[hackerspaces] Tragedy in Oakland

[Scotty Allen]

I had a very serious apartment fire due to boiled linseed oil soaked paper
towels spontaneously combusting in my kitchen trash. No other ignition
source. The fire fighters were thoroughly unsurprised, but nearly everyone
else I tell this story to, including TechShop employees and experienced
woodworkers are shocked. Spontaneous combustion is no joke - treat those
oily rags with the respect they deserve.

-Scotty
On Sun, Dec 4, 2016 at 2:43 PM Christopher Agocs <chris at agocs.org> wrote:

> Important correction: the oily rags that spontaneity combust are soaked in
> drying oils like Linseed or Tung, typically used for finishing wood. These
> oils oxidize in an exothermic reaction, which is why big piles of them can
> generate enough heat to ignite. Lubricating oils don't generate heat in the
> same way.
>
> On Dec 4, 2016 1:04 AM, "Sparr" <sparr0 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Speaking of things that I've actually seen catch fire spontaneously in a
> hackerspace...
>
> If you have a machine shop, dedicate a lidded metal trashcan for oily rags!
>
> On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 10:42 PM, Arclight <arclight at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> -Make sure the exits are clear
> -Get the fire extinguishers serviced
> -Purchase a proper flammables cabinet (secondhand is ok - they go for
> US$100 here on Craigslist) and put away all of the paint, solvent,
> etc.
> -Fix the dodgy wiring the right way.  This also includes getting rid
> of extension cords in permanent use.
> -Throw the piles of old shite and half-finished art that's been abandoned
>
>
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