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So my piece of advice to all out there who may only be wearing safety goggles or glasses when using an angle grinder - GET A FACE MASK!

How to I know? Well, to put it bluntly I'm forking lucky not to have lost an eye but my left cheek and corner of my mouth know about it and it's bloody painful.

Worst still is that I was wire wheeling at the time too.

Small price to pay for a mask/shield compared to what could be a possibility of an irreversible cost.

On that note, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - have a safe one whether you're in the shed or on the roads

Bennie

Shite, that doesnt sound good, I hope you have done yourself a serious injury, I got phosphorus in my eye last year and was damn lucky to have not lost sight as well.

Far out that sounds bad..
Hope it's not to serious.
They are a very nasty thing when something goes wrong that's for sure..

Don't tell me a wire wheel broke up?? If that was the case I'd be making noises at the manufacturer/supplier because they should not fall apart and throw chunks. They do throw spindly wires, embedding in any cloth or skin nearby

I'm a big fan of full face shields in general, since it's hard to wear safety glasses over my normal glasses. Also visibility is generally better, plus easy to flip up and out of the way.

Typo I definitely meant havent not have

I also recommend goggles that seal around your face to keep the dust out of your eyes Safety glasses dont cut the mustard.

Hope your doing Ok Bennie .

Doug

Glad to hear there's no lasting injury Benny!!
Many years ago I had a damn good go at cutting through the main tendon for my big toe (luckily I didn't succeed)
All thanks to stupidly....I was bare footed whilst simultaneously standing on exhaust pipe and trying to cut it with an angle grinder. It grabbed and flung the machine which hit my foot in an instant.
I hadn't felt any pain though, it was a minute later when I noticed I had one normal foot and one bright red one I knew something was up!!
I make sure I always wear steel capped thongs now
Merry Christmas and a fab new year to all !!

always got goggles about and this hardly ever used face mask shield - earlier this year made just one timber cut and got a splinter in the eyeball - coupla hours later admiring the doc up close while she worked on me ball. All good within a week thank Fuji

So full face mask should get more work from this point on ...point taken "Bennie"

I'll probably have a decent scar.

Wire wheel didn't break up, it grabbed on an edge of steel in the wheel well I was working on and bingo - straight to the face.

Once home and back on the job with my fancy new face mask and goggles I noticed that above the arch below the snorkel the wire wheel did some paint damage after it met me. It all happened so quickly too.

Now to learn how to sleep so I don't stick to the pillow (wound is weeping a lot - doc apparently wanted that. Going to my GP tomorrow for a second opinion).

Fun fun not. Wish I'd considered a face mask/shield earlier, they wouldn't hurt so much...

And thanks to those who've shared their stories, you all got an "Awwwah" from me each one I read!

Cheers

Bennie

Ouch sorry to hear it. Dare you post a photo of the damage?

I was pretty poor with grinder safety in this regard myself...I wear glasses normally, so I often didn't both wearing goggles when using the grinder because hey, I already had glasses on anyway. Bad idea because they aren't enclosed and sure enough I got a nice shard of steel embedded in my eye one day. Had to go to hospital and a nurse literally dug it out with a needle. Enclosed goggles really aren't enough in themselves as El Freddo has just demonstrated - full face is the way to go.

i had a similar run in with a wire wheel grabbing and trying to kill me. Lucky for me it hit my leg not my face. ouch!

I have used a full face shield ever since the first time a 1mm cutting disc exploded on me. getting hit anywhere in the face is no fun, not just your eyes.

Catching on on posts only now.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas.
Had a bloke at work who had been using a bench mounted wire wheel cleaning up some bolts.
Finished the job but had a sore hand the next day.
Xrays showed a shard of wire into his knuckle.
Couldnt see it without the xray so it went into his hand like a needle.
At work we stipulate goggles as a minimum for all grinding activities.
As has been noted full face shield is a better way to go again but I suggest not only full face shield as grinding sparks can and do bounce under shields and into eyes, ie, full face shield and at least glasses a good idea.