Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day while
drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I had an
explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when with a loud bang and
what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the shop. Blinded by a layer
of sawdust covering my glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe from
oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill press.
In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit and it
looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my glasses
and set down for a minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in the
hole I was drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So dust
explosions do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
"sweetsawdust"
> Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
> while
> drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I had
> an
> explosion.
snip
The smoke and screeching that proceeded it would have given most of us a
clue bad things were about to happen.
Dave
Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com
Oleg Lego wrote:
> The Mark & Juanita entity posted thusly:
>
> >On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:28:25 -0500, "sweetsawdust"
> ><[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >>No dust, No screeching, Everything was going smoothly with no problems and
> >>then BANG it happened. I have performed this operation several times with
> >>no problems. This time was a bit different and exciting.
> >
> > Is it possible there was something inside the wood you were drilling?
> >Some piece of metal or something else that, not so much causing an
> >explosion, but something that caught and caused a "kickback" so to speak? I
> >know you indicate you smelled smoke and charring, but that is sometimes
> >normal with high speeds and/or dull bits in hard woods.
>
> Something in the wood could also cause a spark. I used to see
> occasional sparks from calcium inclusions when cutting teak. No idea
> if oak can have the same, though.
Wood can grow around just about anything, including small stones,
grains of sand and so on.
I have to wonder if there wasn't something like a blasing cap (OK,
that would be too big but something like that) in the wood. A dust
explosion will not leave charred wood in the hole.
Here's a really wild hypothesis: Concentrated
NItric acid reacts with celluose to make an explosive (guncotton).
If somebody splashed a little nitric acid on the tree many years
ago then there might have been a little explosive spot in the wood.
I wonder, if you spilled ammonium nitrate fertilizer on a tree,
could it form an inclusion that would go bang fifty years later?
If you didn;t have a posting history, or this was April, I wouldn't
believe the story.
--
Tex wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
> >
> > Oleg Lego wrote:
> > > The Mark & Juanita entity posted thusly:
> > >
> > > >On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:28:25 -0500, "sweetsawdust"
> > > ><[email protected]> wrote:
> ... snipped
> >
> > Here's a really wild hypothesis: Concentrated
> > NItric acid reacts with celluose to make an explosive (guncotton).
> > If somebody splashed a little nitric acid on the tree many years
> > ago then there might have been a little explosive spot in the wood.
> > I wonder, if you spilled ammonium nitrate fertilizer on a tree,
> > could it form an inclusion that would go bang fifty years later?
> >
> > If you didn;t have a posting history, or this was April, I wouldn't
> > believe the story.
> >
> VERY WILD, indeed!
>
> a) HNO3 (nitric acid) would kill any live tree tissue it stayed in
> contact with for any significant amount of time
Sure, but most of the wood in a living tree IS dead tissue. Only the
outermost layers are alive. A 'dead' spot on the bark will get
encapsolated if it is not too big. If you splash a little nitric acid
on the bark and convert a little of the bark to nitrocelluose that
little spot will get incorporated int othe wood as the tree grows.
I'm suggesting just a tiny spot, not the whole trunk.
>
> b) NH4NO3 (ammonium nitrate) is not an explosive -- it is an oxidant.
Depends on the conditions. Google Texas City Texas harbor explosion.
> When combined with a fuel source (usually hydrocarbons of some sort) the
> mixture can be explosive under proper conditions. Is what you're
> suggesting that someone bored a hole in a tree, inserted a quantity of
> ammonium nitrate, had it encapsulated by the wood tissue rather than
> dissolve in the sap and kill the tree, and years later supply the
> oxidant for a dust explosion?
No, I'm suggesting that it go onto the bark and was encapsolated into
the tree the same way a stone or nail gets encapsulated, and over the
years converted some of the celluose to nitrocelluose.
--
FF
Doug Miller wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, "sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >And how did I do it "wrong"
>
> You mean, besides smoking in a woodshop?
If a woodworker speaks in a forest, and there's nobody there to hear
him........will Doug Miller still correct him?
"sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
> while
> drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I had
> an
> explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when with a loud bang
> and
> what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the shop. Blinded by a
> layer
> of sawdust covering my glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe
> from
> oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill
> press.
