Don't catch fire welding

(quoted from post at 16:23:58 11/11/18) Probably not a bad idea. Now if they would come up with ???? proof socks.

They do, nomex socks as well as all other types of clothing made
with the material. Which meets the the same NFPA 2112 spec same as the cotton shirts link posted.
But the material itself meets the spec, not the chemical treatment of the cotton.
 
(quoted from post at 16:23:58 11/11/18) Probably not a bad idea. Now if they would come up with ???? proof socks.

They do, nomex socks as well as all other types of clothing made
with the material. Which meets the the same NFPA 2112 spec same as the cotton shirts link posted.
But the material itself meets the spec, not the chemical treatment of the cotton.
 
I work with hot glass three days a month. I have to be cognitive of not dripping any glass on my sneaks when I am melting color in the glory hole furnace. I will not be fast enough to remove the sneak before the 2100deg glass will start attacking my foot
 
Someone that only welds once or twice a year who's going to buy a shirt for it. Normally when I weld something I only end up using one or two rods. I don't think I would go to the trouble of changing shirts for that even though I caught myself on fire once.
 
one word of caution... this ain't no fire proof suit... if you wash it it looses some of it's retardant ... more you wash..less you're protected....

we used these "greens" for years in the steel mills and after a while it's just a heavy green jacket.

john
 
Guy that worked in a BIG CASTING Arc-Air booth cleaning up gates & riser contact surfaces set himself on fire one winter day. He had about 4 layers of flannel shirts and sweat-shirts under his leather welding apron and was so busy working he didn't realize he had set himself on fire. Buy the time he felt the heat of the fire he only had one layer of flannel left. Had quite an area of 2nd & 3rd degree burns. There were green fabric welding curtains across the front of his work booth, so nobody could see him until he came running out. The foundry didn't make ANY attempt to heat any of the work areas. Working on a 5000 pound steel casting heated to 400-500 degrees should keep them warm.
 
When I worked at Pentair welding they gave us those to start with. After about a month of use welding and grinding one day I was getting a lot of heat under my helmet. I looked down and was on fire about belt high. After that I got a set of leathers.
 
Many many years ago I was squatted down in the cross conveyer of a self unloading chopper wagon, welding on one of the beeters. I lost the puddle and in fell into a crease/fold of my pants on the inside of my inter thigh. I was squatted cross ways of the cross conveyer and my legs were too long to stand up without turning a quarter turn first, which I didn't know until I tried to. It left tracks on my thigh and when I did stand up it fell onto my sock burned holes in it.

Dusty
 
I set my pant leg on fire once, my jeans were frayed around the cuff and I was welding head high, never felt the heat but a fellow on break was walking past with a cup of coffee and and tossed it on my pant leg. I bought him another cup of coffee and one for me it was break time anyway. Another time it was a new flannel shirt and it just flashed and was out in a split second it happened so fast I wasn't sure I really saw it and no damage to the shirt.
 
I thought that getting on fire was just part of the job. I have been on fire so many dozens of times, I lost count years ago. I have so many scars from welding burns that my doctor looked at my arms and thought that they were needle scars from shooting up. We both had a good laugh when I told him what they really were.
 
"Flame Resistant"

Waste of money really. For the piece of fabric 12" long is exposed to a flame for 12 seconds. If 6" or less of the fabric actually burns (or chars as they put it) it passes.

A lot of mines and pipe line jobs here require FS rated clothing. Carhartt offers the pants at about 3 times more the cost of a regular pair of jeans. So a lot of guys are stuck paying the price.

When I worked in the foundry (melt deck) at WATTS Regulator in NC they provided us with shoes known as "kick offs" and thin 100% cotton pants and button up shirts. The buttons were sewn with a type of thread that was easily broken should you need to rip the shirt off. Worked with three furnaces and molten brass up to around 2400 degrees F. Had a bunch of small holes burnt through the shirts and pants from splatter when making a pour. But never did see anyone catch fire. Thought guys do the melt deck boogie was funny until a white hot BB went down my shoe and I broke into a dance routine with moves I did not think I was capable of doing..
 
For safety always wear 100% cotton when welding cutting or grinding. Cotton will burn but polyester and nylon melt. Pulling melted plastic of your body is not fun.
 

This happened in October two years ago ,

[size=18:a196c5838e]My neighbour Reinner is a fit man of seventy , an ex marine engineer who has given me invaluable advice on my projects over the years .
Just a scant one hour before leaving for hospital to have my hands operated on I heard what first sounded like kids mucking around coming from over the back fence .
Very quickly the visceral note in the increasingly loud cries of agony became apparent . My wife , daughter and I all bounded out to hear the screaming and the words '' He's on fire ''.
As I vaulted over the fence I saw a scene reminiscent of that horrific photograph of the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thic'h Quang Duc's self immolation in 1963. The sight and smell will stay with me for many years I suspect .
Police , fire crews and ambulance officers congregated after ten minutes and took him from my care .
I left to deal with my own relatively trivial concerns .

The sparks from his grinder had ignited the bottom of his cotton and synthetic shirt , a loose fitting 'hoodie' style with an obviously high synthetic content . It made him look like a Roman candle

Poor Reinner is now in an induced coma at the Alfred hospital , airlifted by chopper with full thickness burns to almost 30% of his torso , badly burnt hands and dreadful burns to the back of his neck and ears where the hood had burnt with great ferocity. He may be out by Christmas time if he doesn't succumb to renal failure in the meantime . [/size:a196c5838e]

Reinner went on to recover albeit slowly , countless skin grafts and the eventual amputation of one finger finally gave him a quality of life that he could live with happily . Each time we passed on our respective ways he hugged me and thanked me and I went away each time grateful for being able to have helped . He had another good year and was planning a caravaning holiday around Australia when cancer struck . I recall the day , he called from over the back fence and told me he had been diagnosed with stage 4 Pancreatic cancer and had 3 months . Three weeks later he died , I am certain the shock of his accident was a contributor .
Wear the gear , don't be silly , and be grateful for every day you have , things I almost never did before but do now .
 
We have to take annual training on "HOT WORK" which requires someone to be a fire watch when some one is welding.
 
Back in ‘79 when we were 17, my best friend and I were grinding some welds about shoulder high behind the welder when suddenly his chest pocket started blazing. He had a new book of matches in that pocket.

He got a slight burn and we all got a good laugh out of it after we knew he was ok. Just imagine Barney Fife flailing around slapping his chest with one hand and trying to get his shirt off with the other.
 

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