How can I handle angle grinder vibrations better?

[Loose Ctrl]

I've been running angle grinders for 30 years. I always use vibration absorbing, aka padded, gloves when I'm using them. It's been about a year since I have spent more than about 15 minutes hanging onto one.

Today I had a lot to do. I waited and did all my grinding at once. I sat with the work right above waist high, driectly in front of me, and went to work. About 45 minutes to an hour in, I involuntarily dropped the running grinder. I couldn't feel anything below my elbows. I've never experienced this. It took about an hour before I could pick it up off the floor. Yes, I got it shut off as soon as I dropped it.

I have neuropathy below my elbows and into my hands. I am sure that played a part in it. I've had it for years and operated grinders without issue. It was caused by a bad reaction to Cipro. My doctor keeps a check on my condition and it has actually improved over the past five years.

I am sitting here six hours later trying to get this post out but my hands are shaking bad, sometimes violently. Is there anything I can do to help make running grinders easier on my hands and arms? Maybe a certain brand of grinder? A certain pair of gloves? Anything else?

I may have a big job coming up this summer where I'll need to run a grinder for a few hours straight. I'll need to try and figure something out before that job comes up.

If my hands are still shaky in the morning, I'll go see my doc.

 

[MJD1]

The German made metabo grinders have considerably less vibration than other brands. I would think any glove would help with issue as well.

 

[Orangestang]

Maybe hire some temp help and teach how to grind. I have the same problem after awhile can't hold onto the grinder or a hammer for a while, also happens when pushing a lawnmower.

 

[Whiskeymike]

+1 on metabo. I have one and it is better. I use clamps to hold down the work piece. Using the second handle also helps me as I can shift the weight. I also am able to put more force on the handle which has way less vibration, while my right hand lightly cradles the grinder itself. I don’t have the vibration issue. But if I keep my hands in the same shape or gripped on something to long, I get cramps and they lock up. Pain in the *** when trying to put nut on a bolt after working on the Jeep all day.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Bosch anti vibe handles.

You might also talk to an acupuncturist, they are all about neural pathways.

 

[Kaizen]

Make sure you have a good grinder now. I have several makita ones and one of them is horrible even though no visible issues.
A larger one might help as well. More mass.

Depending on what you are doing for the extended new job...see if you can bungee cord it from above so it’s self supported and your actions are just moving it around


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lelandwelds]

Make sure you have a good grinder now. I have several makita ones and one of them is horrible even though no visible issues.
A larger one might help as well. More mass.

Depending on what you are doing for the extended new job...see if you can bungee cord it from above so it’s self supported and your actions are just moving it around


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think you are talking about a tool balancer.

I would hate to pay for it but air tools don't vibrate as much. I used to use a vertical grinder without the right angle gears. It was a beast. They make gloves with Sorbo thane inserts. I would wrap the handles with sport tape.

 

[bigguns69]

Are you sure it is do to the vibration of the grinder or the ergonomics of how you are holding the grinder, holding the trigger? I get fatigue in my elbow, wrist, and fingers but that is after a full Saturday or Sunday doing single handed cut off wheel activities.

I find resting my forearm, elbow with padding on something goes a long ways while grinding.

 

[dr_clyde]

Some metabo grinders have an anti-vibration balancer on the spindle. You would be amazed how much that helps.

I had this problem once when I was a kid running a cheap weed eater that had a bad vibrating handle. I had a hard time gripping for a few hours when I got done. It sure felt strange.

 

[sberry]

You havnt done it in a while, now 45 minutes straight.

 

[bimmer1980]

I would second the idea of the tool balancer.... also, you may need to work out a plan of grind for 10 minutes, stop, stretch your hands, arms, etc. then do something else for 5-10 minutes before grinding for 10 minutes....

repetitive stress in the hands combined with your condition is not a good combo.....

I find that I need to be careful of using a sawsall for an extended period of time.... the vibration there causes a tingle in the hands and forearms.....

