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A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
Good Morning everyone,
I thought I'd take a break from my sculpture-building activities to convey a warning to everyone. The names have not been changed... I'm not innocent and need no protecting (although my wife would disagree about that last part) I've been working on a sculpture for the last week. I'm using an 3' bronze oval shape to connect two halves of stainless steel. To make this oval, I actually have a 'center' piece and a left and right piece since I didn't want to cut huge slots through the stainless pieces and insert one whole oval. Okay... agreed none of this has anything to do with my warning, but I don't get out much and consider all of you to be my best friend (scary, huh?). So, in order to line up the oval, I used spacers on all three sides of the sculpture so they'd all be the same height off the table... 9 1/2" to be exact. Now, did you know that spray paint cans are exactly 9 1/2" when sitting on chunks of 2 x 4's? Yeah, you THINK you know where this is going, but you'd be WRONG. I was spacing, taking using MIG and TIG... maybe 4 tacks before I'd remove the cans and tack it in place good. No Problems. . . Now, I have to say here that I was using the "lift start" feature on the TIG since I couldn't get to the foot control... worked like a charm. Okay, you're getting bored, I'll fast forward. . . I got everything tacked without a hitch and then started to TIG everything. I REMOVED all of the cans to their proper storage room and switched the TIG back to remote and High Frequency start. Now... I should tell there was one can of spray paint still on the table, but it was 10' away from where I was TIG welding. I don't know if it was touching the sculpture or just very close, but, the instant I hit the foot pedal, a wave of HEAT washed over me, it was a very disorienting feeling too... I lifted my hood and checked my left side for flames and was shocked to see a fireball 5' high on the far end of my table... black smoke billowing. I saw the can and realized what happened... I knocked it to the floor and now I had a 4' flame on the table and a new 5' fire on the ground about 4 feet away from my motorcycle. I kicked the can outside and used the extinguisher on the flames. Let's just say, the studio is still standing, the bike is unharmed and I was shaken, but not burned. This could have gone VERY differently If I didn't have a 17' ceiling and my 14' door opened... or if the can had been closer to ME when it spewed paint. Yes.. using the cans for spacers was stupid. No one needs to point this out to me. I can only presume the HF ran through the can and blew a hole (and sparked) as it jumped to the sculpture. The can was 10' away and on the backside of the piece... I honestly didn't know it was even there. My little story is just a warning to everyone... Glad I'm here to tell it... James, Port Orchard (near seattle, washington, USA, Earth) www.jameskelseystudios.com |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
In article , RainLover
says... ...snip... I was shaken, but not burned. ...snip... Excellent story, well told. Congratulations on surviving to tell the tale! I'm thinking a web cam in yer shop might be entertaining.. -- Doug d e s @ i n d i a n c h i e f d o t c o m http://www.des.indianchief.com/index.htm |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
I don't understand what happened?
"Doug Smith" wrote in message t... In article , RainLover says... ...snip... I was shaken, but not burned. ...snip... Excellent story, well told. Congratulations on surviving to tell the tale! I'm thinking a web cam in yer shop might be entertaining.. -- Doug d e s @ i n d i a n c h i e f d o t c o m http://www.des.indianchief.com/index.htm |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 10:30:13 -0800, RainLover
wrote: Good Morning everyone, I thought I'd take a break from my sculpture-building activities to convey a warning to everyone. The names have not been changed... I'm not innocent and need no protecting (although my wife would disagree about that last part) I've been working on a sculpture for the last week. I'm using an 3' bronze oval shape to connect two halves of stainless steel. To make this oval, I actually have a 'center' piece and a left and right piece since I didn't want to cut huge slots through the stainless pieces and insert one whole oval. Okay... agreed none of this has anything to do with my warning, but I don't get out much and consider all of you to be my best friend (scary, huh?). So, in order to line up the oval, I used spacers on all three sides of the sculpture so they'd all be the same height off the table... 9 1/2" to be exact. Now, did you know that spray paint cans are exactly 9 1/2" when sitting on chunks of 2 x 4's? Yeah, you THINK you know where this is going, but you'd be WRONG. I was spacing, taking using MIG and TIG... maybe 4 tacks before I'd remove the cans and tack it in place good. No Problems. . . Now, I have to say here that I was using the "lift start" feature on the TIG since I couldn't get to the foot control... worked like a charm. Okay, you're getting bored, I'll fast forward. . . I got everything tacked without a hitch and then started to TIG everything. I REMOVED all of the cans to their proper storage room and switched the TIG back to remote and High Frequency start. Now... I should tell there was one can of spray paint still on the table, but it was 10' away from where I was TIG welding. I don't know if it was touching the sculpture or