First off nothing’s happened I just wanted to get your opinion on what you would do if your table caught on fire? Let’s just say you’re in the shop and you’re working on something else while the machine is running for example what would be the first three to five things you would do? Everyone should have a plan right!!
Hit the estop and grab the extinquisher hanging on the wall… because only YOU can prevent robot fires.
We live out in the edges of town, so we have a security monitoring service that will call the Fire Department for us, and automatic sprinklers inside. Plan B if the fire is too big, is make sure everyone gets out safe.
How do I know all these things will work? No reason…
Don’t forget to shut off the dust collector if the estop didn’t do that.
I can tell you exactly – I had a fire many years ago. Happened during a production run where the same program had been run dozens of time before on the same material.
Cause: Performing what should be drill operations with the wrong bit, wrong spindle speed, and wrong machining code. Happened in plywood material being held down by a vacuum table. No doubt that the vacuum table quickly escalated a small smolder into a full fire.
Result: significant damage to the spoil board surface (MDF), the underlying table structure (melamine) and the PVC vacuum system plumbing. No damage to the CNC or structure itself (machine had moved far away from the ignition spot) or the vacuum system itself. Heavy and dark smoke created by the incident.
Lessons learned: many. Never leave the operating machine unattended without closely monitoring, don’t get too confident on any job just because it ran correctly many times before, and perform drill operations using the appropriate drill type bit and slow spindle speed wise. Vacuum tables and dust collection (air movers) can quickly escalate a heat related problem.
Does finding more sawdust and some marshmallows count?
Well speaking from the semi-recent experience of having my shed/shop burn down 3 years ago (but before I owned a CNC) - my thinking is that the most likely scenario will be that I am outside the shed/shop when I realize there is a fire. So 1) I have a larger/ish fire extinguisher right next to both doors going into my shop.
I saw the smoke coming from the shop on the last fire - but sadly my fire extinguisher wasn’t right next to the door; so I couldn’t reach it. So that’s one thing. 2) I’ve also upgraded to a true fire rated storage cabinet for flammable anything (finishes, etc). And lastly, 3) I added a smoke alarm sensor for the shed which is integrated to my Ring system - so I would get a quicker notification on my phone.
My old shop had a smoke alarm in it - I just never knew it was going off.
-scott
Too real- that is why I am looking for a new CNC machine. I was surfacing a test blank out of pine 20 x 20 glue up which needed flattening on both sides. I was using 1/4" x 2 1/2" screws in each corner to hold them down. I must have been too casual about measurements and material removal - I had shimmed up a corner to flatten one side and countersunk the screw heads 3/16" plus deep -
I started the cut and was adjusting my JBL speakers for my tunes. I heard a and felt a collision and when I looked down the surfacing bit (2" dia) was stalled in one corner stuck on a screw. I emergency stopped it and started to look at the damage to the surfacing bit- when I saw out of the corner of my eye - a pile of fine pine sawdust just igniting off tio the side of my machine. I called 911almost immediately - I started thinking - where is my extinguisher?, mind went blank.- I looked for a coat or a blanket to smother it… All I had was a bag of clean rags…- while I waited for them to come, I attempted to extinguish it - NOPE- the smoke chased me out and all I could do was wait until they came- which was actually very fast 5 minutes =,-.
Yes- have a plan and knwo where your resources are. - I have two extinguishers in the shop area… could I put my hands on one? Nope- I have ordered the fire blankets - but they were in the house.
I needed to have monitored the amount of sawdust coming off the machine and monitor the dust collection.- (although- if this hot metal had gone into the dust collector it may have been worse without me knowing about it until an hour later when the bin goes all crazy…) Pine sawdust is very flammable- especially if pitchy.
Yes - I am going to place a fire extinguisher bracket on my new CNC table base. and buy another fire blanket.
what is everybody else doing?
Not related to woodworking or CNC machines I was working on a some patchwork on a car with a acetylene torch and the undercoating caught on fire Good thing I had a extinguisher close by and some rags that were soaking in some water.
Recently I bought a two pack of those throwaway fire extinguishers and put them around the shop