Safety Contact thread.

mfleury · Poncho Master!

RE: Safety Contact #1. Brake cleaner and welding heat.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Yeah, working around cars one gets accustomed to using harsh chemicals without a second thought. A fellow I knew who worked with CNC machines at Pratt & Whitney once told me like this: "getting chemicals on your skin is the same as eating them". I never thought of it that way before but it makes sense as your skin absorbs whatever you put on it. This is the reason that things like the nicotine patch work.

I now wear gloves every time I work on a car as I would not eat oil, grease or other chemicals voluntarily.

Great thread, it makes us all more aware of the safety risks of our hobby.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Holy dead thread...

I can add something to it from experience today.

Electric heat gun safety;

I was using it today to warm the small parts that I was painting. Heat them up a little before and after the paint went on, and between coats. I was also using some wax and degreaser solvent from a gallon can.

Had a paper towel wet with the solvent sitting on the bench, finished with the heat gun and placed it...you guessed it, right on top of the towel and turned away.

Even with the gun trigger off, the element stays red hot for a wee bit. Saw the flames out of the corner of my eye. No biggie, just swept it to the floor.

Has it been a big pile near the open can, then not good. I'd be fighting it with the large dry chemical extinguisher I have...or worse. A wake-up for sure.

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

One thing I ALWAYS do is before I leave my work shed and lock it up after using grinders/torches etc. is I wait about 20 minutes (usually just clean up some stuff while waiting) to make sure there are no residual sources of ignition.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Very good advice Darryl. Always go back after grinding or welding. Things can smolder for a while.

Further to the wee fire, I'm actually surprised the gun ignited the solvent. I would have thought that would be only possible with a spark.

Obviously the vapor can ignite just with the hot element. The stuff really evaporates quick.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Pontiacanada wrote:
One thing I ALWAYS do is before I leave my work shed and lock it up after using grinders/torches etc. is I wait about 20 minutes (usually just clean up some stuff while waiting) to make sure there are no residual sources of ignition.

I do the same except my rule is 30 minutes. The other day I had to break that rule and leave about 15 minutes after I finished welding. It was not a comfortable feeling.

Years ago my brother almost lost his shop. Car on the hoist, used the torch to cut some exhaust off. A few minutes later it was time to go to the coffee shop for coffee break. If the guys hadn't walked over to the tap to wash their hands before they left, they would have lost the shop. Right beside the tap was the shelves with the boxes of muffler clamps on them and the sparks from the torch had ignited the boxes, they already had a pretty good burn going.

Years ago one of our techs at work sprayed some brakeclean on an engine that had run only about a minute before. Instant fireball.

I'm doubly nervous about grinding/welding/torch work working in an attached garage. It would be heartbreaking to lose a workshop but to lose the house too would be a whole new level.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

cdnpont wrote:
Very good advice Darryl. Always go back after grinding or welding. Things can smolder for a while.
Further to the wee fire, I'm actually surprised the gun ignited the solvent. I would have thought that would be only possible with a spark.
Obviously the vapor can ignite just with the hot element. The stuff really evaporates quick.

Another thing I don't do is toss paper towels, rags etc that are soaked with any solvents or alcohol into a container of any sort. I remember hearing years ago of a local guy who did that in a body shop garbage can. He put a lid on there and apparently it "heats" to the point of combustion. It seems odd that it did that in an enclosed container but that's what happened.

I spread out stuff saturated to dry, then toss it out. Sometimes in the summer I toss them outside on the cement pad away from the wall. Looks messy but I don't care.

Prefectca · Poncho Master!

Back to the brake cleaner warning. When I was still working (retired in 2016) I was repairing the brakes on a tandem truck that had a leaking wheel seal. I sprayed the brake drum with non flammable brake cleaner to clean off the gear oil. It was taking too long to dry and I used the welding torch to speed up the drying of the brake cleaner. As soon as the flame from the torch hit the brake clean it was like someone pulled all the air out of my lungs. It was a scary feeling. Apparently the gases produced by the chemical reaction displaced the oxygen very quickly.

Paul

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Good advice. I'm planning on installing wi fi cameras and a smoke detector in my shop. They are now so cheap to buy and both with alert your phone if there's an issue. Cheap insurance.

66 Beau · Poncho Master!

I've been trying to wear the gloves when I'm working with chemicals, grease, paint etc in my shop. BUT, within an hour, my hands are soaking wet. To the point where, if I raise my hands, sweat runs out of the gloves. After two hours, the gloves start sliding around and usually rip open to expose my, by then, wrinkled, super-soft hands. How in the world do you manage to wear the gloves for any length of time? Am I the only one whose hands sweat like water faucets in any of the nitrile, latex or plastic gloves? It's really annoying especially when you're painting or working with something you really don't want on your hands.

Prefectca · Poncho Master!

