Grinder fire Hazard?

[Kirk Miller]

How much of a fire hazard is having a grinder in a High dust area? I am laying out a brand new shop I was considering putting my bench grinder next to my lathe, but then I thought twice because of the dust coming off the lathe possibly accumulating behind the grinder and having a spark land in it, and causing a fire. Am I over thinking this?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Not sure if you are over thinking or not. I have my grinder right behind my lathe so I just turn around to sharpen. It has been there for almost 3 yrs.

[Andrew Arndts]

Ya know... Safety is no accident. IF you feel safer with the grinder away from the lathe, then it is wise choice.

[Brian Libby]

Normal touchup grinding of lathe tools in a high dust area should not be a problem.
A fire issue would occur when doing heavy grinding therefore creating a pocket of hot grinding material near the grinder.

[Steve Vaughan]

Well, ditto on both comments. You certainly want things as safe as you can make it and you're the one that needs to be comfortable with your layout. I'd think you'd be fine, just be smart when you grind. Clear all the stuff away from around the grinder every time before you grind or something like that. My grinder is on the other side of the shop, but that's because of space, but I still have to keep the area clean around it before I do anything. I'd think a bigger issue might be accidentally leaving an open container of finish or something like that nearby. Another thought might be to keep a fire extinguisher nearby as a 'just in case.'

[Neil Strong]

Good thinking to check this one out. It's always concerned me. Serious bush fires are started every year in my part of the world by people using angle grinders outside on high risk of bush fire days. So grinding metal can start fires.

Having said that, Ive been using my grinder next to my lathe for decades and not had an incident, despite having up to 20 garbage cans of shavings knee deep on the floor of my workshop at times, including under the grinder.

As Brian points out, a light touch up on the grinder will produce less spark than heavy reshaping, but there is still some risk.

To further reduce the risk:

I installed water baths under the wheels so any hot metal particles get quenched before causing any troubles.
The odd stray spark still escapes the water bath, so I never use the grinder immediately before leaving the workshop.
Recently I have been doing my touch up grinding on a diamond wheel which produces almost no spark at all.

Stay safe.
.

[Steve Schlumpf]

My grinder is located a few steps away from the lathe and has not been a problem because there are no shavings in that area. When I clean up my shop - which happens often because it is located in the basement - I always clean up the grinder area also. It pays to think ahead when laying out your shop and having the grinder a few steps away from the lathe doesn't hurt anything.

[Larry Edgerton]

I never had a problem with the grinder, but I did with my 1" narrow belt sander. Didn't even think about it and walked over to take a pass on steel. A few minutes later I smelled something and it was the wood dust in the base of the sander smoldering. I now have a dedicated 1" for steel.

I guess my point is, it can happen, so maybe err on the side of caution.

[Kirk Miller]

Thank you for all the insight on this. I will keep it close to the lathe, but exercise caution. If nothing else I have an excuse for more tools..........Don't want to run the grinder with all dust, and chips laying around so I need to stock up on tools........lol

[ray hampton]

the common cigarette lighter use a spark to light the fluid
but at a close distance, what will your insurance agent say
if your saw dust catch on fire ?

[Andrew Arndts]

Another thought might be to keep a fire extinguisher nearby as a 'just in case.'


That is a Number one "tool" in any workshop!