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Snakeadelic · 03-29-2017, 08:10 AM

Igniting the steel wool has to be half the fun! I used to work for a steelsmith (weapons, mostly, but armor and occasionally non-edged-weapon type tools) and while we did a LOT of stupid shop stuff, steel was one of the things we never managed to set on fire.

GALVANIZED steel is a different matter. Bits and bobs were always ending up in the burn barrel, a metal trash can, and we could always tell because when the burn got hot enough the zinc would start sparking off the surface in showers of white like fireworks. I still have some of the melted aluminum, spiked with bits of steel wire & broken glass, that ran out the bottom of the can on occasion.

The boss was kind of a problem though. He always picked a good site & day--clear ground, no students hanging around to get in the way, preferably still drizzling after a big rain. Our neighbors weren't so kind...you never forget having to stay up all night in shifts, for 2 nights, because the (unladylike word here) on the next 5-acre plot over decided to BURN an 80-foot-tall dead tree in situ. But the boss had a different problem. He'd sweep out his quarters and dump everything in the burn barrel, but not every time, and he was really bad about telling anyone he'd done so.

The burn barrel tried to shoot the gardener. Twice.

We had this one dude, sucked with people & horses but great with dogs & gardens, and he often took over burn-watching duty because we were at least smart enough to know that an active burn should never go unsupervised on a place where kids and dogs roamed free--horses too but only if they busted the fence again. The boss's room tended to be littered with loose change and ammo, and I was witness to one of the ammo incidents when it all started going off in the barrel, leaving actual bullet holes in the sides that were later plugged by melted aluminum.

But steel wool? I know it's gotta be treated cuz of the blue suds that foam up when my neighbor uses it (I don't because I have thin skin and a strong aversion to spending 2 days picking steel shards out of it) but I'd have no idea what temps were required to BURN it.

03-29-2017, 08:10 AM	#3
Snakeadelic Banned Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 660	Igniting the steel wool has to be half the fun! I used to work for a steelsmith (weapons, mostly, but armor and occasionally non-edged-weapon type tools) and while we did a LOT of stupid shop stuff, steel was one of the things we never managed to set on fire. GALVANIZED steel is a different matter. Bits and bobs were always ending up in the burn barrel, a metal trash can, and we could always tell because when the burn got hot enough the zinc would start sparking off the surface in showers of white like fireworks. I still have some of the melted aluminum, spiked with bits of steel wire & broken glass, that ran out the bottom of the can on occasion. The boss was kind of a problem though. He always picked a good site & day--clear ground, no students hanging around to get in the way, preferably still drizzling after a big rain. Our neighbors weren't so kind...you never forget having to stay up all night in shifts, for 2 nights, because the (unladylike word here) on the next 5-acre plot over decided to BURN an 80-foot-tall dead tree in situ. But the boss had a different problem. He'd sweep out his quarters and dump everything in the burn barrel, but not every time, and he was really bad about telling anyone he'd done so. The burn barrel tried to shoot the gardener. Twice. We had this one dude, sucked with people & horses but great with dogs & gardens, and he often took over burn-watching duty because we were at least smart enough to know that an active burn should never go unsupervised on a place where kids and dogs roamed free--horses too but only if they busted the fence again. The boss's room tended to be littered with loose change and ammo, and I was witness to one of the ammo incidents when it all started going off in the barrel, leaving actual bullet holes in the sides that were later plugged by melted aluminum. But steel wool? I know it's gotta be treated cuz of the blue suds that foam up when my neighbor uses it (I don't because I have thin skin and a strong aversion to spending 2 days picking steel shards out of it) but I'd have no idea what temps were required to BURN it.