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Posted by jeff_wisnia on June 30, 2009, 10:10 am
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David Billington wrote:
> Michael Koblic wrote:
>
>> I was grinding lathe bits today on my new grinding and sharpening
>> mobile platform. I had it parked in the garage doorway, facing west,
>> so the light would be better and the dust would blow out.
>>
>> At one point I noticed a wisp of smoke coming out somwhere behind one
>> of the grinders. Now I may be overcautious but I consider smoke and
>> grinders an inherently undesirable combination.
>>
>> I was puzzled: There was hardly any sparking, the bits were cool
>> enough to hold bare hand. No strange noises. I looked and there on the
>> brand new top was a burn - a linear scar, about 2 inches long, about
>> 1/8" deep, about 1/4" wide with deeply charred edges. What could have
>> caused this?
>>
>> I moved my head and it became clear: The sunlight hit the grinder
>> shield which has a lens in the middle. The lens was focussing the
>> sunlight onto my bench top and burning it, judging by the length of
>> the scar for a quite a while (for a sundialist it is tempting to
>> calculate the exact time by measuring the length of scar exactly and
>> estimating the amount of Earth's rotation from it but I am too lazy).
>> Everytime I came to grind my head got in the way of the sunlight and
>> the bright focus of light would disappear, leaving only the wisp of
>> smoke as evidence of anything wrong. The burning would start again
>> when I left the station to do things elsewhere.
>>
>> I am sure that there are lessons here somewhere...In my defense I
>> should say that we are not used to sunshine around here.
>>
>>
>
> Not that unusual an occurrence. A friend is a fire scene investigator
> and has said that about 4 or 5 fires a year, in the UK, are attributed
> to an object focusing sunlight and setting something on fire.
I've heard tell that a curved section of glass from a broken bottle can
sometimes do that too.
Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.
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Posted by Calif Bill on June 30, 2009, 4:14 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> David Billington wrote:
>
>> Michael Koblic wrote:
>>
>>> I was grinding lathe bits today on my new grinding and sharpening mobile
>>> platform. I had it parked in the garage doorway, facing west, so the
>>> light would be better and the dust would blow out.
>>>
>>> At one point I noticed a wisp of smoke coming out somwhere behind one of
>>> the grinders. Now I may be overcautious but I consider smoke and
>>> grinders an inherently undesirable combination.
>>>
>>> I was puzzled: There was hardly any sparking, the bits were cool enough
>>> to hold bare hand. No strange noises. I looked and there on the brand
>>> new top was a burn - a linear scar, about 2 inches long, about 1/8"
>>> deep, about 1/4" wide with deeply charred edges. What could have caused
>>> this?
>>>
>>> I moved my head and it became clear: The sunlight hit the grinder shield
>>> which has a lens in the middle. The lens was focussing the sunlight onto
>>> my bench top and burning it, judging by the length of the scar for a
>>> quite a while (for a sundialist it is tempting to calculate the exact
>>> time by measuring the length of scar exactly and estimating the amount
>>> of Earth's rotation from it but I am too lazy). Everytime I came to
>>> grind my head got in the way of the sunlight and the bright focus of
>>> light would disappear, leaving only the wisp of smoke as evidence of
>>> anything wrong. The burning would start again when I left the station to
>>> do things elsewhere.
>>>
>>> I am sure that there are lessons here somewhere...In my defense I should
>>> say that we are not used to sunshine around here.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Not that unusual an occurrence. A friend is a fire scene investigator and
>> has said that about 4 or 5 fires a year, in the UK, are attributed to an
>> object focusing sunlight and setting something on fire.
>
> I've heard tell that a curved section of glass from a broken bottle can
> sometimes do that too.
>
> Jeff
>
> --
> Jeffry Wisnia
> (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
> The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.
Yup. Kid I grew up with worked for the Forest Service. They had a problem
with some people setting up broken bottles to cause fires at a later date.
Some for a job, and some for kicks. The shop magnifiers had a sign warning
about sunlight being focused.
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Posted by Cydrome Leader on June 30, 2009, 4:55 pm
Please log in for more thread options > Michael Koblic wrote:
>> I was grinding lathe bits today on my new grinding and sharpening mobile
>> platform. I had it parked in the garage doorway, facing west, so the light
>> would be better and the dust would blow out.
>>
>> At one point I noticed a wisp of smoke coming out somwhere behind one of the
>> grinders. Now I may be overcautious but I consider smoke and grinders an
>> inherently undesirable combination.
>>
>> I was puzzled: There was hardly any sparking, the bits were cool enough to
>> hold bare hand. No strange noises. I looked and there on the brand new top
>> was a burn - a linear scar, about 2 inches long, about 1/8" deep, about 1/4"
>> wide with deeply charred edges. What could have caused this?