66 Beau wrote:
I've been trying to wear the gloves when I'm working with chemicals, grease, paint etc in my shop. BUT, within an hour, my hands are soaking wet. To the point where, if I raise my hands, sweat runs out of the gloves. After two hours, the gloves start sliding around and usually rip open to expose my, by then, wrinkled, super-soft hands. How in the world do you manage to wear the gloves for any length of time? Am I the only one whose hands sweat like water faucets in any of the nitrile, latex or plastic gloves? It's really annoying especially when you're painting or working with something you really don't want on your hands.

me too. Not bad this time of year but I have taken to wearing regular cheap work gloves most of the time, and nitrile when using chemicals like brake cleaner etc. When I was working the shop would supply nitrile gloves and mechanics gloves with a breathable top layer and a plastic type of material for the palm and fingers. I think that the brand was Uline. I remember that I thought they were expensive.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

66 Beau wrote:
I've been trying to wear the gloves when I'm working with chemicals, grease, paint etc in my shop. BUT, within an hour, my hands are soaking wet. To the point where, if I raise my hands, sweat runs out of the gloves. After two hours, the gloves start sliding around and usually rip open to expose my, by then, wrinkled, super-soft hands. How in the world do you manage to wear the gloves for any length of time? Am I the only one whose hands sweat like water faucets in any of the nitrile, latex or plastic gloves? It's really annoying especially when you're painting or working with something you really don't want on your hands.

I have exactly the same problem. I just take throw them away, dry my hands and start over again. I don't know what else to do.

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

4SPEED427 wrote:
Another thing I don't do is toss paper towels, rags etc that are soaked with any solvents or alcohol into a container of any sort. I remember hearing years ago of a local guy who did that in a body shop garbage can. He put a lid on there and apparently it "heats" to the point of combustion. It seems odd that it did that in an enclosed container but that's what happened.
I spread out stuff saturated to dry, then toss it out. Sometimes in the summer I toss them outside on the cement pad away from the wall. Looks messy but I don't care.

I always just toss my used rags out the door of the work shed. Sometimes they stay out there on the ground for months. Nature does the work. Right now, there is a lacquer thinner rag that is buried under a foot of snow. biggrin

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

4SPEED427 wrote:
I'm doubly nervous about grinding/welding/torch work working in an attached garage. It would be heartbreaking to lose a workshop but to lose the house too would be a whole new level.

Yes. My work shed is located quite a ways from the house. In in-climate weather or with your hands full, it is quite the hassle to come and go from it, but ultimately I feel it is in the best location.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Quote; 66 Beau wrote:
I've been trying to wear the gloves when I'm working with chemicals, grease, paint etc in my shop. BUT, within an hour, my hands are soaking wet. To the point where, if I raise my hands, sweat runs out of the gloves. After two hours, the gloves start sliding around and usually rip open to expose my, by then, wrinkled, super-soft hands. How in the world do you manage to wear the gloves for any length of time? Am I the only one whose hands sweat like water faucets in any of the nitrile, latex or plastic gloves? It's really annoying especially when you're painting or working with something you really don't want on your hands.

me too. Not bad this time of year but I have taken to wearing regular cheap work gloves most of the time, and nitrile when using chemicals like brake cleaner etc. When I was working the shop would supply nitrile gloves and mechanics gloves with a breathable top layer and a plastic type of material for the palm and fingers. I think that the brand was Uline. I remember that I thought they were expensive.

Here's a little know solution (in our hobby) to the problem. Gives you way more dry time. I use this stuff in my blast cabinet gloves to keep them fresh, and It has worked great over the years. Got the product from an electrician when I was working, keeps their high voltage gloves dry and in good shape. It's a special formulated corn starch and tricalcium phosphate powder (like talcum powder), goes a long way and it takes very little to work.

Linesman glove powder

Where to buy

66 Beau · Poncho Master!

I will definitely be giving that a try. Thanks very much! I can see why linesmen might find this useful!!

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

4SPEED427 wrote:
66 Beau wrote:
I've been trying to wear the gloves when I'm working with chemicals, grease, paint etc in my shop. BUT, within an hour, my hands are soaking wet. To the point where, if I raise my hands, sweat runs out of the gloves. After two hours, the gloves start sliding around and usually rip open to expose my, by then, wrinkled, super-soft hands. How in the world do you manage to wear the gloves for any length of time? Am I the only one whose hands sweat like water faucets in any of the nitrile, latex or plastic gloves? It's really annoying especially when you're painting or working with something you really don't want on your hands.

I have exactly the same problem. I just take throw them away, dry my hands and start over again. I don't know what else to do.

Same here. Buy the gloves in bulk so they are relatively cheap. Sometimes I'll turn them inside out to dry and re-use on another day if they are not too torn up already. I usually don't get through a repair without ruining a set of nitrile gloves anyhow.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

RE: Safety Contact thread.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Wow! I never knew this type of attachment existed. Couldn't imagine ever using one.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I had one in my hand at Harbor Freight, and I thought man this thing looks scary.

65Camino · Uber Guru

totally !

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

cdnpont wrote:
Here's a tool, that if you have one you might consider scrapping it after seeing this,
The thing gives me the willies just looking at it. The comments after the video are eye truly eye opening.

My brother has the chainsaw one as pictured, and also a rasp/cheese-grater type one. As of a few months ago, you could still order them from China (free shipping smile ).

As much as I love my angle grinders, I would never use one of these.

They also have similar chain saw heads for use on a gas-powered grass trimmer ... the brush cutter "circular saw" type blade heads are scary enough.

Last time I saw my brother, he could no longer give me the finger (just kidding).