Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using an Angle Grinder

When working with commercial concreting supplies, one has to be very careful to keep in mind safety precautions that can help avoid accidents on site. Angle grinders are one of the most essential but dangerous tools in a workshop.

Whether you are purchasing this supply or hiring, here are a few mistakes to avoid when operating your angle grinder.

1. Removing the Guard

There is a common belief that guards in angle grinders make your work less effective. This is incorrect because the guards are adjustable, and they are designed to protect your fingers from the spinning disk in the angle grinder. When the disk spins, it can get up to ten thousand rotations a minute. As a result, little chunks are flying at an incredible rate towards you.

The guard helps you to handle the grinder without worrying about how fast the disk is spinning or how much debris is coming from the object being worked on.

2. Grinding Disk

Angle grinders can be quite affordable, but one mistake people make is to get a cheap, low quality disk. Grinder disks are not like saw blades. Saw blades get dull, but grinder disks wear down. You don't want your disk to fail on you in a tool that's rotating over ten thousand rotations a minute.

If you buy an inexpensive disk and you're grinding down a composite material, chunks will be flying off both the material and your disk while you're working.

3. Wearing Safety Gear

A very common mistake is not wearing the appropriate safety gear. It might feel tedious at times, but developing a habit of wearing your safety gear goes a long way to avoiding injury when accidents happen. Essential safety gear includes:

• Gloves: For your hands and forearms, leather gloves are helpful to protect the skin.

• Headphones: headphones come in handy to protect any loud noises that can eventually deplete hearing ability.

• Mask: It is advisable to wear a mask that protects your mouth and nose from breathing in the debris that comes from concrete particles.

• Glasses: While operating an angle grinder, you are up close to the object and some of the debris is flying right at you. You must protect your eyes by using glasses or goggles. It is also advisable to get a face shield to protect the rest of your face from injury.

4. Flammables

You do not want to use your angle grinder near flammables, oily rugs, or anything that can easily catch fire from a spark.  This is because when you work with angle grinders, sparks will most likely be shooting out in multiple directions.