A salvage diver in Mobile told me to never trust a grinder on a wreck...

We were cutting a section of hull plate on a sunken barge in about 60 feet of water. He kept saying to only use a torch, that grinders could spark and ignite pockets of gas. I argued my grinder was faster and safer for the cut we needed. He just shook his head and told me about a job where a spark from a grinder caused a small explosion in a sealed compartment. Has anyone else had a boss or lead diver push back hard on using grinders for certain jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_rowan7d ago

Sounds like an old wives' tale to me.

joseph9327d agoMost Upvoted

Hey, I actually tried that exact thing last year. It worked surprisingly well for my plants, so there might be something to it. Wouldn't hurt to test it out.