Downunder 4x2 build

that is about enough to make your heart sink into your stomach. But at least the whole shop did not go up with it. things could always be worse. at least no one was hurt. I have to give you credit for pushing through it despite the damage done.

Thanks guys.
Yes, could definitely have been much worse. The root cause is I'm building a large trailer at the moment, and the workshop isn't really big enough.
I can physically squeeze it in (until the drawbar gets fitted) but no room to move around it, and I've been having to crawl under to get from one side to the other - or out the door in that part of the shop and back in via another entrance!
Being acutely aware that it wasn't an ideal situation I'd moved what I could to lessen the fire risk, and staged extinguishers where they were easy to get to, used some metal sheets to cover things that were in direct line of the welding spatter etc.
Also made sure I had safe egress path if things did go bad.

The plasma table was directly behind me when the cover caught alight, so must have just been a stray spark that went over the top of me - I definitely wasn't spraying spatter or grinding sparks in that particular direction.
My first hint that something wasn't right was when I stood up and the back of my neck felt hot - like radiant heat hot...
Thankfully I'd done that prep work so there was minimal risk of it spreading and I was able to deal with it quickly.

Definitely a bit depressing though. Particularly knowing that if I'd already had the electricals in a metal enclosure they likely wouldn't have been damaged at all
Its also made me review my fire safety in the shop, which I guess is never a bad thing.

The table WILL get finished, but my immediate priority is to get the damn trailer finished enough so I can get it out of the shop!

Steve

Sounds like the $400 I just spent on Fire Extinguishers at Bunnings was a good investment!

rodw wrote:

Sounds like the $400 I just spent on Fire Extinguishers at Bunnings was a good investment!
 

They are definitely a good thing to have around Rod.

I won't harp on too much about the fire aspect, but I've learned a lot from the incident.
Couple of things in particular...
Dry powder extinguishers do a good job of what they are designed for - putting out a good range of fires without endangering the user. Their downside is the collateral damage they cause. The powder gets ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE, and my understanding is that combined with moisture in the air, it turns into phosphoric?? acid over time.
Let one loose inside your house and apart from the immediate mess, expect electronic items to start having issues in the near future due to that acid creation.
I now have some alternate extinguishers - a CO2 and a pressurised water one - that will be higher on my "grab first" list than the powder ones (but I'll definitely still have some of those). There are obviously pros and cons of each type and differences in the types of fires you can use them on so there is a more understanding required than just "grab the powder one". Use a water extinguisher on an electrical fire for example and your day is unlikely to improve.

The other thing is that I always thought cotton was more of a "smoulder or burn with a small edge flame" material (ie dressing your children in cotton pajamas is more fire safe than synthetic fabric), but that's not actually the case. Particularly in thin or fluffy form cotton burns really well.
Apparently heavy cotton canvas is much less combustible, and there are fire retardant treatments that can make it even more resistant to burning (apparently borax was traditionally used for that purpose).

I've just bought a couple of cheap 3m x 3m fibreglass welding blankets from ebay to use as covers or curtains when welding, and will no longer use any lightweight cotton covers.
Locally here in AU - Aldi has a special price at the moment on 1m2 fibreglass fire blankets for AUD $7 each. I bought a handful of those today - intending to have some around just as fire blankets, but can also use some for general welding spatter protection on other items.

I'm sure lots of us have had fire related training through work etc, and sometimes thought it was a waste of time.
Blah blah - same stuff every 6 months, there's never been a fire here etc etc
Its probably that sort of training that helped saved my butt in this case.

Anyway - enough on fire safety - I've got a trailer to finish and a CNC plasma to build

Steve
 

Crap Steve, that's no good at all.

I did the same thing as a young fella, had the washer and dryer in the garage, covered in a sheet while I was building a car trailer, sparks and woof. Had to buy mum a new washer and dryer. Lesson learnt.

I have a few 7i96 boards here ready to go. I'm also (today) about to order a few THCAD10 for my CNC builds. Postage from MESA at the moment is a killer (about $170 au). If you like, I'm happy to add what you need to the order and we can split the postage.

Send me a DM if you get a chance.
James

Thanks James - that would be great.
Stuffed if I can see how to send you a DM. Looks like we're direct connected, but when I click on the little "send private message" icon below your name at the side of your previous post there's still nowhere to actually send you a message.
Likely just my technical inadequacy, but might be easier if you email me at my Gmail address stevegwyn66

Steve

E-mail sent.