Both. Safety glasses and face shield. Clear is fine. Keep spares.

 

At a minimum you need full wrap around style glasses or a full face shield. I sometimes wear both since I have had pieces of metal bounce off my cheek or off something else and end up in my eye.

Just remember, you only need to protect the parts you want to keep.

Don't forget to wear ear protection. I wear ear plugs and ear muffs now since I have lost some hearing from grinding too much.

 

Evern though we are mostly a fab shop, I don't require safety glasses all the time because we do a lot of tig welding and mechnical work and such. So it could be 2 weeks between making sparks.

If my guys are using a grinder or wire wheel or saws or the like, they are required to wear full face shields. I believe safety glasses are not enough as I have had to have my eye drilled from metal when I was wearing them during grinding. I still hear things bounce around at times wearing a full fave shield.

Also make sure you get at least the 4" head covering one, or better 6". The 2" one still let's a lot bounce down from above.

 

I really like this Uvex Face shield I bought last year on sale for $29 cdn.

https://www.kmstools.com/faceshield-44-bionic-black-w-clear-visor.html
View attachment IMG_1135.jpg

It’s comfortable, lightweight and good head gear.

 

You dont need UV protection for grinding but safety glasses block UV. You can use a welding mask with flip up clear lense or auto dark to protect your face. I like ear protection because grinding makes an ugly noise. I seem to do more damage to my clothes from grinding than from welding spatter but probly because I do more grinding.

 

Many years ago they decided to make safety glasses mandatory when on the floor. Everyone including me complained and bitched but after awhile it was like putting your boots on in the am, same deal with ear plugs. It got so at the end I didn't feel right about not wearing them. Even now around the house mowing grass I use safety glasses and muffs. On time i forgot and said screw it I drove a small twig behind my eye which hurt like a muther.
I'd like to say I always wear a faceshield when grinding but I don't.
I won't post the pics here but just the links, here's some good reasons to use a faceshield: https://www.google.com/search?sca_e...A&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlp-SjsIWLAxXpFVkFHdF3Dq4QtKgLegQIHhAB&biw=1920&bih=957&dpr=1

 

I use a full-face shield whenever grinding or using an angle grinder for anything (zip wheel, wire wheel, etc.) I also keep the guards on all my angle grinders except when it's absolutely necessary to temporarily remove the guard. When grinding disks come unglued, it ain't pretty and it can dam near take your head off if you're not careful. Google image-search "angle grinder accidents" if you dare...

 

View attachment 1.jpeg

 

I was going to cut a chain link in the vice. I had readers, safety glasses, & face shield. I put a 4-1/2" cut off wheel on the grinder. My gloves were 20 feet away, I went bare handed. Held the grinder in my right hand, squeezed the trigger. Almost instantly the disc exploded. Broke index finger, severe cuts on two fingers left hand, 14 stitches.

On a different occasion another cutting disc exploded. The plywood interior of the garage door still has part of the disc sticking out of it.

 

stop buying HF or Home depot discs....

I've never had a SAIT cutting disc come apart.

they will fray when they get very small.... but not come apart.
maybe I'm just lucky..

I still prefer good quality.

you having 2 discs come apart tells me they are cheap or your technique is wrong. put sideways pressure on the disc... all bets are off.

 

Whether cutting or grinding... keep your face/head/eyes out of the particulate stream, even when wearing face shields.

 

if you read the owners manual of any decent qaulity face shield or welding helmet it recomends safety glasses also. whether you follow that guidance is up to you but dont come back here cryin

 

stop buying HF or Home depot discs....

Ain't that the truth. Friend of mine bought a pack of 25 at Canadian Tire on sale for 1/2 price. Second disk in it shattered and severed the tendon in one finger and mangled the one next to it. Almost a year later and he had no sensation in the finger. We made a good pair that Monday when we came in as we both worked in the same cubicle. He had two fingers taped together in a splint, I had a black eye where a piece of wood flew out of the woodsplitter, hit my non-safety glasses, busted them and blackened my eye. One of the rare times I didn't wear safeties and I got caught, serves me right going against my own rules.

 

Faceshields are considered "secondary eye protection" in OSHA-type terms. Safety glasses are Primary. So yeah, you are supposed to use both, not just a faceshield alone. I have prescription safety glasses, so those are always on or I am blind, and then I throw on a faceshield with any cutoff wheel and many grinding operations. Plus ear muffs. And if I am doing a lot of it, a respirator too so I'm not getting all that gunk in my lungs. But I will admit I skip the respirator for short grinding/cutting tasks. Just laziness...

 

The only cut off discs i've seen explode were compromised by inattentive operators. We've all ruined a disc from dropping a grinder. Throw the damn thing away. If the cut off blade edge becomes choppy, pitch it.

Take care of your eyes, ears, and your back. The seconds you save will cost you dearly someday.

 

like john t , said, dont buy junk. when dewalt used to give u a free wheel w/ ur grinder, first thing i did was take guard off, and throw away the junk wheel. keep ur face outa line w/ the wheel. dont go overcenter w/ wheels, where they would be pulled in. something goes wrong, u want them to fling out, of the work, not in. dont let the work, pinch ur cutting wheel - think ahead. when they make me wear a safety shield, i use a fine netted one, which looks like a beekeeper. looking through saftey glasses, and a plastic curved scratched shield isnt any good, all that **** just makes one put there head all the more close in danger to try to see whats going on

 

Advising people to buy better disks and saying "They almost never come unglued" is kind of like saying, "My pistol almost never goes off when I reholster it!"

