# Grinder sparks are harmless...



## sparky961 (Sep 12, 2008)

I haven't had a lot of time to do much here but lurk lately, but I thought it was important to share this story with you.

Just as the title suggests, I've come to think that sparks from an angle grinder are pretty benign. By the time they come up against anything flammable, they're too cool to cause any harm. Not to mention that they're so small that the thermal mass is negligible.

Anyway, to save this from becoming a really long story, KEEP YOUR STEEL WOOL AWAY FROM GRINDING SPARKS!

I was cutting off a pipe in the vice with my grinder in the basement. About 5 minutes later, I was cleaning things up a bit and by some weird turn of fate, I was putting away some aluminum stock on the shelf right above where I was grinding earlier.

I felt the heat first. Then I realized that what I smelled wasn't the residual grinding smell... rather, burning plastic.

It turns out that a spark must have landed right in the steel wool, starting a glowing ember inside. It was melting the bag it was in from the inside out!

If I hadn't have been putting that stock away right then, things could have been a lot worse!

So, learn from my close call - watch where you're throwing those sparks!

-Sparky


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## Bogstandard (Sep 12, 2008)

Wire wool is very dangerous stuff.

What looks like burning, isn't. The fine wire tendrils are actually oxidising (rusting) very quickly. The same principle as a thermic lance, much hotter than normal flames (melts concrete).

It has been known to cause house fires, when small pencell bateries are shorted by very fine wired articles (wire wool type pan cleaners). 

John


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## rake60 (Sep 12, 2008)

Very good point Sparky!

Once steel wool starts to burn it can hold the heat without a flame for hours.

I have a habit of wearing house slippers to my basement shop when I don't plan
to be doing any machining. GOOD ONES! Sheep's Wool lined and very comfortable!
One day I decided a small part had a burr on it that should be ground away.
It would only take a second...

Want to talk about a HOT FOOT!  :-[

Rick


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## wareagle (Sep 13, 2008)

This reminds me of some experiments I did while growing up with a battery and some steel wool (mind you, I didn't say I was smart!). Ah, the wisdom of youth.... :

You know, this brings up a good point about sparks and/or flame cutting, brazing, welding, etc. Always have a fire extinguisher handy in your shop. There really isn't any excuse to not have one considering how inexpensive they are (one decent end mill costs more than a small extinguisher). And I have adopted a procedure in my shop of having a fire watch after any of the above activities prior to leaving the area. 

What this entails is that I plan my time in such a way that I complete any "hot" work at least thirty minutes prior to me leaving the shop. During this time, I usually will be cleaning up and putting things away, but being mindful of looking for that sign of trouble at the same time. Once the time period is over (and many times I will wait an hour), I'll make a quick run through looking very closely for any signs of something smoldering before locking the shop down.


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## tmuir (Sep 13, 2008)

I have an old sign I gave my dad to put up in his workshop from the days when smoking at work was considered normal.
The sign read
'No smoking 30 minutes prior to finishing for the day'

I've seen plenty of fires started by peoples cigarette butts and this was a way to make sure peoples smouldering cigs didn't start a fire after the place was closed up for the night.


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## BobWarfield (Sep 13, 2008)

A handful of steel wool and a 9V battery are my favorite way to start a camp fire. Lights it up quick!

Cheers,

BW


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## BAH101 (Nov 25, 2008)

After reading this thread reminded me of a steel wool incident from my airforce days, we were told of the trick of lighting a fire with steel wool and a battery, well, my room mate had the bright idea of lighting a cigarette with steel wool as he had no matches. We had lots of steel wool for cleaning the barracks, but no batterys. Well, as he lay on his bed pondering, he thought, I know were there is some power to get this hot and proceded to twist two ends and stick them in the wall plug just over his bed...well all I saw from across the room was a bright white light, a loud snap and there was Scotty trying to put all the little fires out on his bed. It was covered in burnt slotches and the next day was room inspection. The rest of us...of course... just howled laughing. It was a very stupid thing to do. 
On a more serious note...I was reading letter in Model Engineers workshop mag a few years ago written from a pilot friend I know from BC. He was grinding some steel one day with of course his face shield on when all of sudden the dust around the grinder lit up with a white hot flame and intense heat. He recieved serious burns to his hands and neck but his face was protected by the faceshield. After he got home from the hospital he started to investigate what happened and it turns out his son was grinding some aluminum some time before and did not clean up the mess. When my friend started his work, the steel and aluminum particles ended up mixed together and produced Thermite, or something very similar, that when mixed with the sparks from his grinding, well, I am sure most of you know what Thermite is used for so you can just imagine the result. 
It was a very good read and brought out the dangers that one could face in a simple procedure. I look at it as a very good lesson I learnt from someone elses mistake, and try to tell everyone a work about it (it is amazing how many young kids these days find it to inconvienient to go get eye and face protection)

Bryan.


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## Philjoe5 (Nov 25, 2008)

As a impressionable young fellow, I still remember my high school teacher demonstrating the thermite reaction.    That was certainly a catalyst (pun intended) for my career in chemistry.

Now if my Industrial Arts teacher had built a steam engine and demonstrated THAT to the class, who knows where I might have ended up,

Cheers,
Phil


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## kellswaterri (Nov 26, 2008)

Grinder sparks Harmless...''O YEA''...the day after I had just had my new double glazed window units put in, I was busy with the angle grinder cutting the handles of the old window frames [using old windows for cold frame] now I must have been about 6-8 feet away from my new windows whilst cutting...a day or two later I was looking out the window into the garden,,, thought the window was a little speckled with mud so went out to clean it off...bet you can see where this is going :...OH NO it was.nt dirt but neat little pit holes burnt into the glass by the sparks from the grinder...cost me the price of a new window :wall:...there is a moral here some where...
All the best for now,
             John.


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## baldrocker (Nov 27, 2008)

Good $42 investment I think
BR


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## baldrocker (Nov 27, 2008)

OOPS


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## baldrocker (Nov 27, 2008)

Bugger
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq300/baldrocker2/sheild.jpg


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## malcolmt (Nov 27, 2008)

Hi Baldrocker

Do they sell those with a pretty face inside ;D  ;D  ;D

No offence meant.

Malcolm


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## baldrocker (Nov 27, 2008)

Malcolm
None taken. 
I think its called "plastic surgery"
Seriuosly there seems to be a flaw in that it
becomes difficult to breathe after a short time, or
maybe I should ease up on the garlic 
BR


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## BillH (Feb 27, 2009)

Ah steel wool!
I remember the time when I was a little kid, I cleaned my lionel trainset with some steel wool. I thought it was cool at the time with all the little flames all over the tracks.

On a secondary note, keeping steel wool and a 9 volt battery with you in a survival kit is an excellent way to get a fire going if needed. You never know!


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