Fire warning and linseed oil!!!!

[chambezio]

I have just finished watching, on Austar, a program on King Tut. The program dealt with the findings of recent times and answered some questions that Howard Carter eluded to but never followed up.
Anyway, there was charring on King Tuts mumified body and they found out that the oil they used in the embalming process,Linseed Oil, can spontaneously combust, hense the charing of the mummy.

They went to a facility in England that specialised in forensic fire analysis. They did an experiment with a small amount of Linseed oil on some linen, they used a small amount, maybe an egg cup full on a piece of linen just a little larger than a man's handkerchief. They then "wrapped" the oily handkerchief in some clean linen making a parcel about the size of a man's fist. They then inserted thermometer probes and left the parcel alone. First nothing happened....but after a bit more than an hour the temperature started to rise slowly then accelerated and made the oily parcels smoulder into flame!!!

I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it!!!

So you chaps that use linseed oil on your lathe make sure your rags are stored in a place that won't matter if they catch alight

[Kidbee]

It is well known that linseed oil has exothermic properties and I am careful to dispose of rags correctly. But there are a lot of people around that have a carefree attitude with them.

[RETIRED]

Pretty well any finish on cloths bunched together can spontaneously combust.

The same goes for wet hay bales stacked in a shed.

[Cliff Rogers]

And wet wool if it is pressed into a bale.

[jimbur]

An occasional reminder is always well placed. Thanks Rod.

[DSEL74]

Well I'll admit I hadn't heard that before. So thanks for the heads up.

[ticklingmedusa]

Like says pretty much any finish.
Once I spilled a good amount of pure tung oil on my legs without knowing it was there.
At bed time I found the spot and tried to ignore it until morning...
I did not get much sleep that night due to worrying that my pants might ignite, :o
ended up getting out of bed with many choice expletives and taking my clothing outside at dawn.
Another unlikely tinder material is steel wool, it is often included in wilderness survival kits
because it ignites easily with a few sparks from a flint.
I keep all oily rags or paper towels in a covered metal can immediately after using them
and at the end of the session the can is taken out of the shop.
If King Tut was here today what kind of lathe do you reckon he would use?

[groeneaj]

It's something that I've been rightly paranoid about for some time. I usually spread the rag out flat or hang it on the clothes line to dry. I'd be interested to know how others dispose of, or dry out their rags so they can be reused. :2tsup:

[chambezio]

What amased me was how little the amount of Linseed Oil he put on the linen to make the experiment. Then the linen was only lightly wrapped. But after an hour it was away.....our sheds could go up in flames!!!! What a thought!!!

If I am really honest with myself.....I have only had a casual approach to oily rags. It was graffic enough for me to now be more vigilant.

[A Duke]

I am shocked at how many people didn't know this. There are warnings on the containers of most wood finishing oils. it gets mentioned in lots of magazines and has been brought up on this forum often.
It ranks with my amazement at the novice cook on a Jamie Oliver show who did not know that water bubbles when it boils.
It just goes to show, just because you seem to have been born with the knowledge, you've known so long, it still pays to mention it in case some one else has missed it.
Keep your fire extinguisher handy
Regards

[Gra]

It's something that I've been rightly paranoid about for some time. I usually spread the rag out flat or hang it on the clothes line to dry. I'd be interested to know how others dispose of, or dry out their rags so they can be reused. :2tsup:


I tend to throw mine out the door onto the driveway. My wife hates it...

[turnerted]

I usualy use facial tissues to apply the finish and have a bucket in the workshop with about 50mm of water in it that I throw the used tissues in to.
Ted

[chuck1]

I've got a big metal ice cream tin and throw all rags/cloths in it and leave it outside unless there is a total fire ban! then it's watered down and bagged on bin night!

[smiife]

hi rod,
i must be one of the dumb ones:doh:
cos....i didn't know that,thanks for the heads up ,
now i must go check the sheds not on fire:o:o:o
cheers smiife:2tsup:

[Christos]

hi rod,
i must be one of the dumb ones:doh:
......



