Fires

[Dan Crabtree]

Well, being as that we play with fire, figured this would be a fun and serious topic. What have you all lit on fire on accident?

plans for project, 2 sweaters, broom, pant leg, and shirt that was in a toolbox. The time I lit my plans and 2 sweaters was at the local monthly hammer in, It was the 2nd time I was ever there.... ops:

[bruce wilcock]

managed to set a glass fiber three wheel reliant car on fire, it was going to be renovated for a colection, well i changed that idea, when we saw it afire the man that was striking for me tipped the slack tub over it and put it out .we just told him we were there first, and he could see what we were doing, and dont park cars with leaky gas tanks so close

[HWooldridge]

I will tell you the weirdest fire I ever saw. My first forge was a frame of angle iron with fire bricks on top. The pot sat in the middle and the sides were just 1x4's screwed to some tabs so the coal would stay off the floor. I used this forge for several years and always shut down the same way - let it cool, tear the coke out and then water it to death. I had been working all day, closed down normally and went home. Next day, went into the shop and smelled burned wood. Looked all over and finally found that all the boards were burned through in several places. Apparently, some coal dust stayed lit and the little cracks between the bricks fed enough air so that the fire marched right across the hearth until it hit the boards and then burned thru them. There was ash all over and on the floor. Sure glad I had a dirt and brick floor.

[JimG]

A refrigerator.
I was about 10-12
And those stories they tell about people suffocating in fridges cause they are air tight?..........well not in this case

[cross]

My first forge was not very well researched,I had an aluminum BBQ with a bathroom vent for air supply.Not having much success getting heat I decided my problem was air supply,thats when I spotted the old upright vacum abandoned in the corner.I plugged that sucker in,pointed the exhaust at my fire and was amazed and very happy with the rapid rate that iron was being heated.In fact I was so excited that I barley noticed when the entire molten belly of the BBQ fell to the ground . Lucky I was working outside in those days,and the garden hose was handy.

[JPH]

does setting your face on fire count?? I did that once, back when I actually HAD hair.(.I think like 1988.)....that was an "experience"...other than that just a smoldering shop cloth every now and then.

Although there was that one time I got some hot welding slag up inside my nose...it burned a bit..but the really uncomfortable part was the sizzling feeling of my sinuses getting cooked...

JPH

[T-Gold]

In a glass shop, lots of things catch fire that you don't expect... Often you'll have some not-so-bright character sweep up hot glass and drop it into one of the "dirty glass" trash bins with some newspaper... whoof! Melts a hole in the bucket, too. Or when someone is doing a hot cane pickup, and their assistant brings out the piece of 1/2" steel plate (on a fork) and rests it on the bench rail, which is 1/4" angle iron backed up with WOOD... starts to smoke perty fast, gotta keep spraying it with water. If I think of any others, I'll be sure to post 'em, I'm sure I've set a few things on fire while I was over there.

[mike-hr]

I melted off part of an ear, and some of my shoulder trying to start an old ford pickup with a beer can of gas down the carb... didn't even know i was on fire till my buddy jumped out of the rig and tackled me in the snowy gravel. The worst part happened at the doctor, the nurse had to take a scratcy scotchbrite-like pad to clean the gravel out of the burn...
Redneck last words-- "hey bubba, watch this!"

[Ed Thomas]

Me? Just a shirt sleeve... and a dog. "Hey, Ed... you might want to put out your dog." "I mean OUT, not outside!" oops. :shock:

But my favorite story I've heard so far was by Doug Hendrickson. He described a demo he was doing while wearing a ragged T-shirt. He was using a torch to heat his piece and knew his shirt was on fire but didn't want to break the flow. Spectators were yelling to him and he just ignored them... and as he finished heating and applied the finish... he tore off his flaming shirt in one motion with a flourish, used the smoking tattered remains to buff the finish on. "...and that's how we do things in MY shop."

[T-Gold]

LOL, Ed. That's pretty hardcore.