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How many have set themselfs on FIRE !

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by ChefMike, Mar 14, 2012.

  1. I've gotten used to catching fire, and like some others in this thread mostly due to grinding. I always have a damp rag around when welding/grind/etc so I usually just grab it and put out the flame and continue on with smoldering textiles.

    My wife stopped buying me flannel shirts, however I still haven't picked up a shop apron so we each have our limits.
     
  2. Hotrodbuilderny
    Joined: Mar 20, 2009
    Posts: 1,646

    Hotrodbuilderny
    Member

    I fired up a 68 camaro so I could pull it in my shop, I stuck a gallon jug in the front,ran a hot wire to the coil, because originally it would not spark, cranking 12 volt outside wire on starter wasn't on.This car was a blowout, in for everything floors, quarters windshield area, everything,nyway I get the car to fire and I see water spraying in my direction (or so I thought when I realized it was gas) turns out the clamp on the rubber line at the carb, had been either left loose or loosened previously. I grabbed the fuel line to stop it from spraying back towards the distributor, which in turn soaks my sweatshirt just as it goes poof. I have now become the Torch, tried pulling the sweatshirt off which only increased the flames.Ended up doing the stop, drop, and roll, to get it out. Some really nice burns on the face chest and arms .Never assume it doesn't work out well.
     
  3. Bugsy
    Joined: Dec 27, 2008
    Posts: 1,299

    Bugsy
    Member
    from Kansas

    This made me laugh as I JUST did this two days ago!!

    Frayed coverall pants + Testing an old, electric fuel filter that spings a leak = no more frayed coverall pant bottoms!

    It caught the garage door frame on fire too and damn near my old dog when I chucked the flaming filter out in the yard!!

    I'm used to this sort of bonehead thing but it's nice to know I'm not the only one that's done this!
     
  4. Crystal Blue
    Joined: Nov 18, 2008
    Posts: 609

    Crystal Blue
    Member

    Head bowing down, hand held up high, yes sir....... guilty......and often !
     
  5. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

    Burned my foot pretty good once. So you should'nt weld with tennis shoes on? Huh, I never made the connection.
     
  6. ChefMike
    Joined: Dec 16, 2011
    Posts: 647

    ChefMike
    Member

  7. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,828

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    ... couple of tales here where someone is cranking a motor while pouring gas down the carb.

    What are you guys thinking? that thought has never even crossed my mind.

    would have been a good one with a car I have been working on lately. couldn't get it to start or even cough like it is trying to start. little gas down the carburetor, back inside to crank it over and woosh! ... big ol flame about 2 feet tall. Biggest backfire I have ever seen. I would not want to be the guy holding a glass jar full of gas around that one.
     
  8. I set myself on fire 3 times, once when grinding and twice when welding.
     
  9. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,753

    Deuces

    Ummmm..... Now why would you want to set yur ass on fire???... :confused:
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2012
  10. Heo2
    Joined: Aug 9, 2011
    Posts: 660

    Heo2
    Member

    more times than i can remember both welding
    related and as a kid playing with blackpowder,
    gas, and acy/oxy baloon bombs. they realy
    remove hair when they blow up close to your
    face
     