>>
>> I moved my head and it became clear: The sunlight hit the grinder shield
>> which has a lens in the middle. The lens was focussing the sunlight onto my
>> bench top and burning it, judging by the length of the scar for a quite a
>> while (for a sundialist it is tempting to calculate the exact time by
>> measuring the length of scar exactly and estimating the amount of Earth's
>> rotation from it but I am too lazy). Everytime I came to grind my head got
>> in the way of the sunlight and the bright focus of light would disappear,
>> leaving only the wisp of smoke as evidence of anything wrong. The burning
>> would start again when I left the station to do things elsewhere.
>>
>> I am sure that there are lessons here somewhere...In my defense I should say
>> that we are not used to sunshine around here.
>>
>>
> Not that unusual an occurrence. A friend is a fire scene investigator
> and has said that about 4 or 5 fires a year, in the UK, are attributed
> to an object focusing sunlight and setting something on fire.
I saw a car here that had a large burn mark across the inside part of roof that
was caused by a compact
mirror (concave) being left out on a seat or the dashboard. The char mark across
the foam stuff was about a
foot long.
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Posted by on June 30, 2009, 11:04 pm
Please log in for more thread options On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:58:10 +0100, David Billington
>Michael Koblic wrote:
>> I was grinding lathe bits today on my new grinding and sharpening mobile
>> platform. I had it parked in the garage doorway, facing west, so the light
>> would be better and the dust would blow out.
>>
>> At one point I noticed a wisp of smoke coming out somwhere behind one of the
>> grinders. Now I may be overcautious but I consider smoke and grinders an
>> inherently undesirable combination.
>>
>> I was puzzled: There was hardly any sparking, the bits were cool enough to
>> hold bare hand. No strange noises. I looked and there on the brand new top
>> was a burn - a linear scar, about 2 inches long, about 1/8" deep, about 1/4"
>> wide with deeply charred edges. What could have caused this?
>>
>> I moved my head and it became clear: The sunlight hit the grinder shield
>> which has a lens in the middle. The lens was focussing the sunlight onto my
>> bench top and burning it, judging by the length of the scar for a quite a
>> while (for a sundialist it is tempting to calculate the exact time by
>> measuring the length of scar exactly and estimating the amount of Earth's
>> rotation from it but I am too lazy). Everytime I came to grind my head got
>> in the way of the sunlight and the bright focus of light would disappear,
>> leaving only the wisp of smoke as evidence of anything wrong. The burning
>> would start again when I left the station to do things elsewhere.
>>
>> I am sure that there are lessons here somewhere...In my defense I should say
>> that we are not used to sunshine around here.
>>
>>
>Not that unusual an occurrence. A friend is a fire scene investigator
>and has said that about 4 or 5 fires a year, in the UK, are attributed
>to an object focusing sunlight and setting something on fire.
Bottoms of broken bottles are a common forest fire cause.
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Posted by Larry Jaques on July 1, 2009, 12:34 am
Please log in for more thread options On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:04:44 -0400, the infamous clare@snyder.on.ca
scrawled the following:
>On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:58:10 +0100, David Billington
>
>>Michael Koblic wrote:
>>> I was grinding lathe bits today on my new grinding and sharpening mobile
>>> platform. I had it parked in the garage doorway, facing west, so the light
>>> would be better and the dust would blow out.
>>>
>>> At one point I noticed a wisp of smoke coming out somwhere behind one of the
>>> grinders. Now I may be overcautious but I consider smoke and grinders an
>>> inherently undesirable combination.
>>>
>>> I was puzzled: There was hardly any sparking, the bits were cool enough to
>>> hold bare hand. No strange noises. I looked and there on the brand new top
>>> was a burn - a linear scar, about 2 inches long, about 1/8" deep, about 1/4"
>>> wide with deeply charred edges. What could have caused this?
>>>
>>> I moved my head and it became clear: The sunlight hit the grinder shield
>>> which has a lens in the middle. The lens was focussing the sunlight onto my
>>> bench top and burning it, judging by the length of the scar for a quite a
>>> while (for a sundialist it is tempting to calculate the exact time by
>>> measuring the length of scar exactly and estimating the amount of Earth's
>>> rotation from it but I am too lazy). Everytime I came to grind my head got
>>> in the way of the sunlight and the bright focus of light would disappear,
>>> leaving only the wisp of smoke as evidence of anything wrong. The burning
>>> would start again when I left the station to do things elsewhere.
>>>
>>> I am sure that there are lessons here somewhere...In my defense I should say
>>> that we are not used to sunshine around here.
>>>
>>>
>>Not that unusual an occurrence. A friend is a fire scene investigator
>>and has said that about 4 or 5 fires a year, in the UK, are attributed
>>to an object focusing sunlight and setting something on fire.
>
>Bottoms of broken bottles are a common forest fire cause.
That happens here in the States far too frequently. I wish the fines
the cops give to litterers would increase, including a chunk of money
for firefighting. Forest fires are nasty and expensive.
--
Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass;
it's about learning how to dance in the rain.
--Anon
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