Garage Safety Close Calls

[Halwade]

This thread is dedicated to the tips and tales of garage plans gone bad. If you've burned down your house, melted your motorcycle, torched your tool box or some other crazy shit, tell us about it. We're not trying to trivialize or sensationalize the close calls that happen in the household. This thread exists to give CC members a place to share lessons learned the hard way with fellow motorcyclers.

Thanks!

[53rigid]

Maybe this counts owards personal safety, but having just finished my 53 pan with my very first open primary drive, I fired it up and swung my leg over and promptly got my baggy sweatpant leg caught in the clutch basket. It wound it so tight that not only did it rip the pants completely in half, but actually stopped the motor. Took me a few minutes of embarrassed red faced yelling to get the wife out to help me unwrap my leg from it. I am also pretty sure none of the neighbors saw me though. Watch yer legs!

[ironhead303]

torched my leg welding a gas tank, found out that you should weld with care. shit hurt bad for weeks.

[motorlou]

i was turning on a bike i just finished for the first time after reassembly in my garage. was using a piece of hose and funnel for gas cause the tank wasn't quite finished yet. anyhow, i let the bike idle for a bit till warm then i start revving the bitch up. all of a sudden the fucken funnel comes off the hose and all the gas falls on the engine/pipes!!! wooooosh fuckin ball of fire. no extinguisher, no hose for water!!! damn, i had to throw the bitch out until the fire stopped!!! no major damage besides a melted paintjob on the engine, partial frame and wireing charred. there was a nice film of black soot on my garage ceiling. you can bet i have an extinguisher in there now though!!!

[Sighless]

I keep a couple fire extinguishers in the garage, one where I am welding and one where I am grinding.

Last winter I was using a cutting wheel to make a bracket or something at my friends shop, I was in an uncomfortable position and went to move, without stopping what I was doing, the wheel broke; but not a clean break. It jumped and grabbed my jeans just below my knee and peeled my jeans off all the way up to my belt line. I got a nice cut 1/2 in from the head of my dick and bloody knuckles. After I made sure I still had all my junk in tact and got untangled from the grinder, I had to go to the office in the front of the shop and walk by all 3 female employees to tape my jeans closed(ish).

[jwhite]

Awesome, I just took a couple safety shots for my home safety guide that I'm currently putting together.

Make sure your robots wear proper protective gear when using sandpaper.


One should also make sure your robot's mullet is tied back and contained within a proper hairnet and refrain from alcohol consumption while operating oxy acetylene torches or other equipment that are capable of producing flames.

[ARBY]

If you ever decide to use air to dislodge a stuck brake piston from the caliper, please follow the instructions:

1. Wrap the caliper in several layers of a towel exposing only the line fitting that you blow the air into.
2 Use VERY little air.

These are important steps because if you use too much air and the caliper isn't covered, the piston will fly across the garage, smash through the window and land out in the yard somewhere!

[Zooligan]

These are important steps because if you use too much air and the caliper isn't covered, the piston will fly across the garage, smash through the window and land out in the yard somewhere!

In theory, right ARBY?

If you don't have your pads in the caliper when you attempt that, you can stick an open end wrench in there where the rotor and pads would be to stop the pistons from coming completely out of their recesses.

And cover it with a towel.

[ARBY]

Yeah, but I was trying to get the piston all the way out out of a banana caliper so the two halves were seperated. The Insides were all gooy from sitting and I needed to clean it out.

[turbonate]

i was putting up a beam in the roof of my shop to lift things from and since i have a low roof i decided to just stand on an empty 5 gallon thinner can which was fine untill a spark dropped into the can at which time the can got real, round real fast, and launched my dumb hillbilly ass into the wall.

[Punkskalar]

ALWAYS TURN OFF YOUR GAS BOTTLES


My Father in law brought down a set of torches to use in the shop, older than dirt... We were about to take off for lunch when the acetylene regulator blew out. If we had left 2 minutes earlier we would have had a shop full of fuel at best, and at worst, no shop at all...

[mikestobbe]

having someone with you watching for fire when you're welding in a small or dark space . I was building a backseat mount in 1954 ford that I had been working on for a while , and was doing some welding in the seat tray area . I was by myself and figured I'm a good enough welder I can keep an eye out and make sure all is well . . .

A spark took off and caught some old fiber that was glued to the inside of one of the panels on fire that made it's way to the wires that ran the hydraulics . With my hood down I couldnt tell the inside of the car was on fire till the wires started to melt and short out and the back pump took off and the car jumped up and locked up solid .

It only took me a second to realize what was going on , but it scared the shit out of me what with the pump motor running full bore and the car bouncing around on the springs . . . it took more than a few seconds to make it to the hose around the corner to put out the fire , that was working its way to where the gas tank was mounted . Luckily it was out pretty fast , but it could have been a full scale disaster .

My wife still cringes when I tell that story . Having a friend around to spot you for fire is a good idea .

[davidabl]

Theme song: Johnny Cash, "Ring of Fire"..

[lobstermobster]

weld with gloves. and dont check to see if your freshly welded bracket is sturdy with your bare hands... cos it burns.

[Kristopher]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e110/backwoods00/IMG_0514.jpg[/IMG]

No joke about having your hair tied back. I had a buddy catch his ponytail in a wire wheel attached to a bench grinder. Jerked him right over backwards and cracked his head into the grinder. He ended up with a pretty good knot on his head, a really sore neck and a shorter ponytail.

[LinkBelt]

Always pay attention to where you are laying your tools. I guess I was right at about 16 maybe 17. I had an old Chevy step side that looked like every bull in the pasture had run into it. I was changing the spark plugs. I broke the first plug loose and when I laid the ratchet down I laid it down across both battery post and the battery blew up right next to my face. Luckily there was a water hose close and the only thing that I had problems with was my hearing for about a week.

[davidabl]

Just google for pics of what happens when a stone on your angle grinder explodes...

I lost a lens out of my safety googles once. My hands had stopped shaking by the time i had finished walking over to Harbor Freight to buy a facemask. I couldn't have driven there/ridden a bike or a bicycle, Had to walk.B
Now always wear safety glasses. Behind the facemask.

[beanhead78]

Just google for pics of what happens when a stone on your angle grinder explodes...

I lost a lens out of my safety googles once. My hands had stopped shaking by the time i had finished walking over to Harbor Freight to buy a facemask. I couldn't have driven there/ridden a bike or a bicycle, Had to walk.B
Now always wear safety glasses. Behind the facemask.

i dont care how gay this sounds but i always keep my gaurds on my grinders. had a cutting disc explode on me

[Carman34L]

I usually make sure my FACE is not in the velocity path of an angle grinder. I try to keep the angle of it so if it does go, it aint hittin this sexy mug. Bitches would be disappointed if I scarred up this pretty face.

[Tito]

Steel Wool LOVES welding and grinding sparks. If I have some on the ground in my garage, and either device is in use, they magically meet and there WILL be a small fire.

They have thankfully all been small fires so far.