Ice Czar Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 2nd week as an apprentice I'm chiseling and twisting 40" long 58th inch square the middle is heated to a bright orange (only about 9" is finally twisted) withdrawing a piece from the forge (which has a small window front and back) I catch my glove on fire grabbing the far end of the stock got it a little too close to the forge port I find this rather distracting and while bobbling the bar I loose control of it the heated section bounces off my stomach producing a nice smiley face in my (thankfully) cotton t-shirt and a flash burn that has yet to fade wasnt really a bad burn but it is the most noticable the other day chiseling 1" stock (for the 1st time) with an air hammer, I burned my knuckle through the glove with my hand over 6" away from the stock, there is that much more thermal mass involved had to wrap an extra glove around that hand as a shield to finish that burn was more annoying, you notice it every time you put on a glove Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Ya, so I couldn't find a thread anywhere on here where The topic of Burns was brought up, and in the middle of swearing off one of my best, I thought it'd be kinda "cool" to hear some good ole' burn stories.. Personally I'm somewhat used to super heated gloves, burning slag, and speeding sparks, but every once in a while I get hit with a sweet one.. Today I did a dumb thing, and used the wrong tongs to hold my work in progress sen.. The yellow hot glob of metal flipped up and melted off my right hand pinky side palm.. kinda deep but I didn't feel it.. The scent and look of it was what was nasty..plus its starting to hurt now a little:rolleyes: alright guys, shoot!! Sounds like you are working your steel too hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Ice Czar, if it gets hot, turn it loose. You do not need to hold on to the metal while it is being heated. Tongs are usually long enough to keep you away from the heat while handling the metal. But you may be surprised how much heat and how far the heat travels up the metal. It can be controlled by simply putting a shield up to deflect the heat. This stops the hot air from blowing along the metal heating it up in gassers. In solid fuel forges, it blocks the flame from contacting the metal outside the fire ball in the forge. How far and how much heat travels up the metal depends on the size and shape of the forge. I have a forge that is 4 inches diameter and about as deep that will heat up a piece of 1/4 x 1-1/4 flat bar about 6 inches. You can easily hand hold a section only 18 inches long. The other forge is 13 inches diameter and with the same size and length stock, by the time you get to the same temperature on the hot end, you can not hold the "other" end by hand. Yep was a surprise to me too !! It did not take me long to look at a hot piece of steel (grin). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice Czar Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 howdy Glenn great advise, but those lessons where learned the first day, pain is a great teacher started my apprenticeship making 1000 x 4" wide penny scrolls that one inch stock that bit me through my glove was already in the jig Id made to hold it while it was being chiseled, it was the radiative energy that got me in that case, was so xxxx used to chiseling the 58 inch stuff somewhere near four times the thermal mass radiating energy. Raised a pea size blister right on my knuckle from 6" away we have two forges, both are propane one short and wide for large scroll work, one breadbox like with a small port front and back for heating the middle (also has a side door). Ill be working with an open hearth charcoalcoal forge here soon at home which Im sure will be much different ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat pete Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Well I have only been at this hammerin thing for about 6 months...knock on wood no injuries, ah a few little scraps but no burns...untill today, lol not big oneS but brands none the less....1 on my little finger, 1 across the back same hand and 1 on the side of my wrist same hand just down from the little finger...each from a different occurance, all in the last 2 days...but all are brands... I guess I will call it a day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primtechsmith Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Right inner forearm....Mike had me practicing using jigs and long heats to make big s hooks out of bar stock. Also a good lesson in drawing out a taper on bar stock.....anyways. The piece was NOT hot enough and I slapped it in the jig and went to bending.....well she jumped out of that jig and into my forearm. I pulled out the bar stock....it kinda sunk in a little.......I then looked over at Mike and he reacted just like I thought he would: With a smile and "Not enough heat. Saw that right off." Later that night I dug around it with my pocket knife to try and facilitate the natural wonders of healing by letting it bleed and scab over to fill in the "dent" left behind. It never bled when it happened, guess it cauterized itself. That was a good one...wasn't as bad as it sounds...but it was deep and hurt. Makes a cool story now though when someone notices the scar. I am also always burning Mike......he asks to see something I am working on so I just hand it to him....hot(black heat).......I am just a good apprentice doing what I am told. Nevermind the fact I have a welding glove on and am handing him the hot end..... Peyton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coltpax Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 I/ve had a couple burns, but never been to the hospital/doctor for them. I have two tied for my worst though. Recently, i was working on a piece of .5 in. bar stock, and dropped it into my shoe after pulling it out of the forge. Big burn on my left foot, left a nice scar though. My other was just when i started blacksmithing, pulled away a piece of metal, and had red coal fall out of the tongs. Stupid me, not thinking, went to catch it between the anvil stand with my leg. About 5mm deep and 3 in. square. