Projects How to give your freshly powder coated wire wheels a weathered look.

Make sure you've all got powder extinguishers in easy reach at all times.
When the fire starts you don't have time to go find one or borrow one from your buddy next door.

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The welding helmet I dropped in the fire was a 3M Speedglass so not the cheapest piece of kit in the shop. Anyway it really was melted. Toast basically. However the electronic glass part survived intact and I found out you can buy a new helmet without the electronic part for a fraction of the price complete. So I visited my favorite tool shop, Stürmer in Bamberg, and ordered a new helmet this afternoon.

Another observation. The burning and melting foam disintegrates fast and flies away and then sticks onto things while it's still burning. It's like having your shop full of six inch square kamikaze pilots trying to do their worse. I had to scrape the reminants off several things around the shop. Luckily just concrete and steel.

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had three of my friends weather there shops,,,all had too do with gas,, it makes new stuff old real fast twelve cars. lost insurance s a joke

 

Sorry for laughing at your misfortune but that's a funny story. Probably some folks will try to take your advice?


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Ed, you write well (nice how-to!). Good outlook on 'bad' things .
A past friend used to refer to bad->catastrophic events as "Opportunity to Upgrade... " . Since I've followed that thought process, less bad has been happening - mind you now, not *NO* bad, just less & less frequently... . & the looks on folks faces & their reactions, are almost priceless when they realize what I just said/meant. !
Marcus...

 

Glad your ok...could have been alot worse for sure. This is a second shop incident...wasn't the a flood the other time. Will the wheels be salvageable.? From every close call comes a habitual change for the better...and if not it should.

 

The wheels will probably polish up. I took the worse one to my powder coater and he reckons it'll polish out.
Re-powdercoating isn't so easy as you can't sandblast the old stuff off. It has to be removed chemically.

The last accident wasn't so much a flood. I just managed to create an artificial rainstorm inside the shop.

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Your experience gives new meaning to Hotwheels...glad there's a silver lining.

 

My Pops has a similar fire happen a few years ago. He was grinding on something in front of his A-v8 roadster that was in mock up stage. He had it covered with an old blanket and a spark started the blanket on fire torching a brand new 40 wheel and making a really big mess. Could have been worse though.

 

Sorted a few thing in my shop last night just because of this thread. So thanks.