just very close, but, the instant I hit the foot pedal, a wave of HEAT washed over me, it was a very disorienting feeling too... I lifted my hood and checked my left side for flames and was shocked to see a fireball 5' high on the far end of my table... black smoke billowing. I saw the can and realized what happened... I knocked it to the floor and now I had a 4' flame on the table and a new 5' fire on the ground about 4 feet away from my motorcycle. I kicked the can outside and used the extinguisher on the flames. Let's just say, the studio is still standing, the bike is unharmed and I was shaken, but not burned. This could have gone VERY differently If I didn't have a 17' ceiling and my 14' door opened... or if the can had been closer to ME when it spewed paint. Yes.. using the cans for spacers was stupid. No one needs to point this out to me. I can only presume the HF ran through the can and blew a hole (and sparked) as it jumped to the sculpture. The can was 10' away and on the backside of the piece... I honestly didn't know it was even there. My little story is just a warning to everyone... Glad I'm here to tell it... James, Port Orchard (near seattle, washington, USA, Earth) www.jameskelseystudios.com Wow! Even to hard core seen everthing me..thats some really chilling stuff!!! Noted and a few mental Things to Do in the welding section of my shop are put forwards in the que...like move the gas cans... Gunner "The British attitude is to treat society like a game preserve where a certain percentage of the 'antelope' are expected to be eaten by the "lions". Christopher Morton |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 10:30:13 -0800, RainLover
wrote: ===Good Morning everyone, === ===I thought I'd take a break from my sculpture-building activities to ===convey a warning to everyone. The names have not been changed... I'm ===not innocent and need no protecting (although my wife would disagree ===about that last part) === ===I've been working on a sculpture for the last week. I'm using an 3' ===bronze oval shape to connect two halves of stainless steel. To make ===this oval, I actually have a 'center' piece and a left and right piece ===since I didn't want to cut huge slots through the stainless pieces and ===insert one whole oval. === ===Okay... agreed none of this has anything to do with my warning, but I ===don't get out much and consider all of you to be my best friend ===(scary, huh?). === ===So, in order to line up the oval, I used spacers on all three sides of ===the sculpture so they'd all be the same height off the table... 9 1/2" ===to be exact. Now, did you know that spray paint cans are exactly 9 ===1/2" when sitting on chunks of 2 x 4's? === ===Yeah, you THINK you know where this is going, but you'd be WRONG. === ===I was spacing, taking using MIG and TIG... maybe 4 tacks before I'd ===remove the cans and tack it in place good. No Problems. . . Now, I ===have to say here that I was using the "lift start" feature on the TIG ===since I couldn't get to the foot control... worked like a charm. === ===Okay, you're getting bored, I'll fast forward. . . === ===I got everything tacked without a hitch and then started to TIG ===everything. I REMOVED all of the cans to their proper storage room ===and switched the TIG back to remote and High Frequency start. === ===Now... I should tell there was one can of spray paint still on the ===table, but it was 10' away from where I was TIG welding. I don't know ===if it was touching the sculpture or just very close, but, the instant ===I hit the foot pedal, a wave of HEAT washed over me, it was a very ===disorienting feeling too... === ===I lifted my hood and checked my left side for flames and was shocked ===to see a fireball 5' high on the far end of my table... black smoke ===billowing. I saw the can and realized what happened... I knocked it ===to the floor and now I had a 4' flame on the table and a new 5' fire ===on the ground about 4 feet away from my motorcycle. === ===I kicked the can outside and used the extinguisher on the flames. === ===Let's just say, the studio is still standing, the bike is unharmed and ===I was shaken, but not burned. This could have gone VERY differently ===If I didn't have a 17' ceiling and my 14' door opened... or if the can ===had been closer to ME when it spewed paint. === ===Yes.. using the cans for spacers was stupid. No one needs to point ===this out to me. === ===I can only presume the HF ran through the can and blew a hole (and ===sparked) as it jumped to the sculpture. === ===The can was 10' away and on the backside of the piece... I honestly ===didn't know it was even there. My little story is just a warning to ===everyone... === ===Glad I'm here to tell it... === ===James, Port Orchard (near seattle, washington, USA, Earth) === ===www.jameskelseystudios.com === This is eaxcatly the reason I keep all my spray paint and any flamables stored in my other shed / shop area. I only spray paint out of the shop or in the shed if its raining, and I too learned not to use aerosol cans to hold up things even if your not welding around them. I used a can of DyKem layout dye to prop up a piece of 2 x 2 tubular steel on top of a couple of blocks of wood, so I could stand back and see how it looked in relationship to the other part (Making a long length trailer tongue for a utility trailer) and since one end was moveable by a pivot, and that can of dye was just perfect for what I needed, I used it. I stepped back to look, and the can popped out and the the 2 x 2 tounge hit it and punctured it, sending blue dye all over the place. Happy to hear you were not hurt and your shop is intact. Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com Opinions expressed are those of my wifes, I had no input whatsoever. Remove "nospam" from email addy. |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio withoutreally trying