  11. dad-bud
    Joined: Aug 22, 2009
    Posts: 3,884

    dad-bud
    Member

    I was welding away on my back with my MIG under an old convertible - on stands, so not a lot of room.
    Gettin' covered on sparks and stuff, smellin' burning cotton, etc not thinking much of it, when out of the corner of my eye, I see some flame.
    Hmmmmm, I thinks, shouldn't be no flame over there!
    Don't ask me how, but a polyester car cover is well alight.
    I didn't even have time to swear - I needed to crawl out the other side of the car, over lots of sharp crap (yeah, I shoulda been tidier), got to my feet and headed around to where the flames were gettin' higher.
    As you can imagine, every stupid bike, mower, chair, spare rubbish that the wife and kids could put in my way was like a tactical response group training course.
    By now, I have regained the ability to curse, but realised I didn't have anything to use to put the fire out, so I set to, trying to stamp it out with my feet.
    Stupid idea to wear trainers that night.
    The flames are getting higher, I'm dancin on the stupid cover, wishing that I'd worn the asbestos Reeboks, instead of some manmade training shoes.
    After about a minute, there's melted car cover stuck to me, stuck to my shoes and stuck to some carpet I'd had leaning against the wall nearby that had decided to get in on the fun.
    In the end, I was lucky, I didn't get burned (skin), but got some hair on my legs singed off, my shoes ended up with melted car cover and carpet welded to them.
    It stunk like hell in the garage, but when the excitement settled, I sat down and decided I'd been very lucky that I didn't lose a lot more than a car cover and a pair of shoes.
    Stupid, but it was a good lesson.
    Now I clear a path out in case I've got to get out, and I do check what's around before I start.
     
  12. Heo2
    Joined: Aug 9, 2011
    Posts: 660

    Heo2
    Member

    Brother of a friend was grinding some kind
    of bracket out of a piece from a vw gearbox
    got the coverall ful of grindingdust. Then he
    started to grind some steel. Bawooom and
    a bright flash and him screaming and pulling
    the coverall off so much magnesium in the vw
    alloy so it lighted up
     
  13. zzford
    Joined: May 5, 2005
    Posts: 1,823

    zzford
    Member

    Yep, I have done it a couple of times. I've not tried to ignite myself near as many times as my ex-wife has.
     
  14. Wild Turkey
    Joined: Oct 17, 2005
    Posts: 903

    Wild Turkey
    Member

    Didn't set myself on fire (this time) but did start a nice garage fire while grinding.

    LOML had moved the lawn mover gas cans and "covered" them with a plastic tarp for some reason.

    Grinder sparks are hot enough to melt through the plastic tarp and still set the gas underneath on fire.

    Glad it didn't explode!!

    Caught reflection of flames in my visor and grabbed hose before anything except the tarp and one gas can burned up:eek:

    And yes, there are a few scars on my hide from various hot things:rolleyes:


    I was welding some pieces together for my brother one day and noticed the inside of my cotton shirt's sleeve was getting holed by the slag. Grabbed a spray bottle of water and kept shirt wet while I finished the production run:cool:
     
  15. krimsonghost
    Joined: Sep 9, 2008
    Posts: 83

    krimsonghost
    Member

    I learned that the hard way as well!
     
  16. Greaser Bob
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,331

    Greaser Bob
    Member

    This one time at band camp, I was in an underground parking garage in Hollywood,Ca. I sprayed my Nova trunk with that black paint that has white specks in it, but it was dark and I fired up my zippo to get a better look. WHOOSH!! My head is on fire and now I'm rolling on the cement floor like an idiot! Hair mostly gone-check. Eyebrows completely gone-check. Read the spray can, "Contains butane"-check.
    Fuckin idiot-check!
     
  17. Does a really good singeing count? I have however set others on fire...
     
  18. butch70462
    Joined: Mar 1, 2010
    Posts: 60

    butch70462
    Member

    which time LOL Butch
     
  19. Yup, also, don't grind while wearing a Patagonia Polypro sweater!:eek::eek:
     
  20. I will admit I had to google that one, I had no idea what that meant...
     
  21. redsteely
    Joined: Nov 4, 2008
    Posts: 183

    redsteely
    Member
    from Phoenix az

    My story is not car related and short. It involved a potato gun, whiskey, and pvc primer. :)

    Wish I had pics. Burnt both hands pretty good and almost the hole front of my shirt along with some chest fur.

    As I look back it was pretty darn funny. Boredom+Whiskey=Random Injury.
     
