I am really freaky about fire, don't know why, just always really careful about it. My question is has anyone ever started a fire with their grinder? I try to keep everything clear and I have a welding blanket up where most of the sparks go, but they really fly everywhere. I try to hang in the shop maybe a half hour or so after I have quit making sparks hoping if anything was going to go up it would have by then. What is your experience? Thanks, CHAZ
The only thing ive started on fire with grinding is the insulation on the firewall under the dash on an 80's camaro. Thats it. Started lots in garbage cans close by from welding but thats different topic.
Never a fire from grinding. To be cautious one time, though, I wrapped a fuel line with a wet shirt when I was grinding a frame for a notch I'd just cut. After working at it for a while, I guess the shirt slipped off the line a bit just enough for the grinding wheel to catch it and wrap everything including my wrist into a wet-rag/fuel-line tourniquet. I managed to turn it off with my free hand and got damn lucky...just ended up with a small cut from the frame on my arm, no damage to the fuel line or my wrist! Bryan
I have. It's scary man. We were grinding, and some sparks got to some paper towels that were nearby. **** went up fast, and we had to break out the fire extinguisher. Treat grinding and all hot work the same. Keep combustable materials away from your work area, and always keep a working fire extinguisher on hand. It may save your life or your car/garage/house. After working for ChopOlds, I've implemented his policy in my garage too, whish is to stop all hot work 15 minutes before closing up and leaving. That way if there are any smoldering embers or sparks, it will give itself time to surface and the situation can be dealt with quickly before it gets out of control.
I caught my flannel on fire once it was funny to me at least. Sparks is Sparks they have the potential to start fires so watch out!
I was using a ginormous grinder to cut some studs out of concrete, sparks everywhere...then my pant leg caught fire...no damage, just some funny looks.
Just from grinding various metals I have set my shirt on fire, my apron, my pants, my socks, and some straw brooms. Not all at once, mid you - but through the course of a career. Also, just from machining metal - I've seen hot chips start cardboard boxes, newspapers, shop rags, and even cutting oil if they are allowed to build up into a big enough stack to hold the heat.
Now here's one I can look back and laugh about and think of how dumb I was... The day before the owner of the business and I were to leave for SEMA, The machinist and I were machining and using the belt sander to remove the "VIPER" script from a set of valve covers so they could be powdercoated the next day (wanted a nice smooth finish instead of of the script). The covers turned out nice and smooth and took them to be done and didn't think anything of it. On Monday I call the shop from Vegas to make sure everything is ok and they tell me the fire was real small and they were able to put it, no big deal... yeah right... Ha ha... No really, there was a small fire. Then it hit me... Dodge Viper valve covers are made of cast magnesium!!!! One of the guys in the shop had to use the belt sander Monday morning to smooth a peice of steel and the sparks lit off the magnesium dust that was everywhere. Luckily, it was small and everything was put out quick but I had to tell the owner about it and that it was pretty much my fault cuz I hadn't thought of that. Not exactly the converstaion I EVER wanted to have with the owner (Um, Yeah... the shop caught fire and it's pretty much because I'm a *****!!) but he was cool about it. Good thing we are friends. LOL Actually, the machinist that was there at the time is a member of this forum and told me about this place. Steel wool... I have run this by several other people to see if it's ever happened to anyone else and always get that big eyed look with an answer of "uh, no!" My girlfriend and I were cleaning up our newly purchased 55 Buick and using very fine steel wool to brighten up the chrome. Hot day, about 90 some degrees with the sun beating right on the dash. I'm getting great results when I start to clean the horn ****oin and ring on the steering wheel. I'm rubbing away at a quick pace on the horn ****on, right where it connects to the steering column, when all of a sudden, the fine strands of steel wool turn bright orange, like the tip of a cigarette when someone takes a grag on it, and quickly starts burning it's way to my fingertips!! First instinct is to blow on it. Bad idea, that only makes it burn faster! I quickly threw it on the concrete and jump out of the Buick and stomp it out. THAT was interesting!! Guess I was just a cleaning FOOL that day. Anybody else ever had that happen?
The brain surgeon that lives across the street from me had drained all the gas out of a truck so they could weld something on the frame without blowing up the truck. Wellllll, they put the gas in OPEN buckets right in front of the bench grinder. 60 X 90 building was gone before the fire trucks got here. I had never heard a propane blow up before.
i started a fire in my garage with grinding sparks. Lucky I have an occupied apt above my garage. over 2 hours after I left the garage tennant called me and said smoke alarm was goinf off and smoke was in apt.Immediatly called local fire dept. Neighbor who is a fireman got the call looked at the address and ran over and he and I got the fire out. Lesson # 1 IT TOOK 2 HOURS TO SHOW UP!!! I am working on another project now and try to watch the sparks , just yesterday while thinking about this very thing I stoped in at my Ins man [ State Farm] he said my project is NOT covered by my home owners ins. and can not be insured as a vehicle until it is done and insured as a vehicle. Lesson # 2 THIS IS SCARY ****, IF YOU HAVE STATE FARM YOUR PROJECT IS NOT COVERED!!! How about you guys with other ins companys letting us know what they say when you go see them mon morning as you should.
