I hope as many people read this to prevent a repeat of my misfortune (aka stupidity)
Well, what harm could it do ? I thought.
I am 51 and a very experienced DIY'er.
I do most things by the book and use appropriate safety gear, however I do look for solutions to make tasks easier and I generally succeed, whilst still doing a quality job.
A couple of years back, whilst laying new laminate flooring, I wanted to cut 15mm off the bottom of some skirting, to lay planks without using quadrant trim. I had a 115mm angle grinder, and decided to mount a wood cutting disk (mini circular saw blade not intended for angle grinders) on it. Whilst I knew this was very dodgy, I had made a 'slider' jig so I could apply downward force while sliding the cutting edge horizontally along the skirting, cutting away from me. It worked a treat and I did the whole room & door jams, laminate looks great.
Fast forward to last Sunday 28/01/18.
Re-fitting my en-suite, I had to cut away some chipboard flooring in an awkward spot. I thought about my arsenal of tools and came across my adapted angle grinder which had not been used since the laminate job. With the circular saw blade I could easily get in the tight spot and remove the chipboard. I put on my safety specs, dust mask and ear defenders.
The next 2 minutes could easily have been my last.
This is the tool. Notice I had not got the side handle attached, to get better access. I am very strong and mistakenly assumed I could hold the thing one handed as it is quite compact. Notice not exactly a clean blade.
And below is the job. Notice the joist - as I finished the chipboard cut, the blade caught the joist and accelerated the tool toward me. As the trigger switch was the 'Latching on' type the blade was still spinning at full speed.
![IMG_E0439[1].JPG](https://www.diynot.com/diy/attachments/img_e0439-1-jpg.135723/ "IMG_E0439[1].JPG")
The tool slipped out of my hand and the next image shows the impact site with my inner left leg.
![IMG_0450[1].JPG](https://www.diynot.com/diy/attachments/img_0450-1-jpg.135724/ "IMG_0450[1].JPG")
At this point I felt a 'punch' but was more worried about the still spinning tool cutting my central heating pipes. I managed to grab it and switch it off. Then I realised my leg had take a direct hit.
I thought about not showing the next image, and obviously the moderator can take the decision, but I think it is important to shock anyone, to seriously re-think, if they ever contemplate fitting a non-approved blade to an angle grinder, especially one with a latching trigger switch.
Fortunately I was not alone and my wife remained calm and dialled for the ambulance. I managed to find my femoral to apply pressure and stop the bleeding and get a clean towel to twist around the wound. Fortunately I missed the artery, but it could have been my last DIY mishap.
En-suite on hold for the time being. And that blade is being binned.
Look away if Casualty or Holby City makes you queasy.
..................
8" permanent reminder for me.
I'll leave out the image before the jumbo glue strips were applied.
![IMG_0486[1].JPG](https://www.diynot.com/diy/attachments/img_0486-1-jpg.135726/ "IMG_0486[1].JPG")
Well, what harm could it do ? I thought.
I am 51 and a very experienced DIY'er.
I do most things by the book and use appropriate safety gear, however I do look for solutions to make tasks easier and I generally succeed, whilst still doing a quality job.
A couple of years back, whilst laying new laminate flooring, I wanted to cut 15mm off the bottom of some skirting, to lay planks without using quadrant trim. I had a 115mm angle grinder, and decided to mount a wood cutting disk (mini circular saw blade not intended for angle grinders) on it. Whilst I knew this was very dodgy, I had made a 'slider' jig so I could apply downward force while sliding the cutting edge horizontally along the skirting, cutting away from me. It worked a treat and I did the whole room & door jams, laminate looks great.
Fast forward to last Sunday 28/01/18.
Re-fitting my en-suite, I had to cut away some chipboard flooring in an awkward spot. I thought about my arsenal of tools and came across my adapted angle grinder which had not been used since the laminate job. With the circular saw blade I could easily get in the tight spot and remove the chipboard. I put on my safety specs, dust mask and ear defenders.
The next 2 minutes could easily have been my last.
This is the tool. Notice I had not got the side handle attached, to get better access. I am very strong and mistakenly assumed I could hold the thing one handed as it is quite compact. Notice not exactly a clean blade.
And below is the job. Notice the joist - as I finished the chipboard cut, the blade caught the joist and accelerated the tool toward me. As the trigger switch was the 'Latching on' type the blade was still spinning at full speed.
The tool slipped out of my hand and the next image shows the impact site with my inner left leg.
At this point I felt a 'punch' but was more worried about the still spinning tool cutting my central heating pipes. I managed to grab it and switch it off. Then I realised my leg had take a direct hit.
I thought about not showing the next image, and obviously the moderator can take the decision, but I think it is important to shock anyone, to seriously re-think, if they ever contemplate fitting a non-approved blade to an angle grinder, especially one with a latching trigger switch.
Fortunately I was not alone and my wife remained calm and dialled for the ambulance. I managed to find my femoral to apply pressure and stop the bleeding and get a clean towel to twist around the wound. Fortunately I missed the artery, but it could have been my last DIY mishap.
En-suite on hold for the time being. And that blade is being binned.
Look away if Casualty or Holby City makes you queasy.
..................
8" permanent reminder for me.
I'll leave out the image before the jumbo glue strips were applied.
