Dangers of Wire wool

[metso]

Hi

I'd never have thought wire wool would be so dangerous until yesterday.

I was removing some paint stripper and had the wire wool out. The coarse variety.

It was on the floor and I was moving across the room, I ended up getting a strand of the wire wool caught in between one of my toes.

The bulk of the wire wool was caught on something else and as I stepped forward, the wire similar to that of cheese wire sliced through my toe.

the main thing I learnt was that I was not wearing protective clothing. I should have been wearing some shoes etc.

Just wanted to share this, I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else.

Thanks

 

[guineafowl21]

Hi

I'd never have thought wire wool would be so dangerous until yesterday.

I was removing some paint stripper and had the wire wool out. The coarse variety.

It was on the floor and I was moving across the room, I ended up getting a strand of the wire wool caught in between one of my toes.

The bulk of the wire wool was caught on something else and as I stepped forward, the wire similar to that of cheese wire sliced through my toe.

the main thing I learnt was that I was not wearing protective clothing. I should have been wearing some shoes etc.

Just wanted to share this, I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else.

Thanks

Barefoot in the workshop? Idiocy.

I suppose you’ve learnt your lesson, so no need to say more, except - buy some proper shoes, ya hippy!

 

[sneggysteve]

It's amazing how many Youtubers that wear sandals/flip flops (discounting the poor sods in the far east who have nothing else to wear) - just accidents waiting to happen ?

 

[sammy.se]

Sorry too hear that.

I once put some wire will down after tearing a bit off. It shorted a cordlesss drill battery, bridging the terminals, and caught fire! No harm done, but I was surprised at the speed it lit up.

 

[Trevanion]

Wire wool is one of the most combustible things in the workshop behind solvents!

 

[metso]

In my workshop I wear shoes, but because I was doing some work in the lounge where we always walk around the house barefoot, I just fell into the pattern of doing the work I needed to do with out wearing the proper foot wear.

I've learnt my lesson.
and rested today... did my tax returns instead... Arrgh.

 

[metso]

Sorry too hear that.

I once put some wire will down after tearing a bit off. It shorted a cordlesss drill battery, bridging the terminals, and caught fire! No harm done, but I was surprised at the speed it lit up.

wow, another thing to watch out about wire wool. I'm going to be very carefull with this stuff.

 

[Rorschach]

Wire wool and a 9v battery is one of the most dramatic camp fire starting methods I have taught in the past, kids love it.

 

[Cabinetman]

Rorschach, you cannot leave it there! I for one demand the full story! Sounds a whole lot of fun.
"Kids love it" - that’s us. Ian

 

[novocaine]

Only works with wild wire wool though. The farm bred stuff isnt lean enough.

 

[Trevanion]

Rorschach, you cannot leave it there! I for one demand the full story! Sounds a whole lot of fun.
"Kids love it" - that’s us. Ian

It goes a little something like this...

 

[Cabinetman]

Ok point taken! Thanks Ian

 

[sometimewoodworker]

It's amazing how many Youtubers that wear sandals/flip flops (discounting the poor sods in the far east who have nothing else to wear) - just accidents waiting to happen ?

It’s not so much that we (living in the far east) have nothing else to wear, it’s more that at an ambient.usually over 30C hot sweaty stinky feet because they are in shoes and socks is not appealing.

Flip flops are the standard footwear for about 98% of the population for the majority of the time, though “no footwear“ is standard in virtually all houses, temples and quite a few shops.

wearing footwear in a house is considered barbaric mostly done by the poor uneducated westerners coming from the frozen north.

 

[Rorschach]

Rorschach, you cannot leave it there! I for one demand the full story! Sounds a whole lot of fun.
"Kids love it" - that’s us. Ian

Not quite as dramatic as Trevanion makes out lol.

You mix the wire wool with some suitable tinder (I used cotton wool for convenience) and then apply the battery. The wire will will start to glow and burn instantly and you just blow gently and it will ignite the tinder.
A very thin strip of aluminium foil will have a similar effect but is more tricky to pull off.

It was one of the more unusual methods of fire starting I have taught before.

 

[sammy.se]

Even more dramatic with an 18v Ryobi battery ;-)

 

[johnnyb]

never pull coarse stuff apart always cut with scissors. it will pull apart but every so often it will slice your fingers!

 

[novocaine]

nar, they have short circuit protection.

I've never taught it as such (because I don't teach survival skills), but Ive seen it used it to prove a point fairly often. Normally goes along the lines of:

You can pretty much start a fire with anything, if you can figure out how.
Present table full of random stuff, wire wool, a battery, 2 rocks, a bicycle pump (or that's what it looked like ), cotton, cotton wool, 2 sticks... you get the idea. pick 2 objects you think you can start a fire with.
was fun watching people bash 2 rocks together, try to blow a fire out of cotton wool or polish a piece of wood to the point you could see your face in it. rarely did anyone pick the battery and the wire wool, and when they did, you knew they'd had an interesting childhood.

my favorite is still adiabatic compression. fire from nothing.

 

[davedevelopment]

Wire wool and a 9v battery is one of the most dramatic camp fire starting methods I have taught in the past, kids love it.

Grown adult here and I loved it when shown this on a bushcraft course! Makes you think about all the crap you shove in the kitchen drawer...

 

[HamsterJam]

I was told to keep wire wool in an air tight and radio wave proof metal container.
This was when I worked at a high power radio station where there was a risk the signals we produced could cause wire wool to spontaneously combust.

 

[pcb1962]

I was told to keep wire wool in an air tight and radio wave proof metal container.
This was when I worked at a high power radio station where there was a risk the signals we produced could cause wire wool to spontaneously combust.

Hmm, any signal that could cause that can't be doing your brain much good.