Unexpected fire hazard in shop

[Ron Nossaman]

> Today I had a fresh roll of 0000 steel wool catch fire from grinder 
> sparks. Just 5 seconds of low level flame (like alcohol flames) and 
> another 5 second of glowing strands until it went out. Of course it went 
> out -- steel is not a combustible material!!

It most certainly is! It's just a matter of proportion of 
thermal mass to availability of oxygen.


> I was using an angle grinder (hand held, and this wasn't piano work). 
> The sparks were shooting about 3 feet across my bench where the roll of 
> steel wool was. If it had been resting on something like paper towel, 
> that might have been more serious.
> 
> Watch your sparks!
> 
> John Baird

Absolutely. It's surprising what will easily burn, and the 
surprise isn't necessarily entertaining, exothermically speaking.

Tinder is the night, so be careful out there.
Ron N