V8TR4 wrote: I don't understand what happened? He said the HF on the TIG welder sparked to the can and burned a hole through it. I really don't believe that can happen. What I think happened is that the contact between a metal welding table and the workpiece was momentarily broken, perhaps when the piece rocked from one contact point to another, and at that moment the ground path back to the welder ran through the spray paint can. That would SURE burn a hole in a spray can! Even the HF would be able to ignite that! Wow! That is a pretty spectacular incident, and it could have been far worse. Jon |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
"Gunner" wrote in message ... On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 10:30:13 -0800, RainLover wrote: Good Morning everyone, Now... I should tell there was one can of spray paint still on the table, but it was 10' away from where I was TIG welding. I don't know if it was touching the sculpture or just very close, but, the instant I hit the foot pedal, a wave of HEAT washed over me, it was a very disorienting feeling too... Wow! Even to hard core seen everthing me..thats some really chilling stuff!!! Noted and a few mental Things to Do in the welding section of my shop are put forwards in the que...like move the gas cans... Gunner Anyone else ever put an extinguisher on the floor near the flammables? Sort of a poor mans automatic fire suppressing bomb. Fire starts, valve melts, suppressant expended upward in a cloud that falls onto burning chemicals... How about inside the flammables cabinet? Just curious, C |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
I can only presume the HF ran through the can and blew a hole (and
sparked) as it jumped to the sculpture. I can see that happening on my welding table. Over the years , (being the untidy slob that I am) an accumulation of electric conducting debris has collected on my welding table. Several times Ive lifted my welding hood to see 3' lengths of filler rod glowing red. This has inspired me to keep my propane torch off the table. I can see whereas you probably have your welding ground clamped to the table, the paintcan just became part of the circuit. |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 09:04:26 GMT, someone who calls themselves "CROQ"
wrote: Anyone else ever put an extinguisher on the floor near the flammables? Sort of a poor mans automatic fire suppressing bomb. Fire starts, valve melts, suppressant expended upward in a cloud that falls onto burning chemicals... How about inside the flammables cabinet? Go talk to your fire extinguisher supplier - they make special little units just for that use, with a thermal trigger sprinkler head instead of a manual squeeze handle. They hang upside down in the protected space, and don't depend on the extinguisher head or cylinder rupturing to work. Saw one installed in the pit at the base of a gasoline pump, and have seen them sold before - but I can't find a current example of one to point you to. -- Bruce -- -- Bruce L. Bergman, POB 394, Woodland Hills CA 91365, USA Electrician, Westend Electric (#726700) Agoura, CA WARNING: UCE Spam E-mail is not welcome here. I report violators. SpamBlock In Use - Remove the "Python" with a "net" to E-Mail. |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
Hey Gunner,
Could you consider either trimming the original message or posting your comments ahead of the original message. I usually read your posts, but use Google Groups to read the use group. And it is kind of a pain to go to the second page of the message to see what you added to the discussion. Dan Gunner wrote in message Wow! Even to hard core seen everthing me..thats some really chilling stuff!!! Noted and a few mental Things to Do in the welding section of my shop are put forwards in the que...like move the gas cans... Gunner "The British attitude is to treat society like a game preserve where a certain percentage of the 'antelope' are expected to be eaten by the "lions". Christopher Morton |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
Jon got it right. The rule I use is, always put the work lead on the work if at all possible. In addition to providing a better connection for welding it will also keep the HF from biting you Here's another even more important rule... If something's on fire, don't knock it over. It's rarely advantagous to spread the fire over a larger area. It is human nature to do this. Kind of like the instinct to try to put out a fire with your foot. Cheers, Kelley On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 21:36:11 -0600, Jon Elson wrote: V8TR4 wrote: I don't understand what happened? He said the HF on the TIG welder sparked to the can and burned a hole through it. I really don't believe that can happen. What I think happened is that the contact between a metal welding table and the workpiece was momentarily broken, perhaps when the piece rocked from one contact point to another, and at that moment the ground path back to the welder ran through the spray paint can. That would SURE burn a hole in a spray can! Even the HF would be able to ignite that! Wow! That is a pretty spectacular incident, and it could have been far worse. Jon |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
In article , Kelley Mascher says...