> In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit and it
> looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my glasses
> and set down for a minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in the
> hole I was drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So dust
> explosions do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
>
>
Ok, this really happened to me. I was drilling a blank for a pen into some
slightly green hardwood (I don't remember what, something tropical) and
about 3/4 of the way through, the wood exploded. I mean BOOM! Splinters
everywhere. If it weren't for the steam coming off the drillbit I never
would have guessed that the moisture in the wood would flash to steam and
blow up the workpeice.
Andy
Speed was a little fast but I was not getting any heat build up or charring
on the other holes I had drilled. The bit was cool enough to hold with out
doing more then causing discomfort after drilling and had time to cool
(about 15 min) between holes.
"CW" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> If the temperature was high enough to cause ignition, speed was more than
> just a little high.
>
> "sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > And how did I do it "wrong" If you have a better way please enlighten
me.
> > Speed may have been a little high but not that much for the cut in end
> > grain, clamping was tight etc..
>
>
On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:50:58 -0500, "Morris Dovey" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>sweetsawdust (in [email protected]) said:
>
>| Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To
>| day while drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high
>| speed in oak, I had an explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the
>| hole when with a loud bang and what appeared to be a flash, dust
>| went all over the shop. Blinded by a layer of sawdust covering my
>| glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe from oak dust
>| landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill press.
>| In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit
>| and it looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I
>| cleaned my glasses and set down for a minute too. Found some ash
>| and smell of "smoke" in the hole I was drilling so it must have
>| been a real dust explosion. So dust explosions do happen but maybe
>| not in dust collectors.
>
>I dunno - might wanna load your pipe with something more stable... :-)
Ha!...lol
Nothing to do with your explosion but rather your pipe. My niece =
wanted to make something with her uncle one day and we went out to the =
shop. After deciding she wanted to make a nameplate for her dad's desk =
we got to work with the scroll saw. Unbenounced to me while I was doing =
some of the more difficult cuts for her she was scooping small pinches =
of white oak sawdust into my Savanelli. Man did that ever taste bad =
ewwww. She got a good giggle out of it though so I guess it was worth =
it.
Puff
"sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message =
news:[email protected]...
> Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day =
while
> drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I =
had an
> explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when with a loud =
bang and
> what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the shop. Blinded by a =
layer
> of sawdust covering my glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe =
from
> oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill =
press.
> In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit and =
it
> looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my =
glasses
> and set down for a minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in =
the
> hole I was drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So =
dust
> explosions do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
>=20
>
No dust, No screeching, Everything was going smoothly with no problems and
then BANG it happened. I have performed this operation several times with
no problems. This time was a bit different and exciting.
"Teamcasa" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "sweetsawdust"
> > Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
> > while
> > drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I
had
> > an
> > explosion.
> snip
>
> The smoke and screeching that proceeded it would have given most of us a
> clue bad things were about to happen.
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> ** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.usenet.com
Have tried fostner bits several times and on shorter holes they work but
build up to much heat. I have had charring in the holes when using fostner
bits even at low speeds, not often but a few times. With a hole of this
length (8") I have to make several passes or drill from both ends and the
fostner bits do not give as smooth of a shaft as the spade bits for this.
Main problem with the fostner bits is heat build up at depth which I seem to
have gotten anyway in this case.
"R. Pierce Butler" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> > Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
> > while drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in
> > oak, I had an explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when
> > with a loud bang and what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the
> > shop. Blinded by a layer of sawdust covering my glasses and with the
> > taste of burned oak (maybe from oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped
> > for the off switch to the drill press. In shock I looked at my wood,
> > which was hanging from the drill bit and it looked fine with out my
> > glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my glasses and set down for a
> > minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in the hole I was
> > drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So dust explosions
> > do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
> >
> >
>
>
> I think that your spade bit was spinning a bit too fast. Have you
considered
> a forstner bit?
sweetsawdust (in [email protected]) said:
| Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To
| day while drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high
| speed in oak, I had an explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the
| hole when with a loud bang and what appeared to be a flash, dust
| went all over the shop. Blinded by a layer of sawdust covering my
| glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe from oak dust
| landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill press.
| In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit
| and it looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I
| cleaned my glasses and set down for a minute too. Found some ash
| and smell of "smoke" in the hole I was drilling so it must have
| been a real dust explosion. So dust explosions do happen but maybe
| not in dust collectors.
