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Is your dust collection system grounded? My suspicion is you had some static electricity that ignited some sawdust. I live in the high desert, where it's not unusual to have single digit relative humidity. Sparks fly nearly every day. Grounding is important for dust collection systems. Entire commercial shops have burned to the ground due to fires in dust collection ducts and/or collectors.
I have fire extinguishers handy in both my shop and my kitchen. In the shop, I have one on each side of the shop so I can access the closest fire extinguisher.
Still Learning,
Allan Hill
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The most important fire extinguisher is the one furthest into the shop. This is the one that will knock back flames long enough for YOU to get out.
I have two, one at the far end of the shop and one at the entrance.
Have them serviced yearly so they are ready at all times.
Take them outside when service time comes, and try them out before servicing. They are not as easy to use as you might think.
Yes, I have had a fire. No, not severe, but it scared me.
Mike
Semper Audere!
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If you haven't already dumped your dust collection system, do it now. As another has suggested, wood dust can smolder for days. Inspect the dust in the bags for any sign of burning. I'd also disconnect your flexible hoses and dump out any remaining residue.
It is possible that static electricity ignited your dust. If your hoses and duct work aren't already grounded, this would be an excellent time to get this done.
Thanks again for posting. The fact that you even noticed the smoke was a "heads-up" move.
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I have three mounted in the garage shop. One between the garage doors, one at the entrance to the mud room and one in the center of the shop.
George
if it ain't broke, you're not tryin'
Quando omni flunkus, moritati.
Red Green
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Thank you all for your feedback and advise.
The saw was not connected to the dust collector at the time. That was the only saving grace. I cleaned up the dust in the cabinet using my shop vacuum which has the Oneida dust collector ahead of it and then emptied it out, putting the bag far away from the house. As of this morning, no signs of any ambers or smoke!
I will definitely be installing fire extinguisher and smoke alarm in the garage. Plus I will also investigate the heat sensor (?) recommended in one of the posts.
The biggest learning for me and that I offer to others is to develop a mental roadmap to deal with such a situation quickly. Maybe I am slow on the uptake or complacent however, fire in the table saw was an abstract concept till yesterday. As I replay the incident in my mind, I continue to be shocked and dismayed by my slow response to the smoke. Reason is simple; had never given this scenario a thought or done any planning for it.
When I cut on the table saw, the biggest threat in mind is that of a kickback so take suitable precautions (splitter, push stick, blade aligned to fence, waste not getting trapped between blade and fence etc). However, till yesterday no such model existed for a fire in the shop / garage.
So below are my learnings and the mental model I am developing to help me react faster to such an incident in the future.
1. Install extinguishers and smoke alarm.
2. Clean up dust regularly from the saw / router cabinet and other places.
3. Wait half hour after final operation and double check to ensure no surprises lurking anywhere.
4. Have a clear escape path for myself in emergency situation including a phone to call for help.
5. Do timed mock "fire drills" with the extinguisher from time to time to develop muscle memory for quick reaction.
Once a year, I am planning on removing electrical outlet covers and blowing the dust as I understand that is another hidden hazard. Work safe all. Cheers.
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"If you haven't already dumped your dust collection system, do it now. As another has suggested, wood dust can smolder for days. Inspect the dust in the bags for any sign of burning. I'd also disconnect your flexible hoses and dump out any remaining residue."
That's a good thought as well. You could be extra safe and dump it into a bucket, then fill the bucket with water. I forgot I had a biscuit jointer that found a screw and saw a nice ember in the collection hose. It went out on the trip to the collector, but I dumped it anyway. My trash bins are not next to me house, so I wasn't as concerned. When you grow up as a high plains farmer, you look at everything as if it will burst into flames.
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I'm going to get an extinguisher for the shop...
Doh...
Never thought about it.
Jim in Okie
You can tell a lot about the character of a man -
By the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.
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I have extinguishes hung on the walls at both ends of my shop as well as outside my spray booth. I've never had to use one thank goodness but better safe than sorry. You can pick up some of the small extinguishers below fairly cheap and they are very effective. More than likely you hit a piece of metal in the wood just right. I find it very unlikely that it was a spark generated from static in your saw cabinet. I hear about dust fires from static on forums all the time but to my knowledge there has never been a single dust collector fire caused by static. A nasty shock yes, but a fire no. I could be wrong but if it has ever happened I could not find it. The fires I know of were someone being careless about what they were cutting or grinding metal on a wood sander attached to the dust system. If someone knows of an instance of a static fire In a dust collector I would love to see the details if you could post the info. As I said I have looked but I may have missed something over the years.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/First-Alert-T...lsrc=aw.ds
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Have an extinguisher hanging by the door. One time I vacuumed around the wood stove. A few minutes later the dust collector was smoking. As I took off the bag to carry it outside, it burst open, where the fabric bag had scorched. Now I had to shovel the hot and smoking sawdust out the door. No active flame, but wow, was it smoky.
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In regard to the Western red cedar, I have had similar experiences with either visible smoke or the smell of smoke while cutting WRC on various pieces of equipment - band saw, table saw, scroll saw. Have never seen any scorch/burn marks. Never found any hot sawdust. Have ruled out dull blades and blades improperly aligned. Assume maybe it had to do with too slow feed rate. It just makes me a bit leery and extra cautious when using power tools with WRC. And then there are those who tell me they have never experienced this kind of event. Just saying.....BTDT and extra caution is in order. Glad to know there is someone else sharing the experience.
