sweet 16 - angle grinders 4"

updated mon 4 feb 02

Brian Giffin on sat 2 feb 02

A Dremel looking at kiln shelves, could feel like me driving in Texas.

I use angle grinders regularly, and think a warning is needed with this
thread. They will eat anything on contact, and take some getting used to.
It requires the same level of attention as chain saw work. Six inch
grinders are beasts, get the four inch kind. I want a power tool to be
electrically safe forever, so I tend to get good ones.

Shirttails hanging out is the easy to forget big danger. I heard a very
bad story about that. Use leather gloves, goggles, ear muffs, and dust
mask. Two hands on always and happy grinding.

I've been pushing steel around more than clay recently, and wanted to chime
in here where I'm current. Clayart and the NY Times are blending together
for me as broad resources, only Clayart's more reputable.

Brian Giffin
Giffin Tec inc.
10 miles west of Boulder CO with new snow
recent work: www.jackrabbittool.com
and www.giffingrip.com

Merrie Boerner on sun 3 feb 02

Thanks Brian !
Your post is worth memorizing ! Someone could really be hurt within minutes
of turning the angle grinder on if they are not paying close attention to
the possible danger.
I changed over to a 6" grinding blade to clean my shelves and the tool was
almost too much for me to handle. My concentration was taxed as hard as my
muscles. I knew that if I lost control for a second I could loose and
appendage. When the blade was flat against the shelf, the "turbulence" was
lessened. Anyway, I'm going back to the 4" blade next time.
We were talking about tools to remove glassy ash coated wadding from the
bottom of my pots. I bought a "hummer" cut-off blade ( 3" X 1/32" )and put
it on the electric drill. It gently ate through the glassy coating and
buzzed right through the wadding. I only needed it for about 1/4 of the
pots.....the ones on the front row, nearest the fire box.....so it lasted
just long enough to get the job done....getting smaller in diameter with
each wad. Next firing we are thinking about ways to place the wadding under
the pot, materials to put into the wadding and possibly putting sand on the
front shelves so that we can eliminate the problem all together.
Merrie
Brian wrote :"I use angle grinders regularly, and think a warning is needed
with this
thread. They will eat anything on contact, and take some getting used to.
It requires the same level of attention as chain saw work. Six inch
grinders are beasts, get the four inch kind. I want a power tool to be
electrically safe forever, so I tend to get good ones."

Paul Herman on sun 3 feb 02

Hey Merrie Boerner,
Are you putting sawdust or something combustible in your wadding mix?
Ours is about 1/4 sawdust and it's so crunchy after firing that is is
easily removed. No angle grinders needed. At the most touching up with
the puny little dremmel is enough.
Paul in Doyle

----------
>From: Merrie Boerner

> We were talking about tools to remove glassy ash coated wadding from the
> bottom of my pots.

Snail Scott on sun 3 feb 02

At 08:58 AM 2/3/02 -0600, Merrie wrote:
>...Someone could really be hurt within minutes
>of turning the angle grinder on if they are not paying close attention to
>the possible danger.



A friend of mine used to call his angle
grinder the 'Black & Decker Pecker Wrecker'.

-Snail

Cindy Strnad on sun 3 feb 02

Brian wrote:

<danger. I heard a very
bad story about that. Use leather gloves,
goggles, ear muffs, and dust
mask. Two hands on always and happy grinding.>>

Brian, I'll bet you have short hair, because with
your complete list, I'll bet you would have
mentioned it if it had occurred to you.
Don't forget the hair. But most grinders do have
the kind of switch that'll turn off immediately if
you let go, so you might not lose *too* much hair
if it gets caught in the beast.

Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
cindy@earthen-vessels-pottery.com
http://www.earthen-vessels-pottery.com

Cindy Strnad on sun 3 feb 02

Merrie wrote:

<my shelves and the tool was
almost too much for me to handle. My concentration
was taxed as hard as my
muscles. I knew that if I lost control for a
second I could loose and
appendage. When the blade was flat against the
shelf, the "turbulence" was
lessened. Anyway, I'm going back to the 4" blade
next time.>>

Reading this made me shiver. I left my angle
grinder in my (unheated) kiln shed. Picked it up
one afternoon and started grinding a shelf and the
top support handle broke off in my hand. I'm sure
this was my fault, and that the handle material
was brittle from having frozen. I could manage the
thing with my right hand, fortunately, but I hate
to think what might have happened had I been using
the 6 inch grinder. Don't trust that handle too
much, especially if you haven't treated it as well
as you should have.

Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
cindy@earthen-vessels-pottery.com
http://www.earthen-vessels-pottery.com