Here's another even more important rule... If something's on fire, don't knock it over. It's rarely advantagous to spread the fire over a larger area. It is human nature to do this. Kind of like the instinct to try to put out a fire with your foot. Corallary to that rule is, if your doorbell rings, and you open the front door to find something on fire on your porch, DON'T start stamping on it! Jim ================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ================================================== |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
|
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
"Kelley Mascher" wrote in message ... Here's another even more important rule... If something's on fire, don't knock it over. It's rarely advantagous to spread the fire over a larger area. It is human nature to do this. Kind of like the instinct to try to put out a fire with your foot. Cheers, What was that about burning ducks (G) Ken. |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
We're glad you still here, also
SE RainLover wrote: Good Morning everyone, I thought I'd take a break from my sculpture-building activities to convey a warning to everyone. The names have not been changed... I'm not innocent and need no protecting (although my wife would disagree about that last part) I've been working on a sculpture for the last week. I'm using an 3' bronze oval shape to connect two halves of stainless steel. To make this oval, I actually have a 'center' piece and a left and right piece since I didn't want to cut huge slots through the stainless pieces and insert one whole oval. Okay... agreed none of this has anything to do with my warning, but I don't get out much and consider all of you to be my best friend (scary, huh?). So, in order to line up the oval, I used spacers on all three sides of the sculpture so they'd all be the same height off the table... 9 1/2" to be exact. Now, did you know that spray paint cans are exactly 9 1/2" when sitting on chunks of 2 x 4's? Yeah, you THINK you know where this is going, but you'd be WRONG. I was spacing, taking using MIG and TIG... maybe 4 tacks before I'd remove the cans and tack it in place good. No Problems. . . Now, I have to say here that I was using the "lift start" feature on the TIG since I couldn't get to the foot control... worked like a charm. Okay, you're getting bored, I'll fast forward. . . I got everything tacked without a hitch and then started to TIG everything. I REMOVED all of the cans to their proper storage room and switched the TIG back to remote and High Frequency start. Now... I should tell there was one can of spray paint still on the table, but it was 10' away from where I was TIG welding. I don't know if it was touching the sculpture or just very close, but, the instant I hit the foot pedal, a wave of HEAT washed over me, it was a very disorienting feeling too... I lifted my hood and checked my left side for flames and was shocked to see a fireball 5' high on the far end of my table... black smoke billowing. I saw the can and realized what happened... I knocked it to the floor and now I had a 4' flame on the table and a new 5' fire on the ground about 4 feet away from my motorcycle. I kicked the can outside and used the extinguisher on the flames. Let's just say, the studio is still standing, the bike is unharmed and I was shaken, but not burned. This could have gone VERY differently If I didn't have a 17' ceiling and my 14' door opened... or if the can had been closer to ME when it spewed paint. Yes.. using the cans for spacers was stupid. No one needs to point this out to me. I can only presume the HF ran through the can and blew a hole (and sparked) as it jumped to the sculpture. The can was 10' away and on the backside of the piece... I honestly didn't know it was even there. My little story is just a warning to everyone... Glad I'm here to tell it... James, Port Orchard (near seattle, washington, USA, Earth) www.jameskelseystudios.com |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio withoutreally trying
jim rozen wrote:
Corallary to that rule is, if your doorbell rings, and you open the front door to find something on fire on your porch, DON'T start stamping on it! Jim Jim, Halloween has been over for some time now :-) I don't think the curent crop of "trick or treeters" have ever heard of the trickes we did as kids. ...lew... |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message ... On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 09:04:26 GMT, someone who calls themselves "CROQ" wrote: Anyone else ever put an extinguisher on the floor near the flammables? Sort of a poor mans automatic fire suppressing bomb. Fire starts, valve melts, suppressant expended upward in a cloud that falls onto burning chemicals... How about inside the flammables cabinet? Go talk to your fire extinguisher supplier - they make special little units just for that use, with a thermal trigger sprinkler head instead of a manual squeeze handle. They hang upside down in the protected space, and don't depend on the extinguisher head or cylinder rupturing to work. Saw one installed in the pit at the base of a gasoline pump, and have seen them sold before - but I can't find a current example of one to point you to. -- Bruce -- Interesting. Thanks, C |
A warning to all OR... How I nearly burned down my studio without really trying
Gunner scribed in
: Wow! Even to hard core seen everthing me..thats some really chilling stuff!!! Noted and a few mental Things to Do in the welding section of my shop are put forwards in the que...like move the gas cans... and that's why I weld outside I don't have to move the paint I don't have to move the LPG I don't have to sweep up the slag chippings swarf, steam and wind -- David Forsyth -:- the email address is real /"\ http://terrapin.ru.ac.za/~iwdf/welcome.html \ / ASCII Ribbon campaign against HTML E-Mail - - - - - - - X If you receive email saying "Send this to everyone you know," / \ PLEASE pretend you don't know me. |
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