Archie Zietman Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Hello. Today, before going to school, I cleaned out the fireplace, and placed the cold ashes in the brass bucket like I always do, and put it downstairs in the basement to sift later in the week, to line my forge with. It was just my luck, during the day it spontaneously combusted, along with the last few weeks worth of ashes, and the fire brigade had to be called. Luckily nothing happened, but I'm definitely buying an airtight steel bin to put them in far away from the house. What is even more incredible than the house not burning down, is that my parents are not angry, just frightened, and aren't punishing me (I already spent the entire evening engaged in self flagellation) they would have, a year ago, made me throw away all my smithing equipment and never mention it again, but they are actually willing to let me continue, so long as I learn from the experience. Have any of you had similar incidents (or actually burned your houses/shops down), or injured yourselves from bad luck and stupid mistakes? Thanks, Archie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrickrock Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 First, let me say I'm glad you and yours are all ok. That must have been scary. And I'm glad your parents aren't putting the kibosh on your hobby. I've never heard of cold ashes spontaneously combusting. I mean what did they combust with? Do you mean it was coals springing back to life in your brass bucket? And why are you lining your forge with ashes? What do you mean? Are you making some kind of fire clay? I need more details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hicks Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Archie Glad nothing burnt & everyones OK When I first see the title a out of control corn fire pop into my mind:o sorry just kidin. Yea you got to watch ashes Ive done about the same thing I put them in a plastic 5 gal bucket and set it outside. I lucked out and caught it about the time the bucket melted. Coals will smolder for a long time - If you had an lid that fit tight enough to cut the air off it might help. For sure sit them some where safe. How about a {clean safe} 55 gal. barrel with a lid that would work would not matter if there were coals. Lots of people been hurt bad messin with Barrels be sure to get one that hasent been use for solvent or such they will blow up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Turner Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 patrickrock, The neo tribal guys use hardwood ash to line their forges. Tai Goo does a lot of neo tribal smithing. if you want more info I would contact Tai Tai Goo Knives - custom hand forged knives -neo-tribal blades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 I'm glad you are OK and I applaud your parents - they sound like sane, pragmatic people who realize a freak accident when they see it. I had a real weird deal happen once. My first forge was an angle iron frame about 30x36 that was lined with firebricks and had the firepot sitting a little left of center with coal spread all around the hearth. The sides were 1x4 pine boards screwed to the frame so the coal didn't fall on the floor. I used this forge for a couple of years before the incident occurred. I had worked all day long and shut down as normal, letting the fire die out naturally while I cleaned up and then watered everything just to be sure. I left the shop and went home, then returned in a couple of days. When I walked thru the door, I smelled a peculiar burnt odor that I couldn't place. I surveyed the shop and finally noticed the sides of the pine boards were burnt thru on every side and ashes were on the floor. After two days time, the boards were still smoldering and hot but not burning openly - more of a slow char. I poured water on everything and started tearing it apart to see what happened. I eventually discovered a thin layer of fine white ash between the coal and the bricks. After much cogitation, I concluded that over time, a layer of fine coal had built up on top and between the bricks. That last fire had ignited this dust but at a very slow rate and the water had done nothing to extinguish it. It slowly and methodically worked its way across the hearth until it hit the pine boards, which then caught on fire. They eventually burned thru and the embers fell out onto the floor (fortunately it was dirt and there was nothing else to burn). This was by far the strangest fire I've seen. I later talked to a family member who is a retired fire captain - he said fire does some truly odd things at times. He agreed with my basic theory on how it happened but neither of us felt I could ever recreate it on demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Archie, I am certainly glad things worked out as they did. Take this as a lesson of life and take time to remember it well. To insure that there are no fires you leave the shop, shovel all the ash and coke into a 5 gallon metal bucket full of water. Don't forget the ash dump and put that material into the water also. When you leave you will know there is 2 inches of water covering the material, and very little chance of fire. It is then easy to later pour it onto a screen and wash the ash out, leaving just the "good stuff" and clinker. Pick out the clinker and put the rest off to the side to dry and be reused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted T Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Archie Zietman, At the level of compassion, I am so thankful it turned out as it did for you. At another level, I say as long as it did happen the way it did, be happy about it and don’t waste the experience! Listening to you, I know you will be a safer and a more experienced person because of it. I wrote a long letter to you about blacksmith safety. Then I thought "Naaa". I'm just over protective! So I would just say this. "Always think of the possibilities of your action". Best to you. Be safe, Be safe! "Old" Ted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 I shift the woodstove ashes for "free" charcoal myself---why throw away money? IIRC the early medieval irish law stated that you were responsible for a fire for three days after it was "out" so they evidently had bad experiences with coals hiding in the ashes too. Bully for your parents! Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rantalin Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 A similar situation happened two summers ago. A man was trying to light his grill, but couldn't get the coals lit. Frustrated, he put the coals back into the back and went inside to take a shower. Some of the coals were smoldering, and he had set the bag against the building. This was a large apartment complex, and most of the building his apartment was in went up in flames. A few of my dad's employees had to go check out the building to make sure it was electrically safe. We had another job at that complex a few weeks later, and the damage was pretty bad. Glad you're ok Archie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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