I dunno - might wanna load your pipe with something more stable... :-)
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto
"sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
> while drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in
> oak, I had an explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when
> with a loud bang and what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the
> shop. Blinded by a layer of sawdust covering my glasses and with the
> taste of burned oak (maybe from oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped
> for the off switch to the drill press. In shock I looked at my wood,
> which was hanging from the drill bit and it looked fine with out my
> glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my glasses and set down for a
> minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in the hole I was
> drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So dust explosions
> do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
>
>
I think that your spade bit was spinning a bit too fast. Have you considered
a forstner bit?
I have had similar things happen in wood that "I thought" was dry, but
always in deep holes (3' or more) with twist bits under 3/8" in dia Just a
popping sound and a spray of dust and steam. Never had one come apart but
then I use larger blanks of wood then you would use for a pen. This time it
was a spade bit and left ash. on my shirt and glasses. This could have been
a steam explosion,but it was a weird one if it was. Wood might have
shattered if it had been a twist bit?! 8(
It does make you want to stop working for a minute though and ponder life,
doesn't it. I wonder how many other strange and secret events happen in
wood shops that you never hear about? It's all part of the fun of working
with a living material.
"Andy" <andya@_nospam_cableone.net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
> > while
> > drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I
had
> > an
> > explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when with a loud bang
> > and
> > what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the shop. Blinded by a
> > layer
> > of sawdust covering my glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe
> > from
> > oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill
> > press.
> > In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit and
it
> > looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my
glasses
> > and set down for a minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in
the
> > hole I was drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So dust
> > explosions do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
> >
> >
>
> Ok, this really happened to me. I was drilling a blank for a pen into some
> slightly green hardwood (I don't remember what, something tropical) and
> about 3/4 of the way through, the wood exploded. I mean BOOM! Splinters
> everywhere. If it weren't for the steam coming off the drillbit I never
> would have guessed that the moisture in the wood would flash to steam and
> blow up the workpeice.
>
> Andy
>
>
The Mark & Juanita entity posted thusly:
>On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:28:25 -0500, "sweetsawdust"
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>No dust, No screeching, Everything was going smoothly with no problems and
>>then BANG it happened. I have performed this operation several times with
>>no problems. This time was a bit different and exciting.
>
> Is it possible there was something inside the wood you were drilling?
>Some piece of metal or something else that, not so much causing an
>explosion, but something that caught and caused a "kickback" so to speak? I
>know you indicate you smelled smoke and charring, but that is sometimes
>normal with high speeds and/or dull bits in hard woods.
Something in the wood could also cause a spark. I used to see
occasional sparks from calcium inclusions when cutting teak. No idea
if oak can have the same, though.
On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:28:25 -0500, "sweetsawdust"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>No dust, No screeching, Everything was going smoothly with no problems and
>then BANG it happened. I have performed this operation several times with
>no problems. This time was a bit different and exciting.
Is it possible there was something inside the wood you were drilling?
Some piece of metal or something else that, not so much causing an
explosion, but something that caught and caused a "kickback" so to speak? I
know you indicate you smelled smoke and charring, but that is sometimes
normal with high speeds and/or dull bits in hard woods.
>"Teamcasa" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> "sweetsawdust"
>> > Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
>> > while
>> > drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I
>had
>> > an
>> > explosion.
>> snip
>>
>> The smoke and screeching that proceeded it would have given most of us a
>> clue bad things were about to happen.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>>
>> Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
>> ----------------------------------------------------------
>> ** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
>> ----------------------------------------------------------
>> http://www.usenet.com
>
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
"BB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:z9rxg.5225$fL3.3439@trnddc07...
>
> Why are you using a spade bit on such a deep hole? An auger bit will clear
> the cut wood from the hole and keep things cool. . .
>
> BB
I don't know. I never thought of doing it is the only reason I can give. I
have a good set of auger bits and a good brace setting on the wall
collecting dust. Tomorrow I will get them out dust them off and give them a
try. I will be cutting in end grain but they should do the job and be
cleaner then the spade bit to boot. Thanks for the tip.
