Rank: New forum user 
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I am looking for some advice on the best form of control for a colleague of mine who is left-handed. They work in Welding and fabrications and do a fair amount of grinding. I have been unable to find any left handed grinding tools that would help to solve the problem. When the grinder is held in the left hand the sparks and fumes are projected towards the operator. Although he uses a LEV booth that is sufficient for his right handed colleagues I do not believe it will have the same efficiency due to the majority of dust, fumes and sparks being ejected towards the operators face and chest. For this reason, I am looking into RPE. Does anyone have any suggestions that may be able to help me with any of the aforementioned issues please?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Hand grinders are designed to be used either way. You know you can move the guard around to accommodate this (remove disk, loosen screws to guard – not remove, adjust it, tighten screws, put disc back on). They have 3 auxiliary handle positions. Can’t comment on how your LEV is set up, would need to see a picture. Chris
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 1 user thanked chris42 for this useful post.
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Rank: New forum user
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Hi Chris, Thank you for your reply. We have already moved the guard; however, this does not stop all of the particles and sparks from being directed at the operator due to the oscillating direction of the disk. This also pulls the grinder off to the right putting more pressure on his fingers to guide it rather than his hand and wrist if he was right-handed. The operator has raised concerns as his face and what come out of his nose can be very black after he has been grinding. We have purchased the most left-handed friendly grinder we could find which had the operator controls in a more user friendly way but I do think he has a valid point with his other concerns.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Just went out to my shed and looked at my grinders as I know that on occasion, I have set them to work left-handed due to the job being done. However, I see your problem, when you rotate the body of the grinder 180 degrees the rotation of the disc means that where the disc rotation would send the sparks and grindings away from the user it now sends it back towards the user. Problem is that although it would be relatively easy for manufacturers to change the rotation of the motor, the spindle nut thread is designed to tighten onto the disc from use, where if you just reverse the motor it would try and undo. This would mean special limited number components, which I guess they would not be keen on. Having said this, I worked in the heavy steel fabrication industry for many many years and never encountered this issue. They either adjusted the grinder and their position to not be an issue, or they must have learnt to use right-handed. They did all have air fed helmets and mobile extraction, but in over 15 years no one ever complained about this. They complained about everything else they could, but not this. Is the majority of the grinding required to clean up the joint before welding or are they just blending in stop /starts or grinding out defects? Other processes could be worse than what you have, ie pencil grinder or air arc. Is it a 4.5 inch grinder or 9 inch ( ok 115mm or 230mm)? Chris
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Rank: New forum user
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They are 4.5-inch grinders. This person in particular feels the world owes him a favour because he is left-handed to the point he isn’t willing to be flexible with anything: on shared computers, he will change the side the mouse on the computer operates on. I understand where is coming from as there is a common theme; on band sanders due to the way the rotate and the side the extraction is on, the side in which emergency stops are located on machinery, etc. I do feel for him as he either must use his less dominant hand, which if you have ever tried to do that you lose skill and precision, or find a way to adapt which I do believe puts greater pressure on some of the ergonomic issues that could crop up as he gets older. The grinder is the one I feel carries the biggest risk which I would really like to try and help him with. It is not possible to find a grinder with a bolt that screws in the opposite direction that I have been able to find.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Could the work be rotated through 90 degrees. Ie so the joint is running left to right not directly away from the user. That way the grinding sparks and dross will go to the side not directly back. Just a thought, as thinking back the joints we had ran from side to side not directly away from the welder /grinder user, due to the size of the product being worked on. Chris Other than that there is a potential untapped market for someone.
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Rank: Forum user
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Just thinking aloud a grinder with a motor that rotates in an unexpected direction and a LH thread on the shaft would have to be super clearly identifiable so if someone right handed picked it up they wouldn't get an unpleasant surprise!
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