(It only takes it happening ONCE to ruin your day or even end your life ... I've heard of people getting killed -- or damn near it -- by grinding disks coming apart and -- for example -- severing a femoral artery.)

Cheap disks, expensive disks, whatever -- they all come apart, especially when damaged by dropping or whatever.

Only way to guard against that eventuality is to use eye protection and a face shield, and keep the guard installed.

 

Advising people to buy better disks and saying "They almost never come unglued" is kind of like saying, "My pistol almost never goes off when I reholster it!".

Curious who you are quoting here….

 

Have seen wire wheels cause severe injuries too

 

what u folks perceive, to be more dangerous : 1. a grinder w/ guard, that has a on/off switch that locks in poition, or, 2. a grinder w/o guard, that has paddle switch (similar), that kills power when finger lets off ? i get on a job, and they tell me i need to put guards on (especially w/ pipe), i give them more than an ear full. i seldomly get my way. but there gonna hear it, cuz, i know whats best for me, and the ppl around me. that is, i got side view of those around me, and control of direction of grindings. guards, and headgear are a hazrd to my good work practices. i wont buy, or use a grindert that has a switch that keeps power, when released - they should be taken off market, if this was about safety, and not osha fines/$. while cleaning my storage area, i found a box of about 20 kingsford flexible .045 recessed 6" type 27 cutting wheels i been walking/stepping on over for 3 yrs. ive been using them now, they are quality. i got a better chance of getting injured/killed on the drive home, than hurting myself w/ a grinder

 

I will definitely go with the on/off switch being far more dangerous. I won’t allow them in my shop. Only paddle switch grinders with some sort of braking action. If they get away from you they go off.

 

I do have one little 4" Dewalt, I don't like. It doesn't offer soft start. While others do. Little snot will jump out of my hand on start up if I'm not prepared for it.

 

I have at least 5 to 7 grinders nearly always set up with different wheels on them.

I have recently also started to remove my thin cut off wheels between use. I try to use the 0.040 discs now instead of the 0.045 discs so they are even more fragile. I have probably broken 25 or more over the years dropping them or stuff falling on them.

 

I keep this slip clutch angle grinder for use with cut off wheels.

View attachment IMG_1174.jpg

It adds an extra level of safety.

 

+1 on the Sait grinding disks. They're cheap (at least at Lehigh Valley) and they cut fast.

 

Shaded glasses or face shield are not considered necessary. But there are some people I work with who wear slightly shaded glasses or even sunglasses all the time (inside), ask what you’re comfortable with. Do wear both glasses and shield when grinding and especially cutting. Only a few people in this world have a head hard enough to go without a grinding shield and guard.

 

Grinders are touchy subject.

Personally I've been very happy with my Metabo grinder. The soft start, the safety clutch system and the variable speed make it a good winner. The clutch system helps avoid shattering cut-off wheels when they bind up inside something you're cutting. The vibration on average is lower than a normal grinder, plus the anti-vibration side handle helps a bit too.

I don't like paddle switch grinders. I get them, but I don't like them. Having your hand on it at all times to make it work makes accessing certain spots (like grinding out vertical fillets or overhead grinding on pipe) very annoying. Some have a function where you can have them stay on but then an inadvertent bump and they turn off again. Sometimes I don't get a choice in how I hold the grinder either. Some are really easy to operate with wide paddles (Metabo) some are bad (DeWalt) and they have different designs and placements for the trigger safety. I'm kind of the same opinion about auto-locking measuring tapes: nice idea, but i don't care for it.

Grinding, using a cut-off wheel or wire wheel (cup or disc style) without safety glasses and a face shield is stupid. Sure you get fine through the day most of the time, but one day you may not and you'll be hurting. People have died from having cut-off wheels shatter (or worse, using a wood cutting disc) and it's a preventable event. Grinding wheels from good manufacturers (i.e. 3M) generally do not shatter but they can, and you'll be hurting when they do. Wire wheels can spit wires (had it happen to me). If you get a ferrous item in your eye, it range anywhere from "comes out with some eyewash" to "you are minus an eye". My last "item in the eye" visit cost me 140 bacon cheeseburger frosties at the eye doctor.

One of my bosses had a grinder failure some years ago and nearly died because the disc disintegrated and went into his neck. Rushed to the hospital post haste.

 

I had a client return to my office, and lay his pair of month-old bifocals on the counter. I noticed that the right lens had a hole in its middle with a few cracks running to the periphery, but most of the lens was still held by the frame. He said, angrily, "I thought you told me these glasses were unbreakable!" I replied that I had, never, told him they were unbreakable, but that they had been safety hardened to make them impact resistance. I asked how the lens got broken, and he told me that he had been using a wire wheel to strip paint from the inside of an aluminum boat, and had heard a few of the wires zing past his head... but kept on using the wheel. He explained that one of the wires hit the lens right in the middle, and broke it. As I recall, he said he had to go to the clinic to have a few tiny pieces of glass that were floating around his eye removed. None of the bits of glass were embedded or had cut the eye. So, the tempered lens had saved his eye, but he was mad because the lens broke. Likely, a non-tempered lens would not have slowed the wire, and he would have lost the eye, or worse. I determined that the wire had left the wheel at about 60 miles per hour with enough energy to, easily, skewer his eye, were it not for the lens.