safety and fire

[cabnet636]

i normally post on camaster thread but this apply's to us all

fellows if this is off topic you can remove it.

on saturday i was doing a training session with the x3 machine, we were running a file that i had made the mistake of asking a 1/4 inch bit to cut through the material, the bit cut about 10 feet in cut length and snapped, we removed the bit (seemed warm but not hot) and left the vacuum on to hold the material while we went into my office to rework the pass depth on the file.

in just a few minutes one of the guys in the shop said there was a fire, on the way to the fire i still did not know what was burning, i thought first to grab a fire extinguisher (they are located in many places and all corners and entrances as well as passages thru the building) we got real lucky time wise.

while we had removed the bit a small ember had begun to burn, the vacuum gave it wind and direction and no one could see it, about the time someone smelled it it broke throughthe spoil board surface.

i hope all reading this realize size of machine does not matter, they are made up of two things
1) electrical parts
2) parts that create friction

be careful, pay attention. my x3 is a god send and i would be as hard pressed as any to replace it and or pray i do not burn down the building or worse

my hope is this will help the new and old cnc'r

jim mcgrew

[steve323]

Good to hear that there was only minimal damage. And thanks for reminding me to go get a real fire extinguisher for my workshop.

Steve

[cabnet636]

i posted this on several forums and recieved a lot of emails and responses, thank you to all who reply, i have had another refresher safety course with the employees at the machine

check your equipment, one idiot tried to tell me it had somthing to do with the machine. dumb,dumb,dumb

please check your equipment

jim