Smoking?

[margi]

So...in exactly which PART of the torch flame does Loren light his cigarettes? I myself find that if I stick a cigarette into the flame, what I get is something that looks like a bundle of wet hay that is trying to catch fire but can't quite manage to...

So I generally light my cigarettes in other ways, that do NOT involve keeping butane lighters ON my workbench. Actually, in the 37 years that I have been using torches for soldering, casting, welding and now around 5 continuously for beadmaking, there is only one way that I have found that is relatively safe to keep a lighter in proximity to my work area. I am telling you folks about this genuine "safety tip" because I KNOW that I am not the only one who does NOT use a flint striker to light my torch, except when students are present--and go ahead and jump all over me if you want to, but it's the truth and you know it is...

What I do is wrap a piece of string around each new lighter, tape it securely to the lighter, and then thumbtack or tape the string, on which I have tied a knot at one end, to the left side of my work area, at least a foot to the left of my torch, such that after I use the lighter, I then let it fall from the table and hang from the string. It is well out of the way of everything else that is going on, but accessible when I need it.

Having finished all of my huge fused letters today for That Sign, I am enjoying a very rare incidence of feeling totally GOOD tonight , which is the only reason that I would dare to admit to this lighter "thing." And since I do KNOW that I am not the only one, this IS a genuine safety suggestion that I pass on to you. I have been doing this pretty consistently since I was 16, whether or not I was also smoking cigarettes at the time.

I wrote to Misty privately as soon as she posed this question, to stave off any hurt feelings that she might suffer if she got attacked for daring to ask this question in this Forum. But everyone has been pretty nice and reasonable in answering her.

Sure, smoking is a rotten thing. So are drinking, gambling, sexaholism, workaholism, chronic drug use of any kind, etc. Human beings LOVE their addictions, and all of us have SOME kind of "dark side" to our behavior. What I told her, amongst other things, is that common sense should prevail here. Obviously, cigarettes and propane/oxy lines, tanks, etc. do not a good mix make.

But there's an enourmously hot FLAME going on at the torch, fer God's sake, with molten things dropping and flying all over the place all the time, when we are working with hot glass. And most of us keep a lot of flammable things in our studios, along with using explosive fuels and accelerants. That bottle of ACETONE that we keep somewhere for removing the nail polish that we may use as an acid-resist for etching beads is as flammable as anything else that we might have around.

Okay, I'll get off my own platform now, but I'm glad that everyone did NOT jump all over this particular enthusiastic newcomer, who is earnestly doing her research and asking thoughtful questions. And some of you may find that my suggestion in this post could actually increase the safety level of your own studio practices!

Margi

[Karen]

I can't make a flint striker work properly. I confess. I do, however, keep my Cricket on a table behind me. I'll go up in flames before it will.

[margi]

Also an excellent idea, Karen. Part of the reason that I use my own method, though, is that I am a slob, so if I don't TIE THINGS to something, I would never be able to find them!

Flint strikers, the newer kind anyway, are not all that hard to use in theory, especially if you keep relatively new flints in them and don't let them wear down to nubbins. (Using them FLIPPED OVER from the way that you would naturally THINK you should use them is the easiest.) However, if you have any kind of hand problems, like arthritis (me), and right now an injury (me) , striking a flint can be pretty difficult.

Just make sure--everyone!!--that you have your hoses well out of the way of ANYthing hot that might fall on them. Secure them to the UNDERside of your workbench somehow, snaking them AWAY from the torch. This is really critically important!!!! And I am extra careful myself with flames and cigs when lighting the torch for the first time in a session, and when shutting it down. Also all the obvious--check for leaks frequently, etc.

I know that most of you know all this stuff, but for newcomers, I thought that I would mention it. If a blob of hot glass should happen to land on your propane/oxy lines, it just might be BYE-BYE BEADMAKER...and maybe the whole neighborhood!

I myself have my torch(es) clamped to my steel-topped workbench with a big C-clamp, and my lines are also inside that C-clamp. Then they go to the back of the bench, secured to the underside of the table with...I don't know what they're called--those "U" shaped pieces of hardware that screw onto the underside of the table.. This way, in addition to providing fire and explosion-danger protection, I also can't hook my feet into them by accident.

Also for newcomers--don't ever, ever, EVER use a torch that is not clamped or bolted to the table--for very obvious reasons!

Margi

[daffodildeb]

Okay--great thread, since there are a whole bunch of safety issues here!

