I think I can safely assume this topic has never been covered here, but I thought I'd share anyway: 

Don't ya' just HATE IT when you're working away at a grinding job.....and accidentally set your bra on fire?

LOL!  WISH I was kidding, and thankfully it was only on fire for a second, snuffed it out with a gloved hand, but who knew that "burning your bra" was still a thing?  Apparently a spark briefly landed on my chest, leaving a hole in my shirt and trying hard to make it's way past that!   YIKES!  Yes, I have a leather apron, but it's like 40000 degrees here, so I wasn't wearing it. 

No worries, Glen, this is NOT an invitation for raunchy talk - just found it amusing and thought, "Now HERE is a problem most of the IFI folks have NEVER had to deal with, I bet!"   

Your smile for the day - you can thank me later.  

It is true i have never set that particular garment on fire but i can say both times i have set fire to myself in the shop were with angle grinders and cutoff disc’s.

 

watch where them sparks fly

 

at least you now have another funny story to tell around tge campfire

 

du

Well I do like the old Bib Overalls  for both the greater protection along the front and for the "drop through" aspects when things go very wrong...

Loose bib overalls are also surprisingly cool as they can pump air about you as you move.  (Tight bib overalls are just *wrong*!)

Do they make nomex foundation garments?

LOL!  I don't think the Nomex folks have entered into that particular niche market yet!   I don't own any overalls, but I know from past experience you're right about them being surprisingly cool.  Need to start looking for a pair.  Hadn't thought about them at all in terms of protecting the chest. 

 

A friend of mine who does glassblowing and torch work started an Etsy business making "Great Bras of Fire", which are insulated pads that provide thermal protection to that particular area. 

Makes sense, we have a local steel mill where I live, I imagine there is a demand in that kind of industry and similar ones for such a garment.

 

I have moved this to the safety section. 

 

Thanks for keeping us abreast of activities in your shop Spanky. 

I think I've lit just about any piece of clothing a guy would wear in the shop on fire a few times. Comparing in my mind I think burning your bra would be about like lighting my T shirt of fire. SMARTS a mite!

Thank you for brightening up my day Spanky, always good to hear from you but some posts are special, historical even.  AM I laughing historically! 

Glad you weren't hurt, it's good to get a chuckle about someone engaging in undergarment immolation. 

Frosty The Lucky.

My wife can tell you about her experience like that, although nothing was set on fire a piece of hot scale jumped over her shop apron and went down the front of her tee shirt. She still has the mark where it landed right between well never mind and if she reads this she will bop me.

One time I was forging shirtless on account of the summer heat, thinking my apron would be sufficient protection. As I turned from the forge to the anvil, a shard of burning anthracite popped out of the fire and landed in the interstices of my extreme lower back, if you know what I mean. 

I’m not much of a dancer, but that day, I was Barishnikov. 

18 hours ago, SpankySmith said:

Don't ya' just HATE IT when you're working away at a grinding job.....and accidentally set your bra on fire?

I can safely say that I have never set fire to my bra  ... however ... I did set fire to my flannelette shirt. Unfortunately flannelette is not what it used to be and is now made with synthetic rubbish. It only takes a spark and the wind created by the disk will fan it into a fire. 

I was cutting a large H beam with a 1mm cutting disk and was leaning over the beam on the ground. The shirt was hanging away from my chest and was well on fire before I even realised.  I remember thinking ... why is it so hot? ... suffice to say the shirt in question and the rest of the flannelette shirts in my cupboard ended in the bin. 

I was working on a motorcycle frame a few years back, and unfortunately there was no easy way to watch where the sparks were going.

All of a sudden I smelt burning, and my crotch felt a bit warm. 

I looked down to see I had burnt through my over trousers, jeans and fortunately stopped in time before burning through the final protective layer. That was a rather close call! 

You know your a smith when you drop an off cut, it lodges in the cuff of your trousers, and despite your better half yelling at you you keep hammering as not to loose the heat before addressing the fact you pant leg is on fire (high top boots and wool socks provides a barrier). 