No longer the case.

[chambezio]

I must admit that even though I have come across the warnings before, and probably as far back at tech in the early 70s, I never really took it seriously. But to watch the TV program last night made me realise just how dangerous and easy it is to get caught.

[BamBam53]

I worked in paint laboratories for many years and we were always paranoid about rags with paint on them and the risk of fire. All rags had to be disposed of in a bucket of water and the buckets were taken out each night.

Linseed oil and the other drying oils polymerise by oxidation. This is an exothermic reaction, it gives off heat and the hotter it gets the faster the reaction goes.

As Hugh said, you sometimes have to be reminded of these things.

Michael

[Cliff Rogers]

I always spread mine out to dry.

While we are on the subject of how easy it is to burn the workshop down, here are another couple of 'gotchyas'.


1. I have never had an oily rag start smouldering but I have had a batch of epoxy get so hot it started to smoke.



It was a 5:1 West system & I suspect it was mixed closer to 5:2 in cup that was too narrow.

Shallower flat mixing trays are better 'cos the heat of the reaction can escape across the surface area.

I was using a plastic disposable cup with about 150ml of mix in it.

The reaction ran away on me, got too hot to hold & then started steaming & then started to smoke.

I poured it out as quick as I could but the heat damaged it, it just went all lumpy & set before I could spread it.




2. I have started a fire in the shed with sparks from my grinder landing in shavings on the floor.

I have started at least 4 fires with sparks from the cutting disks in the angle grinder, 3 of them were in dry grass on the ground.

[Claw Hama]

Like Cliff and some of the others, I hang mine out to dry before disposing of them. I have an old steel 12 gallon drum that I use as my bin, I hang the rags flat around the top until they dry an then just drop them into the bin. If I have too much other crap around or in really hot weather I drop them into a bucket of water. Steel wool will ignite also if it has been used to polish wood with oils. Again, let them dry on a non flamable surface (concrete/metal etc) before discarding. Had some similar experiences with epoxy as Cliff too. Melted containers and have had to drop them because they got to hot to hold:roll:

[The Hun]

hi rod,
i must be one of the dumb ones:doh:
cos....i didn't know that,thanks for the heads up ,
now i must go check the sheds not on fire:o:o:o
cheers smiife:2tsup:

I, too must be one of the dumb ones. I know about hay bales and the like but am confused about products like Shellawax.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards

Peter

[Evanism]

Well, I for one have always stored my mummies piled like cordwood in the sheds corner. They don't stack very well. If you snap off the arms it's a little easier.

They make great BBQ fire lighters. Other than one or two pesky cursed ones, none have spontaneously burst into flame (although my towels did that once in the bathroom. I put that down to ordinary demons).

I do think, however, that one of them is DEFINATELY moving my tools around some nights. After I've had about 27 beers, some things are DEFINATELY not where I left them.....

[Claw Hama]

Funny you should mention that, my Dad uses roo poo (yes roo shyte) soaked in linseed oil, dryed, and stored in a tin as firelighters. If no linseed he uses diesel. Gets some laughs around the bbq.:U

[RETIRED]

Well, I for one have always stored my mummies piled like cordwood in the sheds corner. They don't stack very well. If you snap off the arms it's a little easier.

.....You need to wrap them tighter.:wink:

[robo hippy]

I know any oil with any kind of accelerator in it will combust. I wasn't sure if the untreated oils would or not. I have used walnut oil for years, and purposely left the rags in piles out in my gravel drive to see what would happen. No heat at all. I generally will leave my other rags out flat, outside the shop in the gravel. That won't burn. I have heard of the metal buckets, and water filled buckets, but that is too much work. I have heard of putting them in the wood stove. Makes some sense. I have heard of rags on the floor, out flat combusting as well. Best bet it to get them away from your shop, and have fire insurance.

robo hippy