I'm one of those who can't make a striker work on my HH. I do use wooden safety matches, which are then relocated away and behind something to prevent problems.

One thing I've always wondered about. How can you protect the lines--gas and/or oxy? Or isn't this a problem? I'm thinking of the flying glass we often have. After all, if we're protecting our privates with leather aprons, it would seem that the rubber right out of the torch would be vulnerable, right? Does anyone make a metal hose guard?

And yeah, I'm an outie. The tank, anyway...

[Dale_M]

Wooden saftey matches are not really cool eihter.... Can you visualize a whole box going "FWOOMP" when hot glass burns through card board?

Best thing if one can not get flint striker to work, is go to sporting goods dept in major store or sport shop and get a PIZO ELECTRIC starter/striker for camp stoves. NOT the kind with butane in them! This is a spimple unit that has one push button that created a electrical spark at tip to ignite fuel. They are something like $8 at most sporting goods stores.

Dale

[daffodildeb]

Dale, I'll check that striker out, but please reread--I did say that I removed the matches from the area. I do know enough not to have them anywhere near the work area.

Still waiting for info about hose guards. Seems that they would be something pretty vulnerable, or are those hoses fireproofed in some way?

Vince, are you reading this?

[Vince]

I've just returned from a month at the ranch, so I'm just reading this.

Loren, in my experience, smokes outside his studio during classes. Please note that at Loren's, BOTH his propane and his oxygen are OUTSIDE and far away from the studio structure itself.

Smoking is just one more source of pollution and an additional ignition source for a potential fire. I think it is a good idea to keep lampwork and smoking areas separate, especially if the ventilation system is marginal.

I know that smokers are going to do what they want to do, no matter what is recommended, but if one was intent on maximizing studio safety, then I'd recommend smoking elsewhere.

Vince

[margi]

Thanks Vince, and welcome back. Wondered where you were in all of this!? You're right, of course, as usual...and I do mean that sincerely. Hope you had a great month away!

The pizo lighter is a good idea, Dale, and I think I'll look for one for the torch. I'd forgotten that those things existed.

Re/flint strikers? The tendency most people seem to have is to apply more pressure to them than needed, but you really don't have to, as long as the flint is still exposed and not too worn down. You SHOULD be able to just squeeze the thing together and have it make a spark. There are several different brands made, I think, so it might be worth trying a couple of them if you do want to use one and are having trouble. My newest one is WAY easier to use than my older ones were--but still awkward, especially right now.

Deb, protecting the lines right AT the torch is probably an excellent idea, but I have never done it myself. The way I have mine tucked inside the C-clamp, and then under my bench, there's very little hose exposed, but there IS a little, and something COULD happen. I believe, but The Guys may want or need to correct me on this, that the hoses we use are pretty darned strong, and that a glancing blow from a cracking end of a hot rod will not burn through.

But actual molten glass probably would, if left to burn on a hose. I know that they have very strong covers, but nothing made of...rubber...or whatever that material is, is inVINCEable! I do have a small burn mark from many years ago on the acetylene hose for my soldering torch, from a fallen piece of molten silver. Just a brown spot--but I picked it off quickly at the time, so no real damage was done.

What say you safety experts? Shouldn't be hard to make a metal cover of some kind for the hoses, even for just those couple of inches from torch to clamp (in my own case...) I have a bunch of lightweight sheet metal around, very flexible. Think I'll fool around a bit and report back in.

Good idea, Deb.

Margi

[SMStudios]

I know I am new, but I have an idea... I am a chinchilla breeder and there are these flexible things you can put on exposed cords and such so that if the chinchilla is out playing and trys to chew on them... they can't get to the cords. I would think something like this would be great for extra protection on hoses.
For example:
http://www.chinworld.com/Merchant2/m...Category_Code=

[Emily]

I've now trained myself to use a striker (try getting one of the heavy-duty ones that has a little triangle-thing with three flints on it -- they're easier to get to spark). In my wooden match phase, though, I kept the "barn burners" in a metal box -- struck the match, closed the box, and put the box away from the work table before I turned the gas on. Yes, there's time to do that before the match flame reaches your fingers.

On the smoking thing -- at one point I did a lot of poking around on the Internet trying to find information on the dangers of inhaled silver and gold (from fuming or "burning off" silver foil). I didn't find much relevant to fumes, but I did find an article talking about precious metal toxicity in jewelers. It said that most (maybe all?) of the jewelers who had trouble either smoked or ate at their workbench.

I've wondered about the danger of hot glass on the hoses, too.