Grinder Chainsaw Disc attachment Safety alert

[Keith 66]

Just saw this on a D&T technicians group on fb, Goverment just issued a safety alert on grinder chainsaw disc attachments, may be of interest to some of us, & may save someone from removing bits of themselves.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-safety-alert-issued-for-angle-grinder-chainsaw-disc-attachment

 

[Peter Sefton]

Some scary and dangerous stuff out there, thanks for posting.

Cheers

Peter

 

[Trainee neophyte]

From the link:

"The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), the UK’s national product safety regulator, has issued a Safety Alert for a chainsaw disc attachment that has been incorrectly sold for use with angle grinders.​

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These attachments are not designed to be used together and are likely to cause loss of control which could result in serious injury or even fatality. Reports have been received of injuries arising from kickback caused by the chainsaw gripping the cutting surface and forcing the angle grinder to sharply turn or jump out of the hand of the operator."​

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These attachments are not designed to be used together? What are they used for? Is there another tool that accepts chainsaw discs? Should I have one? Do I need it?

 

[Keith 66]

Basically they are saying dont use cheapo chainsaw toothed discs knocked up out of chainsaw chain stuck on a disc for use in a grinder.
The other tool is an arbortech woodcarver, they have safety humps between the teeth to stop digging in but can still be quite exciting to use, i have one but dont use it very often, it comes with guards for a reason.
As to do you need it? If you want to remove a lot of wood very quickly they are useful. Easy to slip & remove too much though!

 

[Beanwood]

I recall one of the youtubers (StumpyNubs?) using one, it kicked back and damaged him badly. Full A&E badly!! Lucky not to lose fingers or worse..

 

[dickm]

Used a proper Arbortech making a rocking horse many years ago and it scared the **** out of me. Anyone want to buy it????

 

[Alpha-Dave]

The Stumpy Nubs experience as noted by Beanwood:


I would not use one of these things under any circumstances.

The Kutzall and Arbortech, I am very happy with though.

 

[Ollie78]

Yep, these things are pretty scary. I have managed so far without one, and I think I will keep avoiding them.

Ollie

 

[Spectric]

There is a reason they are called angle grinders, not angle saws and why would anyone even attempt to fit this to their angle grinder that runs at around 11000 Rpm, surely something in the grey mater must be ringing alarm bells.

 

[artie]

Luckily, I have no use for one of those.

Previously I had viewed a table saw as the most dangerous tool in "the shap" as that was the only thing I managed to injure, thankfully minor, myself with.

 

[Lons]

These attachments are not designed to be used together? What are they used for? Is there another tool that accepts chainsaw discs? Should I have one? Do I need it?

I assume that's tongue in cheek as anyone seriouly asking most certainly shouldn't be allowed near one. There is no place for an attachment of that kind any more than fitting a circular saw blade to an angle grinder but idiots are always going to do it anyway.
I have an Arbortech disc which is much safer but can still cause serios damage but at least no chain to fly off into your face at great velocity.
The numerous youtube videos showing potentially dangerous mods to tools really need to be better policed and removed.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I assume that's tongue in cheek as anyone seriouly asking most certainly shouldn't be allowed near one. There is no place for an attachment of that kind any more than fitting a circular saw blade to an angle grinder but idiots are always going to do it anyway.
I have an Arbortech disc which is much safer but can still cause serios damage but at least no chain to fly off into your face at great velocity.
The numerous youtube videos showing potentially dangerous mods to tools really need to be better policed and removed.

Yes, tongue in cheek, but...

The nice Safety Elf clearly stated that the chainsaw disk is not designed to be attached to an angle grinder. I genuinely don't know which tool it is designed to a be attached to, given that it has the angle grinder fitting, and is always marketed as being for an angle grinder. Or is Mr Elf just indulging in a little propaganda (also known also "a lie") to justify outlawing the tool?

Is there a tool which the chainsaw disc was specifically designed for? I certainly don't know of it, but I have lived a sheltered existence. There are similar chainsaw things for Strimmers, which look entertaining. Some of those were banned several years ago, I believe.

One rule I try to follow is to never look along the plane of attack of a grinder, chainsaw etc - if you are looking straight down into the cut, anything coming out is going to hit you square between the eyes.

 

[Lons]

Yeah I suspect poor use of words by the powers that be as of course it was made to fit a grinder however the decision that it's dangerous it the correct one

 

[Phil Pascoe]

There are similar chainsaw things for Strimmers, which look entertaining. Some of those were banned several years ago, I believe.

Yes. Brush cutters. And bloody treacherous things they were.

 

[Suffolkboy]

Jesus. I've never seen anything like that before. There is no part of that disc that isn't a kickback zone! Who came up with that? Why?

 

[Inspector]

People that do chainsaw carving.

Pete

 

[Keith 66]

I am old enough to remember seeing an article in which the inventor of the arbortech woodcarver told how he welded a length of chainsaw chain onto a disc then redesigned it as it was so dangerous. Obviously there are manufacturers with no such qualms!

 

[Suffolkboy]

People that do chainsaw carving.

Pete

But... They have actual chainsaws for that. Designed specifically for that very purpose.

 

[Inspector]

True but they use the angle grinders too.
They get used by people making chairs with sculpted seats. Those long dough bowls that can't be turned. Basically anything that requires a lot of material removal with noise.

Pete

 

[ivan]

Been on sale for years, from reputable retailers as well as on line. I was looking at the time for something to use as a stump grinder, to keep the chainsaw bar out of the dirt. I think the chain was supposed to slip a bit on the disk to reduce the chance of kickback, but the whole idea frightened me! The arbortech was too dear for the job, so we donated the stump to nature and let it be.