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer3j Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 I've already used up all of my fire stories. But, when they is you a burnin'-you don't forget.mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironrosefarms Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 I was volunteering in a pioneer village and had my fair share of minor burns... Then the village organization thought it a good idea to allow a bunch of kids to join us in the shop. The shop was already over crowded but we was told that they still wanted the more experienced guys in the shop as well. So the first time a hot mild steel knife wantabee came around and caught my reenactment shirt on fire and putting that cool white ashy line on my skin from the metal I wrote it off and went back to work (not happy but still went back to work). Not more than an hour later another kid did the same thing to me. The best part was the village organization people couldn't understand why I was upset and packing my stuff. That was my last day there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyshackleford Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 In a similar tale, I knew a director of a museum that was smithing and hurt himself. he was working on a knife, and was notorious (to me) for using the wrong tool. Had a pair of button tongs squeezing a tang while he was hitting it. *smack smack smack smack* and the blade worked itself out, flew up, and caught him in the face. left a scar across his bridge, burned his cornea. Unfortunately his lack of judgement now means that everyone who works in the shop must wear safety glasses (18-19th century period shop) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Unfortunately have to wear safety gear now? What would've been unfortunate is if he'd seriously injured himself or someone else because the museum failed to implement and enforce BASIC safety rules, got sued as it should have and had to shut down. Only a FOOL doesn't wear basic safety gear. It's so much easier to explain to the audience why you're wearing safety glasses, ear plugs and leather boots in an 18th C. setting than try to explain to a mother why her daughter is blind and has a permanent scar. Forget explaining it to the judge, just get out the check book cause you're screwed. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TASMITH Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 I have had innumerable burns over the years. It kind of comes with the territory if you work with hot metal every day. One of the worst I got though was while wearing a heavy insulated welding glove. They were trying out the line-up of the dies in one of the hammers in the shop and didn't have the furnace up to heat yet. They were forging contact pins for the aluminum industry and the stock used for each pin was 3 inch round by 27 inches long.They way about 56# each.They brought a billet over to my work area to heat in my furnace to try the hammer out. We heated it to 2350 deg and to take it back to the hammer was about fifty feet away.The hammerman brought his tongs over and pulled the billet part way out of the furnace and I used a bar to support the othe end to carry it back to the hammer, We were most of the way back to the hammer when the billet slipped sideways on my support bar to within about six inches from my thumb! needless to say at that heat it didn't take long to work it's way through the glove. It literally baked the back of my thumb to just about a third degree burn. Blistered it from the base of the thumbnail to the back of the hand. Took about three months to fully heal but there is no permanent damage to the joints and very little scarring. The second worst was a dumb move on my part. Welding under a vehichle in the overhead position without a leather apron on. Nice little blob of hot metal in the navel! that one hurt a long time!:o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Budd Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Gortunately I've not gained any big scars from burning (they've come from abrasives, cuts adn horses), but I've managed a few close calls already (only been forging for 5 years). When I was first learning I volunteered at our local national trust forge, Finches Foundry, where I was basically picking it up as I went along but not letting the public know that I decided to have a go at a toasting fork and all was going well until I went to twist the square bar. I'm sure everyone who has demonstrated has done this, I would put the bar into the fire to heat up and somebody would ask a question. So I would take it out to answer (rather than burn my nice fork) and when done I put it back in to heat properly. Did that a few times so that when I finally got it into the vice and fitted the wrench to the bar, the end where I was going ot support it with my hand (to keep the length straight while twisting) was rather hotter than I thought! I grabbed it too fast andf let go even faster! Ended up witha perfect 10mm square bar line right across my right palm. Ouch! It blistered badly and was yellow and nasty, but with the good old lavender oil it was completely gone in a few weeks. not even a scar. I've got a nice little burn from hitting a freshly welded joint, that was deep and only hurt afterwards. Also had hammer scale weld to my forehead and all over my hands/arms (normally when firewelding of course) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlander Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Unfortunately have to wear safety gear now? What would've been unfortunate is if he'd seriously injured himself or someone else because the museum failed to implement and