Grinding wheel explosion ?

[GeorgePapa]

Have read the following and considering the contents strange (though had to cosider the source as very serious indeed) am asking if you know anything about it.

George.

Aviation Electronics
Technician - Basic
NAVEDTRA 14028

• Jun 1991: Original edition released.
• Mar 2003: Minor revision released.

NEVER use the grinding wheel on
nonferrous metals. When used with this
type of material, the grinding wheel could,
in effect, explode.. This could result in a
serious injury to or death of personnel.

Published by
NAVAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Page 7-10

[MaxxLagg]

Well, they CAN load up to the point where they can blow up on you. The trick is to dress the wheel often to avoid loading it up. I've ground non-ferrous material numerous times over the years with standard grinding wheel with no problems other than excessive heat build-up. Dress the wheel often,use coolant, and oh, did I say? Dress the wheel often.

[PTSideshow]

I don't know if they explode, they do become unbalanced and have a catastrophic failure while rotating at high speeds. The use of ferrous grinding wheels for non ferrous materials is a non brainer as the become clogged and destroy themselves sooner or later. The aluminum becomes wedged in between the openings of the grit et all
more than most would want to know

[shawnspeed]

When I was in high school in the '80s , we had a individual try to shortcut on a foundry project by finishing a aluminum part on the grinder , when the teacher stepped out for a moment,( we were told to file the part to finish it)Just as the teacher returned, the wheel let go , missing the student and knocked a big chunk out of the cinderblock wall... needles to say that was a new saftey talk at the beginning of every simester.....

[Black_Moons]

Intresting, I have heard of this before..
And iv also seen my (usally more intelligent) brothers grinder completely and utterly loaded with aluminum.. and another time with wood... you could hardly SEE the wheel anymore it was so badly loaded.. I think he blamed the wood on his wife, but I think the aluminum was him -_-;
I even GAVE him a diamond wheel dresser.. and asked him every time I saw him for 4 months if he had used it... Never did get a 'yes' -_-;
Hes a 'professional' welder too.. And has allready had a 4.5" angle grinder wheel blow up in his face when he was new on a job.. (Don't trust your coworkers NOT to put a 10,000rpm wheel on a 20,000rpm high speed sander to give to the new guy!)

Also heard of aluminum dust + corroded iron dust (iron oxide) + grinder sparks = thermite going KABOOM.

[Jack772]

I saw a wheel on a toolpost grinder let go. It took big chunks out of a wooden door.

[KiddZimaHater]

I've ground aluminum plate on a surface grinder.
I used WD-40 for lube, and dressed the wheel after every 3rd pass across the part.
No problems.

[mechanicalmagic]

Yes, you can grind Aluminum with the PROPER wheel. Anybody seen Blanchard ground Aluminum tooling plate?
Norton wheel:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...2113_200332113

But they are hard to find.

[john hobdeclipe]

I'd want to know more about what kind of wheel they are talking about. What abrasive? What bond?

Norton says to use their black silicon carbide wheels on Aluminum.

I saw a wheel on a toolpost grinder let go. It took big chunks out of a wooden door.

I saw a toolpost grinder wheel explode, and part of it took out a window behind the lathe, part of it bounced off the lathe carriage and went up and took out a flourescent light, and part of the wheel hit my friend just below the belt and knocked him onto his a$$. Of course, we didn't report the injury...he was working on a home project for me at the time.

[SilveradoHauler]

One of the best things I put in the shop was a big belt grinder.

Safe for aluminum.

Takes the strange grinding projects away from the well dressed conventional grinding wheels on the bench grinders, and reduces the grinding wheel dressing!

Belts run pretty clean, and I use a big rubber belt cleaner when they get a little clogged from aluminum.