Welding in a Wooden Barn

[brown40]

I was grinding in the pole barn last year, and watched a spark fly right onto a scrap of steel wool that survived sweeping, and it started up. I stomped it right out--it would have consumed the scrap and smoldered out on the concrete. If it was more cluttered, or I had jumped to metalwork right after wood work without sweeping the area, I'd have had a lot more combustibles, and a lot more difficulty tracking the sparks. Got me worrying about all the little sparks I never see land, and paying a lot closer attention to my work area and the spark zones for metal work. If I have to launch a whole lot of sparks airborne I'll take it outside.
I've started little smudges grinding, welding and sweating pipes, but they have all been right at or near the work, and been put out with a swat. Sparks can fly well out of the "range of attention".
I don't think a person ought to spend a life worrying about all the things that can possibly go wrong, but paying attention to, and using the best fire and electrical safety practices you know, for the areas you frequent and invest in, is time well spent.
Also--steel wool is an INCREDIBLE accelerant/fire starter--not a good thing to have laying about wherever sparks are present... everyone probably knows that one.

 

[robstaples]

Putting up drywall to make a welding corner would be very inexpensive. If you tape the joints , you'd have a fire resistive barrier and the white surface would make the whole area brighter that would make the welding better. $.02 ☺

 

[stingray1]

Don't

 

[Industrial Toys]

My fear is that you can't see where sparks are going while welding. My wooden shop is usually too messy and I seem to have a thing about having a lot of old rags around. Not a good environment.

Of course, I keep water and chemical extinguishers close by.

I do several fire watches afterwards, particularly using my nose.

Sometimes my paranoia gets the best of me, and I get up in the middle of the night to check. Same thing with the wood stove in the shop. It's amazing how carefull you become when you don't have any insurance!

 

[GLyford]

Bernat Mill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The fire marshall's report concluded that there was unpermitted welding occurring in a mill business"

 

[ovrszd]

I'd guess 99.9% of shop owners never have a fire. 7 years ago my shop burned from unknown causes. $193,000 insurance payment. It is the second most catastrophic thing that's happened in my life. I can think of no reason to increase the odds of it happening again. No exposed flammable materials in the construction of my current shop.....

 

[Big Barn]

My fear is that you can't see where sparks are going while welding. My wooden shop is usually too messy and I seem to have a thing about having a lot of old rags around. Not a good environment.

Of course, I keep water and chemical extinguishers close by.

I do several fire watches afterwards, particularly using my nose.

Sometimes my paranoia gets the best of me, and I get up in the middle of the night to check. Same thing with the wood stove in the shop. It's amazing how carefull you become when you don't have any insurance!

Oily rags can pose a safety problem in ANY building.
Coincidentally I am in the process of writing a short story (picture book format) on that very subject.

"From Rags To Rich's"





At your favourite bookstore Spring 2017

Terry

 

[jlgurr]

I Also--steel wool is an INCREDIBLE accelerant/fire starter--not a good thing to have laying about wherever sparks are present... everyone probably knows that one.

I did not know that. Thank you for sharing.

Sent from my iPhone 2.0 using TractorByNet

 

[muddstopper]

My shop is wood framed. I have had several trashcan fires where sparks/slag got in the can. I keep a chemical fire extinguser handy all the time. My big peeve is fuel cans. I keep those in a seperate building away from any possible flame. It pays to look around before the welding and grinding take place. Recently, my wife had filled the mower and left a empty 5gal plastic jug in my shop. Not paying attention I was cutting with the torch and about halfway thru the cut, I noticed the sparks flying right at that jug. Nothing happened, but the potential for something serious going bad wrong really fast, was certainly there. Taking the time to look around before using the welder,grinder or cutting torches will minimize a lot of the risk.

 

[shadetree]

Putting up drywall to make a welding corner would be very inexpensive. If you tape the joints , you'd have a fire resistive barrier and the white surface would make the whole area brighter that would make the welding better. $.02 ☺

Okay stingray1 Don't WHAT?

1) put up drywall
2) tape the joints
3) have a brighter area

all the above sound good to me but you say "Don't" could you expand on that? I have been thinking of adding drywall.