  22. damagedduck
    Joined: Jun 16, 2011
    Posts: 2,341

    damagedduck
    Member
    from Greeley Co

    here's one from another thread::

    Re: Help my heads on fire and other shop attrocities

    with over 20+ years of welding under my belt,i could begin tell how many time i started my ass on fire,or some FANG starting their ass on fire,i'm well trained in the smell of burning cotton!
    one of my first WTF moments was when i was around 13,in a South Dakota ground blizzard, some jack wagon came into the yard where i worked wanting a tranny out of a car{RIGHT NOW!} so i get elected to go fetch it so i get the bright idea to use a concrete saw with a fiber blade to cut it out-the car is on it side.
    about 5 minutes into i smell burning cotton--look down & my crotch is in flames without thinking i start to smacking my junk--yep right in the nuts!:eek: when i get back to the office every body is pissing themselves!even the guy who wanted the tranny,he asks 'where my tranny?'--my answer
    F:mad:CK YOU!go get it yourself!
    they said they sat & watched the whole damn show from the safety of the office,& were taking bets on what i would do to screw it up. BASTARDS
     
  23. BACAGrizz
    Joined: Aug 27, 2009
    Posts: 201

    BACAGrizz
    Member

    Was welding one time in a cold shop and all of a sudden I noticed my knees were getting warm. I had lit the fringe on the frayed holey knees of my Levis. Happened twice more before I stopped wearing holey pants to weld.
     
  24. don't keep matches in your shirt pocket
     
  25. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 9,814

    BJR
    Member

    Richard Pryor did it.
     
  26. JD Miller
    Joined: Nov 12, 2011
    Posts: 2,221

    JD Miller
    Member

    How about carb cleaner sprayed directly in the eye....

    All welders catch fire at some point. Sparks down the ear canal realy suck too.
     
  27. studeboy
    Joined: Feb 12, 2003
    Posts: 539

    studeboy
    Member

    While changing the fuel pump on an OT car I spilled some gas on the floor. The next job in the bay needed some welding done. I set my shoes on fire as soon as the sparks hit the floor under the car where I was standing. The secretary steps out of the office and starts yelling, completely freaked out. I looked down and started laughing as I could just start to feel the heat on my legs.

    Watched a coworker try to burn a customer car to the ground with a can of carb clean trying to locate an intake leak. Bad ignition wire set it off.
     
  28. MeanGene427
    Joined: Dec 15, 2010
    Posts: 2,307

    MeanGene427
    Member
    from Napa

    A friend got himself a couple weeks ago, soldering under his car, dingleberry in his shirt pocket, he's in the burn unit in SF right now, got his hand, arm & chest, had his first skin graft Monday, at least one more to go. Gonna be OK but lucky.
    A old guy that worked for my gramps in the 60's was cleaning up the shop, trying to keep busy in the winter, and in those days everyone just used an open bucket with a brush and some gas, right? Used to be my "job" as a little kid, go outside and wash the parts.. So he's washing away, already washed the bench grinder (!) and desides to clean the upright coal stove in the corner- while it was burning... VERY lucky the bucket was almost empty, got burns on his hand & arm, and could have burned the shop down
    That 'ol guy was kind of a sad sack type, a little punchy you could say and not the best of luck, and he went to work for an outfit in town that built potato harvesters as a welder, worked there a couple years, and the simple repetitious work suited him pretty well. So one morning at work he heads off to the crapper, and after a while the other guys noticed he hadn't come back and went looking for him, found him- he had had a heart attack and died on the throne, sitting there peacefully staring ahead
     
  29. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,753

    Deuces

    I use those same naughty words every day... :rolleyes::eek:
     
  30. Ironshot
    Joined: Feb 26, 2012
    Posts: 21

    Ironshot
    Member
    from Las Vegas

    I've set myself on fire something like 5 or 6 times over the years. The worst was getting about a pint of diesel spilled on my brand new Carhartt overalls and burning the left leg on the overalls off up to the knee. My red, sore, swollen leg was hairless for a looong time. :)


    Kinda funny now.
     

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