 

[bullfrog123]

One other thing I have noticed over the yrs is the flap wheels vibrate considerably less on my Dewalt grinders than the old stone wheels do. Don't think I've used a stone wheel in 3+ yrs now.
Try that and as others stated take a break once in a while.

 

[blue duck]

45mims to 1 hour with a grinder is a task. I'd do 15 mins and then something else. Then go back at it. Regardless of the vibration using a grinder requires muscle use and that's a lot of time using untrained muscles.

 

[Farmerjonathan]

Good grinder, great wheel (cheapies vibrate more) and don't stack up the grinding jobs. A little here and there. Good luck. Glad it wasn't a slider switch, paddle switches are safest in my opinion.

 

[Jacko264]

http://www.brandontoolhire.co.uk/themes/brandon/downloads/Vibration_Safey_Guide.pdf

Have a look here page 3
for a grinder its 53 min in a 8 hour shift and no more using vibrating tools in that time

we have to stick to this at work
ps gloves are no good and just move the problem up your arms

 

[bimmer1980]

Jacko -- That was an interesting read. Thanks for posting.

That article does a nice job of quantifying the amount of vibration and therefore the amount of use.....

 

[Loose Ctrl]

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions.

I use the side handle on the grinder and make sure not to death grip the grinder. I balance the grinder in my left hand while holding the handle with my right hand. Move my arms mostly and use my hands to help change or maintain the position I need the grinder to be in.

It is a cheapo Northern Tool grinder with a Continental stone wheel. I am planning to change over to flap disc and purchase a better grinder before I start on the big job.

As far as the shaky hand syndrome. It stayed with me until bedtime, midnight. When I woke up this morning it was gone. I did about 3.5 hours of mowing this morning, on a riding mower that's like riding a big concrete ********, and one hour of running the weed whipper. I used the same gloves as I did for grinding yesterday. Today, I had to stop and go with the weed whipper. The bump line feed head is giving me trouble feeding line out. It's probably time to clean it up and debur the plastic spool and housing.

 

[rsanter]

The quality of the grinder makes a difference but the quality of the wheels also makes a difference in vibration

 

[koditten]

As much as I hate fixed tools, but it sounds like you need to take the work to the tool instead of talking the tool to the work.

Do as much grinding as you can with a bench grinder. Let the bench absorb the vibes.

 

[Guster]

Take breaks.

Use a tool with comfortable grips. I find the small grinders where you grip around the motor body to be the worst for this.

Don't grip too hard. It is a fine balance between control and letting the tool do the job. This is worse when using a wire cup/wheel because it has such a tendency to grip and jump. This gets worse as you get tired, leading to cramping etc.

Change the work position and not the tool orientation. Some times it can't be helped. Holding the grinder in an unnatural position is neither comfortable or safe.

Good gloves. Personally I'm not a fan of them but gloves with good padding can make a difference.

Replace un-balanced discs etc. They can be as dangerous as they are uncomfortable to use.

 

[Kev442]

There is no comparison between entry level grinders and the good ones. I have 4 cheapie HF grinders left alive and one $59 one i got on sale for $39. Just that small step up has far less vibration and runs much cooler.

 

[macgyver37]

I am not all that old, but I can't stand to run a DA sander or a hand grinder for extended periods so I do smaller increments of time as I go through the project. I also swap between my big and little grinders to change it up. So far the worst has been sanding as there is generally alot to do all at the same time and it is hard to get around it. Doesn't seem to matter whether it is air or electric.

 

[ilovevocs]

What size grinder are you using?

Just a thought and the weight may exacerbate your issues but a bigger grinder will remove more material and decrease time spent grinding.

And to echo the above the flap disc does operate with less vibration than other grinding discs.

 

[dadsEH]

Learn to weld better.

 

[Loose Ctrl]

I just realized I didn't mention what I was grinding on. I had a stack of mower blades ranging from 15 to 30 inches. All of them had a rough round edge with nicks. I don't know how many in total, but I couldn't pick them all up with both hands. I used a 4-inch grinder. I'm looking into a larger 7-inch grinder.

