I may be the only one in the world who would do this....
DON'T WEAR LATEX GLOVES WHILE USING A WIRE WHEEL!!!!!
yeah, well.. I'm a little slow....really I was actually trying to save time ...
I thought I would just touch something up with the wire wheel and I about tore my fingers off when it grabbed the latex glove, in a flash it wrapped it up tight.
Good way to get the heart rate up a bit..... William

[cazclocker]

Yikes.......that would have given me a heart attack! But seriously, when I use a wire wheel I usually have bare hands but I am super careful to place the tool rest very close to the bristles, and take MUCH CARE to present the work to the wire wheel in one smooth motion, withdraw the work to rotate it a bit, and re-present it to the wire wheel for the next area to buff. But MOST IMPORTANT (and I know you already know this, I just add this for the benefit of others) is to wear a FULL-FACE SHIELD. Those bristles can fly off the wheel at a very fast rate, and all it would take would be one bristle to land in your face or your eye to ruin your whole day!!
...Doug

[tukat44]

I for one heard this entire discussion. William, thanks for not getting hurt and living to tell the story, and Doug, take care to present the work, withdraw and then rotate then re-present the work+full face shield. This forum really does work for the benefit of folks like myself who have not put that much thought into, like, using dangerous machinery. Disaster averted, Much thanks to all. Tukat

[Bernie Weishapl]

Glad to hear you were ok. A face shield is your friend to. Don't ask me how I know this.

[david pierce]

Every time I used a wire wheel on a bench grinder bristels would fly out. Now when I use the wire wheel bench grinder I always stand over to the side. When a bristle comes out and hits something it sounds like a BB shot out of a BB gun. Jessie James of West Coast Choppers said a wire hit him in his eyeball. He pulled the wire out of his eye and it deflated. He had to have eye surgery but they were able to save his eyesight.
david

[Arutha]

I use a plastic bristle polishing wheel on a bench grinder so there is no danger of bristles penetrating the skin but what is infuiating is they stick in your clothing and dig in everytime you move and they are not always easy to find.