Last weekend I was cutting Hebel (aerated concrete) panels with a 9" with a masonry disk on it. There are three steel reinforcing rods in each panel, which slice through real easy. On about the twentyth cut of the day one of my friends says "what's burning" and I turn around to see the leaves piled up against the timber fence going up......and that's just the sparks from the reo rods inside concrete. A couple of squirts with hose and it was all over. The funny part is the hebel panels were for the new front wall of my shed......after the original wall burnt in a shed fire ......and of course there was the time in my old shed when the grinding sparks landed on the pile of carpet with the leaky can of mower fuel sitting on it
As kids we use to tie wads of steel wool to a string, light it and start spinning it like a l***o.....Quite a fireworks display.....
A shop rag or two over the years. I usually smell them before they become fully engulfed. Shop rags stink like hell when they smolder. When I built my garage, I brought the cinderblock foundation a foot above the slab so that any stray sparks could not make contact with the wood framing. I'm a little fire paranoid. I lost everything in a garage fire in 1973.
fire happens. welding, grinding, whatever makes sparks starts fires. I always quit working at least 30 mins. before I leave the shop. I turn on the exhast fan to clear the air and put tools away while I look for smoke. It helps to keep the place real clean. Especiallly under the workbench or tool boxes where the slag and sparks roll to and can smolder. Paint stuff goes in a fire cabinet. Gas goes in the tool shed. I lost a garage (and everything in it) to fire 15 yrs. ago. It still ****s. No one likes a garage fire. being careful is the best way to go.
i burned a hole in a flannel shirt once. while i was wearing it! i also lit up a towel that was sitting in the line of fire when i was grinding something on tp of my welding table. welding sparks are often hotter (ask me about all the times i caught myself and other things on fire from welding) but grinding sparks CAN start fires too.
FWIW a buddy of mine is SUPER paranoid about garage fires too. he won't use the torch inside of the shop and if he's able to, and the weather is nice, he often does alot of his welding and grinding outside in front of the garage.
I got a chuckle out of this question...brought back a lot of old memories...Fires from grinding...yeah bubba!...I worked in a fabrication shop one summer when I was going thru college...we were always setting papers on fire with the sparks, stuff like McDonald's wrappers and those paper coffee cups from the vending machines.....but as the building was pretty much made of concrete, there were no losses...we just kept a couple of squirt bottles full for the occaisional conflagration...
Yes, steel wool..big time. It's so innocent looking but highly flamable. Something else thats just as bad is buffing wheels, ruined a few of em. Also the garbage can,there's always something flamable in that
Many years ago in a shop I worked at some one was removing a gas tank damaged in a collision. A small drain pan was placed under the tank to catch any spilled fuel. At the opposite end of the building (12,000 sq ft) over a 125 ft away a bodyman was grinding paint off a door panel. The doors were open and it was the scariest thing to see the vapor trail of the gas ignite at the far end of the shop and watch the flame track across the floor to the car having its tank removed. All that could be done was to yell and fortunatelythe tech got away from the car before it ignited. The shop had a sprinkler system which confined the damage to the car and its stall. The most common fire ignition source in a shop enviroment are incadesant drop lites.If your using one throw it away and replace with a good quality flourescent type. Larry
I've set a few garbage cans on fire with grinding sparks. And I too stick around the shop for at least 30 minutes after any hot work just in case. I have a fire extinguisher at eye level mounted to the wall right next to my door. That way it's in an easily accessable spot that doesn't get cluttered behind other junk. Also make checking the expiration easy.
That's funny, I have great danes who play a little hard, so my garage shirts (flannel) are usually torn up. Man those loose ends and the insulation inside go up pretty easy. I've been on fire many times, especially from welding.
A friend of mine and I were working one afternoon and I was just leaving to get us some food he was grinding away on a rocker panel and Kaboom and a big ball of flame. I called 911 and after the aid car took him away the cop told me his BIC had blown up from grinding sparks.
Jeez, it seems like a real common occurance.I was grinding on one of my old cars and it was a real sunny evening.I could feel the heat but did`nt notice straight away but the bobbly fluff on my old sweat shirt was burning away up the front....sort of like a real pale methatated spirit type flame. freakiest fire was when I rigged up a temporary test wire on a brake light.It just burnt like a fuse and left a burnt trace mark right down the side of my freshly painted 40 coupe....always used more than adequate guage wire since.
2+ hours later is really not that uncommon. I work for a large commercial property insurance company in the loss ****ysis department. I have seen reports of nearly everything happening at factories. Our recommendation is to have a continuous fire watch for one hour after after the "hot work" stops and then for the next 3 hours visit the location every 15 minutes to check on the area. Sounds overkill, and a lot of our clients complain. But at least a couple times a year we end up losing several million dollars because someone only did the one hour fire watch then closed up shop and went home. Torches, grinders, welders, etc outside if at all possible. If you must do it in the shop, which is inevitable, do it as soon as you get there so you can hang around a while after its done.
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