My own opinion is that the bit may have gotten dull, I had drilled several
holes with it since I last sharpened it. This could account for the slight
charring I found in the hole, but not enough to cause a fire ( no glowing
embers or any thing, just a dark "stain" on the wood) or maybe a foreign
object in the wood. What ever the cause was it was a first time in nearly
40+ years of playing with wood that I have ever had anything like this
happen. I have had steam explosions from using a dull bit at too high of a
speed and have brought up glowing embers from the same cause, but this was a
first. Just one of those odd events that was worth a passing on for
amusement and pondering. I will now go back to making a living drilling (
hopefully none exploding ) holes in wood.
For what it's worth I did have a live bee come out of a hole in a board I
was cutting the other day, but that is another story.
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Oleg Lego wrote:
> > The Mark & Juanita entity posted thusly:
> >
> > >On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:28:25 -0500, "sweetsawdust"
> > ><[email protected]> wrote:
> > >
> > >>No dust, No screeching, Everything was going smoothly with no problems
and
> > >>then BANG it happened. I have performed this operation several times
with
> > >>no problems. This time was a bit different and exciting.
> > >
> > > Is it possible there was something inside the wood you were drilling?
> > >Some piece of metal or something else that, not so much causing an
> > >explosion, but something that caught and caused a "kickback" so to
speak? I
> > >know you indicate you smelled smoke and charring, but that is sometimes
> > >normal with high speeds and/or dull bits in hard woods.
> >
> > Something in the wood could also cause a spark. I used to see
> > occasional sparks from calcium inclusions when cutting teak. No idea
> > if oak can have the same, though.
>
> Wood can grow around just about anything, including small stones,
> grains of sand and so on.
>
> I have to wonder if there wasn't something like a blasing cap (OK,
> that would be too big but something like that) in the wood. A dust
> explosion will not leave charred wood in the hole.
>
> Here's a really wild hypothesis: Concentrated
> NItric acid reacts with celluose to make an explosive (guncotton).
> If somebody splashed a little nitric acid on the tree many years
> ago then there might have been a little explosive spot in the wood.
> I wonder, if you spilled ammonium nitrate fertilizer on a tree,
> could it form an inclusion that would go bang fifty years later?
>
> If you didn;t have a posting history, or this was April, I wouldn't
> believe the story.
>
> --
>
In article <[email protected]>, "sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote:
>And how did I do it "wrong"
You mean, besides smoking in a woodshop?
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.
Seems you have proven that if you try hard enough to do it wrong, something
bad will happen.
"sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
while
> drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I had
an
> explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when with a loud bang
and
> what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the shop. Blinded by a
layer
> of sawdust covering my glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe
from
> oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill
press.
> In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit and it
> looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my glasses
> and set down for a minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in the
> hole I was drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So dust
> explosions do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
>
>
On 22 Jul 2006 06:03:05 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>NItric acid reacts with celluose to make an explosive (guncotton).
It also reacts with oak tannins to make a very noticeable black stain.
You'd see this a long way off.
I don't use nitric acid on oak, because it's pointless. I can stain oak
with much simpler chemistry. However I do use nitric acid stain on maple
and a few other timbers, sometimes heating it too.
Besides which, nitrocellulose won't last through a winter outdoors.
On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:32:34 -0500, "sweetsawdust"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>And how did I do it "wrong"
Does this answer your question?
>8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak,
Could you drill that by hand? No.
How much power is behind your drill press ? Few hundred watts?
Now assume it's 90% efficient (it isn't) and half of that waste is going
into heat. So that's the heat output of a reasonable size soldering
iron, sat in a closed-in hole full of flammable sawdust. What do you
think is going to happen next?
I remember drilling in oak with a forstner bit. Wow did it get hot. I
had to really slow down or it woulda caught fire. Smelt bad to.
sweetsawdust wrote:
> Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day while
> drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I had an
> explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when with a loud bang and
> what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the shop. Blinded by a layer
> of sawdust covering my glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe from
> oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill press.
