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On Topic-Meataxe

My son works at a shipyard. It's a small outfit compared to the big boys. They do good work, especially making twin hull boats. Big ones. They make lots of aluminum structures, not just hulls, but complete or almost complete boats. So the fitters will tack the aluminum plates together and the welders will later remove these tacks when welding the plates. This helps to insure good welds. So they use a tool whose official name is the "Meataxe". These are made out of 5" angle grinders with a modified blade guard that covers the blade better for one half but leaves nearly half of the blade exposed on both sides. The blades are carbide toothed. Sorta like small circular saw blades. Before anybody can use these tools they go through some training that had to be Okayed by WISHA, Washington State's version of OSHA. My son showed me his and it's pretty obvious why it's called the "Meataxe". You know that it would be so easy removing welds to have this thing get away from you and just remove lots of meat. The blades spin at

11,000 rpm. I think it's a great idea to oficially call something like this a name that so clearly describes the danger of making a "misteak" with it. Eric R Snow
Reply to
Eric R Snow
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We called them "millers" They are great for backgouging. You always use two handed and never let go until the blade is completely stopped. The great thing is that you leave no grinding dust, just a clean root. I worked for two years around them. Every few months someone would take a fingertip off or cut their leg. The steroid version they kept in the foreman's office for speial jobs. It was a seven inch walter grinder with a seven inch carbide tooth blade. It was the only tool that would reach down into the root of material over an inch thick. One kicked back on a welder and took several ends of fingers. He never came back to work as far as I know. There is no margin for daydreaming. My lunch buddy had worked on aluminum fishboats for ten years previously. His personal "meataxe" was a standard skill saw with most of the base plate removed using a conventional saw blade specially ground. The teeth were not carbide. How does your son use a skill saw?? A lot of the old hands in the yard pulled the saw rather than pushed it. It soulds awkward but if the blade grabs the saw flies away form you. Remind your son to keep him mind on his job at all time whe using those things. Randy

Reply to
Randy Zimmerman

Randy- He pays attention. They are two handled units. He knows about climb cutting. Amazingly they don't have many injuries. And certainly they are not having guys losing finger parts. I think it's the good training and the name that helps to keep the guys using these from getting complacent. However, my son DID break his thumb badly using a chop saw the wrong way. I think he really got a cheap lesson. ERS

Reply to
Eric R Snow

Have lost count of the number of carbide teeth I have "extracted" from chop saw blades. Most of the time it was doing stupid things. I have suffered the odd banged finger trying to hold something too short. If you ever get to see a person carve and prep weld joint edges with a "meataxe" it is a sight to see. Some guys were so good that you had to look to confirm that it was not done with a router bit. After seeing the results I think that grinder discs are not the way to go around aluminum. Last month I had to make some shallow cones. I noticed the owners expecting me to saunter over to the plasma. I cut all the pieces for the three cones with the skill saw. It takes a bit of care you can cut curves. I have done outside curves with half inch and inside up to quarter. Randy

Reply to
Randy Zimmerman

Does he work for Nichols Brothers?? They make some cool boats. I have always loved Whidbey as my father and grandparents used to live over there.

Wayne

Reply to
wrace

Son of a friend of mine had a job in a plant (Alberta) processing straw bales into fiberboard panels. His job was to make sure that the raw bales of straw entered the conveyor system correctly. An off-angled bale had to be 'kicked' into line. One time (only) he gave a kick and his foot glanced off the bale and got caught in the feed chain. By the time the panic button got pushed his leg was as one with the metal of the conveyor. Now, some five years later, he still has (most of) his leg and it sort of works. I would figure that this 'accident' cost the Alberta compensation board around half a million dollars.

The pain and permanent disability - priceless!

Be damn careful out there!!! Tell your children to be "damn careful out there".

Hope this wakes someone up.

Ken.

Reply to
Ken Davey

We only use them in grinders that have a clutch. If the blade gets stuck, the clutch slips. You would be surprised how fast you can kill a grinder that does not have a clutch. Motor burns out if user puts to much pressure.

Reply to
John Smith

Yes, he does. And even though some boatyards may have bad safety records with this type of tool, Nichols doe not. ERS

Reply to
Eric R Snow

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