enforce BASIC safety rules, got sued as it should have and had to shut down. Only a FOOL doesn't wear basic safety gear. It's so much easier to explain to the audience why you're wearing safety glasses, ear plugs and leather boots in an 18th C. setting than try to explain to a mother why her daughter is blind and has a permanent scar. Forget explaining it to the judge, just get out the check book cause you're screwed. Frosty sorry joseph, I have to agree with frosty. try going to your eye doctor and try to get safety lenses in a frame that looks a little more period correct than the modern $3 safety glasses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammered Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 (edited) Worst burn I ever got was when I was flippin burgers back in my high school days. Had a pair of tongs slip into the fryer and I instinctively reached in to grab them. Luckily I'd turned it off about a half hour prior so I could drain and clean it. Sat at the sink with my hand in cold water for the next half hour. I remember that I hurt for a long time after that and had that "stretched skin" feeling longer still. Came away scarless and no longterm adverse effects. I was lucky. Had a near miss in the forge not too long ago. I was forging a piece of stock using tongs. At one point I put the stock back into the fire and set my tongs on the anvil to get something. As I turned back around I bumped the tongs and they fell to the floor. I didn't pay them any mind for a moment as I had my hands full. I noticed that the top of my right foot was getting rather warm and noticed that the hot jaw end of my tongs was lightly resting on top of my running shoe and was slowly melting its way through. Luckily I'd read about the trick about a foot fitting into a 5 gallon bucket of water a while ago and I stuck my foot in as fast as I could. Didn't get burned at the time, but now I now ALWAYS wear my leather work boots in the forge area in addition to my gloves, apron and glasses. Edited November 29, 2008 by Hammered fixing my typos again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce wilcock Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 carron oil ,is a mix of linseed oil and lime water ,it was used at the Carron iron works in Scotland ,for burns ,i think thats all they had plenty of at the foundry lime and linseed oil , we used it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.C.Edmondson Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 My worst burn came from wearing tennis shoes while welding, I didnt know the piece was burning into my shoe until it was to late and if you could have caught me on camera running around trying to get my shoe off you might have won one of those funniest video contest. It burned the top of my foot BAD!!! Taught me a good lesson and it wont happen again!!! Be SAFE. Godbless,Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lysdexik Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Warning to Frosty if the cooking oil story gave you the heaves you might not want to read this. When I was a teenager, back last century. I inherited a motorcycle from my uncle, it was a British bike, made by a company called airel, it had a square four engine configuration and was 1000cc capacity. Because of the square four engine the back two cylinders ran real hot. I was riding home from Oxford down the A40, when the sump plug came loose and filled my riding boot with 50wt oil, the A40 is a twisty road and trafic is running at a fair lick. By the time I got to the side of the road and took off my boot,the foot looked like the contents of a can of red salmon. They gave me a tube of a salve called Percolium Picarate, ( any pharmacist or doctor will now know why my handle is Dyslexic-ish) stained like the devil, it's a sort of dayglo yellow, but it took the pain right out of the thing, and 28 years later you would never know! Oh by the way, does anyone know what colour adreniline is - It's brown and at high speed with a boot full of boiling oil it flows out of your pants cuff. Paul. Don't confuse activity, with accomplishment. And as always... it's not over... Untill we Win!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Owe! Ariel Square Fours had a rep for shortening the rider's lives. Sounds like you got off lucky. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 out here, at this time of year, the quench bucket, if not frozen over, is the first and fastest first aid available, remove the heat as fast as you can to slow the spread of injured tissue, saved a bad burn from getting worse the other day when I picked up a piece of metal I had just told myself not to, I was getting to riveting the cross to the backplate, and really needed three hands, and while I was hurrying, yup 2 fingers smokin, but only 1 blistered, and not to bad, cause the tub was close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruityloops31 Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 i was drawing out a 1" x1" square stock to fit in hardy hole and a large flake of fire scale landed right on the side of my nose and welded itself to my skin. i guess im pretty lucky that thats my worst burn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyshackleford Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 The picture above shows the identical location of the scar from the person that I mentioned in my other post, even down to the length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 i was workin on a heart hook and it fell backword in the tongs and melted a spot on my hand....theres a hole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Were you wearing safety glasses at the time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruityloops31 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 yeah idk how it got behind them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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