I am glad to hear that no harm was done to you, but brawls are pricy 

You're right, I've never given that topic much (any) thought, but now that you brought it up, if I was ever near a situation like that, I would definitely practice fire safety and help her put it out.  I'm just helpful that way. Just for the sake of safety, of course.

Oh John, I about spit my coffee across the room on that one!  Thanks, I needed that laugh!

Don’t know, I was imagining getting slapped by lady smith with a 2# hammer....

I don’t think I would be so fast to help there John. 

You're welcome Spanky, I just couldn't resist (thinking of being helpful, that is).

Charles, I've always heard "Safety is job #1," and I'm always prepared to jump in and do my job. I could be wrong, but I just can't imagine a lady being anything but most appreciative for looking out for her safety and well being. LOL

thanks for keeping us all abreast of the situation,  having fire cleave unto your area chest can be annoying I am sure.  I have a lot more puns on this sensitive subject, but I would have to ban myself then I would feel like a total boob for using those words

 

On 7/26/2018 at 11:55 AM, SpankySmith said:

LOL!  I don't think the Nomex folks have entered into that particular niche market yet! 

There were only a few female Master Smiths in the American Bladesmith Society a dozen years ago, but they got together at the Blade Show in Atlanta. One of them opined that for them, ABS stood for Asbestos Bra Society.

I have had welding students set fire to themselves quite often over the last decade, and have had to offer spare aprons and jackets to preserve modesty. One particularly slow learner insisted on doing overhead flux core welds while seated on a stool, instead of standing.

Lets just say that the ladies in the class had no doubts whether he chose boxers or briefs.......

The door to my office is always open to students. Aloe gel is in the fridge door, bandaids in the kit on top.

Don't make me fill out paperwork for stupid boo-boos. If I have to bust out my EMT kit, the whole class gets to take a break.

I routinely estimate the amount of time I can allow a clothing fire to burn unchecked so I can keep from loosing a heat or continue a grinding operation! I usually get the fire out before I smell burning flesh but all my shop cloths have a distinct post apocalyptic look about them. Some evenings I have to run in the grocery store before I clean up and change clothes. The ladies who work in there must think I just crawled out of a house fire!

On 7/27/2018 at 7:38 PM, TwistedCustoms said:

 I just crawled out of a house fire!

They build them tough in merica here folk tend to run out of house fires and Spanky Smith burning the bra is deemed a powerful statement  especially if you are wearing it!

i'm a great believer in cottonbutton up shirts as they are easier to remove at speed (in event of fire that is) as opposed to T- shirts 

Lol, Ianinsa, bra burning was a powerful statement in oh, about the 1960's!   Nowadays, it's just a powerful statement on my stupidity - on not being careful!  And you're right about the cotton shirts versus tshirts, the tshirt I had on was a blend, and it's sporting a nice long burnt hole that will forever prevent it from being worn in public, in the name of modesty!  Though I suppose modesty isn't top of my list of concerns since, as AlPVF reminded me yesterday, I posted the bra-burning episode for "the whole world to see" on IFI!     

I just can't bring myself to wear heavy clothing in an Alabama 100+ degree day with 1000% humidity.  Miserable.  I'm also on a very tight budget, having just finished school and job-searching, so I'll check out the thrift store the next time I'm there, see if I can't find a cheap solution that will not make me faint from heat exhaustion wearing it.  

Hello ladies and gentlemen, that's what happens when you prepare and cut (many) work pieces with a Nomex overal and a 9in angle grinder. See also my buffalo leather apron. I guarantee you, it is not my fashionable hairstyle and my Steven Segal pony tail that's stays on fire, but very different regions or me presious body 

I do believe the French did a study that shows the health benefits of dispensing of the dang things all together. To I don’t think they included the idea that they may be considered PPE

Hey Charles, add a miniature fire extinguisher to the suspensory and you will have a whole new profitable business model for PPE   (please give your choice to water or foam and not to CO² or halogen to make it more worst )