> In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit and it
> looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my glasses
> and set down for a minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in the
> hole I was drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So dust
> explosions do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
>
>
And how did I do it "wrong" If you have a better way please enlighten me.
Speed may have been a little high but not that much for the cut in end
grain, clamping was tight etc..
"CW" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Seems you have proven that if you try hard enough to do it wrong,
something
> bad will happen.
> "sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
> while
> > drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I
had
> an
> > explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when with a loud bang
> and
> > what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the shop. Blinded by a
> layer
> > of sawdust covering my glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe
> from
> > oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill
> press.
> > In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit and
it
> > looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my
glasses
> > and set down for a minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in
the
> > hole I was drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So dust
> > explosions do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
> >
> >
>
>
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> Oleg Lego wrote:
> > The Mark & Juanita entity posted thusly:
> >
> > >On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:28:25 -0500, "sweetsawdust"
> > ><[email protected]> wrote:
... snipped
>
> Here's a really wild hypothesis: Concentrated
> NItric acid reacts with celluose to make an explosive (guncotton).
> If somebody splashed a little nitric acid on the tree many years
> ago then there might have been a little explosive spot in the wood.
> I wonder, if you spilled ammonium nitrate fertilizer on a tree,
> could it form an inclusion that would go bang fifty years later?
>
> If you didn;t have a posting history, or this was April, I wouldn't
> believe the story.
>
VERY WILD, indeed!
a) HNO3 (nitric acid) would kill any live tree tissue it stayed in
contact with for any significant amount of time -- want an example?
Stick your finger or other appendage in a bottle of it, don't wash it
off, wait a while. It might not kill the entire appendage, but it'll
turn real yellow and hurt like hell!
b) NH4NO3 (ammonium nitrate) is not an explosive -- it is an oxidant.
When combined with a fuel source (usually hydrocarbons of some sort) the
mixture can be explosive under proper conditions. Is what you're
suggesting that someone bored a hole in a tree, inserted a quantity of
ammonium nitrate, had it encapsulated by the wood tissue rather than
dissolve in the sap and kill the tree, and years later supply the
oxidant for a dust explosion? I'd have to say, possible. But, then
again, so is it possible for a sufficient number of monkeys continually
banging on keyboards to have one of them finally pound out the entire
textual contents of the Library of Congress!
If the temperature was high enough to cause ignition, speed was more than
just a little high.
"sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> And how did I do it "wrong" If you have a better way please enlighten me.
> Speed may have been a little high but not that much for the cut in end
> grain, clamping was tight etc..
"sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have had similar things happen in wood that "I thought" was dry, but
> always in deep holes (3' or more) with twist bits under 3/8" in dia Just a
> popping sound and a spray of dust and steam. Never had one come apart but
> then I use larger blanks of wood then you would use for a pen. This time
it
> was a spade bit and left ash. on my shirt and glasses. This could have
been
> a steam explosion,but it was a weird one if it was. Wood might have
> shattered if it had been a twist bit?! 8(
Why are you using a spade bit on such a deep hole? An auger bit will clear
the cut wood from the hole and keep things cool. . .
BB
> It does make you want to stop working for a minute though and ponder life,
> doesn't it. I wonder how many other strange and secret events happen in
> wood shops that you never hear about? It's all part of the fun of working
> with a living material.
> "Andy" <andya@_nospam_cableone.net> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > "sweetsawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day
> > > while
> > > drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I
> had
> > > an
> > > explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when with a loud
bang
> > > and
> > > what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the shop. Blinded by a
> > > layer
> > > of sawdust covering my glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe
> > > from
> > > oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill
> > > press.
> > > In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit and
> it
> > > looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my
> glasses
> > > and set down for a minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in
> the
> > > hole I was drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So
dust
> > > explosions do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Ok, this really happened to me. I was drilling a blank for a pen into
some
> > slightly green hardwood (I don't remember what, something tropical) and
> > about 3/4 of the way through, the wood exploded. I mean BOOM! Splinters
> > everywhere. If it weren't for the steam coming off the drillbit I never
> > would have guessed that the moisture in the wood would flash to steam
and
> > blow up the workpeice.
> >
> > Andy
> >
> >
>
>