protection!

[wotayottie]

Been lucky today. Dont normally bother with protective kit despite having spent some of my formative working years telling others to wear it. But today I not only wore an overall ( not the best clean clothes for a change) but also a pair of goggles. I was using a new wire brush ( Aldi's best) in an angle grinder to clean up a 2 stroke Yamaha bike exhaust.

Finished the job, looked down and there were 14 shiny 19mm long wires embedded vertically in the cloth of my overall. One had made it through 3 layers to scratch the skin. Looked like a balding metallic hedgehog.

OK they hit my overall not my face. But had I bent down a bit lower and had I not been wearing goggles for a change, I would have been blind right now.

So dont cut corners working on the boat. Wear PPE. It's not manly to ignore safety.

 

[lenseman]

Not true without the pictures!

.

 

[prv]

I'm probably rather lax by commercial standards, but even so there's no way I'd go near something like a spinning wire brush without at least goggles

I keep meaning to get one of those perspex full-face shields. PBO recommended them a few years ago on the grounds that they "keep debris out of your beard". It amused me that they didn't bother to add "...if you have one."

Pete
(without a beard)

 

[pvb]

So dont cut corners working on the boat.

Perhaps choosing "Aldi's best" wasn't the best idea?

 

[rob2]

Perhaps some Aldi products aren't the best, but for some jobs a fairly light wire brush is the only tool and they are inclined to snag and break.

I once used a knotted wire brush to remove the glue and debris from the hull in the quarter berth on a hot day. I wore goggles, but decided to risk being impaled by hot wires. I forgot that the fibreglass being thrown about is an amazing skin irritant, so spent several days sleeping face down. Personal Safety Equipment is a nuisance, hot and sweaty, but it does pay off.

Rob.

 

[Pitterpatter]

A few weeks ago I was making a new saw horse. We had about 20 mins before heading out for the day one saturday morning so I decided to do a bit more cutting and screwing. As I was only going to be doing a wee bit I didn't bother with the usual boots/gloves/etc. With just shoes on, I promptly stood on a nail - proper rusty job. Went right in but between the bones.

I have now decided to wear proper gear, even if its only for a few minutes.

 

[davidwf]

I stupidly cut through a brick with an angle grinder with no gloves on, did have face protection though. Net result whole hand a mass of tiny holes and covered in blood. I'd effectively sand blasted myself. Wont do that again :-(

My employers at the time used to free issue goggles and encouraged us to use them at home. Bet nobody does that these days too penny pinching.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Perhaps choosing "Aldi's best" wasn't the best idea?

If you're using a wire brush in an angle grinder, it's likely that some 'shedding' will take place. If you read the rpm limits, most are unsuitable. When de-rusting my cast iron keels, I wore goggles and when several wires penetrated my overalls, I was glad I did! My angle grinder is a fixed speed jobbie.

 

[Babylon]

All my best accidents have happened when I've been too casual...

salamied a finger-tip wiping dust of the planer surface too close to the mouth
ripped flesh out of a finger-tip when reaching to clear waste from behind the table saw blade (and that was just the spinning anti-acoustic cut-outs)
put a 40mm diam forstner bit through a finger (boaty)
used a Stanley knife to carve my finger instead of carving the nose-cone of a Keil Kraft glider (ok, that one was 36 years ago)
not to mention the trouble (financial not biological) my pecker has got me into...

I keep a spare pair of goggles hanging by the table saw, so there's never any excuse - it'll only take one small bit of waste bouncing the wrong way! - and this has also happened even on the bandsaw, drill-press, etc.