I took my mini mill to pucker-factor 11 the other day.
I bought a cheap chinesium insert type cutting tool for the lathe from ebay, which turned out to be a lot closer to 5/8" than the 1/2" advertised. No problem I thought - I'll just trim a little off the bottom. So I chucked it up in the mill and started whittling a bit off with the carbide face cutter.
Not being a stickler about speeds, things were going a little fast. As I was marveling at the perfect surface finish on the part I was cutting, I noticed the pretty red sparks mixed in with the chips. They looked like little laser beams scattering over the work bench. I was mesmerized. It was glorious!
Things were looking good, except for the sparks, so I thought I'd finish the cut before I slow things down. About half way through the cut, something caught my eye. There was a little chinese food soup container with about 18 inches of flame shooting out like a fountain. At that moment, I remembered the bullet heads and powder from my "oops" reloads that got pulled and got temporarily moved from my reloading bench. While looking for something to smother the flames, I saw the bucket of mineral spirits I use for cleaning parts...with an open top...about a foot away from the fountain of fail. The plastic handle on one of the cheapie wire brushes was burning like a birthday candle. OH POOP!!!!
The gun powder burned for about 5 or 10 seconds - it felt like 10 minutes. The mineral spirits didn't catch. The part turned out well.
Lessons learned:
1. Treat the mill like the welder - all the flammables get put away before it gets powered up.
2. My old water can type fire extinguisher might not be up to the task considering the possibility of flammable liquids in the shop and garage. A couple of dry powder ABC extinguishers are on order.
3. Don't take shortcuts. Clean up from one project - at least in the immediate work area - before starting something else, even if its just a quickie.
4. Don't be stupid. Open trays of gun powder might not be the best idea.
I bought a cheap chinesium insert type cutting tool for the lathe from ebay, which turned out to be a lot closer to 5/8" than the 1/2" advertised. No problem I thought - I'll just trim a little off the bottom. So I chucked it up in the mill and started whittling a bit off with the carbide face cutter.
Not being a stickler about speeds, things were going a little fast. As I was marveling at the perfect surface finish on the part I was cutting, I noticed the pretty red sparks mixed in with the chips. They looked like little laser beams scattering over the work bench. I was mesmerized. It was glorious!
Things were looking good, except for the sparks, so I thought I'd finish the cut before I slow things down. About half way through the cut, something caught my eye. There was a little chinese food soup container with about 18 inches of flame shooting out like a fountain. At that moment, I remembered the bullet heads and powder from my "oops" reloads that got pulled and got temporarily moved from my reloading bench. While looking for something to smother the flames, I saw the bucket of mineral spirits I use for cleaning parts...with an open top...about a foot away from the fountain of fail. The plastic handle on one of the cheapie wire brushes was burning like a birthday candle. OH POOP!!!!
The gun powder burned for about 5 or 10 seconds - it felt like 10 minutes. The mineral spirits didn't catch. The part turned out well.
Lessons learned:
1. Treat the mill like the welder - all the flammables get put away before it gets powered up.
2. My old water can type fire extinguisher might not be up to the task considering the possibility of flammable liquids in the shop and garage. A couple of dry powder ABC extinguishers are on order.
3. Don't take shortcuts. Clean up from one project - at least in the immediate work area - before starting something else, even if its just a quickie.
4. Don't be stupid. Open trays of gun powder might not be the best idea.