The big job I have later this year, is a 30-34 foot long by 8'6" wood boat frame. The angles are essentially planed down using an angle grinder attached to a jig. It's the fastest way to remove the material without ripping out material or pulling out knots in the wood. 80 grit flap discs are used to get close and a palm sander is used to do the fine-tuning.

I'm still doing finish work to my workshop, as time allows, so I have no permanently fixed bench grinder, yet. It will be nice to have a good heavy bench grinder and vice.

 

[Loose Ctrl]

Learn to weld better.

I wish that was the case. I could kick myown but.

 

[Kev In]

I used to do my mower blades with an angle grinder. Anti vibration gloves help somewhat. I have since changed to using one of my 2x72” belt grinders. Way faster and easier on the hands.

 

[Loose Ctrl]

I think I would have killed the belt with how bad these blades were. If I hadn't done them before, I would have had a hard time determining wich side to sharpen.

 

[tarbellb]

Quality abrasives will help more then anything. Untrue disc will rattle any good grinder.

Look at Pferd, SAIT, United, Walter, Weiler.

Also maybe a variable speed grinder will help, turn down those RPMs.

 

[itsbrokeagain]

I do a lot of grinding in my current career of reconditioning transformers. When I wasnt so great at hotwork (torches etc) I had to resort to a 7" grinder to remove the mountains. Even it being a Metabo the thing weighed a ton.

5 years in my torchwork is much improved and now only my 4" Dewalt gets used here and there to clean up some minor stuff. Due to this being a union company, we get the cheap end grinding discs from Gemini. I usually get a box of 20 discs and I'll mount 7 of them before I get one good one that doesnt shake the ever living daylights out of my bones. We used to get their higher end discs but because they were too expensive that got put to a stop real quick. ALL of those were great, never had an issue once.

For the people having cramps while using the tools, hows your water intake? Usually being dehydrated leads to muscle cramps, especially under strenuous use. Make sure you're drinking enough!

 

[Alaniho]

Quality abrasives will help more then anything. Untrue disc will rattle any good grinder.

Look at Pferd, SAIT, United, Walter, Weiler.

Also maybe a variable speed grinder will help, turn down those RPMs.

This, but also consider a different type of abrasive, bonded grinding discs are slow grinding, loud and nasty to use. Pferd, 3m and Walter can offer low vibration type grinding discs. Flapdiscs are better but best of all for flat grinding and stock removal are ceramic fibre discs. VSM, 3M and Sait have good options for these and they will reduce vibration and noise greatly and just as importantly reduce grinding time.

 

[Loose Ctrl]

Thanks, everyone for all the insight and wisdom. I have many ideas and options to look at before I do more grinding. I'll be looking into a good quality grinder, better pair of padded gloves, and better disposables.

 

[Copymutt]

A no cost partial fix might be to slip a length of pool noodle or water pipe foam insulation over the support handle.
Jim

 

[Chevy-SS]

Vibrating tools cause great stress to the hands and forearms, just ask me. I built garage addition a couple of years ago, using sawzall (a good one) and lots of other vibrating tools. I ended up with pain and numbness in right arm/wrist. The only thing that 'cured' it was rest. I now carefully limit my time with vibrating tools, or try to find alternatives.

My arm/wrist seems all set now, but it took plenty of rest, so be careful or you could end up with severe permanent damage.

 

[sherrod624]

This is what I sharpen lawnmower blades with. Bought it off craigslist NIB for pretty cheap.

http://www.rbggrinders.com/121.html

 

[Loose Ctrl]

Sorry for my absence. I quit receiving email notifications for a few days. I came over and checked the forum to see what was going on. I see I have responses and some great ones at that. It's looking that the boat project will fall through for this year, but I'll be prepared for it when it does get started. Hopefully, I'll have a larger building to work in by then.

 

[BD1]

I also suggest a Metabo grinder. Get a 5" and try a flapper disc instead of a grinding wheel. IF it's bad nicks use a grinding wheel and then flapper disc. Flapper disc works great.